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New trains - could they have tinted windows?

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trainophile

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I am currently being half blinded by the sun as the only seat I could get is on the sunny side of the train and it’s low in the sky at this time of day.

How much more would it cost to fit all new trains with some sort of glare restricting windows? Ideally blinds would do the same thing, but they affect all nearby passengers and obscure the view of those who aren’t bothered about the bright sun.
 
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hwl

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trainophile said:
I am currently being half blinded by the sun as the only seat I could get is on the sunny side of the train and it’s low in the sky at this time of day.

How much more would it cost to fit all new trains with some sort of glare restricting windows? Ideally blinds would do the same thing, but they affect all nearby passengers and obscure the view of those who aren’t bothered about the bright sun.
Click to expand...

The problem is that metal films used block mobile phone signals...
 
mralexn

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GWR certainly have tinted windows on their HST sets (now 2+4's) and I've never had an issue with signal on them.
 
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farci

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There's hope for a compromise between insulation against heat/cold and mobile phone signals.

'...A team of researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have developed train windows made of a laser-treated glass that offer the same insulating properties as regular passenger cars, but don't interfere with mobile phone reception...'
https://newatlas.com/train-windows-mobile-phones/45145/
 
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aleggatta

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377s have tinted windows... Always get good phone signal (landscape permitting). Surprised this wasn't carried over to the 387s
 
class387

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The new GA Flirts have a weird window film designed both to block sunlight and allow a mobile signal. I personally don't like the resulting grid pattern on the windows (see picture), but it seems a decent idea.

I always find blinds or curtains more effective than tinted windows though.
IMG_20190815_163038_1.jpg
 
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edwin_m

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ExRes said:
What an absolutely brilliant idea, order and fit metal film to all trains now ......
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Voyagers and 222s already have it. Unfortunately all that happens is that the phones wind their signal strength up, wasting battery and creating heat. And meaning a lot of connections tend to be dropped leading to lots of "Sorry say again, lost you there, on a train" type conversations that are probably even more irritating...

Back in the 90s Chiltern did something like this intentionally to block mobile signals in their quiet coaches. I don't know how successful it was.
 
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It might be possible to have some electronic tint much like on Boeing's 787 aircraft. I suspect cost would outweigh the benefit by a very long way though...
 
Mikey C

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darloscott said:
It might be possible to have some electronic tint much like on Boeing's 787 aircraft. I suspect cost would outweigh the benefit by a very long way though...
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Airlines don't generally have to cope with graffiti and window etchers though!
 
Envoy

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class387 said:
The new GA Flirts have a weird window film designed both to block sunlight and allow a mobile signal. I personally don't like the resulting grid pattern on the windows (see picture), but it seems a decent idea.

I always find blinds or curtains more effective than tinted windows though.
View attachment 67435
Click to expand...
I think that grid pattern on the windows is horrible.
 
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supervc-10

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Tint is not the same as the films. Tint is just colouring the glass, which reduces the amount of visible light coming through, these films are intended to actually reflect back heat. I'm sure quite a few trains have tint, but fewer have the heat reflecting film.
 
Ash Bridge

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supervc-10 said:
Tint is not the same as the films. Tint is just colouring the glass, which reduces the amount of visible light coming through, these films are intended to actually reflect back heat. I'm sure quite a few trains have tint, but fewer have the heat reflecting film.
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Yes, InterCity trains have had tinted glass fitted as standard since BR introduced the MK2d air-con coaching stock in 1972. From memory the glass was branded as Spectrafloat I believe.
 
hexagon789

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trainophile said:
I am currently being half blinded by the sun as the only seat I could get is on the sunny side of the train and it’s low in the sky at this time of day.

How much more would it cost to fit all new trains with some sort of glare restricting windows? Ideally blinds would do the same thing, but they affect all nearby passengers and obscure the view of those who aren’t bothered about the bright sun.
Click to expand...

I thought most stock had window tint - certainly the Mk2ds and onwards did, they used to accidentally fit the panes back to front sonetimes apparently!
 
