The new GWR Hitachi trains - my verdict

[editor]

So I'm on one of the shiny new GWR electro-diesel Class 800 Super Express trains. The carriage is very bright and airy, the seats firmer than usual but once again the fucking wankers have designed a train where the windows don't line up with the seats. I've got half a window, but there's several seats with no window view at all. The armrests are pencil thin and the dull, two tone greys of the seats make them look dirty already. There's a bit more leg room, probably on account of the thin, extra-firm seats.

There's no buffet either - because the train is now split into two separate units, you can't have one buffet serving the train, so you have to wait for a trolley (if there is one). That's fucking rubbish. I want a coffee now but have no idea where the trolley is and if the train gets as overcrowded as some do, there's no way it'll be able to get past the bags/people.

I liked being able to walk the length of the old trains, especially if the train was packed and you were looking for a seat.

The booked/not booked seat indicators are an improvement though as are the individual plugs per seat. On electric current the train is quieter too although I've heard complaints about noise on diesel power.

The wi-fi is as slow/patchy/completely useless as ever, of course. Despite being sat at Reading Station, there's no signal at all.

My verdict so far? A bit meh. It's an overall slight improvement but the lack of a buffet is a huge step backwards and there's no excuse for misaligned windows.

 

[Pickman's model]

that's what you get when hi-fi manufacturers design a train

 

[editor]

On another note, there sure seems to be a lot of staff onboard - with the train being split into two parts, it needs two sets of guards, train managers, trolley buffet staff etc. Madness!

 

[Pickman's model]

On another note, there sure seems to be a lot of staff onboard - with the train being split into two parts, it needs two sets of guards, train managers, trolley buffet staff etc. Madness!

good for employment, mind

 

[editor]

good for employment, mind

Jobseekers Express.

 

[Pickman's model]

Jobseekers Express.

nothing wrong with that. and if they can't get a job on the first bit of the train, they can walk to the second part at the next stop.

 

[editor]

The two person buffet has just been past and dispensed those comedy 'milk in a stick' sachets that always managed to eject half of their contents on opening. Totally wasteful too.

I could be wrong but I think I just heard that there's a first class trolley on the move too. This train looks on course to have a major positive impact on reducing unemployment!

 

[Crispy]

the train is now split into two separate units, you can't have one buffet serving the train, so you have to wait for a trolley

Crazy!

Were you under electric power out of Paddington?

 

[Rosemary Jest]

Do they do cans of beer? Transpennine express used to do individual cans of Stella, extortionate prices mind, but nice to have the option when looking out the window at the hills.

Only if you're next to a window mind.

Also, what are the bogs like? We must know!

 

[editor]

Crazy!

Were you under electric power out of Paddington?

I think so. It seemed to accelerate snappier than the old diesel power and it's vibrating a lot more now we're no longer under the wires.
The wi-fi is unusable.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Seats/windows - isn't this down to the windows being much smaller nowadays to help strengthen the carriage in the event of a crash?

 

[Bungle73]

There are 9 coach sets coming, so presumably the running of two coupled 5 coach sets is temporary on some services.

 

[editor]

Seats/windows - isn't this down to the windows being much smaller nowadays to help strengthen the carriage in the event of a crash?

Don't think so - the window next to me is about the exact right size for two pairs of seats and the table - but it's offset slightly

 

[editor]

There are 9 coach sets coming, so presumably the running of two coupled 5 coach sets is temporary on some services.

But the buffet cars are still gone for good

End of the line for buffet cars on First Great Western

 

[editor]

Oh dear. Two pissed off passengers discovered that they couldn't get off at Bristol Parkway because not all the carriages can fit on the platform which seems a bit of an oversight for such a major interchange.

I can confirm the loos are good although I only used the small one and not the traditionally troublesome large disabled one - although that apparently now has far clearer instructions about locking the door.

