Anyone know what class of train this is? I'm guessing ScotsRail and although it looks like an Intercity 125, going by the Mk 4 coaches, but the drive car throws me off.
I like that way of looking at the Voyager! Similar to the HST, but instead of Mk4s, it is a multiple unit!
If you need to catch a train and one of these pulls in - run! If there’s a freight train with open ballast wagons hop on that instead - your journey will be much nicer. The avanti ones are ok tho.
Much like the class 80x, they are just not suited for the work they are expected to do. There is rarely a seat available due to them running on some of the busiest core routes and they seem to be perpetually dark and filthy. Some of the chairs and floors are disgusting. Like the mk4’s, they bodywork is designed with tilting in mind so the body slopes inwards, creating a claustrophobic feel and a tiny luggage rack. To be fair on them they rarely seem to break down. Only on the Dawlish sea wall where a stray wave splashing the roof can knock out the train when it gets the resistors. The new class 80x have the same problem.
Some of the waves there are just crazy and I have only been in the summer so can only imagine the winter waves!
I have been on an LNER Azuma (once - first time - very excited) and I must say it was incredibly comfortable! I had heard that many people have issues with them, but I didn't - it was nice, quiet, and comfortable, and the ECML had some nice scenery at 125mph! Also, there were plenty of seats but I may have just been lucky. I have never been on a Mk4 or a Voyager (in fact that LNER Azuma was the only Intercity service I have ever been on!) but I can understand why they may feel claustrophobic (I hadn't considered the sloped bodywork), but I will have to see for myself if I ever get the chance to get on one. Are we going too far off topic?
Agreed, the passenger seats are no where near as bad as people make them out to be and their ride overall, in my opinion, is very smooth. Also like you say the ECML has the beautiful scenery to go with it.
If the Voyagers were 8 or 9 carriages long, I guarantee people wouldn't complain about them as much. You need only look at the Class 222 Meridians to see that. When they're not crowded (which in my experience is more common than their haters would have you believe), they're some of the nicest trains in the country to travel on.
I too quite like the class 80x seats. As long as you sit properly and don’t slouch then they are comfortable. If you are tired and want to try to sleep or slouch then they become uncomfortable after about an hour I find.
Glad I'm not the only one! Ah, so people start nitpicking because they don't get a halfway decent service (rightfully so, only buses are allowed be crowded, not trains). Right - I never knew that because I'm not one to sleep on a train and miss the journey and the sights! Then again, those who are not me may need the sleep, so I can understand why that may be important.
I think the main problem people have with these things is because they do intercity work on intercity routes, but with commuter train lengths, and especially in the Birmingham area they get very busy indeed when only a few cars in length. Personally the minimum I would expect of an intercity train in the UK would be 6 cars, but hey, the government know best... NOT
I like them. Mostly because they got me a free train trip (broken AC on a previous journey) to Thomas [The tank engine] land when I was younger Nah but seriously I do quite like voyagers. Not great but I don't hate em
Voyagers have a narrow body profile due them being fitted with (or in most cases capable of being so) tilting mechanism. This can make them feel claustrophobic, particularly when they are overcrowded. I'll do anything I can to avoid one. No complaints from Class 80x from me>
It's not as bad as a 390 Pendolino in my experience. To date that's the only train I've ever felt claustrophobic on, which is a shame as otherwise I quite like them. The 800s on the other hand... Cheap, plastic feeling, interior, colour schemes that make you feel like you're in a hospital (except for the LNER sets, which aren't so bad). And don't get me started on the seats. On my journeys from Cardiff to Paddington, I genuinely prefer the 387s.
I am not saying it's perfect but I think the interior does do what it has to: it is clean, sleek, modern and the wood effect panels do really make it for me. Also I know it's a small thing but the fact that the panel with the seat reservation is the same colour as the company's colours. I loved the HSTs but they did need replacing and the 800s provide what the modern passenger wants, which is what we need to provide. I can't comment on the GW seats but the LNER seats aren't too bad. I happily sat for 2 1/2 hours on a trip recently, though I will admit you don't want to slouch on them.
Really? A couple of years ago, when the Azumas were first being introduced on the ECML, I was on a late evening journey from King's Cross to Newark, on board a Class 91+ Mk 4 set. In my carriage an off duty LNER employee was discussing with a couple of passengers how much people preferred the old stock compared to the Azumas, and the passengers (including me), were in agreement. It's not what the modern passenger wants, but it's apparently what the DfT thinks we need.
I don't want to comment too much but generally most people who I speak to now do not mind them as much now to when they first came out. I was a complete hater of them a few years back but a few years of them later and even a few passenger trips I would say I prefer them though as we prove different people have different views.
