Why is anyone who criticises a train regarded as a hater or ranting.
I dont hate the 800. I simply asked does it seem like a 40 year advance on an HST?
Clearly some of you think it does. Examples given are the toilets are better! Shouldn't they be?
Someone is obsessed with drag racing!
What I asked was are they going to provide shorter journey times?
The answer seems to be 'not much'!
We can argue about a few minutes here or there but basically they are no quicker than trains operating the service 40 years ago.
Whatever else may be said about the Pendolinos, they did provide a step change in performance over what had gone before.
The 800 in my judgement does not.
I dont travel by road coach much, but a couple of weeks ago I used the X5 service from Milton Keynes to Oxford.
It was a fairly new vehicle, coach enthusiasts will know what it was.
I was surprised by how much better it was than a similar journey, some years ago.
The ride was smooth even on our pot-holed roads, the view out was superb from all seats, the seat was comfortable, well padded with ample leg room.
Noise levels were commendably low. The driver helped people with luggage and the fare was low compared to roll-up rail tickets.
Growth in rail travel has slackened off and may go into reverse. Couldn't the uncomfortable trains be something to do with that?
I am still not convinced that in order to carry as many people as possible, the seats have to be hard and uncomfortable, that we have to have seats with a view of plastic instead of a window, that catering has to be hit or miss depending on a trolly.
I am asked what would I design?
People are paid a lot of money to do that job, but something as fundamental as a seat should not be difficult to design.
Do you really think the interior layout is to be admired?
The 800 is supposed to be an inter-city type train.
Shouts of, No, it has to carry commuters, so of course it has to be cramped and uncomfortable.
Isn't that the problem in Britain.
Each train has to be a jack of all trades and a master of none.
I am told that it isn't a flagship train. Well someone ought to tell the DfT.
I've got to wait till HS2 is open. apparently.
One wonders if those trains will be bi-modes, or perhaps hydrogen, as our Minister of Transport seems to believe they are the future.
Watch his performance in front of the Transport Select Committee if you dont believe me; and incidentally that committee is absolutely useless. he was telling them all sorts of rubbish which they accepted without comment.
Our problems stem from the top, aided and abetted by enthusiasts who think anything new is Gods gift to the railway!