I've not seen any of these new tables in the down position (in photos, as I've not seen any in the flesh at all yet) and wonder if they have any sort of indent to hold a bottle/cup?
I wonder if the DfT will be vindicated one day should people start to leave stuff on them, which in turns makes it harder for people to get in and out of their window seat, which delays the 40-odd second dispatching target in the core.
My view exactly. Maybe they'll only fit a few sets out and if they do, as suggested, prove the theory of wasting dwell time, they can then remove them and tell complaining passengers why. Looks like another bright idea by a lobby/pressure group proving to be a self-serving waste of cash, making an intense service more difficult to operate, (last one being running Sutton loop services through the core instead of turning at BFR because some MP wanted to look good).