XC Voyager Refurbishment

[Mogz]

On a 4 car refurbished unit now outside Reading. Still packed and standing as usual.

More carriages still needed.

Refurbishment does nothing for overcrowding.

Oh, and the new seats are actually LESS comfortable than the ones they replaced.

The en****tification of everything continues…

 

[Russel]

On a 4 car refurbished unit now outside Reading. Still packed and standing as usual.

More carriages still needed.

Refurbishment does nothing for overcrowding.

Oh, and the new seats are actually LESS comfortable than the ones they replaced.

The en****tification of everything continues…

To be fair, the refurbishment wasn't intended to do anything about capacity and no one claimed it was.

Regarding seats, comfort is subjective, I like them.

 

[sabanda]

006 had its first outing post-refurb today on 1O04.

 

[Thunderer]

So far I have the refurbished sets (and back out working for XC) as :-
220001
220006
220021
220023
220025
220027
220028
220033

8 units - Is that correct?
What Units are currently at Derby undergoing the refurbishment?
I make that just over 23% of the 220 fleet - not bad going.
Is there any news from the DFT/XC about the acquisition of 221101-221106?

 

[ValentaFan1974]

Units currently in works for refurb:

220007
220008
220016

No word on 221101-106 acquisition….

 

[87031]

On a 4 car refurbished unit now outside Reading. Still packed and standing as usual.

More carriages still needed.

Refurbishment does nothing for overcrowding.

Oh, and the new seats are actually LESS comfortable than the ones they replaced.

The en****tification of everything continues…

Have been on two refurbished units now , found the standard class seat more comfortable than the first class which i was on today, older first class far superior in terms of padding and amount of recline.

 

[Ash Bridge]

Have been on two refurbished units now , found the standard class seat more comfortable than the first class which i was on today, older first class far superior in terms of padding and amount of recline.

The original first class seating on Voyagers was up there with the best in my humble opinion, they managed to refurbish and retain the identical seats fitted in the Pendolino it’s a shame they didn’t follow suit on this XC refurbishment.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The original first class seating on Voyagers was up there with the best in my humble opinion, they managed to refurbish and retain the identical seats fitted in the Pendolino it’s a shame they didn’t follow suit on this XC refurbishment.

Seats are subjective but I hate what they did to those on Avanti, the hard headrest protrudes and pushes into my shoulders. A FISA LEAN wide version isn't luxury but I suspect I will prefer it when I eventually get a go.

 

[Thunderer]

Units currently in works for refurb:

220007
220008
220016

No word on 221101-106 acquisition….

Thank you

 

[Ash Bridge]

Seats are subjective but I hate what they did to those on Avanti, the hard headrest protrudes and pushes into my shoulders. A FISA LEAN wide version isn't luxury but I suspect I will prefer it when I eventually get a go.

I find both original or refurb Avanti versions just fine but as you say it’s purely subjective, can’t comment personally yet on new XC 1st class but heading to Cornwall for a holiday in July so there will hopefully be a fair chance to sample by that point in time?

 

[87031]

I find both original or refurb Avanti versions just fine but as you say it’s purely subjective, can’t comment personally yet on new XC 1st class but heading to Cornwall for a holiday in July so there will hopefully be a fair chance to sample by that point in time?

Endured it from Plymouth to Birmingham yesterday and couldn’t believe how firm the base was in comparison to the new standard class seats. Thankfully it was a seat frog upgrade and not full fare. The other issue is the small amount of recline and the depth of the seat is smaller than the old seat as well.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Endured it from Plymouth to Birmingham yesterday and couldn’t believe how firm the base was in comparison to the new standard class seats.

It's the same seat, just the wider version with bigger armrests.

 

[lrbvoyager]

Is it not the same style seat as the first class implemented on avanti’s 805 807 Evero units?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is it not the same style seat as the first class implemented on avanti’s 805 807 Evero units?

Pretty much yes, the FISA LEAN.

 

[The_Train]

On a 4 car refurbished unit now outside Reading. Still packed and standing as usual.

More carriages still needed.

Refurbishment does nothing for overcrowding.

Oh, and the new seats are actually LESS comfortable than the ones they replaced.

The en****tification of everything continues…

I had my first refurb unit on my trip back from Bournemouth after the Swanage gala. Thankfully I upgraded to first because it was a single 4 car unit and we were only 30 seconds outside of Bournemouth when the TM came into first to advise us that she may have to declassify further into the journey due to how busy the service was (great service from the TM to advise of this by the way). But it really does reflect on how unfit for purpose these units truly are!

