Now- 5 coach voyager DMU, no leg room,stuffed in like sardines listening to power units squeal & randomly rattle about. No real luggage space for bikes or anything bigish.Stinks of chemical's & human faeces. Trim quality that would make a 1980's skoda owner appalled. Tilt fitted to induce vomiting & nausea to a lot of people.
The main flaw with Voyagers is the lack of seating IMO. 4/5 cars usn't enough and, whilst it's not bad for a more frequent service, you needed the longer trains to cope with busier services. Regarding luggage, I frequently travel with an extended bass clarinet, which takes a lot of room, and Voyagers can handle them not badly when they're quiet, but I could imagine a busy train being particularly... em... hellish. But they're fine for me.
I think Voyagers are comfy, though. And I feel they have a lot of leg room. Maybe not as much as their forerunners, but I think they're well designed from that perspective. Remember, you could have 158s from Dundee to Penzance
(Not that I dislike 158s, they're just not comfy enough for that).
Tilt; I've only experienced limited tilt on Voyagers, but it makes the hourney more comfortable for me personally. I feel as though I'm not being "pulled" around the corner as much as being "gently carried" (I know this sounds like complete b0ll0cks, just bear with me
)when the tilt's on.
Let's rememember that Voyagers and Pendos have revolutionised WCML travel, so let's be greatful for reduced journey times at least.
Personally, I prefer the HST. Walking from Voyager to HST makes you realise that Voyagers aren't great for their job, but they do do quite well given their limitations.
However, I have yet to smell this famous "faecal matter odour". Working with incontinent elderly people does make it less noticable in general, but I'm sure I'd notice it in an enclosed environment. Then again, I'm always in Coach D (without a toilet), so that might make a difference?
but 221s? Uncool? Come on! I rather like them.