Grand Central Class 180 'Adelante' - First Class Review - ECML Travel in Style! (London to Bradford) 

The old saying... 'You'll be going Nowhere'! Still gets me that!

The thing I like most about Grand Central is their punctuality. I got it between Kings Cross and Doncaster and it arrived 5 minutes early. I went on one with the older interior, it was fine but it went so smoothly that we had to slow down before Doncaster so we weren't even earlier!

Nice video! I must say, I was very impressed with Grand Central on the one and only trip I made with them in standard last year.

I worked at Grand Central a few years ago and I used to love going into work every day. Really miss it. Great video!

I really feel like the Grand Central First Class interior design was the result of a bet. - "There's no way you can make mauve and olive green look good." - "Oh yeah? Watch me."

I bet your enthusiasm was dampened by arriving in Bradford.

Ahh 105 ( Donkey 5) I remember working it many times from my time with FGW on both Buffet & Galley . It was never a unreliable unit when I worked it, Full truth it did not break down on me at all. The Adelante do have a nice sound off the engines / exhausts when given the beans with a keen driver and you stand on a footbridge. I heard that sound delight with 101 ( Donkey 1) leaving Paddington.

Fun fact did you know that Low Moor was never meant to have a direct link to London but they decided it will be easier for people to commute to London for business or for fun.

My sole journey on them, the 0800 from KGX was superb... a HST that rocketed up the ECML & got us to York 12 mins early

Great video and review! Personally, I think Grand Central’s Service is great, with friendly staff and a convenient service providing better connection to London than the ECML Franchise Holder, LNER. The Class 180 units, although problematic, are great in my opinion, with GC doing well with them, unlike FirstGroup, where most issues have arisen. Overall a great way to travel!

I have been on the Class 180 Adelante DEMUs from London Kings Cross to Leeds and York. Very quick, smooth and the seats are very comfortable.

travelled with Grand Central to Thirsk and back to London a couple of times in the past, always impressed with the speed and comfort, even in standard class! seems like a bit of a hidden gem on network rail compared to to LNER/Avanti/Thameslink etc

Noticed that at 5:56 you said about things to eat/drink on a train. I was on GWR first class once (luckily a HST) and I asked if they had any Fanta at the buffet. The guy (who was really nice) responded by saying 'no, but I can make you some'. He took some orange juice and sparkling water and I returned to my seat with a rather tasty drink.

Great video! If you like this interior, you'll like the ScotRail Inter7City, it has a similar 1-2 first class interior, with grey leather seats, and they are refurbishing them currently. I went on one last year, and it's one of my favourite trains interior wise

Another nice video mate a first class 180 trip is high on my list after lockdown

I have never traveled on Grand Central but it looks like a lovely, plush experience. I wish our trains here in the States were as convenient and fairly priced as those in Europe.

Thanks for this video, I enjoyed it. My local rail station is on ECML, currently essential journeys only permitted (Covid-19) so it was fun to get my "train fix" watching this. Very tempted to try Grand Central 1st Class at some point in 2020.

Health And Safety definitely improved.

Couldn't agree more about the 180s. I use them on EMR in preference to the Meridians whenever possible..

These units have now hit the MML. Whilst the ride is not quite MK3 standard there does appear to be less engine noise in the cabin when compared to the class222 units.

This Is Excellent. Hull Trains Had These. But Got Replaced By 802s

Good video. I wondered whatever happened to those. I travelled on one probsbly about 2004 to Paddington when they were trying them out on the Western region. Then they suddenly disappeared, untill now.

The table is not attached to the wall of the train for noise reduction reasons. The floor is resiliently mounted to the under-structure of the vehicles as is everything up to luggage rack level. There is also approx 200 mm of rockwool insulation below the floor to damp out engine noise as well as the engine being mounted on double resilient mountings. The reason for this design was the fact that there is a 750 HP diesel engine under each vehicle which is not exactly quiet and if the interior was not resiliently mounted features such as luggage racks and partitions would act as sounding boards. Compare this design with the Class 800 Bi Modes.

I meet up with an old friend regularly, and always use Grand Central to Doncaster.The class 180's are so comfortable in both classes, and the service is so good. Compare with the uncomfortable Azumas, it's no contest.

The 180s On FGW Were Far Better Then Those 800s That Replaced Them On The GWML

I sometimes use Grand Central from Doncaster to London and whilst often the cheapest option. They're non-stop to London, the seats in standard are comfy enough and the trains are always busy with nearly every seat reserved so they've got to be doing something right. My one big complaint compared to Hull Trains and LNER though is their reservation system. I much prefer an airline seat to a table and prefer facing forwards but GC don't seem take these preferences into account when allocating seats.

