OK, time for a bit of a review, then, from the relative comfort of a table bay on a 390 (which also is not a Siemens product). I'm actually en route to Stirling, but left a bit early to go via Manchester and get the 195 in and am now on my original intended train from Lancaster.
So let's have good first, then:
- Huge overhead luggage rack, about the same size as 80x which is a bit bigger than 350s and Pendolinos which both are good. Better than 17x in that regard, definitely.
- PIS is quite good, though I'm quite surprised it meets the disability regulations as some text is quite small. A good addition would be live connection information. Autoannouncements very clear, and they do seem to be going with that "slightly down at heel but proud to be Northern" voice on all their stock.
- Seats are ironing boards with the contoured base which I'm generally OK with...but not all good, see below.
- Legroom in priority seats good, appeared good at tables, didn't try other airline seats.
- Toilet was in operation and was quite adequate for a quick wee.
- No rattles (unlike this Pendolino!)
- German style separate passcom and emergency brake (so you can speak to the driver to report e.g. a serious assault or medical issue, but if you're off the road or a window has just been smashed through you can just press "stop now" and be done with it).
- I noted the doors close quickly like DB stock, but the sensors did seem to work.
- Wide step boards.
Right, that done with, why am I not impressed? In no particular order. Some are minor, some major, but I'm happy to list all of them
- Engine noise very bad for a modern unit, with an unpleasant whine reminiscent of the Class 158. When you can put a 750hp lump under a Class 800 and it be almost completely inaudible, this is simply not good enough. Clearly not the racket of a 156, but not up to scratch either. Even 17x are much quieter.
- Aircon also very noisy, and unlike a class 350 not a "background" white noise but a whirring sound that distractingly kept turning on and off.
- I think this is by far the worst feature - the heating conduit is massive, quite high-mounted (because of the cantilevered seat mountings being under it), quite wide but yet doesn't have a flat top so you can't rest your foot on it. Sitting in the window seat, it takes up about a third of the seat - as bad as any 3+2 seated unit with such conduits.
It was to me impossible to sit comfortably in that seat without my calf resting on it, which is going to be seriously uncomfortable with it turned on. This is an utterly appalling piece of design and someone seriously needs the sack for thinking it is acceptable. It's easily as bad as the Class 700's conduit but with a wider seat - but that at least has a flat top!
Seriously - if this is the effect of cantilevered seating, just don't - one support roughly in the middle of the aisle seat plus bolting to the wall is better. Its only benefit is to save on cleaning costs.
- Seat track covered with cheap fill-in with rubber on it which will no doubt last 5 minutes.
- Bin tiny and well hidden. While I'd already binned my tea bag, it would certainly fail the tea bag test. A large bin in the vestibule as per 350/3 is the only sensible way.
- Lots of panel gaps showing poor workmanship.
- Window surrounds made of a fairly rough and cheap-feeling plastic of a kind that will attract filth very quickly. It already had done so to some extent.
- Window surround sloped so uncomfortable to rest your arm on it despite being at the right height to do so. Like some other stock the panel under it protrudes out making use of the armrest uncomfortable.
- Glass luggage rack poorly fitted with antiscratch film with obvious ripples - again poor workmanship (though this may be Northern staff who also seem unable to fit it to Class 323s properly).
- Toilet lock snaps back hard when you lock and unlock. Would cause injury and gave me a bit of a shock. Also strange, seemingly random red LED downlighting in the sink (I wondered what it was!)
- Acceleration notably poorer than Class 172 (though drivers may be being careful to begin with). Gained time on 75mph timings, but that's not really surprising.
- Seat covers fabric and already utterly filthy. Also very hard - I think (from GWR experience) the moquette makes more of a difference to softness than you'd think. I hope and expect they will replace with moquette as soon as viable. Better than a Fainsa Sophia but that's hardly difficult.
- Ride poor. When I was using the bog it was difficult to remain standing (this also affects 350s of course) but it was rough. In the middle of the coach it was a bit smoother but there was a pronounced judder which was not very pleasant at all.
- Guard appeared to have to take the bog half to bits to get the wheelchair ramp (it's behind the bog door buttons in a little cupboard!) - I bet this will mean the back of the buttons getting bashed and causing failures like happens on the 230. Ramp had no locating pins so looked rather wobbly. And having watched a wheelchair user board, I can't help but think Stadler - how much better would it have been for him if he had been able to board himself without assistance?
- Generally narrow, claustrophobic feel, though admittedly 185s and 170s are similar. Apparently they are 2.71m wide which is quite narrow though not quite as narrow as the 185 which is 2.67m wide and is at least square sided so feels less claustrophobic.
- Almost no seats properly aligned to windows (which themselves are surprisingly small compared to what the outside looks like).
- Very space-inefficient interior in a number of ways. Layout seems to be the same as you would have for a 1/4 3/4 doored unit, but with doors actually at thirds per Class 150. This means the wheelchair space is excessively large (and that the companion seats thus have no window). Pointless standbacks with a tip-up seat which means on a busy train they won't be usable as standbacks. No floor level luggage racks. Insufficient airline seating, not everyone wants tables. Seriously, just rip all the seats out and start again. Did they just pick them up and throw them at the unit with their back turned and bolt them down where they landed?
I think that's about it. I had high hopes for these, but I wasn't impressed. As I said better than a 15x, just (though I think I'd choose the Northern Connect-ised 158 over these), but really these are not high quality units.
They don't to me bode well for TPE's CAF kit as I imagine the interiors will use the same modular components. Oh well, at least there are the 80x...
