Having followed the locked class 800 thread with interest I was looking forward to my first ride today between St Erth and Plymouth, though with a little trepidation.
We rode in one of the motored coaches of a 9 car class 802 and I was immediately struck by the rapid acceleration from stations, like an EMU really. The train gained one or two minutes on the schedule between all of the stops so I would say there is scope to knock at least ten minutes off the Penzance-Plymouth schedule, by contrast the 158 on the return journey was losing time between stops. Also, it was the quietist underfloor engined train I have ever ridden on, with just a subdued hum and next to no discernible vibration at all. So all good then?
The elephant in the room, and almost discussed to death on here, is the seats. They are truly TERRIBLE. Too upright, no lumber support, far too hard and the headrest area was below the level of my shoulders forcing me to hunch forwards. One of the most uncomfortable rail journeys I have ever had.
The train has the scope to be an excellent servant for the next decades providing the reliability can be sorted, which I am sure it will be. It is bordering on a tragedy that it has been encumbered with such poor seats. This is the main interface between the passenger and the train and should be so much better. The comfort of the 158 on the return journey was far superior and that is a real shame.
We rode in one of the motored coaches of a 9 car class 802 and I was immediately struck by the rapid acceleration from stations, like an EMU really. The train gained one or two minutes on the schedule between all of the stops so I would say there is scope to knock at least ten minutes off the Penzance-Plymouth schedule, by contrast the 158 on the return journey was losing time between stops. Also, it was the quietist underfloor engined train I have ever ridden on, with just a subdued hum and next to no discernible vibration at all. So all good then?
The elephant in the room, and almost discussed to death on here, is the seats. They are truly TERRIBLE. Too upright, no lumber support, far too hard and the headrest area was below the level of my shoulders forcing me to hunch forwards. One of the most uncomfortable rail journeys I have ever had.
The train has the scope to be an excellent servant for the next decades providing the reliability can be sorted, which I am sure it will be. It is bordering on a tragedy that it has been encumbered with such poor seats. This is the main interface between the passenger and the train and should be so much better. The comfort of the 158 on the return journey was far superior and that is a real shame.