Grand Central Class 180 Interior Refresh

[Goldfish62]

There are many, many problems with 180s, most of which stem from poor design and build quality. But I'm not sure the seats would typically receive criticism.

Reading one of Ian Walmsley's articles in Modern Railways, he stated that the seats in the 180s (and 175s) were the last bespoke design with comfort in mind. I certainly agree. They are pretty comfortable IMHO. Now TOCs tend to just go with the cheapest off the shelf design.

 

[Roger100]

180102 in debranded FGW livery is working 1923 KX-Bradford currently.

Yes, 180102 was photographed at Doncaster yesterday, and another was seen at Eaglescliffe.

 

[Andrewh32]

Yes, 180102 was photographed at Doncaster yesterday, and another was seen at Eaglescliffe.

Of the FGW branded 180s, two are at Eastleigh being refurbished, one is helping Hull trains out after the major failure of one of it's 180s & two are in service with GC awaiting refurbishment

 

[Roger100]

Of the FGW branded 180s, two are at Eastleigh being refurbished, one is helping Hull trains out after the major failure of one of it's 180s & two are in service with GC awaiting refurbishment

Here's 180106 on the Durham Coast Line near Hartlepool today, apparently still branded as FGW. The 1A65 Sunderland to KX.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/muggers/25585509468/in/dateposted-public/

 

[Kite159]

Not sure which Grand Central 180 thread to ask this in, but any idea what the GC 180 on the 1102 Eastleigh Works-alstom-fl to Bounds Green T&R.S.M.D was doing (saw it passing Ealing around 12:22 but couldn't catch the number, I assume it is a unit returning from Eastleigh after getting refreshed in GC colours or is it the return of the unit getting the new interior?
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O56562/2018/01/02/advanced

 

[Halish Railway]

Not sure which Grand Central 180 thread to ask this in, but any idea what the GC 180 on the 1102 Eastleigh Works-alstom-fl to Bounds Green T&R.S.M.D was doing (saw it passing Ealing around 12:22 but couldn't catch the number, I assume it is a unit returning from Eastleigh after getting refreshed in GC colours or is it the return of the unit getting the new interior?
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O56562/2018/01/02/advanced

Don't know the numbers as I saw it on a passing train.

Couple of things to note;
The orange band is a lot more like yellow.
It is branded 'Grand Central by Arriva'.
First Class looks exactly the same as current

I couldn't see that much of Standard but the seats are recovered.

 

[cactustwirly]

It was 180108, an ex GWR unit

 

[chrisdmadd]

To do the whole fleet would take about 5 months at most I would say. Each unit would take about a week to do completely (I think)

First unit took 20 weeks....

 

[61653 HTAFC]

First unit took 20 weeks....

First ones of any refurbishment usually do take longer: there's often hidden issues once the works folks start taking them apart. See 155346 as an extreme example!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Reading one of Ian Walmsley's articles in Modern Railways, he stated that the seats in the 180s (and 175s) were the last bespoke design with comfort in mind. I certainly agree. They are pretty comfortable IMHO. Now TOCs tend to just go with the cheapest off the shelf design.

Personally I quite like ironing boards and near enough any Grammer product provided it is not 3+2. But I do agree, the 175/180 seats are good - and for a tall male well designed too, as they have the strong support pillar in the middle, creating extra space at the sides for knees where it is needed.

 

[Kieran1990]

Any pictures of the internal refurb about?
Rather interested to see what GC have done to them. As we can all agree the interior on the FGW Class 180s was tired.

 

[No Fault Found]

First unit took 20 weeks....

The first unit (180104, 56 car i believe) had significant corrosion inside the sole bar which had to be rectified, it was running on an engineering concession in it's last few months at GWR. There is also another unit that requires this work doing but the remaining units have been inspected and are all ok to run.

 

[aiden_g1]

Any pictures of the internal refurb about?
Rather interested to see what GC have done to them. As we can all agree the interior on the FGW Class 180s was tired.

The interior on all if them are tired. Hull Trains have really done a good job on theirs, albeit the bright white lights are very harsh early in a morning or late a night.

All i can think is that either the first unit is still yet be completed or nothing much has actually materialised with the planned refit other than a deep clean. Surely we atleast deserve that?

 

[aiden_g1]

FINALLY !

Photos of the first refurbished GC 180 have been released on their facebook page. Not quite what i was expecting but a HUGELY improved look and more importantly a MUCH needed move.

What are your thoughts ?

https://m.facebook.com/grandcentralrail/?__tn__=*sH-R

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is that vinyl flooring? Surprising on an InterCity unit.

They need to replace the lighting, it's nasty. Put some warm white tubes in (LED if you like) as they were built with.

Orange armrests look a bit 1980s.

