The ergonomics would have been scrutinised by all parties at design stage, so not solely a Siemens thing I would have thought.
That's the best laugh I've had in ages. Thank you.
Our local union H&S rep went to Derby to look at the Cl379 cab layout prior to the first ones being delivered and was not best pleased. He reported to me that no H&S rep had ever passed the Electrostar cab, but as they'd been building them for so long by this point there was nothing anyone could do about them by this point. These had a flip-down cupholder which was not fit for purpose, being too flimsy and not in a naturally comfortable place. The only alternative was in the port-hole window, but the base of that sloped very gently, so you would be showered in the beverage of your choice without warning.
Voyager cabs were meant to have been designed with driver's input, but they are an ergonomic mess. The wiper controls are out of reach, the AWS reset not in the driver's line of sight (although the similar yellow mushroom for the emergency brake override is) and the door release buttons are at a cack-handed angle. The cupholders in these are at least reasonably sensibly located, but only good enough to hold the paper cups out of the galley. Any tall beaker-style cups are just not secure and will topple over and fall out.
Even assuming we're asked there's no guarantee that we'll be listened to. It seems that operational necessity trumps operator convenience every time.
