TransPennine - Rolling Stock Seating

[CarlisleOPD74]

Travelled yesterday up to Glasgow. Truly appalled by the condition of the seats on our TPE service. Worn, threadbare and heavily marked. Cursory search on X this morning found plenty of justified complains about similar seat cushioning condition. Have TPE given up?

 

[CR165022]

Coincidentally, a TPE 802 was revealed with new seats this morning.

 

[driver9000]

It's well known that the seat covers on the 397s haven't stood up to heavy use and are in the process of being replaced as required but replacing the material en masse with moquette has been shelved for now. The 802s are getting fully recovered seats with moquette paid for I believe by Hitachi.

 

[dk1]

Coincidentally, a TPE 802 was revealed with new seats this morning.

And very smart it looks too.

 

[jh64]

Suppliers from North of England help transform TPE’s Nova 1 train seating | TransPennine Express News

Businesses from across the North are helping transform one of TransPennine Express’s fleet of trains with new distinctive seat covers.

mediacentre.tpexpress.co.uk

The refurbishment will see all 19 Nova 1 trains receive the new seating between July and the end of the year.

Inspired by the shard shapes featured in TPE’s logo and the exterior livery of the Nova 1 trains, the design complements the existing interiors while giving the fleet a fresh new look, while also supporting passenger comfort.

 

[YorksLad12]

Coincidentally, a TPE 802 was revealed with new seats this morning.

And very smart it looks too.

Huzzah! The 802s are looking scruffy. Would rather they’d gone for the leather look rather than cloth, but it’s a start.

 

[dk1]

Huzzah! The 802s are looking scruffy. Would rather they’d gone for the leather look rather than cloth, but it’s a start.

I personally prefer the leather effect just around the headrest. Everything else cloth.

 

[Fokx]

802204 is the refurbished set

Only the class 802 will be fitted with the new moquette and strengthened seat bases in both standard and first class.

 

[Class777]

Onboard 802204 now on a Liverpool service. Reminds me of Lumo! I also note the different colour grab handles?

 

[fgwrich]

I personally prefer the leather effect just around the headrest. Everything else cloth.

It’s a Hitachi thing on these - despite the same seat being used across the new 2019+ TPE fleets (and same design retrofitted to the 185s), Hitachi refused to allow it citing the leather headrest as a new seat and needing rigorous testing to their standards.

Also, the haunts of the GWR launch set LA16 will always remind me why I’d rather just have full leather or full Moquette.

Onboard 802204 now on a Liverpool service. Reminds me of Lumo! I also note the different colour grab handles?

I thought that when I saw the press release. It’s very Lumo / Chiltern-esq (the irony there being just as TPE replaces its seat covers Chiltern now ends up with a load of TPE).

 

[Ben Anslow]

Onboard 802204 now on a Liverpool service. Reminds me of Lumo! I also note the different colour grab handles?

Looks like a good improvement however what the comfort like any improvement?

 

[speedy1]

Onboard 802204 now on a Liverpool service. Reminds me of Lumo! I also note the different colour grab handles?

How’s the seat padding now? ie does it have some

 

[JD2168]

Myself mainly travelling on the 185’s if on TransPennine I have not found any issues with seating as seen above

 

[Spartacus]

How’s the seat padding now? ie does it have some

In fairness I've always found TPE's 802's seats more comfortable than LNER's units, though there have been a few just lately that I've been able to feel the bar through. The covers have definitely been getting very thin, or worse, in places too. I new hard-wearing moquette's well needed.

 

[speedy1]

In fairness I've always found TPE's 802's seats more comfortable than LNER's units, though there have been a few just lately that I've been able to feel the bar through. The covers have definitely been getting very thin, or worse, in places too. I new hard-wearing moquette's well needed.

It's personal I guess. I had a bad back recently for a few weeks and travelled on lner and tpe and it was the tpe 802 that punished me more for forgetting to sit down slowly

 

[Northerngirl]

Is there more padding around the head rest area, or had it just gone so flat that it had disappeared

 

[Class777]

Apologies for the delay in responding - at first, I found the seats to be slightly firm (definitely not hard but not soft) however they are significantly better than the existing seat padding. The padding feels better on the sides and headrest area. The bottom isn't as hard as the previous fabric - but I did find it to be sufficient for a journey from Leeds to Liverpool.

It definitely feels different but once you get used to them, they don't seem too bad. I'll have to ride another refurbed unit to give a final verdict though

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Aug 2026 ==

Looks like a good improvement however what the comfort like any improvement?

Definitely a welcome improvement once you have sat down and got used to them.

How’s the seat padding now? ie does it have some

Definitely not flat anymore!

Is there more padding around the head rest area, or had it just gone so flat that it had disappeared

It is not flat on the new seats from what I can see but I will have to ride another to confirm