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Most uncomfortable seating

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CC 72100

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For those who say that certain seats feel like they have no padding, I raise you the flip-up seats on the MS61 stock on our RER A. A plank of wood, covered in a very thin piece of fabric masquerading as moquette. Any longer than cross Paris, and it's a numb backside guaranteed - I always choose to stand.
 
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Parallel

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I really dislike the seating on FGW 150/2s. Hard, uncomfortable and with very little leg room! Despite being more squished at peak times, 150/1s are more comfortable IMO.
 

Drsatan

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I really dislike the seating on FGW 150/2s. Hard, uncomfortable and with very little leg room! Despite being more squished at peak times, 150/1s are more comfortable IMO.

You're not the only one - I prefer the original seats fitted to 150s (can't recall what their BR name was) compared to the Chapman seats fitted FGW's 150s. In fact, I think most 150s have Chapman seats installed.

A close runner up must be the 3+2 seats installed in numerous 377s (can't remember the classmark) - being forced to sit bolt upright isn't exactly pleasant
 

Bishopstone

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Add me to the list of those who can't get comfortable in Mallard standard seating.

It's off-patch for me, but a few years back I did the S&C in a Northern 158, which was very odd. The seat was highly padded/stuffed and looked as though it should be comfortable, but the lack of legroom was shocking. I couldn't understand why they hadn't used a thinner and firmer seat, to improve the pitch.

I've done Brighton - London in a 377/6 and felt quite comfortable. Although firm, the seat encourages a good posture, as does all Electrostar 2+2 seating in my view. Conversely the GatEx (442) First Class seating, widely used elsewhere in FC, is generous but I tend to end up slumping/slouching after half an hour. I suppose it depends upon body type: I'm 6'4" but slim, and tend to feel engulfed by broad armchair-type seats.
 

BurtonM

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Merseytravel 142 is a given - weirdly, I actually like the bus seats and ATW 2+2s. (I like any old bus seats as they're much better than seven year old Enviro 400s).

150/1, because the seats and windows don't line up and the squabs break now and then.
185. No padding at all, and besides - they're always all reserved!
Anything with the narrow high-back seats, usually 3+2, that plague everything from Southern's 455/6 to 90mph spec 350s.
390s and Voyagers - again, obvious.

I do like 175s, Northern 158s, and anything of that ilk with those wonderful 1990s wide seats. Presumably I'd like Mk3s and 180s, but I've never been on either (yet). TPE's 170s aren't too bad, and Northern 156s have acceptable seats for the journeys they make, too.
 

Manchester77

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You're not the only one - I prefer the original seats fitted to 150s (can't recall what their BR name was) compared to the Chapman seats fitted FGW's 150s. In fact, I think most 150s have Chapman seats installed.
Ashbournes fitted to the 319s and 321s as well :)

Ashbournes for me would take the place for most uncomfortable seats however the chapman seats on some northern units are a bit squished for me.
 

J123

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I hate window seats in any train with an arm rest on the side furthest from the aisle against the wall that can't be folded away. Southern units on the West coast way service all have these.

Why do the driving cars in southern units have different seats to the middle carriages? In the driving cars there are arm rests and the seats are fatter. The center cars have thin seats with no armrests like 450's. two merged batches of units perhaps?
 

Hyphen

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Going slightly OT here, but the absolute worst seating on any form of public transport I've ever used is the Urban 90 seating found on a good number of Enviros & Darts in my area. Backbreaking isn't the word.

This! Luckily there aren't too many buses around my way with Urban 90 seats (I think mostly bits of cascaded stock from other First areas) but when one does turn up I dread it.

On topic, I might make myself a little unpopular here and say my worst seating is that on the EMT 222s. I don't know what it is about them but any longer than a 30 minute trip on these and it will set off my back problems. Coming in second is Voyager seating, but I can manage at least an hour on those before I'm in pain.

Favourite seating is the XC 170s. Don't really know why, just find them comfy. Second would be the refurbished seating on FGW HSTs.
 

stut

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Favourite seating is the XC 170s. Don't really know why, just find them comfy.

