DaFT says no more Pendolinos :(

[gingerheid]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/09/transport

*goes off to see what the forum guidelines on bad language are*

 

[87015]

Good. Why should Virgin get MORE taxpayers money exactly? If they want the extra units, they should pay. Same goes for FGW et al before someone accuses me of just being anti-Pendo. There still crap though :x

 

[gingerheid]

If you were Virgin why would you pay for 100 vehicles at this stage? One short delay and they wouldn't even get to see them before the franchise was up for renewal.

 

[Guinness]

Who loses? The passenger, so business as usual again. :roll:

 

[me123]

I think they'd be put to good use, but the money could be used better elsewhere. HST2, for example.

 

[gordonthemoron]

It is possible that Virgin are overstating the capacity problem, especially considering that they will be increasing capacity by running more trains shortly

 

[87015]

If you were Virgin why would you pay for 100 vehicles at this stage? One short delay and they wouldn't even get to see them before the franchise was up for renewal.

No, thats the shambles of our ever so excellent privatised railway system. Virgin should have ordered the right number of proper length trains in the first place, even withstanding Railtrack/WCRM fiasco, the Pendos have never had enough seats, and those that do exist are IMO substandard in standard class.

 

[devon_metro]

Wouldn't expect anything less from the DafT tbh.

 

[Metroland]

The crappy franchise system for you, short franchises where large corporations don't want to pay for the basics and become the biggest social security scroungers in the country.

Not the only ones though: The Nuclear industry is looking for £76bn worth of handouts, Airbus wants more money, Supermarkets pay the minimum wage and gets the tax payer to to top up employees wages (indirect subsidy), they benefit from large EU farm subsidies (more indirect subsidy), they benefit from government built road networks to service their premises, especially the trucks that don't pay their way when you take all costs into account (more indirect subsidy), then there's the airline industry with it's tax free fuel and duty free products, the car industry with it's development grants, the fossil fuel industry, numerous banks and large businesses running call centres in development areas, large banks running off-shore accounts and the list goes on and on.

 

[Kneedown]

Whilst i'm of the opinion that the more carriages on trains the better, i can't help but smile at Richard Branson getting his face slapped. I can't stand the bloke. Notice how the decision hits the headlines because it concerns London and Manchester, but other TOC's have been suffering overcrowding problems for just as long, if not longer, and the media didn't bat an eyelid>

 

[37412]

There still crap though :x

Aye, replaced premier traction!

 

[kvbham]

Aye, replaced premier traction!

Stop Pendo Bashing - Pendolino's are excellent trains which I use everyday - far more comfortable than any MK3 and although there overcrowding issues some days.

Internally it is very nice too.... I would much rather be on a Pendolino than a London Midland Desiro or Virgin MK3.

 

[87015]

Stop Pendo Bashing - Pendolino's are excellent trains which I use everyday - far more comfortable than any MK3 and although there overcrowding issues some days.

Internally it is very nice too.... I would much rather be on a Pendolino than a London Midland Desiro or Virgin MK3.

Your choice, but doesn't mean me or anyone else has to agree, much like I won't abuse anyone that does then Pendos are good (can't promise I wont make the odd comment mind!!)

I think a 350 is far better internally, nice and airy and plenty of forward facing seats WITH A DECENT VIEW!!!

 

[richa2002]

Stop Pendo Bashing - Pendolino's are excellent trains which I use everyday - far more comfortable than any MK3 and although there overcrowding issues some days.

Internally it is very nice too.... I would much rather be on a Pendolino than a London Midland Desiro or Virgin MK3.

A pendo more comfortable than a Mk3?! Blimey.

 

[Tom]

A pendo more comfortable than a Mk3?! Blimey.

I find a Pendo more comfortable than one of FGWs refurbished Mk3s.

 

[ChampsRacing]

I have to agree with the comfort of the pendos, but i also agree that i prefer the view you get out of a mk3 coach.

