First ride on an 800 today finally (800025). A little disappointing to be honest. Obviously I expected the seats to be hard, they were no better or worse than expected and I agree that they're basically like 700 first class seats. Fine for the short trip to Reading, but it was certainly commented on how much more comfortable the tatty 458 we returned to London on was by comparison, even if it was far noisier.
The sound deadening is perfectly satisfactory for long-distance express stock, no issue there. Traction noise doesn't bother me, but the 800s are probably the noisiest of all the high-speed EMUs for that up to 60mph which is a bit of a shame considering 395s were better. Desiro UKs and Pendolinos are considerably better still (and so far Aventras top of the class outside loco-hauled stock) so that's a bit of a retrograde step (this is AC power of course, I can't comment on diesel mode noise/performance until I've travelled on one on such a section). At high speeds they're absolutely fine for noise.
Lots of rattle from all the window blinds, I managed to sort ours by pushing it upwards firmly but the one opposite was just as bad, that's a bit poor for such a modern unit. Mostly exacerbated by wheel imbalance at high speed, which is also a little surprising. Being able to feel each rotation of the wheel underneath, even slightly, is a bit unusual on an express unit (there was no wheel flat).
The 'clinical' interior people have complained about I honestly thought was fine. The green strip is the wrong colour, but it's not offensive in of itself, they just need a proper seat pattern (e.g. the one on the 387s would be absolutely fine!) and it'd look nice enough in there.
Reservation system was non-functional - I gather this is still the norm? Also unimpressive given how long the units have been in service. There was also no trolley between Paddington and Reading, but I'm not sure what the schedule is supposed to be like.
PA announcement was completely inaudible - sound was clear, but volume was so low that it was drowned out by track noise even at relatively low speeds.
PIS display was largely unused throughout the journey - why that couldn't repeat the calling pattern at least occasionally I'm not sure. The approach SWT used to alternate between the time and the calling pattern is a good example of how I think that should work.
Toilet was in the condition you usually find public toilets in, pretty ghastly, but for the most part it all worked OK, no physical damage to anything or any loose fittings yet, but no heating element on the dryer - not sure if that's by design, but a relatively mediocre amount of cold air means drying your hands is a fairly lengthy process.
Perhaps the most problematic aspect of the journey really was the TOC itself - the service was only advertised for boarding 10 minutes prior and the side displays were changed at even shorter notice than that despite the train having occupied the platform at Paddington for more than an hour. The NR app advertised the wrong platform for the service - relying on RTT for terminus platform info that disagrees with NR is always a bit risky, so I ended up having to ask a member of staff what service the train was. Not had to do that for a long time. The service itself, not that this affected us, was also short terminated for lack of drivers, and I notice a very large number of cancellations elsewhere on GWR today due to driver issues, perhaps second only to Thameslink. I didn't realise that situation was still that bad, and am surprised it hasn't made the national news alongside the other TOCs that are suffering. The timetabled dwell times are also enormous - 12 minutes at Reading. I know it's a bit unfair to criticise for that on a Sunday service, but it doesn't really seem necessary to me.
The overall experience wasn't exactly negative, we arrived at Reading on time in under 30 minutes, the train was clean, fairly quiet and fairly smooth, but this is no premium product. Three first class coaches coupled together means over an 80m walk to reach standard class from the stairwell at Paddington, the traction gear is noisy, the seats are, well, that's been done to death but it's still valid, and I'll be honest, in terms of refinement and 'rattle quality' the Class 800 I find to be largely-speaking par with the 345. The only upside really is much quieter air conditioning. I know technology has come on a bit and Metro trains are nothing like they used to be but I was expecting a little better. They'll do, but they're nothing special :P
Certainly I think Mk IV passengers on the ECML are going to be a little disappointed by what they're being replaced with.