Ash Bridge

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hexagon789 said:
I thought most stock had window tint - certainly the Mk2ds and onwards did, they used to accidentally fit the panes back to front sonetimes apparently!
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Interesting, I always wondered why sometimes one pane looked a different shade to the next when viewed from the exterior at a certain angle.
 
hexagon789

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Ash Bridge said:
Interesting, I always wondered why sometimes one pane looked a different shade to the next when viewed from the exterior at a certain angle.
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They were doubled glazed units, but only one pane had the tinted (I think it was called something like spectrascope) coating, they weren't labelled and so often go fitted with the tinted pane outside instead of inside.

I know this applied to Mk2 air-cons, I'm not sure if Mk3s were the same design.
 
hexagon789

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On checking, Mk3s were the same but I got the orientation wrong - the tinted pane should be to the outside.
 
Ash Bridge

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hexagon789 said:
On checking, Mk3s were the same but I got the orientation wrong - the tinted pane should be to the outside.
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Yes that seems correct, as it's just prompted me to dig out my copy of "British Rail Mark 2 Coaches" in which it states that Spectrafloat bronze tinting was applied on the inner side of the outer pane with the object of reducing solar radiation as well as glare and to ease the load on the air-conditioning.
 
hexagon789

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Ash Bridge said:
Yes that seems correct, as it's just prompted me to dig out my copy of "British Rail Mark 2 Coaches" in which it states that Spectrafloat bronze tinting was applied on the inner side of the outer pane with the object of reducing solar radiation as well as glare and to ease the load on the air-conditioning.
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That's the name - "spectrafloat". Considering it's been standard since the Mk2Ds on air-con stock, I assumed it would be pretty standard by now.
 
Ash Bridge

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hexagon789 said:
That's the name - "spectrafloat". Considering it's been standard since the Mk2Ds on air-con stock, I assumed it would be pretty standard by now.
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Amazing to think we were leading the way in on-board passenger comforts at least so far as Western European Railways were concerned back then, regarding things such as this and air-conditioning etc. What went wrong.....
 
hexagon789

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Ash Bridge said:
Amazing to think we were leading the way in on-board passenger comforts at least so far as Western European Railways were concerned back then, regarding things such as this and air-conditioning etc. What went wrong.....
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First to give second class passengers air-con I believe and we didn't have our fastest trains as first class only and/or charged at a supplement - very democratic!

And of course the Mk2D and Mk3 designs were exported, now we buy-in...
 
Mikey C

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Ash Bridge said:
Yes, InterCity trains have had tinted glass fitted as standard since BR introduced the MK2d air-con coaching stock in 1972. From memory the glass was branded as Spectrafloat I believe.
Click to expand...

Did they stop fitting curtains in 2nd from then onwards?
 
Ash Bridge

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hexagon789 said:
First to give second class passengers air-con I believe and we didn't have our fastest trains as first class only and/or charged at a supplement - very democratic!



And of course the Mk2D and Mk3 designs were exported, now we buy-in...
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Indeed. I think the only exception perhaps being the Manchester Pullman as I think all the other Pullman services around the country conveyed 2nd class accommodation also during most of the 1970s era.
Mikey C said:
Did they stop fitting curtains in 2nd from then onwards?
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That's a good question, although didn't they dispense with curtains in 2nd from the outset when the original mk2 design was launched back in the 1960s, instead the passengers were offered individually adjustable blinds i.e. 2 per window in 1st and 2nd, this of course was back in the days when seats were perfectly aligned...
.
 
trainophile

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In case anyone is wondering, the train in question yesterday was a TfW 2-coach 175. Several of the windows are misted where the double glazing has failed, which may enhance the glare effect? The window causing me a problem was okay though, just dirty as usual.

I must acquire one of those folding black panel things with a suction cup that I think are meant for shielding babies in the back of cars, although I probably wouldn’t be allowed to use it!
 
hexagon789

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Ash Bridge said:
I think the only exception perhaps being the Manchester Pullman as I think all the other Pullman services around the country conveyed 2nd class accommodation also during most of the 1970s era.
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Forgot about the Manchester Pullman, I was more thinking about the introduction of the Mk2Ds gave equal air-con rights in the early 1970s on the ECML and the introduction of the HSTs in the late 1970s gave equal rights for speed to first and second class.
 
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