Best 1st class?

[Mk1dreamer]

What would you say was the best 1st class you experienced? I always used 1st class when I had the chance, my favorite was the Mk3 1st class and I had to laugh at the class 390 "1st class" which was simply a sliding doorway shutting off 2 bench seats lol so what are your favourites and least favourites

 

[Western 52]

First class is good on the TfW Mk4 trains and excellent catering too if there's a chef on board.

 

[Mk1dreamer]

First class is good on the TfW Mk4 trains and excellent catering too if there's a chef on board.

I have never been that lucky but it's on my bucket list to have a meal on a train

 

[jfollows]

The Manchester Pullman, although the only time I travelled on it I wasn’t paying, I just bummed a table at the back with the guard.
Mark 2 & 3 were good. Mark 2d compartments especially.
The original 442 compartments were good too.

 

[Mk1dreamer]

The Manchester Pullman, although the only time I travelled on it I wasn’t paying, I just bummed a table at the back with the guard.
Mark 2 & 3 were good. Mark 2d compartments especially.
The original 442 compartments were good too.

Oh that's awesome lol I wished compartments was still a thing

 

[The exile]

Best first class ride I experienced, thanks to it being unexpected and for the price of a standard class ticket, was an aircon Mk2 (identity sadly lost in the mists of time) from Swansea to Craven Arms via the Central Wales line on a service train back in 1990 - though a declassified early Mk 2 compo on a foul evening from Newcastle to Edinburgh (on the stopper) wasn't bad either. I did once push the boat out and do a weeks' 1st class all-liner but remember very little of the coaches - it was the dull era after really decent stock had gone and before first-class freebies were a thing (though I do still have the GW comb from the complimentary vanity set off the Night Riviera!) - all other first class experiences have been thanks to those stickers in the window "for the use of...."

 

[eastwestdivide]

the class 390 "1st class" which was simply a sliding doorway shutting off 2 bench seats

390 typo for sthg else?

 

[Mk1dreamer]

Maybe 320 they were on the great eastern main line between ipswich and London Liverpool Street

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jul 2025 ==

Best first class ride I experienced, thanks to it being unexpected and for the price of a standard class ticket, was an aircon Mk2 (identity sadly lost in the mists of time) from Swansea to Craven Arms via the Central Wales line on a service train back in 1990 - though a declassified early Mk 2 compo on a foul evening from Newcastle to Edinburgh (on the stopper) wasn't bad either. I did once push the boat out and do a weeks' 1st class all-liner but remember very little of the coaches - it was the dull era after really decent stock had gone and before first-class freebies were a thing (though I do still have the GW comb from the complimentary vanity set off the Night Riviera!) - all other first class experiences have been thanks to those stickers in the window "for the use of...."

The mk2 always looked the most comfortable

 

[fgwrich]

Oh the 442 First Class compartments, now that takes me back.

However, my vote will still sit with the First Great Western / Great Western Railway / East Midlands Trains / ScotRail HST first class. Just fantastic (even if those seats are controversial to some!). And an experience on the GW Pullman was fanatic in those days. Whilst the food and staff remain excellent, it lacks the atmosphere now.

And yes, I have a Seat, Table and crockery at home!

(Photos are of the luxurious GWR, ScotRail and East Midlands Trains HST first class, table and Pullman crockery)

 

[Mk1dreamer]

What is the food like? Not worried about the price but actual taste and quality

 

[fgwrich]

What is the food like? Not worried about the price but actual taste and quality

Excellent. Where else can you find as much freshly cooked high quality produce cooked on a day to day service train (LNER is good but I feel the GWR Pullman pips it). There’s a number of threads on here, usually in trips and reviews I believe, of recent trips on it.

Staff are always welcoming and friendly too. They are passionate about it and it shows!

 

[Bald Rick]

Currently it‘s the Avanti 390s, when heading north.

 

[Mk1dreamer]

Never had a chanfe to ride one

 

[43096]

SBB EuroCity stock, particularly the panoramic version. Fabulous vehicles with the best first class seats ever designed.

 

[Trackman]

390 typo for something else?

Puzzling me too.

 

[hexagon789]

Never had a chanfe to ride one

In which case what did the 390 bit in your opening post refer to out of curiosity?

 

[Mk1dreamer]

I think class 320 the ones on the great eastern main line

 

[meld3]

HST 1st class on either GWR or LNER was unbeatable.
Deep leather seats and complimentary catering on a KX-Aberdeen or Padd-Penz for the sleeper back takes some beating for a 24-hr day out.

