Missing but wished-for features on trains

[ooo]

dont need more announcements, have got more than enough already.

Those announcements would actually be useful though

 

[Brunel 1954]

Comfortable seats such as the ones in Mk 1 First Open coaches. Large tables and seats which lined up with the windows. The abolition of tombstone seat backs, sufficient legroom for someone who is 6'3" tall like myself and accessible toilets with wide doors for the disabled like myself. Helpful and friendly platform staff who help you to get onto and off a train. Two months ago, I travelled from Ivybridge to Taunton to collect my wifes new car, a secondhand renault convertible. When I arrived in Taunton I struggled to get out of the HST as I have to use two walking sticks and there was a member of the platform staff who saw me struggling and he just ignored me! I do not intend to travel by train again if I can help it, especially after this experience.

 

[nicholaswood]

dont need more announcements, have got more than enough already.

The Barcelona metro just uses a small arrow on the PIS to show which side the doors will open. That's surely something that can be implemented easily?

 

[contractador]

Improved cycle storage. On most trains the max 2 bikes limit is a nightmare. Introduction of IET is unlikely to help for long distance travel

Recently went on a scotrail 156 which had a really clever method of hanging you bike which allowed 6 or 8 to be stored without using much extra space if any.

 

[Wivenswold]

Comfortable seats such as the ones in Mk 1 First Open coaches. Large tables and seats which lined up with the windows. The abolition of tombstone seat backs, sufficient legroom for someone who is 6'3" tall like myself and accessible toilets with wide doors for the disabled like myself. Helpful and friendly platform staff who help you to get onto and off a train. Two months ago, I travelled from Ivybridge to Taunton to collect my wifes new car, a secondhand renault convertible. When I arrived in Taunton I struggled to get out of the HST as I have to use two walking sticks and there was a member of the platform staff who saw me struggling and he just ignored me! I do not intend to travel by train again if I can help it, especially after this experience.

As someone in the early stages of Rheumatoid Arthritis, I feel your pain. Try looking like you're in your thirties and ask an older person if they can give up their seat for you. It's a nightmare.

People come in many shapes and sizes, unfortunately that isn't reflected in most train layouts.

My personal gripe is lighting. You can effectively light a carriage without dazzling everyone. The new Aventra looks better in this respect, the Renatus 321s are about as bad as it gets though. Far too bright at night.

 

[theageofthetra]

The Barcelona metro just uses a small arrow on the PIS to show which side the doors will open. That's surely something that can be implemented easily?

A simple idea which could easily be tied into a drivers reminder device to prevent a wrong side release.

 

[takno]

A simple idea which could easily be tied into a drivers reminder device to prevent a wrong side release.

Unfortunately that would be restricted to trains where the driver releases the doors and has a reminder device. I'm not sure what technology is in use on all these, but if they're through lineside ballises it might well fire up too late to be of any use to passengers.

It's a useful bit of information though, and could probably be provided on metro-style services where there is only one platform able to be used in each direction, although I'd probably just store that against the station in the existing customer information so that it's just a software change to display it.

Of course it would be really useful at stations with multiple platforms, but on those you don't really know which side it is until the route is set into the platform. Even then communicating that to the PIS quickly enough to usefully share is difficult.

 

[AY1975]

Definitely not, I find most standard class seats too cramped as they are without the available legroom being impinged upon by reclining seats.

That depends on the amount of space between each seat, and on the type of reclining seat: sometimes only the seat cushion reclines, sometimes it's just the seat back, and sometimes it's the whole seat that reclines: both the back and the seat cushion.

 

[Mordac]

Just remembered something I saw on an AMTRAK train last month when I was on holiday: a free drinking water dispenser. It was located just outside the toilet, but unlike the water in there, it was explicitly labelled as being for public consumption.

 

[Clansman]

Seat back tables on suburban EMUs. There's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't have them - same with half tables at bays.

 

[yorksrob]

Seat back tables on suburban EMUs. There's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't have them - same with half tables at bays.

Agree 100%.

Why this hasn't been addressed during the various refurbs is a bugbear. Must be one of the cheaper improvements to install.

 

[fairliered]

Compartments. H&S operatives can sit in open coaches.
Class 318 seat cushions in 334s.
Seats behind the driver in DMUs (and EMUs) where you can see out, and watch the driver.
(Drivers may not agree??????.)
Seats aligned with windows.
Bulleid coaches, ideally with an unrebuilt Merchant Navy in front.
Guards (and guards vans for bikes).
A ban on the cyclists on busy trains who think that 6 people should have to stand so that their bike can take up their space.

 

[xotGD]

I travelled in a Mark 1 suburban coach at the weekend, with a door (complete with droplight window) next to each seating bay. It was 3+2 seating, but as a single cumfy cushion, so more space to sit when not full. A heck of a lot better than a 142!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Just remembered something I saw on an AMTRAK train last month when I was on holiday: a free drinking water dispenser. It was located just outside the toilet, but unlike the water in there, it was explicitly labelled as being for public consumption.

I'm not sure I'd trust any UK TOC to regularly refill or clean such a feature!

Agree 100%.

Why this hasn't been addressed during the various refurbs is a bugbear. Must be one of the cheaper improvements to install.

I noticed in the wheelchair bay on a refurbished Northern 158 earlier that the old folding half-table has been replaced with a very narrow permanent table that's better described as a shelf. Is this something required for PRM-TSI (like making the bay much bigger) or just a poor design?
Agree on seat-back tables and half-tables. Even just a cup-holder would be an improvement. In fact buses ought to have cup holders, with the reduction in spillages they'd probably pay for themselves within a week!