The door openings between carriages are very slick - when they work. I got stuck for a few seconds.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

But the buffet cars are still gone for good

End of the line for buffet cars on First Great Western

Space you can't sell, therefore it goes

 

[Bungle73]

But the buffet cars are still gone for good

End of the line for buffet cars on First Great Western

The 800s VTEC are getting are being delivered with a buffet and a shop

Oh dear. Two pissed off passengers discovered that they couldn't get off at Bristol Parkway because not all the carriages can fit on the platform which seems a bit of an oversight for such a major interchange.

I guess it was too hard to actually listen to the announcements that would have been made on the train and at the station warning of this, and also too hard to move to a part of a train where they could get off?

Space you can't sell, therefore it goes

Space you can sell?

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

But the buffet cars are still gone for good

End of the line for buffet cars on First Great Western

Guess Pullman Dining is going too?

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Space you can sell?

A carriage full of shop isn't full of expensive seats.

 

[Bungle73]

A carriage full of shop isn't full of expensive seats.

Tickets aren't sold for seats........

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Tickets aren't sold for seats........

*looks at the three tickets in my wallet for train journeys over next week, all with seat allocations*

 

[Bungle73]

*looks at the three tickets in my wallet for train journeys over next week, all with seat allocations*

A seat reservation is not a ticket for travel. UK train tickets are sold for journeys, not seats.

 

[editor]

The 800s VTEC are getting are being delivered with a buffet and a shop

Whatever you say, there was no buffet car on this service and according to the union involved, there won't be one coming any time soon unless you're revelling in the luxury of first class.

Did you read the link I posted?

End of the line for buffet cars on First Great Western

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

A seat reservation is not a ticket for travel. UK train tickets are sold for journeys, not seats.

So, I get a ticket for a journey that just happens to have a seat reservation come with it.

Wow, that's an amazing coincidence. It's almost as if by giving me a seat for the journey they can charge me* lots of money.



*well, my clients, fucked if I'm paying the rip off rail prices we have in this country

 

[Bungle73]

Whatever you say, there was no buffet car on this service and according to the union involved, there won't be one coming any time soon unless you're revelling in the luxury of first class.

Did you read the link I posted?

End of the line for buffet cars on First Great Western

It's not "what I say". It's a fact.

Buffet car "will not be scrapped" says new East Coast operator

 

[Bungle73]

So, I get a ticket for a journey that just happens to have a seat reservation come with it.

Wow, that's an amazing coincidence. It's almost as if by giving me a seat for the journey they can charge me* lots of money.



*well, my clients, fucked if I'm paying the rip off rail prices we have in this country

Why are you being so fucking difficult? Have you never actually used the trains in this country? In the UK we operate a turn up and go service, therefore tickets are sold for JOURNEYS, NOT seats. Seat reservations are entirely separate and FREE.

 

[nemoanonemo]

I'm not sure about these electronic seat reservation signs. I got on a pendelino from Euston to Oxenholme and found a seat that was unreserved according to the sign. When we got to Preston I was turfed out by some Glaswegians who had reserved a block of seats, including mine. The electronic sign was now showing the seat as reserved.

This wasn't an issue at the time, because, as it happened, I had booked my bike onto the guard's van (or bit of carriage behind the driver) and this had automatically flagged one of the seats at the end of the carriage as 'cyclist' without my knowledge.

When I first got on the train I could have chosen any seat in the carriage, but by Preston it was pretty full. In future I'd never be confident that I was in a seat that was free for my entire journey. Maybe there was something on the electronic sign that indicated the seat was reserved from a later stop but I never spotted it. First World problems and all that.

 

[Bungle73]

So, I get a ticket for a journey that just happens to have a seat reservation come with it.

Wow, that's an amazing coincidence. It's almost as if by giving me a seat for the journey they can charge me* lots of money.



*well, my clients, fucked if I'm paying the rip off rail prices we have in this country

The ONLY reason you would have a seat reservation is because a) you requested one, or b) you bought an Advance ticket, which is a CUT PRICE ticket!

 

[Pickman's model]

oh this is going well

 

[Pickman's model]

It's not "what I say". It's a fact.

Buffet car "will not be scrapped" says new East Coast operator

sorry - doesn't editor's story relate to trains on the gwr and your story to a different operator?

e2a: yeh, afaik east coast trains are rather different to gwr / trains from paddington