Avanti West Coast's Refurbished Trains 

Hopefully replaced and displaced to lesser duties (possibly exported) in the 5-10 year timeframe, great technology demonstrator, but a ‘mk2’ could polish out a number of design flaws which compromise it’s passenger comfort and bring about operational efficiencies. Chiefly the floor height to accommodate the tilt tech within the loading gauge, which goes on to limit window height and position. Greyrigg showed that the design is solid from a safety point of view but look at what could be possible using composite materials and learnings from aerospace in the past 30+ years since these were designed (less weight, bigger window openings). Of course none of this logic will win out, it never does in the U.K. so maybe we just be quiet and be grateful that they have (hopefully) fixed the constant poo smell…

Respite potency trained and straight away channel 21 channel video for trains Harper Castle the water boat I've bought play stations tractors pictures Circus richard willliams

And they're no longer Virgins...!!

unfortunately standard class doesn't feel long distance. terrible legroom, cramped, tiny table, it's not nice to take it to glasgow.

Agree better than Azure on my line LNER.

I rode on a 390 last year and they where fine in terms of comfort. However, the upgrades look smart and the trains actually look like avanti trains now not rebadged virgin trains. Like the idea of the smart seat system.

I wish a lot of other companies and branches of officialdom would listen to their public as attentively as they have. Three cheers!

full of passengers and standing in the aisles id say prob not much different

The UK train gauge is so small that the cabins fill the maximum permitted dimensions. They are a bit lower than classic BR carriages because of the aircon fittings on the roof.

@@bfcmik Plus the cantrail is inset/narrower to allow for tilt, which enables the Pendolino fleet to cruise at 125PMH and therefore overcomes (some of) the limitations of the twisting legacy West Coast Mainline.

Only HS2 can change the dimensions issue!

@@bfcmik That's why the current HS2 plans are a missed opportunity. Mainly because the trains they would be using will be "British" Loading Gauge Trains...when they should be using trains with a much higher loading gauge instead.

the seat reservations over the seats on the transpenine 802s is good as well, red reserved, green not, much quicker to see where you can / can't sit

I think the new seat padding and headrests sturdiness are now standardised by DfT across the network

Spur of the moment travel via any type of transport is going to be expensive

@@DOSeater It's kind of an extreme on these things though. We have among the highest rail prices in Europe and one of the worst services.

@@TalesOfWar agreed and it's the same with buses. As someone who used to work in railways and now manages a bus/ coach depot, I can agree entirely with you. The cost per mile for rail or bus is eye watering compared to flying or shipping. Why? Rail is almost fully regulated commercially speaking- though open access rail operators are les regulated and so are cheaper. Despite what you might think, bus fares are distorted by government policy. Aviation and shipping on the other hand are, from a commercial point of view, entirely deregulated and UK offers some of the lowest £/mile anywhere in the World. NB no politics intended- both parties are as bad.

ah thank you! I like slick edits and put a lot of work into them - it makes me happy when people notice !!

Just popped back to review and I see what you mean - it really is so slick and so smooth that it was easy for it to slide beneath my awareness level. There's something Catch-22 about your very best work being the least noticed!

Having travelled the full length of the West Coast Main Line, and from London to Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester in Mark 3 carriages hauled by 110mph Class 87 electric locomotives - as often as not enjoying lunch in the First Class Restaurant Car whilst travelling on a Standard APEX ticket - I'm by no means convinced that the cramped and claustrophobic Class 390 Pendolinos really were "a massive step ahead" compared to what British Rail had to offer.

Pendolinos are the best :D

Same here. It's a real crime that seats end up with no window. (I've had the same problem on TGV and Eurostar too) The difference between being able to see out and not seeing out is huge.

Some of us dont like windows , I just need a snooze seat

@@highpath4776 it would be interesting to have a survey of how many people actually prefer that. I can't understand it, but having travelled to Durham several times (not Avanti in case anyone comments) I've been amazed to see so many people glued to their phones instead of looking at one of the most stunning views in Europe.

Would you rather have seats that line up to windows or as many seats as possible?

