I get the feeling Chiltern has blown the budget on the lease and now can’t afford to change the interior to how they’d like it.
The entire mk5A fleet was £300m for 12 years (13 sets). All the class 379s (30 sets, or 15 dual unit sets) were £50m for 4 years, we can extrapolate to £150m for 12 years.
It’s a shame, with a reasonably high density reseat they could be decent trains. ~80 seats per carriage doesn’t seem too far fetched and would get them up to 400 seats per set.
In the current configuration (261 standard, 30 first) they have less standard seats than a 4 car 168 (272 all standard).
The high quantity of table seats is nice but I’d rather have a seat.
Are the 168s still "Clubman Class" and a cut above a usual Standard interior? If so, it could be that they were worried that downgrading the service to Standard only might put some passengers off. Plus, keeping the Mk5As as is will be cheaper than refitting them, and will allow them to get the trains into service quicker.
The 168s are standard class. “Clubman class” is marketing to differentiate them from the 165s.
The 168s are good but not exceptional, I’d put them at the same quality as the refurbished 350s.
They're certainly more comfortable than Mk5 Standard. Better seats and full window alignment, though still 2+2.
It wouldn't take them long to replace the seats - the issue is more likely to be that there is no chance of DfT funding this.
Tbh new cushions and the seats would be alright. The bigger concern is the low capacity seat layout.
www.chilternrailways.co.uk