 

[185143]

I'm not sure I'd trust any UK TOC to regularly refill or clean such a feature!



I noticed in the wheelchair bay on a refurbished Northern 158 earlier that the old folding half-table has been replaced with a very narrow permanent table that's better described as a shelf. Is this something required for PRM-TSI (like making the bay much bigger) or just a poor design?
Agree on seat-back tables and half-tables. Even just a cup-holder would be an improvement. In fact buses ought to have cup holders, with the reduction in spillages they'd probably pay for themselves within a week!

Well the last time I pulled out one of those tables, the whole thing came out of it's slot in my hand...

I very much doubt that is the reason for removing them-in fact the 319s even have the shelf thing you describe. Big enough for a couple of cups of coffee, but nothing else.

 

[Mordac]

I'm not sure I'd trust any UK TOC to regularly refill or clean such a feature!

Is changing the water container on these really beyond the ken of the railway?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It's more a case of how much work it would be to clean up after the wonderful British public... but indeed yes, I would not be surprised to see such things fall into disrepair quite quickly!

 

[yorksrob]

I suppose its another thing to fill up. Personally I'd rather they got to grips with ensuring that the loos are filled/emptied in good time !

 

[Mikey C]

Just remembered something I saw on an AMTRAK train last month when I was on holiday: a free drinking water dispenser. It was located just outside the toilet, but unlike the water in there, it was explicitly labelled as being for public consumption.

A bit of a difference between the sort of services AMTRAK provide and our railway though, seeing that most of their services are very leisurely long distance routes with few stops and massive turnaround times!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Is changing the water container on these really beyond the ken of the railway?

Have you seen the price of one of those things, let alone the cost of putting on one every train?!

 

[AY1975]

I agree. I might be wrong but don't both ICEs and ICs in Germany have them? Curtains also solve the problem with blinds of them covering multiple seats.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

I think German ICEs have blinds rather than curtains (in both classes). From what I remember, the few remaining loco-hauled ICs in Germany have curtains in 1st class, and used to have them in 2nd class compartments, but they don't have many 2nd class compartment coaches left now, and 2nd class saloon coaches on German ICs don't seem to have either curtains or blinds. In mainland Europe it's fairly unusual for long-distance trains not to have either.

In France, I think TGVs mostly have blinds in both classes, but the remaining loco-hauled Corail trains have curtains in both classes.

In BR days, at least until the 1970s, trains tended to have curtains in 1st class and blinds in 2nd (except on the Southern Region and to some extent on the Western where curtains were the norm in both classes). I agree that curtains are probably better, but even then there can be a disagreement if the passenger nearer to the window wants them drawn and the person nearer to the aisle or corridor wants them open or vice versa.

 

[AY1975]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned on here so far is coat hooks. They are almost universal on long-distance trains in mainland Europe. As far as UK trains are concerned, Voyagers and Pendolinos have them in both classes, and HSTs and Mark 4s usually have them in 1st class. But people often put their coat or jacket on the luggage rack, or on an unoccupied seat if there is one alongside or opposite them.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

This is what I want to see...

A dedicated train managers office with full access to live feeds from on board CCTV, Train Management System and a dedicated phone. Ajacent to a dedicated train despatch location that includes droplights and with luggage space.
A buffet counter service, not a full sized HST type but a small one similar to 180's or 222's
dedicated cycle storage racks, not the flip up seat rest against each other but the hanging type like on voyagers. Takes less space, more secure and safer and no arguements about resting bikes against train doors or people on the seats!
Better window alignment
More suitable luggage storage. there should be a rack adjacent to every set of train doors at a minimum, and bins shouldn't fill every single back-to-back space
Less seat reservations. No more than 2\3 of a train should be reserved, and counted places should NEVER be used to over subscribe a train
A train layout that eliminates the requirement to walk through 1st class to find a toilet.
toilets that actually flush reliably, and not block up the second someone puts one sheet of paper too many down the boghole, or make repeated attempts to flush automatically by adding more water to an already over-flowing bowl causing flooding to the saloon!
Headrests on seats, not like the Bingo wings found on old Mk2's but something a bit less prominent that prevents heads from rolling about the carriage!
Armrests against the window/carriage sides that can be lifted up as with the rest of them. For some reason the armrests by the windows are always locked down.

But what do I know, Im only the voice of experience...

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'd agree with your view on tickets, and go so far as to say no Advance tickets should be sold on any train which is regularly occupied in excess of seating capacity.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I'd agree with your view on tickets, and go so far as to say no Advance tickets should be sold on any train which is regularly occupied in excess of seating capacity.

Good luck with that one!

 

[Joe Paxton]

The GWR Volo TVs were a lovely touch.

Nah they were rubbish!

 

[Joe Paxton]

An on-board sauna (a real one, not just a carriage with failed air con!).

A dedicated carriage on intercity trains with TMS relayed via the PA!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

When did trains ever have saunas?

 

[Mordac]

Have you seen the price of one of those things, let alone the cost of putting on one every train?!

I hadn't, but I went and looked it up. Looks like you can get them for less than £150. I imagine if you were to buy them in bulk you'd get them cheaper as well.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I hadn't, but I went and looked it up. Looks like you can get them for less than £150. I imagine if you were to buy them in bulk you'd get them cheaper as well.

Now try looking at the cost of the water bottles... which incidentally weigh 25kg each and think how many you'd need to change over the course of a journey...