Certainly was very surprising just how good the 1st class experience is on GC! I would have to say that the best 1st class experience for me was on what used to be Virgin Trains West Coast, on the Class 390. The speed, comfort and service was really nice. Did you prefer the 180 1st class or the LNER Azuma 1st class?

Enjoyed this one more. 180s are my favourite UK DMU and arguably one of the best generally. Yet to ride with Grand Central.

To quote Paul Tyreman "You'll be going nowhere."

We were glad to see the back of them. Full fleet out of action on the same day, can't hack snow, complete nightmare. Interiors were nice and a good unit for 100-200 mile journeys. The QSK-19 engines sound awesome. See more at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5qXZQHtZKqo.html

Those seats look amazing!

Manchecter Piccdilly - Cheltenham Spa on a 221 Super Voyager. My unsual snack was a Latte and Jaffa Cakes.

0:21 It’ll be weird looking back on this and thinking “they now have 90s and MK4s to Blackpool” in the near future 🤔

What happened to the Grand Central 43's? The buffers were a nice but weird touch

I normally do this journey, in standard class, two or three times each year. Used to do it by coach, but I have bad legs, and five hours on the coach is uncomfortable. It’s only three hours on the train. The first departure from London on this route isn’t until 10:57 which seems very late, but suits me as it gets me into Bradford just as check-in opens at my hotel, which is about 90 seconds walk from the side exit from the station. Very convenient. Have also used Grand Central Sunderland service to Eaglescliffe a couple of times when going to Middlesbrough. Just outside Kings Cross station, on the West side, is a new building which has large black columns with a sort of plaited pattern on them. Just before entering Halifax station on the right hand side, near the Nestlé chocolate factory is Hargreaves Foundry, which cast these columns, and also some reproduction lighting columns for the Bluebell Railway.

Rather sit in my garden on North Cornwall coast watching a sunset than sit on a train watching one thank you.

I traveled with Grand Central from London to Doncaster in 2019. I found the standard class seats very uncomfortable - they dug right in to my back. First class sounds s lot better. Maybe I'll try that sometime.

I love the GC 180s too. Also they're very fast trains because they're Zephyr units and the number on that train was 180105 'Ashley Jackson'.

the 180 is a experiment to rebuild a voyager and it worked

Never travelled on one but I agree the 180's are one of my favourite units. Very destinctive looking. Many thanks.

Good old competent fish

The standard class is generally crammed. The ride in the Azuma to Leeds is much nicer as it's not as busy. The Grand Central takes as long to get from Doncaster to Bradford as it does from London to Doncaster! It does stop *everywhere*, including Low Moor which avoids family having to drive into Bradford city centre to pick me up.

Wakefield kirkgate is the second stop after my local station, Normanton.

Compared to the prehistoric trains I suffer on the Ipswich to London route, these trains look very nice indeed. The fare is also vastly cheaper per mile.

Good review. But you ought to have explained that GC suspended operations with only a *few hours* notice during Covid. It won't be restarting for at least one month according to one of the RAIL staffers.

Enjoyed this video looking forward to more thanks

Only done gc twice, Sunderland to Hartlepool on HST, and Northallerton to Sunderland on 180. Prefer a single airline seat as you won't get awkward someone sitting across fromu

My father likes Grand Central. He used to travel quite regularly on it

Recently found your channel, really interesting! Just one question, did you get any food apart from the snack included in your 1st class offer?

Probably my favourite high speed DMU, it's a huge shame they're intrepidly unreliable. Mind you, they seem to be fine for Grand Central so it might just be First's terrible maintenance. XD

i love Grand Central it's a shame they've had to suspend services due to COVID but hopefully they'll be back up and running soon. Hopefully they can start their Euston to Blackpool North service aswell soon.

Keep up the very good and informative vids mate. It certainly helps me plan my train journeys better

This is my local route for a direct GC link to Halifax. BTW this route is not ECML although it goes via ECML it's West Riding route and then London to Sunderland and WCML is London to Blackpool

Love grand Central I use them just to get to Sunderland for days out and to the football from my local stop Hartlepool

Grand central does look very promising have you travelled on first Hull trains and have you heard east coast trains is coming back but as open access operator on the ECML owned by first group

Another great video. Thanks.

Grand Central used to have Hst class 43 with Mark 3 stock to Sunderland, when where the HSTs phased out on Grand central?

