A bit later posting this than planned but....
I travelled on the 1445 Ports Hbr to Waterloo on Monday, picking it up at Havant. Here are my notes, pretty much verbatim, taken at the time, together with some timings.
Train reverse formed, 2417 leading, 2313 on the rear, first class in coaches 5 and 10. Joined front coach of rear 5.
First impression - Modern, airy, clean and warm - a bit too warm. Seats a bit firm but not ironing boards at least! Central armrest too low (but looking around, perhaps not all the same - seems similar to some GWR 158, where often the ventral armrest is lower than the others).
Timings:
Havant to Petersfield - Run 13:58, dwell start to stop @ Petersfield, 01:22
Petersfield to Haslemere - Run 12:52, dwell 01:49 (but doors closed about 30 seconds earlier)
Haslemere to Godalming - Run 10:00 precisely, dwell 01:06
Godalming to Guildford - Run 06:30, dwell 01:16
Distracted after Guildford so no run time but was checked at Woking Junction in any case so would not have been representative. Dwell time at Woking 02:11.
No further timings taken.
Noted good use of whistles at Haslemere and Guildford.
Quite a bit of bogie noise - perhaps minor flats?
Noticeably slower off the mark but got a good lick on in the Liss/Liphook area.
Air con nice and quiet, unlike 444/450 - no blasting. Definitely a bit on the warm side for me.
A bit of panel or luggage rattle at points - in original service the latter was always an issue and the "low tech" solution was to roll up a discarded newspaper and jam it in between the wall and the rack.
Internal door at the front of the carriage (next to the cab) was open all the way - not sure if it was working or had been locked open but this contributed to noise from the vestibule, but not really off putting.
Noticed about 30 mins into the run that although the base of the seat seems a bit firm, the lumbar support was very good - but this will depend on your height I suppose (I'm 6 ft 1).
Unit letter sign (unit J) was at the end of the coach - would benefit from being repeated on the glass panel half way down the coach for better identification by passengers.
Other impression - not exactly claustrophobic but the return of standard MK3 windows made me appreciate the benefits of the deeper windows the 444s (and 450s) brought.
Accessible toilet - nice and airy, clean and bright but signage all wrong:
"Push handle down to flush" sign above WC - bit it's a button!
"Push button for Water" - it's the soap dispenser! Water is by motion sensor but no indication. Signage needs to be on the strip at the bottom of the mirror and in the correct place.
Verdict for an off peak journey? - not as good as a 444 of course but, on balance, better than a 450. Setting aside commuting, for years the off peak offering has been inconsistent and their introduction at least squares this to a degree. SWR (or successor) will have plenty of off peak seats to sell so, from a marketing aspect, perhaps in the spring a promotion of "Lunch out" tickets could be pushed (out after 10:00, return by 16:00) targeting Guildford and Portsmouth?
I was going to aim for 1700, 1715 or 1730 out of Waterloo on my return on Thursday but finished early so cannot comment on a peak commuting experience ( I wanted to see what the May timetable had done for loading, given that the 1715 in now accelerated and the additional 1718 Waterloo to Haslemere). Any regulars able to shed any light?
Will post some other thoughts in due course but wanted to document first experience without getting into a debate about whether they should/should not have been brought back (yes I do have views on this but that's another post!).