GWR's Hitachi Class 800's Seats

[J663738]

I know this has been mentioned before, but here are some photos of the worn out seat in Standard Class on the GWR Class 800's.
The foam padding has turned to powder (visible on floor in the first image) meaning you are sitting on a metal support bar that runs across, underneath it.
Result is, even a 20 minute journey is really uncomfortable, let alone a 3 hour journey. I have sat on park benches that are more comfortable.

I have e-mailed GWR customer services about this and they claim it's the first they have ever heard of it. ??

Does anyone know if/when the seat 'cushions' will be replaced. The seat up-rights are OK, but the bases have had it.

The last photo of the seat removed was one I took a while ago (opposite way around from the other two), as the locking mechanism was left open or possibly broken.

 

[800301]

There is an ongoing program to fix this issue, both GWR and Hitachi have been aware of it for some time and are looking at a redesign to help prevent this, recently GWR have been ordering in the region of 500 replacement bases a month to try and get on top of it

 

[J663738]

There is an ongoing program to fix this issue, both GWR and Hitachi have been aware of it for some time and are looking at a redesign to help prevent this, recently GWR have been ordering in the region of 500 replacement bases a month to try and get on top of it

Thanks for the information.

Just rang GWR customer services, they are still neither aware of any problems nor of any replacement programme. Customer operative did spend some time trying to find out.
I wish the information you have, would be also available to GWR customer facing staff so they can pass it on!

If as you say they are ordering 500 replacement seats a month, which sounds a lot but a rough fag packet calculation would suggest this will take 3 years to complete, assuming there is no lead time involved?
(57 trains in service with about 300 standard class seats in each 5 carriage train)

 

[43096]

There is an ongoing program to fix this issue, both GWR and Hitachi have been aware of it for some time and are looking at a redesign to help prevent this, recently GWR have been ordering in the region of 500 replacement bases a month to try and get on top of it

That programme is a sticking plaster, a bodge job. The only way to properly fix the seats issue is to rip them out and fit something that is fit for purpose.

 

[stuu]

There is an ongoing program to fix this issue, both GWR and Hitachi have been aware of it for some time and are looking at a redesign to help prevent this, recently GWR have been ordering in the region of 500 replacement bases a month to try and get on top of it

Hitachi own and maintain them, GWR would not be ordering anything for them

 

[Towers]

Hitachi own and maintain them, GWR would not be ordering anything for them

Who’s paying, though?!

 

[Clarence Yard]

Hitachi or the DfT via GWR.

 

[Towers]

Hitachi or the DfT via GWR.

Well, yes - but it’d be interesting to know which! One possibility accepts that the product is clearly of unacceptable quality, the other would be a business (via DfT) absorbing the substantial cost of a customer service improvement.

There is a third possibility, I suppose, which would be if the seat manufacturer had discreetly accepted that their product wasn’t up to it for some reason - which does, ultimately, seem to be the root cause here!

 

[vuzzeho]

There is an ongoing program to fix this issue, both GWR and Hitachi have been aware of it for some time and are looking at a redesign to help prevent this, recently GWR have been ordering in the region of 500 replacement bases a month to try and get on top of it

Any improvement in comfort?

(I say this even though I find them perfectly fine - at least on LNER's IETs)

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

Well, yes - but it’d be interesting to know which! One possibility accepts that the product is clearly of unacceptable quality, the other would be a business (via DfT) absorbing the substantial cost of a customer service improvement.

There is a third possibility, I suppose, which would be if the seat manufacturer had discreetly accepted that their product wasn’t up to it for some reason - which does, ultimately, seem to be the root cause here!

It's not that straightforward. Some of the seats are damaged as a result of passengers, some are just worn through age and would need replacement anyway, others are prematurely worn. The latter being Hitachi's issue.

The seats aren't going anywhere for at least another decade or so at least.

First class seats are more susceptible to this issue too.

 

[John R]

I travel on GWR IETs quite frequently and felt the support bar for the first time this week. Unfortunately both services were heavily delayed, one by 70 mins, the other by 45 mins, so I had plenty of opportunity to experience the problem.

 

[fgwrich]

Uh oh…. it seems that the normally pretty decent LNER is starting to suffer collapsed seat-itus as I found out this evening. Thankfully my journey was only from Fife into Edinburgh, but it was starting to be noticeable too.

All in all, it goes to show that the Fansia Sophia is frankly, a rubbish high intensity Intercity seat.

 

[Russel]

There is an ongoing program to fix this issue, both GWR and Hitachi have been aware of it for some time and are looking at a redesign to help prevent this, recently GWR have been ordering in the region of 500 replacement bases a month to try and get on top of it

It's positive that they are at least trying to find a solution.