Carriage features - which do you think are the most important?

[Chris M]

Whilst a toilet may seem needless on short trips of only a few minutes, they are required in my view for at least two reasons.
Firstly a ten minute journey might well involve a twenty minute at a station without toilets, and then another connecting train with a 20 minute journey time. Total time without toilet access is approaching an hour, more than that if the initial leg involved a ten minute walk to the station and a five minute wait.

The simple, obvious and correct answer to this is that all stations (that are served by trains without toilets) should have toilets. There is no size, weight or train maintenance penalty for a toilet at a station and given that toilets will have to be provided for staff anyway wont impact significantly on cleaning requirements.

Secondly, toilets are needed for breakdowns, delays, and strandings, Consider for example the recent incident at Lewisham in which large numbers of passengers were stranded for hours on trains without toilets. Some wet or soiled themselves as a result. Apart from the indignity of treating passengers thus, the train must have been in a very unpleasant state afterwards.
The new trains introduced in that area have no toilets, and on the older networker EMUs the toilets have been locked out of use.

The answer to this one is that people should not be stranded on trains for hours in commuter areas. The problem with the Lewisham strandings was not that the trains didn't have toilets but that people were not evacuated from the trains.

Finally, trains intended for only local use may venture onto longer routes at times of disruption. Toilets again needed.

We should not design our rolling stock around what may occasionally happen to a small percentage of the fleet on a small number of occasions during its life. We should optimise our rolling stock for the job they are intended to do, and we should build sufficient rolling stock that there isn't a shortage of them. Additionally in times of disruption (as at any other time) you will be able to use the toilets at stations.

 

[matacaster]

All

Trains with sufficient carriages to meet regular demand. Daft always sanction bids with virtually no or little growth and thus the production line is generally shut before the problem can be addressed or new pollution rules mean you can't buy same stock.

Blanket rules for new trains for emission standards are mad. The emissions from trains ought to be compared to those produced by air, sea, car and bus and equivalence sought. So the emissions from one freight loco ought to be compared to say 20 lorries and if currently less then left alone.

Short distance trains

Toilets (at least 2 and easily maintainable) shouldn't be allowed out without a working toilet.
A seat with a cushion not resembling a piece of solid hardwood - only criticism of Class 333 in fairness - otherwise excellent commuter trains.

On medium to long distance trains

Working toilets

Comfortable seats. Nearly all modern long distance stock has poor seats, being far too hard. Its somewhat surprising that train seat designers appear never to have sat in a car seat - perhaps if they had the might come up with something comparable for trains.
Ironically, the LNER (nee Virgin) first class leather seats are unduly wide and somewhat hard causing a normal person to slide around lost without lateral support. The designers appear to have used an over-enthusiastic user of maccyd's as a model. Doubtless there should be a few generously proportioned seats in first class, but these are ridiculous. A reclining mechanism that worked and was maintainable might be of advantage too.

Free wifi

Long distance

Decent hot meals as opposed to disgusting soggy, fatty microwaved bacon sandwiches etc, prefrably cooked in an oven. However, decent Curries, Risottos, Steak pies etc work well even in a microwave.

 

[gallafent]

Blanket rules for new trains for emission standards are mad. The emissions from trains ought to be compared to those produced by air, sea, car and bus and equivalence sought. So the emissions from one freight loco ought to be compared to say 20 lorries and if currently less then left alone.

Continuing to produce the current levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is not a sensible approach. Legislation to enforce lower emissions on new-build motive power is better than nothing, though still not enough, since we (in the advanced countries that have the capability) need to move very rapidly to zero (or, really, net-negative) greenhouse gas production.

 

[dcbwhaley]

Blinds or solar film on the windows so that I can read my newspaper comfortably when facing east on my morning commute in summer.

 

[Pigeon]

Continuing to produce the current levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is not a sensible approach. Legislation to enforce lower emissions on new-build motive power is better than nothing, though still not enough, since we (in the advanced countries that have the capability) need to move very rapidly to zero (or, really, net-negative) greenhouse gas production.

