So what are you saying? It seems to me to be something along the lines of every journey up to two hours might as well be operated by a pretty bog-standard emu - which is not something that I think most passengers would agree with. Never mind the impact on journey times that being limited to running at 110mph would have to the likes of Bristol.
My point was far more simple than that - my phrasing was a bit messy - but basically I was disagreeing with your statement that a 2+3 configuration was an inner suburban seating configuration. I was making the point that there are countless outer-suburban services that use trains with a 2+3 seating configuration and have done for years.
As for other things mentioned above, I can agree with you to an extent. Some services that are operated with 2+3 configured trains should really have an intercity layout, such as the Portsmouth lines, but a 12-car EMU has more seating capacity than a 10-car intercity train, so several people would miss out on a seat. That is unless they start running 12-car intercity trains anytime soon (which they should really think about doing).
Class 387 trains do not have a 2+3 seating arrangement, they have 2+2 with armrests and tables, much like an intercity train, and so a journey on certain lines such as the Norwich one would not be made worse by running these trains. However I can obviously agree with you that 387's shouldn't do Bristol services as this is a 125mph line that should have 125mph trains (the GEML is not 125mph though, so a 387 wouldn't impact journey times).
Eh? They have a different shape but are the same? Some slight contradiction there, surely? Never mind that the seat pitch and legroom is also different. Or are you yet another of the people who knows what the seats in an IEP will be like to sit in, despite never having sat in one?
They are a different shape but they are the same basic style of seat, manufactured by Fanisa. They are basically the same but with square headrests instead of the weird ironing board shaped ones. This is what leads me to believe that they will be uncomfortable, as I whilst I haven't sat in an IEP, I have sat in the seat that the IEP uses, and I didn't find them particularly comfortable. My predictions could be wrong though, I'm fairly sure they won't be (given what has been said in some rail magazines press releases) but I might be.
Which might have some slight effect but most would be open while people get on and off the train.
In the same way that they are open on regular intercity trains I would think.
I doubt you will find a single word about GWML services in a Wessex route study. The Western one perhaps? I seem to recall discussion of lengthening 5-car IEPs to 6-car to create 12-car formations to meet demand from Swindon, but for reference purposes might you care to point out the relevant section of a document that runs to almost 300 pages?
I think
swt_passenger was referring to the use of 450s on the Portsmouth line.
The rest of your post I largely agree with. As I mentioned earlier, rather than cram more seats in at the expense of comfort, I think we should run longer 12-car intercity trains, and more frequently (difficult on current rail lines I know) and to other destinations on new lines.
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