Azuma seating

[williamn]

I challenge you travel from London to Abnerdeen or Inverness on a 800

I regularly do London to Aberdeen yes.

 

[thomalex]

Currently riding a bar for the next 2 hours up to Leeds on an Azuma, it’s horrendous.

Has there been any update from LNER if there’s a plan to replace these?

If not I seriously would consider offering cushions to sit on.

 

[GilfachFargoed]

Currently riding a bar for the next 2 hours up to Leeds on an Azuma, it’s horrendous.

Has there been any update from LNER if there’s a plan to replace these?

If not I seriously would consider offering cushions to sit on.

I find that they are uncomfortable if I slouch and have my bottom on the bar, but if I sit more upright with my bottom to the back of the seat base then they are far less of an issue. Clearly they shouldn't be this bad in any case.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Has there been any update from LNER if there’s a plan to replace these?

I do recall reading, though I forget where (might have been Rail or Modern Railways) that they indeed plan to replace the bases, though I don't think it's started yet.

 

[ChilliSauce]

I've not travelled 1st on LNER (Standard is expensive enough) but I suspect I wouldn't like them, they look like they'd press into the back of my neck. The soft ones on GWR seem a better idea.

The original headrests in 1st on LNER kept falling off. The head rest itself was quite heavy and only held in place by a strip of Velcro.

However they seem to have now all been replaced with a much smaller and lighter weight head rest that seems to stay in place and is in similar design to those on GwR and I have never found those to be a problem.

Actually I had a trip out on the MK5 stock running from Marylebone ..sitting in 1st and I came to the conclusion that the seats in 1st on LNER and GWR are in comparison quite good.

 

[route101]

TPE 802 and 397 seats are just as bad if not worse.

 

[takno]

The original headrests in 1st on LNER kept falling off. The head rest itself was quite heavy and only held in place by a strip of Velcro.

However they seem to have now all been replaced with a much smaller and lighter weight head rest that seems to stay in place and is in similar design to those on GwR and I have never found those to be a problem.

Actually I had a trip out on the MK5 stock running from Marylebone ..sitting in 1st and I came to the conclusion that the seats in 1st on LNER and GWR are in comparison quite good.

I'm not sure they were falling off so much as getting taken off, since there wasn't really any sitting position where they didn't get in the way. The new ones are much better.

 

[Haywain]

I'm not sure they were falling off so much as getting taken off,

Agreed, I saw this happen quite a few times.

 

[BRX]

I'm currently sat on a Southern 387 and the seat is not quite as bad as an Azuma but the base is somewhat collapsed and you can feel the metal bar beneath. It seems to run front to back rather than side to side.

 

[Mikey C]

I was on two Azumas this week, and on neither could you feel the metal bar, which was a relief.

 

[H F Stephens]

The original headrests in 1st on LNER kept falling off. The head rest itself was quite heavy and only held in place by a strip of Velcro.

However they seem to have now all been replaced with a much smaller and lighter weight head rest that seems to stay in place and is in similar design to those on GwR and I have never found those to be a problem.

Actually I had a trip out on the MK5 stock running from Marylebone ..sitting in 1st and I came to the conclusion that the seats in 1st on LNER and GWR are in comparison quite good.

The original headrests in First Class on LNER Azuma trains did not keep falling off.

They were the same profile, save the colour and embroidery, as those on GWR IETs.

On both LNER and GWR, the attachment is an oversewn patch of moquette, with a Velcro retainer at the base.

LNER replaced the original with much heavier, solid foam head rest pads, which many users found uncomfortable.

The method of attachment was not changed from the original, which was neither designed for nor capable of supporting the much heavier solid foam head rest pads.

When the complete unsuitability of these solid foam head rest pads was finally accepted, version three iterations were installed, being similar in shape, style and weight to the originals.

Some passengers seem to have been so accustomed to removing the solid foam head rest pads that, prior to sitting down, they rip off the Version Threes too.

The solid foam head rest pads, should their current whereabouts be wondered about, were tacitly ‘donated’ to anyone who cared to assist with their ‘disposal’ with an encouragement to make a compensatory donation to LNER’s house charity, the Campaign Against Living Miserably - CALM.

 

[physics34]

I do recall reading, though I forget where (might have been Rail or Modern Railways) that they indeed plan to replace the bases, though I don't think it's started yet.

LNER chief exec David Horne mentioned on x the other day that half the fleet have new bases... but ive no idea if they are actual better than the previous ones or just the same but just newer.

 

[Mikey C]

LNER chief exec David Horne mentioned on x the other day that half the fleet have new bases... but ive no idea if they are actual better than the previous ones or just the same but just newer.

The ones I sat on this week certainly felt like newer bases. I thought they were slightly thicker, but I wouldn't be 100% sure.

