I was comparing them to the time of the HST introduction and to what they were replacing. i.e . class 52`s. 35 mph faster, although not on all the network obviously. Considerably quieter, more comfortable, more roomy. Good all round ambience. All sound like good innovations or improvements to me. I have been on 800`s and can`t say anything new apart from a little more legroom and fast acceleration (only on EM) but so is the much maligned Voyager. That doesn`t sound like much innovation for 40+ years considering 52`s were only in mainline service for 16 years and came only 15 years before the HST. Like I said, a bean counters train.
Let's check if the list:
35 mph faster, although not on all the network obviously. - No, only 15mph faster top speed (which is only possible once there's been some changes to the signalling), but faster off the mark, so there's going to be some speed advantage (mostly at lower speeds where it brings the most benefit). As such 1/2 a mark.
Considerably quieter - Yes, although mostly when under the wires.
more comfortable - maybe maybe not it's down to personal preference
more roomy - yes, more legroom and more seats per train
Goodall round ambience - again maybe maybe not
2.5 out of 5. With most of the lost points being things that are personal preference. Yes 50% is far from ideal, but the more room was something that was often cited as going to be a problem when the draft layouts cane out (as you couldn't get more seats in without having less legroom), and that's only a few areas which have been listed.
If you look at others:
- power doors, so standard now that people don't even think of them as being an improvement
- removes the need for diesel running under the wires
- toilets that don't flush to the track, again so standard that it's missed from people lists
There's likely to be more, but it does show that there are areas where they are an improvement over the HST's (even if some of those improvements are very boring and predictable).