In terms of the refurb. I agree that the seats are less comfortable than the ones they replaced, however they are by no means the worst when it comes to comparing to seats in other newer units.

 

[978wta]

I’m assuming XC will become GBR once the franchise ends, so I’m wondering why they are not painting them in the GBR livery while going through the refurb?

 

[Trainman40083]

I’m assuming XC will become GBR once the franchise ends, so I’m wondering why they are not painting them in the GBR livery while going through the refurb?

Probably because the refurbishment contract was let to be painted as they are. Would they want to say Cross Country was GBR, when it wasn't?

 

[fgwrich]

Probably because the refurbishment contract was let to be painted as they are. Would they want to say Cross Country was GBR, when it wasn't?

And because XC still has another year on the management contract. Why would they be reliveried into an organisation that we know housing exactly found its feet yet.

And god, if people dislike the new XC and GBR liveries enough enough already on a Voyager and Electrostar, just imagine how awful it’ll look applied to the 220 & 221s.

 

[takno]

I’m assuming XC will become GBR once the franchise ends, so I’m wondering why they are not painting them in the GBR livery while going through the refurb?

If you go back a few pages this was discussed to death. They aren't GBR yet, the paint was probably all specced out at least 2 years ago, and the GBR livery can easily be vinyled over the current paint job.

Moreover, there's no indication that GBR will actually use the mess of a livery that DfT knocked up for their press release. The units need repainting now, not when GBR comes into existence and develops an actual policy on liveries.

 

[ValentaFan1974]

The first units being refurbished are having proper paint jobs on them. As the refurbishment process continues I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they went to vinyls to make it easier to rebrand at a later date…

 

[43096]

The first units being refurbished are having proper paint jobs on them. As the refurbishment process continues I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they went to vinyls to make it easier to rebrand at a later date…

They still need painting - they haven’t been painted since new. As I keep saying paint is primarily there to protect the bodyshell.

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

The first units being refurbished are having proper paint jobs on them. As the refurbishment process continues I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they went to vinyls to make it easier to rebrand at a later date…

I’m not sure they’d be able to get away without painting them given the fact they’re still wearing their original paint. Best case scenario could change later to something like an all white paint job, with a wrap then on that.

 

[Trainman40083]

I’m not sure they’d be able to get away without painting them given the fact they’re still wearing their original paint. Best case scenario could change later to something like an all white paint job, with a wrap then on that.

I saw two Cross Country Voyagers, side by side at Stafford yesterday. The front end yellow on each, seemed a different shade. But one thing they had in common was you could see where the Virgin triangular plate used to be on the front .

 

[mmh]

Seats are subjective but I hate what they did to those on Avanti, the hard headrest protrudes and pushes into my shoulders. A FISA LEAN wide version isn't luxury but I suspect I will prefer it when I eventually get a go.

The TfW standard plus seat is quite nice, as modern first class seats go (I prefer an old school armchair though like the original Pendolino/Voyager one, or even the mk3 first class seat Virgin used until they were scrapped.

Is the TfW seat a FISA?

 

[Gordonman]

Appears to have been a unit swap at Litchurch Lane today.

20302 20311 220020 7D26 Lit - Barton
220013 5D94 Barton - Lit

 

[CR165022]

Appears to have been a unit swap at Litchurch Lane today.

20302 20311 220020 7D26 Lit - Barton
220013 5D94 Barton - Lit

Since when was 220020 there?

 

[sabanda]

Since when was 220020 there?

It wasn’t. By my reckoning it should be 008 which has been there since April 25th.

 

[978wta]

I saw two Cross Country Voyagers, side by side at Stafford yesterday. The front end yellow on each, seemed a different shade. But one thing they had in common was you could see where the Virgin triangular plate used to be on the front .

The ex Avanti sets have a lighter yellow end compared to the native XC sets.

 

[Trainman40083]

The ex Avanti sets have a lighter yellow end compared to the native XC sets.

In the good old days of British Rail I thought they were all the same colour pantone.

 

[rower40]

I commute York to Derby and back once a week. So far, I’ve been on refurbed units 3 times.
When will the refurbished units outnumber the non-refurbed ones? I.e. when will it be more likely that I’ll be on a new one?
(Apologies if this is already answered somewhere in the prior 70 pages.)