 

[DelW]

LNER chief exec David Horne mentioned on x the other day that half the fleet have new bases... but ive no idea if they are actual better than the previous ones or just the same but just newer.

That's interesting - if it's been accepted that LNER's seats need replacement bases, has the same been proposed for GWR's older seats?

Though I admit it's been a while since I've experienced a really bad GWR seat - they're still too hard and too flat to be comfortable, but I haven't had the metal bar treatment for some time. So maybe they are being dealt with.

 

[Intercity_225]

The 'East Coast Mainline' Facebook group has a post with a picture of a post from LNER on it, saying the following:

Thank you for sharing your feedback, Stephen. I'm sorry to hear that you don't find the seats on our Azuma trains comfortable. We will be refurbishing the seats on our Azuma trains in the near future. ^Josephine

 

[danbarjon]

The 'East Coast Mainline' Facebook group has a post with a picture of a post from LNER on it, saying the following:

Interesting, I wonder if they will go for the same seats as the new 897s coming in a few years to go for a uniformed look?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Interesting, I wonder if they will go for the same seats as the new 897s coming in a few years to go for a uniformed look?

The 897 uses the Sophia frame but an improved cushion, with which TfW seem to have met with relative success.

 

[danbarjon]

The 897 uses the Sophia frame but an improved cushion, with which TfW seem to have met with relative success.

Maybe we could be correct in the idea of the 897s seating, would also be understandable why they call it a refurbishment as it is the same seat frame.

 

[harz99]

The TPE 802 I rode from Liverpool to York yesterday was the most uncomfortable seating I've had for a long time, metal bar syndrome and collapsed padding for nearly 2.5 hours isn't conducive to my old bones, it was a relief to change to a 185 unit for the next hour to Thornaby...

 

[dk1]

The TPE 802 I rode from Liverpool to York yesterday was the most uncomfortable seating I've had for a long time, metal bar syndrome and collapsed padding for nearly 2.5 hours isn't conducive to my old bones, it was a relief to change to a 185 unit for the next hour to Thornaby...

Was it not possible to move to a different seat? I’m imagining not if later in the day not with Grand National & football traffic.

 

[harz99]

Was it not possible to move to a different seat? I’m imagining not if later in the day not with Grand National & football traffic.

Nope, Train was full out of Lime Street mid morning (1054) and anyway from what I could see they were all in a similar well worn state, what with stained and dirty carpets as well, the interiors aren't wearing at all well.

 

[takno]

Was it not possible to move to a different seat? I’m imagining not if later in the day not with Grand National & football traffic.

I tried 5 or 6 seats last time I got Transpennine, and they were all just as bad. That was about a year ago, so I imagine it's a fool's errand even trying now.

 

[FrontSideBus]

Safe to say the best is probably Avanti's 805/7? I really liked those seats when they fitted them to 390's.

 

[irish_rail]

Safe to say the best is probably Avanti's 805/7? I really liked those seats when they fitted them to 390's.

Yet the Pendolino new seat is the only seat in the country that gives me terrible back ache within 5 minutes of sitting on it. Also detest the silly "wings" that keep bashing my head. Seating is such a subjective thing.

 

[dk1]

I tried 5 or 6 seats last time I got Transpennine, and they were all just as bad. That was about a year ago, so I imagine it's a fool's errand even trying now.

Okay. Just never had a problem personally with any seat onboard 802s.

 

[GuyGibsonVC]

I got to sit in the new ‘Serneza’ seating in Standard and First the other week at a joint LNER - Network Rail Conference.

They are decent enough, although you can’t judge leg room without another set in front of you.

Interestingly, they did state in official communication that the Azuma refurbishment is going to scoped and funded in the first quarter of 2027.

 

[BRX]

Does that mean the current situation will continue for at least another year?

 

[GuyGibsonVC]

Does that mean the current situation will continue for at least another year?

I’d suggest so.

 

[BRX]

It so happens I've just booked seats on a Lumo service to edinburgh tomorrow, then scotrail on to Inverness, in preference to the daily LNER through train, driven mainly by a desire not to spend 8+ hours sitting on a metal bar.

 

[GilfachFargoed]

Yet the Pendolino new seat is the only seat in the country that gives me terrible back ache within 5 minutes of sitting on it. Also detest the silly "wings" that keep bashing my head. Seating is such a subjective thing.

It is very subjective, and I guess that it is problem, that on public transport it is possible to satisfy some of the people all the time etc...

My least favourite seats are probably the 'Southern spec' 2+2 Compin seats in the Electrostars - I have sat in the same type of seat on several SNCF and CFL fleets and they are very supportive and plush, but those on the 377s have cushions that are too hard and thin for me, resulting in the top of the seat base being slightly lower than elsewhere and hence the armrests relatively too high - and there's a lump at the front of the base that digs into the back of my thighs... ...the earlier 377/1s with the Connex interior seemed a lot better by comparison.