Heh, this would probably come out as my worst! Far too close together - I have to sit with my legs at an angle to squeeze into the airline seats. Plus, due to the positioning, you don't have the chance to squeeze your lower legs underneath, as you often do on other cramped seating.
 

Mikey C

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This! Luckily there aren't too many buses around my way with Urban 90 seats (I think mostly bits of cascaded stock from other First areas) but when one does turn up I dread it.

On topic, I might make myself a little unpopular here and say my worst seating is that on the EMT 222s. I don't know what it is about them but any longer than a 30 minute trip on these and it will set off my back problems. Coming in second is Voyager seating, but I can manage at least an hour on those before I'm in pain.

Favourite seating is the XC 170s. Don't really know why, just find them comfy. Second would be the refurbished seating on FGW HSTs.

I found the EMT 222s perfectly acceptable at the weekend, decent legroom too
 

D6975

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142s that still have bus seats - no upper back support.

The worst was the original Mk4 seats, they were rock solid. I got a numb bum just doing Leeds - Donny.
 

northernchris

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I find the seats on Northern's 158/9s to be uncomfortable as they have too much padding so I end up sitting at an awkward angle. The ex Central 158s seem to have the best seating
 

67012

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I've always hated the seats fitted to class 175's but everyone else seems to rave about them! I find them very thin and hard compared to class 170's. Shame as they spoil an otherwise excellent unit.
 

southern442

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On the contrary - one of the few units on which the armrests serve a useful purpose (i.e. they're at the right height for, er, arms). Most seem to be little more than low-level seat dividers, esp SWT 159s & 442s (when they had them) & Southern 442s now.

Having spent many years travelling on 377's and only recently (:oops:) travelling on a 171, I have to say that the armrests on those trains and on the 442's take some getting used to. However, I like the 171 seating a lot, and the bottom cushions and the head supports are very well designed, however the seat back is a little firm.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Going slightly OT here, but the absolute worst seating on any form of public transport I've ever used is the Urban 90 seating found on a good number of Enviros & Darts in my area. Backbreaking isn't the word.

I'm probably the only one here that actually likes the Urban90 seats. Yes, they are incredibly firm and they are hardly padded at all, but the way that they are designed posture-wise means that they are quite comfortable.
 

Beveridges

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Another uncomfortable seat ? Drivers side on Class 153 - No 2 end - even more so on a hot day! I have to drive these around the depot at 5mph and there is not much breeze from them tiny windows. I'm already feeling hot after walking around, climbing up & down units, prepping them, last thing I want to do is walk into a cab that feels like a sauna.

2nd mans seats on 150's are also a poor design. They are too low.

Another uncomfortable seat ? Pacers, Drivers side. You have to slide the chair in and out every time you get in and out of the drivers seat. Even when locked in, it still moves no matter what you do! Really p**s poor. No wonder I don't want to go mainline, I can't stand the thought of spending 6 hours driving one of these in one shift.

Would Virgin or TPE put up with that sort of working environment ?
 
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Kite159

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Sorry to bump an oldish thread, but I raise you with the seating on the 332s, rather uncomfortable seating.
 

southern442

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After going up to Hadley Wood on an unrefurbished 313, I can put in a vote for their seating.
 

junglejames

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Seconded, it's such a squeeze and I'm not that fat

Bingo!
Try sitting two slim people next to each other, as I once had the pleasure of. None of us could move without knocking each other. I thought id put on loads of weight without realising it. Combine that with everything else about the seats, and you have what definitely rivals as one of the worst seats around. Even aircraft have better seats in economy, and thats saying something.

I havent seen the new 377s as yet, so wont comment on them. However other seats that have to be in with a shout are:
375/9s and 395s.
An honourable mention also to the FGW Mk3s in standard. If only because I never realised you could turn the countrys best rolling stock (they had the smartest Mk3s going), into some of the worst. The seats are pretty poor as well. Thankfully the good legroom just about makes them bearable for a couple of hours.
 

fowler9

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Was on a 350/2 the other day and wouldn't fancy doing one all the way from Liverpool to Birmingham.
 