 

[Class15]

I think class 320 the ones on the great eastern main line

Do you mean class 321 or 322?

 

[Harpo]

The most comfortable first class seat I’ve used in the UK was bizarrely on a Central Trains 170. It was a declassified ex-MML unit.

Nicest first class generally for me was
ECML mk4s. I loved their ambience and relaxed service but it’s over a decade since I was a semi-regular.

Worst IC first class for me was the FGW leather-seated HSTs. They were cold, hard and too high. No warmth or ‘give’ to them at all.

Best first class currently has to be the TfW mk4s. Ian Walmsley’s piece in the current Modern Railways sums up beautifully why they are so good as well as touching on how UK passenger vehicles have become so poor.

As for what you get in FC, TfW again has it spot-on for me while Avanti’s multi-mithering airline style of drip-feed ordering and service, where stuff arrives in their chosen order of delivery, just annoys the hell out of me.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Maybe 320 they were on the great eastern main line between ipswich and London Liverpool Street

Do you mean Class 309? They had first class compartments with bench seating, as you've suggested, and although termed "Clacton Express" units did work to Ipswich in the 1980s and 1990s.

Image credit: Railadvent, image of first class "bench" seating compartment in preserved 309624

 

[Class15]

Do you mean Class 309? They had first class compartments with bench seating, as you've suggested, and although termed "Clacton Express" units did work to Ipswich in the 1980s and 1990s.

Image credit: Railadvent, image of first class "bench" seating compartment in preserved 309624

The colour of the seats gives off London Overground vibes

 

[Royston Vasey]

Latter day GWR HST First Class was a stunning refurbishment and I have heard great things about the Pullman dining, as above.

Current services, I would definitely say the TfW Mk 4 first class, when it is properly catered, looks to be the best of the lot. I have been unlucky that it was subbed for DMUs the first time and it had a reduced catering offering the second time I tried to avail of it!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2025 ==

The colour of the seats gives off London Overground vibes

That was the 1970s for you! What goes around comes around!

 

[Harpo]

The colour of the seats gives off London Overground vibes

You could hide in plain sight in a District moquette onesie. (I’m sure they must sell them at the museum? )

 

[Mk1dreamer]

BR Class 321 is what I'm thinking of lol had to Google it but I remember the tiny little 1st class section where it was no different but has a door separating it from normal Class

 

[jfollows]

BR Class 321 is what I'm thinking of lol had to Google it but I remember the tiny little 1st class section where it was no different but has a door separating it from normal Class

That’s so common with today’s rolling stock, the 350s were probably more comfortable in standard class, also I’ve been on a Thameslink service from Gatwick to Saint Pancras which was similarly rubbish back in 2015.

Today they might be less busy or have some snob value but otherwise not worth it. And then the operators discontinue first class because it’s not being used, no surprise there.

 

[thejuggler]

HST in the 80s. If the service was busy I used to sometimes pay the weekend first supplement of £5.

Seats were like armchairs and so comfortable. My last trip in HST first class was during the final days of 125s on the MML. ECML was closed and we had to take a service from St Pancras. The units were tired and the trip took a lot longer, but the comfy seat was compensation.

Class 92 sets aren't bad, but leather isn't the best as you slide down the seat.

 

[Brubulus]

MK3 and MK4 first class has to be the best. The 80x first class is sadly much worse. Something to do with fire regulations that apply for seats on new trains, but not retrofits. Or it's just an excuse for DfT cost cutting.

 

[Mk1dreamer]

That’s so common with today’s rolling stock, the 350s were probably more comfortable in standard class, also I’ve been on a Thameslink service from Gatwick to Saint Pancras which was similarly rubbish back in 2015.

Today they might be less busy or have some snob value but otherwise not worth it. And then the operators discontinue first class because it’s not being used, no surprise there.

I am honestly not snobbish it's just with anxiety I prefer the quiet and a chance to read in peace to ground myself and due to my height (6ft 11) and chronic pain I need the extra space lol

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2025 ==

MK3 and MK4 first class has to be the best. The 80x first class is sadly much worse. Something to do with fire regulations that apply for seats on new trains, but not retrofits. Or it's just an excuse for DfT cost cutting.

I enjoyed the Mk3 1st class many times I seen pictures on Google of Mk2 1st class and wow it looks so superior to any train videos on YouTube I watch now days

 

[Skie]

Best 1st class experience I had was a Virgin service from Wigwam to Glasgow. The food was great (and they came round twice as the crew changeover messed something up) and the free alcohol wasn’t bad either. And the views as you tilt through the hills