GWR Promotional Event 30/06/15

[tsr]

Why didn't they do the launch promotion from one of the Heathrow tracks? they could have then run it in and out in electric mode

Or, given GWR's antics of late, they could just go round with half the electrification system embedded in the front.

 

[jimm]

It was previously mentioned on this forum that the catering layout was the decision of the TOC.

That depended on what the DfT was willing to accept on 'their' trains and with the first batch, going to a franchise currently run on a direct award basis, they weren't budging from what they had decided they wanted, whatever GWR said. The ECML is run by the winner of a competitive franchise contest, where the bidders were asked to promise all manner of goodies and, given their trains are later down the production line, they appear to have been given room for manoeuvre on what they do with the interiors.

We have yet to hear what sort of layout the AT300 sets GWR is acquiring via Eversholt leasing are going to have but with today's big plug for Pullman restaurants in the brochure GWR has put out, the full kitchen seems a certainty in that fleet too. Though hopefully a rather more attractive colour palette will be used for the interiors and seating than DfT's sea of grey.

Not sure where you get those figures from. A 221 seats 230 standard class passengers (245 if Coach D didn't entirely consists of table seats). A 5 car 800 seats 270 standard class passengers (with a high density seating arrangement), according to the draft seating plan. So a difference of 25. Considering they are longer trains - and don't have an 'on-board shop' - I'd bloody well expect them to accommodate more passengers!

I believe the DfT seating layout has been adjusted recently to have more standard seats than on the plans that are online, so more like 280 seats, which is 50 more than a typical Virgin 221, and with eight tables of four seats in a standard open coach versus all of two in a 221 - and they aren't crammed into a cramped tilt bodyshell and the toilets might just not stink.

Almost two decades later, I was hoping we had learned not to create legions of wasted space, a la Coach K on 390s. If a 5 car 800 has 4 full standard class carriages - like a 221 - it will seat 320 standard class passengers.

There are some posters on this forum who would find the suggestion that any sort of catering facility unable to deliver a full Pullman meal on a GWR service would be inadequate, so how can the space be wasted...?

And how else can Virgin West Coast deliver first class meal service on its trains without the 'wasted space' in coach K on a Pendolino?

If GWR does get DfT consent to order a few more AT300s tailored to the needs of Oxford/Cotswold/Newbury services, then you could see five-car sets with a simple galley in a first class-only driving car and four full standard coaches. Time will tell.

 

[All Line Rover]

There are some posters on this forum who would find the suggestion that any sort of catering facility unable to deliver a full Pullman meal on a GWR service would be inadequate, so how can the space be wasted...?

And how else can Virgin West Coast deliver first class meal service on its trains without the 'wasted space' in coach K on a Pendolino?

If GWR does get DfT consent to order a few more AT300s tailored to the needs of Oxford/Cotswold/Newbury services, then you could see five-car sets with a simple galley in a first class-only driving car and four full standard coaches. Time will tell.

The criticism of Coach K is not that it is unnecessary, but that it is too large for the use it receives. Putting an equivalently large kitchen into a 5-car unit, with a lifespan of decades, is a questionable choice. Are the SW services going to be five carriages long in future, or will some run in double formation?

Hopefully someone manages to get a glimpse of what the "improved" standard class layout looks like.

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Why didn't they do the launch promotion from one of the Heathrow tracks? they could have then run it in and out in electric mode

Why the fascination with running the unit on OLE ?

 

[jimm]

The criticism of Coach K is not that it is unnecessary, but that it is too large for the use it receives. Putting an equivalently large kitchen into a 5-car unit, with a lifespan of decades, is a questionable choice. Are the SW services going to be five carriages long in future, or will some run in double formation?

Hopefully someone manages to get a glimpse of what the "improved" standard class layout looks like.

It was up to Virgin what they put in that coach and they have of course tinkered around rather a lot with their first class food offering since the 390s were introduced. What the designers were originally asked to provide may not be quite the same as what would best suit current needs.

Equally the catering staff many well find it a sight easier to work in that area than the kitchen in an HST/Mk3 RFB-type coach, to take but one example. While GWR's Pullman chefs produce good meals despite the cramped space, I really don't envy them their working conditions.

West Country services will either be nine-car sets - it seems likely these will be allocated to the Pullman services in the normal course of things - or 2x5 between London and Plymouth. Depending on the time of day and the year and the resulting passenger numbers on into Cornwall, these formations may or may not divide/join at Plymouth.

 

[pdeaves]

Also, I am now pretty confused. The RAIL photos show 800004 as Sir Daniel Gooch, but the video from GWR's twitter shows it as Isambard Kingdom Brunel?

One end if IKB, the other is Sir DG. Think of it as named vehicles rather than named units.