There is no basis for assuming any such thing. The media, both press and broadcast, are only too keen to pickup a packaged 'news' item, - especially that they can present as if they are with the 'poor downtrodden' public. The Sunday Times article had no additional information for me than the broken record message that has been rattling atround this forum for months. The BBC London article was just a series of rants from 'representative' passenger vox pops together with a few words by an osteopath (I suppose they couldn't get a physiotherpist to support the story), conflating commuters sitting in office seats and train seats. He was probably eager to get the plug on regional TV.
Given these trains have been in service since 2016, I am surprised the story came out (especially with the 'ironing board' seat reference) just before the GN route saw lots of new trains in service. Maybe not even surprised, more suspicious.
I wonder if they took information from here, and if someone went to the media to tip them off that there was a good story. A nice way to attack the railway, which is once again in vogue thanks to Vir, sorry, Stagecoach and the interest in nationalisation. Here we have the DfT cost cutting and a failing TOC.. it's like a dream come true!
They wouldn't spend the extra money on each seat! Tightarses. Heck, why not compare with the cladding on buildings to make it an even bigger story? Are we not worth the extra money?
Of course, the media had a story anyway. If they discovered the DfT had spent an extra £100 per seat, someone with a calculator with nice big buttons would have worked out the extra cost and pointed out that it was a total waste of money, especially when trains are now so crowded nobody can get a seat anyway.
I know people who have been using them, not through choice but just because that's what is now running, and they value the space. They aren't blown away by the seats and I'm sure over time they'll dislike the window seats, but they certainly aren't upset. There's still the new train excitement and even the new train smell. Wi-Fi is valued (as it is on the 387s) and so far they're far from overcrowded - and it's STILL people mostly not moving around. They still board through one or two doors, despite there being 16 doors to choose from, but we know behaviour WILL change.
I don't expect people to ever come to love the seats if they find them uncomfortable, and we know there are less seats on a coach for coach basis over the old trains. They're never going to be 365 quality, but they ARE definitely better than the 387s in terms of moving people.
With a fatality near Hitchin yesterday and a series of cancellations, the 700s will have been very useful - if only there had been more of them. They proved their worth in making up time with decent acceleration when moved to the fast line to overtake delayed services.
I am sure the media will watch on to see when there's the first incident with a 700 on the Great Northern that leads to a major delay. Maybe the author simply doesn't like them and lives on the route?