 

[gingerheid]

I'd be quite neutral about the Pendos if the seats were in the right places and they didn't stink of ****. (Or has that been fixed now?)

I see the word filter got me I meant that in the literal sense of the word; not in any other way

 

[richa2002]

I find a Pendo more comfortable than one of FGWs refurbished Mk3s.

Anything is more comfortable than an FGW Mk3 .

 

[me123]

I've been on Voyagers, which I've heard are better for seat-window alignment than Pendos, and they're pretty atrocious (worst feature of the Voyagers IMO, but I've never smelled the faeces), so I can only imagine what the 390's like in that respect.

Personally, I'd rather they extended Voyagers, but I know it ain't gonna happen, mostly because they've closed production

 

[djw1981]

Does your nose work?????? Sit at the end of a voyager Carriage from EDB-Motherwell..........., or on a truly crowded one, sit in the end vestibules.

 

[kvbham]

Voyagers are worst for smell ... I haven't smelt it on Pendolino's lately for a long time - [unless something fails] - but in Voyagers they don't seem to have solved the problem especially on CrossCountry.

 

[Mintona]

Adding extra Pendolino cars is surely common sense? Having an extra 2 carriages per set will add up 100 more seats or thereabouts to each train! Much larger capacity; I've had to sit in a vestibule when I had a reserved seat from Crewe to Preston!
The only problems I find with Pendolinos are; tiny windows, but they're not too bad, and the legroom. Being tall, I need plenty of it, but Pendolinos aren't particularly forgiving. So if there was a little extra legroom in the new carriages (were they to be built) I would find them very good.

 

[332 > 444]

Ive never smelt doo-doo on the Pendos, only been on a Voyager once, so cant comment.

 

[Gizmogle]

Voyagers tend to pong a little. I've not noticed it on a Pendo for quite a while though.

I heard something about Pendo windows being small so that people didn't get motion sickness from the tilt? But then if that were true, surely Super Voyagers have the problem?

More Pendos would be a good idea. Especially as they're stuck using the 90 at the moment. (Not that there's anything wrong with the 90) Maybe they could get something a little more suited to the stopping services and save the Pendos for the more express services.

 

[Juniper Driver]

Ive never smelt doo-doo on the Pendos, only been on a Voyager once, so cant comment.

I have.It's revolting.

 

[schmoo_smith]

FGW Mk3 Refurb = Rubbish. To bright lights, looking out the windows at night is like looking into a mirror, uncomfy seats, lacks of tables, crap toilets, crap colours, only good thing is the little extension bits for laptops that pull out on the pull down tables.

I like the small windows on the Pendo but I've only ever seen it from the outside, they give it a very long sleek look, in the same way long small windows in a does, could we call this a sports train?

 

[37412]

Stop Pendo Bashing - Pendolino's are excellent trains which I use everyday - far more comfortable than any MK3 and although there overcrowding issues some days.

Internally it is very nice too.... I would much rather be on a Pendolino than a London Midland Desiro or Virgin MK3.

I take it your not one for looking out the window then......

More comfortable than a Mk3, do you take cushions with you

I refuse to travel down to London on one, have to go via EMT

 

[me123]

Does your nose work?????? Sit at the end of a voyager Carriage from EDB-Motherwell..........., or on a truly crowded one, sit in the end vestibules.

Well, I usually sit in the middle and maybe I've been lucky with the particular trains.

 

[87015]

I refuse to travel down to London on one, have to go via EMT

Not the Dodd branchline
Should be picking your 321 operated services for some top unit thrash
IMO a 350 is a far more comfortable way to travel than a pendojunk, but I *may* be slightly biast

 

[37412]

Not the Dodd branchline

No that idiot is on the ECMl fly paper i'm told (HT 86), still hasn't stopped him getting a booking on the Buffer Puffer though

Why would he be doing MML though, I thought his machine 43099 was a Nat ex PC :? Now what was his quote about 99, oh thats it '43099 is a sexy powercar'. The lad needs help 8)