Kentish Paul
Member
Those seats look similar to those on a 395 which I find fine. My journeys are only 40 mins max so not sure what they would be like on a longer GWR trip.
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GWR Class 800
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Looking at the image the stripes of "pink" seem to be tape (given that it is holding a wire up against the window), as such I wouldn't be surprised if there is due to be something other fitted over the two parallel pink lines.
I also wouldn't take too much stock of the internal colour scheme as I doubt that both operators will be having the same interior scheme.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The seats look quite nice to me. Yes, they're a drab colour, but I can't see them when I'm sitting in them if the train is busy. It's the grey panelling that looks a bit boring, particularly when coupled with clinical daytime lighting.
LexyBoy
Established Member
I can't tell whether the seats will be comfy just by looking. For me there's something not right about the backrests on GWR HSTs, but other seats that look similar are fine.
I definitely agree on the greyness though. Boring boring boring. And please god can there not be daylight lighting, it is by far the worst thing about the current trains. The lighting on the 395s is not particularly nice - it seems a bit grey in itself - but much better than the HSTs.
Are the GWR IEP sets not going to be decked out as the green HST?
I definitely agree on the greyness though. Boring boring boring. And please god can there not be daylight lighting, it is by far the worst thing about the current trains. The lighting on the 395s is not particularly nice - it seems a bit grey in itself - but much better than the HSTs.
Are the GWR IEP sets not going to be decked out as the green HST?
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Agreed 100%. There are so many nice, warm, welcoming things you can do with LEDs without turning trains into dentist's chairs or operating theatres. That said, daylight colour lighting at a very low background brightness can work - see the newish DMUs in Ireland. It works best if combined with more direct lighting using a warmer colour.
What is absolute worst is using cheap, low-quality LED lighting with a very narrow frequency band. The Chiltern LHCS has done this, and it just looks awful.
Daylight lighting also seems to be plaguing stations, with South West Trains particularly badly affected.
dubscottie
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The seats look awful for long distance travel.
It looks like sitting at the window seat wouldn't be much fun with the huge metal grill at your feet.
Did they borrow that from a Mk1 or are the class 800's steam heated??
It looks like sitting at the window seat wouldn't be much fun with the huge metal grill at your feet.
Did they borrow that from a Mk1 or are the class 800's steam heated??
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Most UK rolling stock has that kind of thing, but on better designed stock it has a flat top so you can rest your foot on top of it if you wish.
Mikey C
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At least the legroom looks decent!
Philip Phlopp
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It's narrower in real life than it looks in those photos. It's about the width of the arm rest at the window (something the current EC Mark 3 doesn't have in Standard) so underneath the seat base, there's nothing to encumber your legs/feet.
It will also mean the heating and ventilation will be much quieter than the designs on recent stock from Alstom and Siemens.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Desiros have floor level conduits as well, I usually put my foot up on them. It's usual on UK stock to have separate heating and cooling - heating is done by radiation/convection from a floor level conduit and cooling from above in some way.
Philip Phlopp
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Of course - IEP has roof mounted ventilation too, for Hitachi's own AC units.
Yeah, it looks suspiciously roomy!
I actually quite like it when it's designed like that.
What I was referring to was the lighter-coloured panelling along the line of the windows that was plain to see in the mock-up - see pictures in the story linked to below - but has disappeared in the picture posted above
http://www.railtechnologymagazine.c...og/iep-mock-up-highlights-modern-rail-design-
DarloRich
Veteran Member
In the early hours of All hallows eve, While waiting for the 1st train to Leeds. Passing through platform 5 was a SET unit which stopped for a moment. Noted that one of the blinds was partly up. Was able to take a quick shot of the seating, I have seen bus seats with more padding.
I cant wait until i have to sit in that gray uncomfortable tube for several hours. Despite what the kids on here think modern trains aren't comfortable. Those seats look awful. :roll:
uncomfortable! London - Newcastle/Edinburgh will be torture
Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
That picture makes it look as if the headrest is at such an angle that one will be sitting slightly bent forwards. I can only imagine that the seat designer holds a large number of shares in a number of chiropractic firms.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6187080.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6187080.stm
higthomas
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One thing that doesn't look great is the size of those seat back tables, they look tiny. I don't get why the more modern the train the smaller the seat back table. Where are we meant to put things were using?!
They look to be just the same size as those fitted on GWR HST seatbacks right now.
But then again I'm just having to go by what can be seen in a picture of less than fabulous quality, so can't be sure.
