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Upcycling Seats

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modernrail

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There are a huge amount of trains currently in line to be scrapped. Some of them have pretty decent seats. Is there any scope to upcycle them to trains with pretty poor seating?

One example is the Merseyrail fleet. Could they go to replace some of the substandard seating on some of the northern 15x fleet. Another is Vivarail using upcycled rather than new. Again, Merseyrail seats would seem ideal.

The question/thought is as much about the physical practicality of doing this sort of thing and the cost benefit over buying new.

If it is not a runner...are there other good uses for these seats or are they actually pretty easy to melt down/shred and repurpose that way?
 
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AM9

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There might be safety compliance issues with older seat designs, particularly wrt fire resistance. They may have grandfather rights in the trains that they are already installed, but putting them in newer trains would be regarded as new deployments.
 

modernrail

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There might be safety compliance issues with older seat designs, particularly wrt fire resistance. They may have grandfather rights in the trains that they are already installed, but putting them in newer trains would be regarded as new deployments.
I wondered if that might be the case. That is one of the reasons Merseyrail seats stood out to me. Fairly new and quite a lot of them.

With all this debate over seats it would be interesting to know what a pair of decent seats comes in at v a pair of poor seats. So for instance the cost of standard Azuma v standard Class 700 v the only decent seats that seem to be coming in...the ones on Greater Anglia.
 

Bletchleyite

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With all this debate over seats it would be interesting to know what a pair of decent seats comes in at v a pair of poor seats. So for instance the cost of standard Azuma v standard Class 700 v the only decent seats that seem to be coming in...the ones on Greater Anglia.

FISA LEAN is the new GA Standard seat which SWR think is good enough to use for First Class!
 

DarloRich

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Surely if there is a common type the best seats for scrapped trains would be taken into stores to build up a float of replacements. I would assume they would be treated like any other parts.
 

Bletchleyite

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Only for the Stadler units, no? I was under the impression the 720s would be using Kiel seats.

I doubt anyone is describing high density 3+2 as "decent", though it does seem like it will be the best 3+2 out there, though that's a bit like talking of the least fattening burger on sale at Maccies.
 

Bletchleyite

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If the idea is for Chapmans and Richmonds to replace ironing boards though, I suspect that's a pipe dream!

Having ridden on a Northern ironing-boarded 158 on Sunday, the rest of the refurb was of very poor quality, but the installation of high-based and thin-backed seating (classic ironing boards) in what was basically the original as-built layout made for VERY good legroom. The ironing board seats must be about 3" thinner than the old 158 seats, and you get all of that as extra legroom. They're not too bad with the contoured base, anyway; probably on a par in comfort terms with the classic Richmonds or the Grammer E3000 "Desiro seat".
 

samuelmorris

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Having ridden on a Northern ironing-boarded 158 on Sunday, the rest of the refurb was of very poor quality, but the installation of high-based and thin-backed seating (classic ironing boards) in what was basically the original as-built layout made for VERY good legroom. The ironing board seats must be about 3" thinner than the old 158 seats, and you get all of that as extra legroom. They're not too bad with the contoured base, anyway; probably on a par in comfort terms with the classic Richmonds or the Grammer E3000 "Desiro seat".
Yeah I don't generally find them too bad by comparison to be fair. I was unconvinced to begin with but everything that's followed them so far has been even worse!

As for 3+2 no it isn't wonderful but it'll certainly be a lot more tolerable if the seats themselves aren't awful.
 
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