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LNER Azuma (Class 800/801)

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transmanche

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_toommm_

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Nobody calls cross country trains voyagers anymore though? HST (like IET) was a generalised term for that type of train not designed as a unique name specifically for a LNER 800/801 they should be called IETs since that is what 800s are not azuma

A lot of people call the 220/221 Voyagers. e.g. 'When I travel on XC I will always look to avoid a Voyager'. Virgin WC call their 221s 'Super Voyagers'. They are referred to by XC Twitter as Voyagers and HSTs
 

FGW_DID

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Azuma was chosen because it’s Japanese for ‘East’ and they would be running on the ECML.
GWR just chose to use IET as they are Intercity Express Trains from the Intercity Express Program.
 

theblackwatch

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Nobody calls cross country trains voyagers anymore though? HST (like IET) was a generalised term for that type of train not designed as a unique name specifically for a LNER 800/801 they should be called IETs since that is what 800s are not azuma

If you do a little more research, you will find that CrossCountry calls its trains Voyagers - take a look at the TOC's website at https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/on-board-with-crosscountry/our-trains and you will see this is the case. The Azuma name is here to stay, it's a well known brand name which they won't be dropping!
 

Bletchleyite

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Voyager certainly is a well-known brand even if it is normally one used in a perjorative manner, e.g.:

"Oh no, another overcrowded Voyager. Bet it smells of wee as well"
"How do I avoid a Voyager and make sure I get a Pendolino"
"Those Voyager trains are nasty smelly rattletraps"
Etc

:D
 

RealTrains07

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A lot of people call the 220/221 Voyagers. e.g. 'When I travel on XC I will always look to avoid a Voyager'. Virgin WC call their 221s 'Super Voyagers'. They are referred to by XC Twitter as Voyagers and HSTs
Their has always been a reason why virgin still use the voager name, since they have so many pendalinos they have to run distinct services as seen by the carrriage diagrams at all their stations. XC like LNER dont have something like this in place as XC dont have many HSTs while LNER will end up only having 800/801s and not anything else
 

Bletchleyite

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Their has always been a reason why virgin still use the voager name, since they have so many pendalinos they have to run distinct services as seen by the carrriage diagrams at all their stations. XC like LNER dont have something like this in place as XC dont have many HSTs while LNER will end up only having 800/801s and not anything else

XC do still use the name.
 

Roast Veg

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In fact it can be heard on platform announcements at seveeral locations, certainly Sheffield and Birmingham and likely many others.
 

Metroman62

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I travelled on the Azuma yesterday from Leeds to Kings Cross. I travelled in coach K, First Class. I have travelled on the equivalent coach on a GWR IET and must say the LNER version looks much brighter. My wife thought it was a different type of train to the GWR one, the difference was that great for her.

In the great scheme of things, the train is perfectly fine and I doubt that any changes will be made to it for quite some time, but after I have had a few more journeys on them I will give LNER some feedback which may be of use along with others for future developments.

Yes, like many other I found the seats hard, although you tend to get used to them. Whether it was a combination of the lively ride of the coach at times and the firmness of the seat, I did feel I was moving in my seat more that I would have thought. I found at the end of the journey you can raise the head pad!

I like the reservations system. I am visually impaired, but could easily tell from the platform which seats were free and which were not. I was able to find my seat OK, but having the seat number under the luggage rack makes it a bit dark, its a shame the seat numbers don't light up. I often travel this route with my wife and we like to sit on the single row of seats facing each other, but the Azum's have very few of this type of seat configuration which is a shame, but I assume it is because they can fit more airline style first class seats in.

I was disappointed there are no curtains, only blinds. This means if one person needs to reduce the light coming in through the window, the other person sharing the window has to too. Not only that, but owing to the curve of the window, the blind does not go completely down leaving 4 - 6 inches of window. this could be annoying on a sunny day when sunlight can't be shield from a laptop screen or similar. The blind also does not seem that thick or dark, so on a sunny day how effective will they be. The curtains on and HST or Mark 4 are not perfect, but seem more flexible. Also the lack of the a curtain track at the bottom of the window means there is no easy play to put the menu out of the way or stick your phone it it - real first world problems!

The table appeared bigger, but at the window end it curves upward towards the window, so you can't put cups etc right at that end, reducing the space, I can' think why they did day.

The aisle seems wider, when the trolley was going down, people could pass it at a push, but there again the trolleys seemed smaller!

The step into / out of the coach seemed bigger which should help getting on and off. I liked the sliding doors between the coach connections which are extra to the sliding doors into the seating area. As long as they work it should reduce noise. In Coach K you could hear the electric motors etc, not a real issue.