Just as those who seem to know all about the seats - despite never sitting in one - can't actually be sure whether they will actually find them comfortable or not. And if a I had a penny for every time one person says here that a particular type of seat is hateful, for another to pop up and say they love them, I'd be a rich man.
I do sometimes wonder what people expect. This is a train designed to carry several hundred people, which means compromises have to be made - such as not providing each passenger with their own favourite armchair and a handy adjacent coffee table to spread our their possessions on...
PS: I'm hardly a 'kid'.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
I have quite simple requirements: make me a modern train that is at least as comfortable for the passenger as the 40 year old train it replaces and I will be happy.
Not one new train meets that simple requirement.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Take a look at the Deutsche Bahn ICE. That.
asylumxl
Established Member
I think the majority of the people won't be fussed as long as they can get a seat.
I'm pleasantly surprised. The legroom looks great, and the seats look to be designed to support your back properly. Modern office chairs that are designed for people to sit for 12 hrs or more are made with a mesh base so as long as they are designed properly the thin base should be comfortable.
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Well considering the cost of these trains I hardly think it's unreasonable to expect passenger comfort to be high. They should be all singing and all dancing, all things to all people.
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Well considering the cost of these trains I hardly think it's unreasonable to expect passenger comfort to be high. They should be all singing and all dancing, all things to all people.
D365
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At this point I think anything could beat the EMT HSTs... Those low-back cushion seats are the bane of me.
My bold
Which one? You, me? I strongly suspect we have different demands. Having had spinal surgery I find most IC70 type seats absolutely awful for my back!
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I find InterCity 70 seats absolutely awful for any purpose. They are by far the worst InterCity seat on the network.
Let's see:-
1. Poor back support
2. Poor underthigh support
3. Table supports exactly where my knees go
4. Base too low
5. Back too low
6. Fixed armrests no good for non-skinny people and make access to table window seats difficult
They really are awful. Everything 2+2 and with armrests since them has been better in my view. Except the GNER East Coast single-piece cushions which give me backache because the base slopes down away from the back.
My favourite seat at present is the fGW very high backed one, with the ones used in the newer Southern Electrostars in second place.
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DarloRich
Veteran Member
they aren't great for the upper back. They are great for the bottom and legs. I assume by IC70 (?) you mean the old style seats in the EMT versions of the HST.
I find the seats on the VTEC 91's/HST to be really good. Supportive and comfortable for long periods. I find Voyager and Pendo seats to be awful, thin and uncomfortable.
I am not worried about the mesh - it is the part for your bottom that concerns me
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no padding at all - it is like sitting on a wooden bench.
I honestly don't know why anyone discusses seat comfort in absolutes. Seat comfort is almost completely subjective to the individual so what is comfortable to me could well be murderous to someone else. The IC70s (as fitted to HSTs and still found on EMT HSTs) in my mind aren't that great but I know to many others they're held in the highest of regard. I quite like 185 seats but other do not. And so on and so on and so on.
It's logical for people to comment on their feelings about the comfort of a train seat but to try and argue that one seat is more comfortable than another and that therefore someone else is wrong when it is a purely subjective issue? That seems like a complete waste of time to me.
It's logical for people to comment on their feelings about the comfort of a train seat but to try and argue that one seat is more comfortable than another and that therefore someone else is wrong when it is a purely subjective issue? That seems like a complete waste of time to me.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
I am happy to draw this debate to a conclusion - Clearly my view is correct
I knew someone would say that :roll:
And is the Deutsche Bahn ICE expected to deal with the kind of long-distance, high-volume commuting that exists in this country?
And just to be clear, I'm not talking about a place beginning with 'R' - I mean the likes of Bath, Swindon, Oxford, the Cotswolds and Vale of Pewsey.
I'm struggling to think of any ICE route where the traffic patterns in any way resemble what GWR's long-distance services are being asked to do in weekday peaks. Some of the planned Class 387 services, such as 12-car Swindon queue-busters, will help but in a lot of places the mix of being a long-distance business/leisure train and commuter service all in one will be the day-to-day lot of the 800s and 801s, same as it is for HSTs now, especially when the cost of keeping a roof over one's head in London continues to rise to ever more insane levels and people look for alternatives, thus fuelling yet more long-haul commutes.
While the extra space thanks to the German loading gauge is welcome, my impression of standard class on ICE was that it doesn't look or feel all that different to what is on offer on our 'express' rolling stock. Lots of airline seats, some seats next to wall panels and not all that many tables for four - and that also applies in first class.
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