It isn't that that's the problem. The problem is EU regulatory limits coming into force regarding products of incomplete combustion, which were set many years ago based on figures basically pulled out of someone's arse blithely assuming that technology, being magic, could make the levels arbitrarily low no problem and the only reason they weren't doing it already was that there was no motivation. Surprise surprise real engineering isn't magic and the result is things like engines with two operating modes, one for passing tests which is no use for producing mechanical output and one for producing mechanical output which is no use for passing tests, which somehow ends up being a "scandal" instead of being accepted as the most likely expected outcome. Meanwhile the legislators still don't get the message and the already-unrealistically-low limits continue to ratchet down, resulting in more "scandal" about "illegal" pollution levels when in fact the levels are lower than they've been in everyone's lifetime and it's only the change in limits which has resulted in them suddenly being "illegal". In the absence of magic the only things the engineers can do to try and meet them are discharging a tank of pee into the exhaust and things of that nature, which take up more room than the engine itself does and won't fit on a train. And we can't even hope that at least one good thing might come out of the moronic decision to leave the EU in that we won't have to bother about these artificial limits any more, since thanks to a similarly moronic previous Tory government the railways no longer have their own in-house works to build stuff in.

If it was just a case of making the power unit produce less CO2 then that is easily done simply by installing a less powerful one, which thanks to the trend of increasing installed power having continued well beyond necessity there is plenty of room to do.

 

[higthomas]

For a long distance train:

1: Toilet
5: Disabled Access
10: Wifi
7: Charging Points
8 :Bike storage
2: Overhead Luggage rack
4: End of carriage Luggage rack (for larger suitcases)
3: Information Screens
9: Buffet Trolley
13: Onboard Entertainment Screen (NOT requiring Wifi)
12: Seat Reservations
11: Onboard information screen (i.e displaying all calling points and the final destination)
6: Seats with access to a table.

 

[HaggisBotherer]

The colour it's painted, obvs.

 

[pieguyrob]

A seat next to a window. I'm a man of simple tastes.

 

[EssexGonzo]

Air con and enough seats. That is it. Oh, and the air con needs to be set AT A TEMPERATURE SOMEWHAT LESS THAN TROPICAL, Greater Anglia. That applies to your refurbished 321s and 360s.

100% of my train use of a commute < 30 mins. Windows, wifi, buffets, window alignment are fripperies for a commute.

 

[Ken H]

Enough leg room for a 6'6" bloke

 

[duffield]

Enough leg room for a 6'6" bloke

Yes, I'm only 6'2" and there are quite a few seats which are seriously uncomfortable for me after 20 mins. It must be hell if you're 6'6".

 

[silverfoxcc]

Re Toilets.
I agree it should be mandatory for at least one toilet per two carriages.This is another case of tecnology going backwards
Air travel was Concorde ceasing without a replacement. Now its the 165 Reading to Paddington with toilets going and being replaced by a train with the inside resembling the intestine of a worm for Crossrail, which for me has no added benefits if i have to bail out and increase my journey time because somone decided toilets were not needed. My journey from Twyford to Liv St may be 10mins quicker, but if i have to wait 15mins for the next service?????
Anyway i wouldn't be surprised if after a few months they will be retro fitting toilets on the Crossrail trains once the drunks start using them to get back to Shenfield and Reading. Todays society readily pee in the street and sometimes worse, a train will be no different esp if they look open it as being the operators fault in not providing one in the first place. And i am not saying it will be treated by these types as they would possibly toilets treat their one at home Now if they had toilets on board limited stop services outside of zone 1.........

 

[ejstubbs]

High on my list would be considerate fellow passengers who know how to behave in a civilised way in spaces shared with other members of the public.

 

[Ken H]

Enough leg room for a 6'6" bloke

surely squeezing someone into a space without enough legroom can cause DVT?

 

[Pigeon]

Nah, that's caused by putting the loco at the back...

 

[Ken H]

Nah, that's caused by putting the loco at the back...

Buh dum -tushhh

 

[Mikey C]

Enough leg room for a 6'6" bloke

I'm 6'2 myself, but accept that there has to be a balance between seat numbers and legroom

The 376s for example to me have excessive legroom in the airline seats, due to the spacing and thin seat backs. There's still several inches of space in front of my knees, which seems wasteful on a commuter trains