The toilet was fine, nice clear buttons with labels. It is so annoying these days at times to go into a public toilet which has automatic water / soap dispensers and driers and does not put clear labels on them, as you can end up wafting your hands around hoping something will happen! The sink seems narrow which meant the floor seemed to get wet easily. The door lock was clear (I did not try the disabled toilet), in may ways it seemed over engineered. The large luggage store area opposite the toilet was confusing people. I and others on auto pilot just opened the door and was shocked to find no toilet in there!

So on the whole the trains are fine, with some annoying bits. Will the age well and will the price of tickets attract us to keep travelling with them? Probably yes as I have no real other practical choice.

Hopefully attached are some picture of some of the features mentioned above.

reservation.jpg loo2.jpg loo.jpg table.jpg blind.jpg
 

_toommm_

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Their has always been a reason why virgin still use the voager name, since they have so many pendalinos they have to run distinct services as seen by the carrriage diagrams at all their stations. XC like LNER dont have something like this in place as XC dont have many HSTs while LNER will end up only having 800/801s and not anything else

They do still use it though.... *sigh* and there are possible plans for LNER to keep some of the Mallard sets IIRC too.
 

Mikey C

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Nobody calls cross country trains voyagers anymore though? HST (like IET) was a generalised term for that type of train not designed as a unique name specifically for a LNER 800/801 they should be called IETs since that is what 800s are not azuma

Wasn't it Intercity 125 which was the "Azuma" brand name of its day anyway?
 

Sprinter153

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Isn't 'IET' just as made up as 'Azuma' anyway? I've never seen anything from Hitachi actually calling Class 80x 'IETs', it's always IEP, AT300 or Class 80x.

They had a brief time being called 'SETs' or Super Express Trains by FGW back in the Ben Rule DOO proposal days.
 

3973EXL

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5X40 Doncaster - Acton started Bounds Green.
5X41 Acton - Eastleigh
800106
 
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ashkeba

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What do you think will resonate with the general public better? IET or Azuma?

"Come and experience our new IET!" sounds dull. "Come and experience our new Azuma!" sounds exciting. Which will help sell tickets?
IET sounds like an illness. Azuma sounds fun.
 

D6700

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Nobody calls cross country trains voyagers anymore though?

I know this has already been countered by a number of posters, but as I don't know anybody who doesn't refer to them as Voyagers, I am curious as to know what you know them as?

Back on subject, I can't stand the name Azuma, because I think it sounds tacky - "it's a zoomer", but I accept that I'm just going to have to get on with it! That said, I note that many LNER staff refer to them as a similar sounding fruit!
 

Japan0913

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Back on subject, I can't stand the name Azuma, because I think it sounds tacky - "it's a zoomer", but I accept that I'm just going to have to get on with it! That said, I note that many LNER staff refer to them as a similar sounding fruit!
LOL (^ _ ^;)
I am Japanese.
 

3973EXL

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5X82/Q83 Eastleigh - Acton - Doncaster
800106 801111
 
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Bletchleyite

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Looking at the seating plan:

https://www.lner.co.uk/globalassets/_page-structure/azuma-content/Azuma-seat-maps

For 5 car sets

I suspect coach K or D seat 1 will be completely windowless as it's against the door pocket, don't know the others.

In coach L/E the wheelchair spaces are the ones against the door pockets (Discrimination much?)

For 10 car sets

Coach L seat 1 and 58 are against the door pocket, coach K seat 1 too. Avoid those.

Having said all that

...it appears that the bays are aligned but the single seats aren't, so there will be some single seats with no view. You can probably work it out by reference to the bays of 4.

I don't know why TOCs don't show the window positions on the seat map. I've just booked a journey on Italo and they did, so I was able to choose carefully for the best view.
 

Ilkley333

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There were two five coach sets coupled together in Leeds station tonight.

Seats 1, 2 and 3 in coaches E & M are first class seats without windows. Was really surprised to see that, literally no window rather than being not aligned with the window. Some might like it but I think that they would be awful personally and potentially disorienting after a long journey.
 

Bletchleyite

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There were two five coach sets coupled together in Leeds station tonight.

Seats 1, 2 and 3 in coaches E & M are first class seats without windows. Was really surprised to see that, literally no window rather than being not aligned with the window. Some might like it but I think that they would be awful personally and potentially disorienting after a long journey.

I suspect there might actually be more First Class passengers than Standard ones who that would actually suit (those intending to work during the journey). Being single seats they are particularly suited to that provided the laptop is small enough for the table.
 

Ilkley333

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I suspect there might actually be more First Class passengers than Standard ones who that would actually suit (those intending to work during the journey). Being single seats they are particularly suited to that provided the laptop is small enough for the table.

Sadly I always have to work when I am travelling and personally i think that I’d hate it - having no point of reference out of a window whilst glued to a laptop on a moving train seems like a recipe for motion sickness, but each to their own!
 
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