61653 HTAFC

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Seeing as the thread's been bumped, I'll mention that today I've been on a Yorkshire Tiger Solo; an East Coast Mk4 TS; a bus-seated Northern 142; the centre car of a Northern 158 and a First Huddersfield 05-reg Wrightbus single-decker.

The Mk4 was by far the worst of these despite only being on from Wakey to Leeds. The 158 deserves much credit for the comfort of a Micklefield-Huddersfield via Bradford run though it was probably overkill as it was practically empty other than LDS-BDI.
 

TEW

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The Mk4 was by far the worst of these despite only being on from Wakey to Leeds.
I'm not a fan of the MK4s. I don't mind the seats themselves but always find that on MK4s the seat base leans forward which makes them quite uncomfortable.
 

Journeyman

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A window seat on a pendolino, I just don't fit in them.

Pacers with the 2+1 bench seats are not that bad for journeys up to an hour in my opinion.

Window seats in Pendolinos aren't great because in Standard class there's no armrest on the window side, just that curved bit that sticks out of the wall, and you can't rest your arm on it without it sliding off.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I'm not a fan of the Richmond seating used in some of ScotRail's 158s, and in various other DMUs around the country. The shape of them is all wrong - at the bottom of the seat it just seems to dig right into my back, they're hard and very cramped.

The seats in Desiro units aren't bad in 2+2 form but in 2+3 form, like the 350/2s and the 450s, they're pretty grim. No wonder the residents of Portsmouth did their nut when the 444s were moved to the Weymouth line and 450s brought in instead.

Personally I like the 2+2 seating in Southern and Southeastern's earlier Electrostars, which is quite comfy.
 

Welshman

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The Mk4 was by far the worst of these despite only being on from Wakey to Leeds.

I totally agree with you regarding the Mk4 seating.

I used to travel from Grantham to Leeds quite often, and found my spine was not comfortable on the one-piece moulded seat [as opposed to the traditional seat with back and cushion], and often suffered sciatica for a few days following my journey. I even tried first-class and found it no better there!
 

southern442

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Window seats in Pendolinos aren't great because in Standard class there's no armrest on the window side, just that curved bit that sticks out of the wall, and you can't rest your arm on it without it sliding off.

That's also the one thing that Bugs me about 332's, as in my case it ruins an otherwise perfectly comfortable unit.

What are the seats on the 333's like, they seem to be similar to Southern 455's but more padded.
 

lincolnshire

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I totally agree with you regarding the Mk4 seating.

I used to travel from Grantham to Leeds quite often, and found my spine was not comfortable on the one-piece moulded seat [as opposed to the traditional seat with back and cushion], and often suffered sciatica for a few days following my journey. I even tried first-class and found it no better there!

If there is a choice betwenn East Coast and Grand Central / Hull Trains I will pick them any day to travel to London as East Coast seats are ( only one way of saying it ) Hard as Hell, very uncomfortable. Had a treat last week coming back from Kings Cross late in an evening, it was a joy to be hold an HST on hire from East Midlands Train,s nice seats a treat for me.

Better seats fiited to 142 and 144 a lot softer on the bottom.

Anyone remember the days of seats in the old corridor stock compartments of 6 passengers compartments, nice seat width, arm rests, and with some give in them so a lot better than sat on an East Coast seat which are not much better than sat on a plank of wood.

We should start a bring back good seats petion.
 

southern442

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If there is a choice betwenn East Coast and Grand Central / Hull Trains I will pick them any day to travel to London as East Coast seats are ( only one way of saying it ) Hard as Hell, very uncomfortable. Had a treat last week coming back from Kings Cross late in an evening, it was a joy to be hold an HST on hire from East Midlands Train,s nice seats a treat for me.

Better seats fiited to 142 and 144 a lot softer on the bottom.

Anyone remember the days of seats in the old corridor stock compartments of 6 passengers compartments, nice seat width, arm rests, and with some give in them so a lot better than sat on an East Coast seat which are not much better than sat on a plank of wood.

We should start a bring back good seats petion.
If you think they are 'hard as hell' you should try 377/6's. They give mk4's a run for their money.
 
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