Recently on GWR, I had a mock duck hoisin style vegan wrap. Defo the weirdest thing I've eaten on a train.

I went to York on them, non stop from London to York

What’s your end music called?

These trains have the same engines as the class 185... Therefore the noise is awesome!

So where were the window curtains or blinds to shield passengers from the glare of the sun, which can be very hot even in an English Summer? During the mid-1970's I commuted to school in central southern England by train and the much-maligned British Rail managed to provide window curtains in BOTH classes of accommodation - blue in First and orange in Standard! As for the complimentary First Class offer on Grand Central - if it's just one biscuit and one cup of fruit juice it's laughable. Were you offered any hot drinks, such as tea or coffee, at any point during your near three-hour journey? Was free Wi-Fi internet access available in First Class and Standard carriages and, if so, how fast and reliable was it?

Will you do the Grand Central class 90s when they enter service?

Unfortunately the 180s are showing their age now and frequently run with one or more engines isolated. They can keep time with one engine out, but two out will cause a loss of time. I suspect that they have difficulty obtaining spare parts for those engines although, looking on the bright side, if the engine on your carriage is isolated, you get a nice quiet ride. Although the interiors have been refurbished to a very high standard, these units are now thirty years old, having originally been used by First Great Western on the Paddington - Worcester - Hereford route.

Standard class review Grand Central London-Sunderland plz

Under rated units IMO, great vid too 👍

Best trains since mark 1. I suspect the basic design came from the BREL Inernational Train of 1986. They have the correct bay spacing of 1.90 metres. The front ends were by Jones Garrard of Leicester, perhaps inspired by Blackpool trams.

Grand Central is one TOC, yet I have not used. I would like to use it.

On Russian sapsan I had ham and cheese pancakes , had 3 of them as it was included in price

I've never considered GC before, but looks a lot nicer than the current offerings of LNER from Leeds. The only issue, of course, is having to travel into Bradford!

Never knew First Class was so nice on Grand Central

Does grand central have a lounge at King's X

I went on them once, and found part of the trip very bumpy. But then I did the same trip on Virgin and the same problem - probably just a certain section of the track just south of York. I don't remember having any food with GC, and the video doesn't cover any food offered or delivered, apart from the biscuit and the cranberry juice. I like the IDEA of Grand Central, bringing service to under-serviced areas. SO that's a good thing. But I found the service less good than LNER or Virgin because of the food.

Class 800 Trains Need To Be Like This. Leather Seats On The Class 800. Not Rock & Solid Seats

Nice video, overall. Just let down by the long captions appearing and rapidly disappearing before they can be read fully. 🙄🙄🙄

Dear user: You'll be going NOWHERE Greetings,Paul Tyreman P.D:IN a Class 180

Nice! I been on this train before from halifax

Nice Video but I wonder why these trains are diesel and not electric

Great video, I've never been on a 180, but they look like a better version of a 175, which I've used a lot.

I love the Grand Central when it revs up to pull away! I managed to get a sneaky shot of it going through Mowbray Park just after departing Sunderland and it was giving a lot of thrash! You can see it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m2p-NRAsudc.html At the time of this comment I haven"t been on a 180 as of yet, just a 43 but I plan to very soon!

I had noodles🙆😺😸 they are so yummy

Great video but does anyone know why the train called at Halifax before Bradford as isn't Halifax further away from London than Bradford?

Do they serve hot meals in first class ? For the price I would expect one like Virgin/Avanti first class.

My most unusual is probably raspberry crossant xd on gwr iet 1st class it was quite nice tho xd

the class 52 western is a better sounding diesel. you should go and see one. again everything is plastic in the coaches and the usual nanny state voice overs. grand central is a great name. reminds me of the F7 diesels of the 50s

Yeah you should stop at Retford!!

First class is where you get something to eat or drink

For reliability, they were a big step down to the HST

Awesome video! I subbed. :3

The noise these sets make when breaking and arriving at a station is just excruciating

When you were on the train, there was a menu for restaurant service l presume; did you have a look and is the service complementary being in first class?

The food seems nice

Filmed crappy low moor but not Halifax. Sorry I am just sad you did not film Halifax cuz it is true beauty

Why haven't ya showed the menu card?

invest in a camera with video stabilization or a good phone...

Is there much in these units left from their great western days?

Did you film this before the lockdown?

I've only ever been on fgw , scotrail and virgin trains

Can you do a video on the chiltern silver set business class?

👍