XC Voyager Refurbishment

[Russel]

I’ll answer this one for myself. I hadn’t done that, but now I know it exists then I might just do that. XC just seems to be first in line for comments as there is so much that needs commenting on!

Reality is, all we've got is an initial concept livery design, it will almost certainly be altered before any paint is ordered and trains need painting now as part of routine overhaul and maintenance, putting them into a base livery may have some merit, but that is assuming any future livery is set in stone.

This refurb has probably been planned with supplies ordered before the GBR branding was conceived.

XC Have more than their fare share of faults, but the last few posts go to show how much people jump on the bandwagon when it comes to criticizing XC while ignoring other TOC's that are doing exactly the same.

 

[takno]

But GBR is the DfT isn’t it?

GBR is in development, but it's clearly being built up by people from train operators and Network Rail more than the DfT. I'd expect the people from the train operators to be more influential on the commercial side, and frankly they will decide what GBR needs in terms of a national livery policy, without feeling constrained by the slightly absurd crayonings of the DfT.

Personally I think they won't end up with a national livery at all, and if they do it's more likely to be red than blue but, announcement or not, it's all really just speculation.

The really important point though is that the trains need painting now, using paint which was ordered months ago, and that the colour doesn't matter much anyway, because any new GBR logo will just get vinyled over the top of whatever is there without anybody doing any painting at all.

 

[thelongestroad]

Excluding the first class refresh, have the original carpets and seat covers ever been changed? I doubt they'd last 24++ years but often they look it.

 

[dk1]

Excluding the first class refresh, have the original carpets and seat covers ever been changed? I doubt they'd last 24++ years but often they look it.

They do last. Just need the odd depot hydromist. That’ll do on/off for a couple of decades.

 

[Russel]

Excluding the first class refresh, have the original carpets and seat covers ever been changed? I doubt they'd last 24++ years but often they look it.

They aren't original, XC refurbished them early on using the original VT materials.

 

[GoneSouth]

Reality is, all we've got is an initial concept livery design, it will almost certainly be altered before any paint is ordered and trains need painting now as part of routine overhaul and maintenance, putting them into a base livery may have some merit, but that is assuming any future livery is set in stone.

This refurb has probably been planned with supplies ordered before the GBR branding was conceived.

XC Have more than their fare share of faults, but the last few posts go to show how much people jump on the bandwagon when it comes to criticizing XC while ignoring other TOC's that are doing exactly the same.

But this is not a thread about other operators and if people have a comment on those they will look for a suitable place to post it.

As a very regular XC user I think they deserve much (but maybe not all) of the criticism they receive. I wouldn’t say people offering their opinions is jumping on a bandwagon, they are commenting on a topic relevant to this thread.

 

[SuperS16v]

Some more pictures from XC linked in. First one due out mid Feb.

 

[Russel]

Really does look good.

 

[Wyrleybart]

Some more pictures from XC linked in. First one due out mid Feb.

Thanks for sharing the piccies which clearly show the new XC brand shades or pinky red and duck egg blue. I am guessing this is 220033 which has been at Litchurch Lane since July, and is the pathfinder for the refurb programme. I am assuming that 220027 is the #2 in the project, so maybe a month or two later being outshopped.

 

[GoneSouth]

The black around the front window makes it look very smart, a bit more like a pendolino. Why one coach red and the rest gray? Think they would all look better gray with the bright coloured highlights and branding.

Overall though long overdue and looking forward to seeing the inside.

 

[Wyrleybart]

The black around the front window makes it look very smart, a bit more like a pendolino. Why one coach red and the rest gray? Think they would all look better gray with the bright coloured highlights and branding.

Overall though long overdue and looking forward to seeing the inside.

Perhaps they are going for the trend of colour to the first part of each end car and plain for the rest of the vehicle and the intermediate cars ? A bit like the SWR dark blue on about 2/3rds of each end car ?

 

[Russel]

The black around the front window makes it look very smart, a bit more like a pendolino. Why one coach red and the rest gray? Think they would all look better gray with the bright coloured highlights and branding.

Overall though long overdue and looking forward to seeing the inside.

From memory the intermediate coaches are grey and there will be some vinyl shapes applied to transition from red to grey.

 

[Northerngirl]

Im still not convinced by the colours, but it looks fantastic just to see a clean 220

 

[GoneSouth]

Im still not convinced by the colours, but it looks fantastic just to see a clean 220

Good point, don’t know when the last time I saw one spotlessly clean. Come on XC look after them this time and keep them looking desirable to passengers rather than mucky silver boxes with flaking paint and vinyls.

 

[SuperS16v]

From memory the intermediate coaches are grey and there will be some vinyl shapes applied to transition from red to grey.

Correct. This was posted somewhere on a thread.

 

[Bayum]

As long as they finally get rid of the old Virgin red and the old virgin badge mark on the front, I’d be happg

 

[FrontSideBus]

It's interesting that the headlight still appears to be a halogen lamp!

 

[XCTurbostar]

It's interesting that the headlight still appears to be a halogen lamp!

Thats a fair point, it would have been a good opertunity to replace the clusters with new brighter ones, then the Yellow end could have been eliminated.

Given that the DMFO and DMSO are both base pink (with branding and vinyl over the ends) and one of the motor coaches is base 'Mid grey' I wonder if the other will be the same or 'Dark Grey'.

Apologies for just noticing this, why is the yellow and blue ommitted from the Class 170s?

 

[NEDdrv]

It's interesting that the headlight still appears to be a halogen lamp!

As per a conversation today with a guy from fleet they are looking at LED headlights but might happen after first one/couple are done

 

[GoneSouth]

As long as they finally get rid of the old Virgin red and the old virgin badge mark on the front, I’d be happg

I’d be happier if they brought it back and we saw an end to Arriva

 

[Russel]

As long as they finally get rid of the old Virgin red and the old virgin badge mark on the front, I’d be happg

VT Red is starting to reappear on the roof of the Pendolinos where the black paint is flaking away, so don't hold your breath, fair play to whoever originally supplied the VT paint, it's decent stuff!

 

[Pete_uk]

I do like the front end

 

[Jacob Porrett]

Some more pictures from XC linked in. First one due out mid Feb.

Looks good.

 

[ThatBloke]

Some more pictures from XC linked in. First one due out mid Feb.

Thanks for the pics.
It looks like there are a considerable number of replacement parts still to acquire/fit. - Head light covers?
I hope they do fit a new clean coupler electrical head yellow sticker over that faded one.
Looking forward to seeing what the interior is like too.

 

[The_Train]

Some more pictures from XC linked in. First one due out mid Feb.

Looks so good. Can't wait to see it out and about

 

[GhostManDN91]

I can't remember if it was mentioned but are they getting the newer side destination screens fitted which are easier to read next to the doors?

 

[Russel]

I can't remember if it was mentioned but are they getting the newer side destination screens fitted which are easier to read next to the doors?

That's already happening, I believe there are multiple unreforbished sets with the new displays.

 

[GoneSouth]

I can't remember if it was mentioned but are they getting the newer side destination screens fitted which are easier to read next to the doors?

Seems to have been ongoing for a while. White LED displays so much brighter. Same small font size though so still room for improvement.

 

[ValentaFan1974]

There are only 3 sets left to be fitted with new LED panels I believe…

 

[Russel]

There are only 3 sets left to be fitted with new LED panels I believe…

They must be stalking me, I keep seeing them!