@@extrude22 personally I'd go for seats that line up with windows- given my leg length I'd appreciate the additional legroom

I think the seats are still in the same positions as before (except where the luggage racks are bigger). The large areas of bodywork between the windows would make it difficult to align every seat with one without leaving large spaces between each seat.

Agree with you the ironing boards are standard for lots of operators due to them being cheaper I like operators like GWR on first class in the HST castle sets or the class 801s have comfortable seats in standard class seats should be conformable and not ironing boards eg basic E leather or fabric with some decent padding so it isn't just when sitting back it feels like your sitting on wood.

They’re the same seats at Lumo, which are much better than those on the IET.

@@AgentSquash Sitting on a spike is more comfy than an IET though so this is a low bar!

I actually thought the government would force rail companies to put more comfortable seats in because of the complaints from the dreaded ironing board seats

Couldn’t you just move seats?

I think the seat booking page on the website explains which seats have no/restricted view. But the carriage layout plans don't as far as I can see.

@@nightly4303 moved seats to ones that said they were unreserved then the train filled up and somebody got on with tickets for the seats we had moved to.

@@davidemmott6225 only options we could see were table seats, aircraft style seats and facing direction of travel or facing backwards. We booked aircraft and facing forward and got facing backwards with no window.

Avanti West Coast

如果佢自己會長

Cross Contry (Class 390+221)

Trains

Ps: #purpletrain

These trains of a Pedoino.

It's not how "nice inside" the refurbished trains look, it's how comfortable they are to travel in that matters. All the way from London to Glasgow and vice versa.

@@KempSimon Sorry, obviously i forgot to mention that they need to be comfortable as well. My mistake.

It’s a very slim chance that you will see the new interior on that journey given that only a couple of the fleet have been given the treatment so far…

I am too. Mark 1 compos on the WCML with a Roarer on the front (Class 81 - 85). Liked the Mark 2, and legendary Mark 3s. I think things went downhill with the Mark 4 and Mark 5. But all are better than a kart (EMU).

@@vicsams4431 though you both have the nostalga goggles for the old stock the newer stuff does have one advantage wheelchair users are treated like humans not luggage,

@@vicsams4431 It's a shame they didn't keep the comfort while (MASSIVELY) improving the safety of the newer coach classes. The 1's and 2's were death traps and the 3's while better still aren't amazing.

@@TalesOfWar The fixed centre armrest and table on the mk3 were terrible for taller people like myself to get in and out. The overall comfort, ride and noise levels were great though. British Rail made some good stuff. Its a pity they were starved of orders and unable to survive in tact after privatisation probably because of that. At least I can only see a bright future for rail as I don't think private motoring will be affordable for so many people in the future.

@@TalesOfWar Death traps? How many deaths? How many passenger miles?

@@geofftech2 - That doesn't answer Jethro's question, which concerned storage space for pedal cycles in the refurbished Class 390 Pendolino trains.

The biggest elephant in the room is the stink. The famous stink of toilet everywhere in the train. I hope that is completely resolved so I can breathe fresh air and enjoy the ride - if I could choose between everything else and just the smell I would choose to fix the smell. Surprised it is not a public health violation.

The USB port that is being installed is already outdated annoyingly but at least we get the plug option

Each time I've used these to get to and from London from Manchester I always end up being in standard premium as I tend to book several weeks ahead. I've only been in standard once when I had to buy a ticket on the day (my wallet is still recovering from the shock of the price lol) and the difference is quite amazing.

The windows are perfectly fine. Try being on an unrefurbished 350 or 323 if you're complaining about PENDOLINO seats.

depends if the seats are like the concrete Hitachi ones

Angel Trains are Alstom's customer on this project. Avanti are just the current contract operator.

@@geofftech2 Well done Sir!! (I'll stop "milking" that running gag now!!) Hope you're keeping well.

Collectors Corner, it's all coming back now 😂

It was only last year that they finally managed a London-Glasgow trip which beat a 1970s design. I suppose if you're deaf and can't hear the constant alarms and have no sense of smell, so you don't have the aroma l'eau de toilet, I can understand why you might like them.