Otherwise looks a quality job, but it won't stop them from being mechanical garbage.

 

[cactustwirly]

Is that vinyl flooring? Surprising on an InterCity unit.

They need to replace the lighting, it's nasty. Put some warm white tubes in (LED if you like) as they were built with.

Orange armrests look a bit 1980s.

Otherwise looks a quality job, but it won't stop them from being mechanical garbage.

The 180s have an excellent design, it's a shame thaf the execution of the design wasn't good enough.
The 222s on the other hand have a very poor design and ok build quality.
The 180s with GWR were quite reliable

 

[221129]

The 180s have an excellent design, it's a shame thaf the execution of the design wasn't good enough.
The 222s on the other hand have a very poor design and ok build quality.
The 180s with GWR were quite reliable

The 180s at GWR were the most unreliable of the lot!!

 

[cactustwirly]

The 180s at GWR were the most unreliable of the lot!!

Really? Didn't notice it.

 

[cj_1985]

Looks very nice.

 

[MatthewRead]

View attachment 44441 FINALLY !

Photos of the first refurbished GC 180 have been released on their facebook page. Not quite what i was expecting but a HUGELY improved look and more importantly a MUCH needed move.

What are your thoughts ?

https://m.facebook.com/grandcentralrail/?__tn__=*sH-R

What about standard class?

 

[BestWestern]

The 180s at GWR were the most unreliable of the lot!!

They were a lot more reliable the second time around!

 

[43096]

They were a lot more reliable the second time around!

With an MTIN of less than 5,000, they could be no stretch of the imagination be called reliable. The Hull and GC units were significantly (two or three times) more reliable than the GWR examples in the last Modern Railways fleet reliability review.

 

[BestWestern]

With an MTIN of less than 5,000, they could be no stretch of the imagination be called reliable. The Hull and GC units were significantly (two or three times) more reliable than the GWR examples in the last Modern Railways fleet reliability review.

The caught fire less the second time around though!

 

[ainsworth74]

What about standard class?

That picture is standard class...

With an MTIN of less than 5,000, they could be no stretch of the imagination be called reliable. The Hull and GC units were significantly (two or three times) more reliable than the GWR examples in the last Modern Railways fleet reliability review.

It might be false but I had the impression that the second time around they got considerably more reliable than they ever had been but have been getting steadily worse again over the last 18ish months?

 

[Starmill]

Is that vinyl flooring? Surprising on an InterCity unit

Only in the aisle.

 

[ainsworth74]

Only in the aisle.

Can't be many examples of a unit designed for inter-city work that has a vinyl floor though? It's very much an urban/suburban/inter-regional thing.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

To me it's not so much the orange armrests that make it look like something from the 1980s... it's the moquette nearest the camera:- I assume it's meant to represent GC's house colours but it looks like something Dorien from Birds Of A Feather would wear!

Those seats look pretty comfortable though, especially compared to what the Hitachi 800-series has.

 

[Starmill]

Can't be many examples of a unit designed for inter-city work that has a vinyl floor though? It's very much an urban/suburban/inter-regional thing.

No that's true. These trains did already have lino in the aisle at the ends because the carpet had worn big holes at the ends of the aisle which looked awful. I can see why they've gone with the whole thing although it doesn't look amazing. A more durable carpet in the aisle and a softer carpet under the seats would look less incongruous, I believe some ScotRail units have this.

The new Trenitalia Frecciarossa trains have lino flooring throughout, even in Business and Executive class. It does look unusual. www.italymagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/624x400/public/story/executive-frecciarossa.jpg?itok=uu3hrxhp

 

[humbersidejim]

No that's true. These trains did already have lino in the aisle at the ends because the carpet had worn big holes at the ends of the aisle which looked awful. I can see why they've gone with the whole thing although it doesn't look amazing. A more durable carpet in the aisle and a softer carpet under the seats would look less incongruous, I believe some ScotRail units have this.

The new Trenitalia Frecciarossa trains have lino flooring throughout, even in Business and Executive class. It does look unusual. www.italymagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/624x400/public/story/executive-frecciarossa.jpg?itok=uu3hrxhp

I agree - for First, that Trenitalia layout looks rather, well, clinical.

However, logic dictates that this type of flooring will be much easier and quicker to clean, far more hygenic and probably last longer. In reality, what practical difference does a carpet make to comfort - after all, who takes their shoes off on a train journey?

I think this highlights an interesting perception gap in terms of what we might perceive as "comfortable".

Decent looking job by GC - though noteworthy they haven't gone for the Hull Trains TV style PIS screens at the carriage ends.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think you can get away with wood effect lino as people still feel that wood flooring, even if fake, is a premium thing. Fleck lino as always seems to be used just makes the train look like a hospital or doctor's surgery.