Is the pitch tighter than the regional units? I tried an airline seat on one of those and it seemed about the same as a Pendolino or Voyager - fairly tight but not excessively so.
I've only sat in one 745 so far, so can't provide a definitive answer unless all the non priority seats are the same, as it's possible I sat in a seat with less than normal, but it seems to be pretty much the same.
I find it interesting that they are shouting about this as if it was their idea - it's not - the original Class 158 seats and Pendolino/Voyager seats both have such a "niche", as do the Chapman seats which were almost universally fitted in the 1990s refurbs.
The Voyager and Pendolino seats are generally terrible though. You're right they both have niches. In some configurations though Chapmans are terrible, when I was in Wales some of the units had decent legroom and others were awful. Some of the cross country 170 units are probably the worst I've been on, along with the ATW ones.
They aren't mounted anywhere near as closely together as in that drawing. The drawing is almost comical - how could people actually I get in and out of seats that close together without walking on them?
That is their USP though, but granted, a little bit of an exageration. Makes it clear they're not going for the comfort market though!
The bit about the weight saving is possible partly by having them mounted and cantilevered.
but back via the ESL.