Here goes...
Background
I had a
leisure journey planned prior to confirmation of Civity roll-out. £2.90 advance single from Bolton to Windermere. Yep, £2.90, with Northern’s ‘
North50’ promotion. Had a 3-car 195 unit on the outbound, and a 158 on the return, on the Preston - Windermere legs.
It was the 2nd day of service and my journey was entirely on time. The loading was fairly light (2-car would definitely have been enough).
Northern have trained the ex-TPE links first (Barrow, Blackpool depots) on the new trains. The guard was friendly and enthusiastic. Full revenue checks completed. These units are initially replacing 185s on the ex-TPE routes. Not 158, 156 or 150, which were all short-term cascades.
Build Quality:
Good. Didn’t have vibes of a Siemens build, but equally nothing was inadequate. Didn’t notice any panels rattling/loose (and it’s definitely a bugbear of mine).
General feel was great. Still had a ‘new-train’ smell which is a first for me.
Carpets were a pleasant design and appeared freshly vacuumed, so hoping Northern are able to keep them clean.
Only thing looking on the cheap side is the panels on the exterior of the toilet. Dark-blue coloured and plastic-looking, and not a patch on the wood-effect panels on the 185s.
Seating
Seats were also good. Firm but comfortable. Only gripe is that the seatback pitch is slightly too upright. No issues with scratchy/loose seat coverings, but I was wearing full-length trousers. Legroom was great throughout (6ft here). Centre armrest was a tad on the slim side i.e. difficult to share with the person sat next to you.
Aircon
Spot on. Quiet in operation, apart from what can only be described as a periodic ‘whirring’ noise from above related to A/C operation. Carriage was cool but not draughty.
Windows
Nice and big, and obviously clean on the 2nd day of revenue-earning service. As has previously been pointed out, some table seats align with the pillars in the centre of the coaches, but these aren’t as obtrusive as other trains (looking at you, Mk4s and Pendolinos) whereby the entirety of the view is blocked.
Lighting
Adequate, if above-average. Good brightness levels, illuminating the aisles well and not too intrusive when seated, especially with a window seat. There are 2 spot LEDs at each door. The reason I said “adequate, if above-average” is because it’s nothing special, when considering what can be done on modern trains with LEDs and mood lighting.
Unwilling to comment how these will fare for night-time journeys. Lighting was on the cool side.
PIS
Perhaps the least refined aspect of the journey. The visual screens were working correctly; however, the auto-announcer was not announcing any station names. No abbreviations anywhere.
"This train is the Northern service to [silence]. The next stop is [silence]"
The ETA time was also 1 hour behind (perhaps BST took CAF by surprise!)
Otherwise, they scroll between displaying the next stop, and the remaining calling points, and an ad about Northern’s £500m investment. Kudos that it worked correctly after the penultimate station, correctly changing to display that the train would terminate at the next station.
Exterior displays are also clearly visible and bright.
Toilet
Absolutely one of the best parts of these new units. Toilet bowl etc. is as expected. I was surprised by
instant warm water straight out of the tap. Easy to find with a red laser beam. The soap dispenser either had no soap or I couldn’t figure out how to operate it. Given I’m an engineer by day job, I imagine the former. The hand dryer was also easy to locate with a different red laser guide, and was above-average for a train. Think Mk4-like. Also worth a mention: an absolutely mean extractor fan.
Door Operation
The guard explained he was ex-TPE and used to working modern stock (185,350) and seemed to nail the door operation at each station. Dispatch was from the 3rd door (i.e. 1st door of 2nd carriage) and I think the rear at Preston (although there may have been a crew change). Guard’s panel was good to see, and even the panels in the train saloons had a phone to enable cab communication/passenger announcements, which was used to override the redundant PIS. A bit on the quiet side though (manual, not auto announcements).
Ride
Ok, it’s undeniably a DMU. But it has to be a contender for the smoothest and quietest out there. Engine noise was inoffensive, and the ride overall was quiet. A little more lateral travel (slightly jerky) than expected over rough track, but otherwise was adequate. No 185-like engine revving/starting when stopped in stations either. Clearly a generation ahead.
Luggage
Upon alighting at Preston, half of the passengers disembarking had suitcases, and not the small ones either. There are no vertical luggage racks, and the only space is an alcove behind the doors but before the seating starts. I imagine suitcases were scattered/dumped throughout the train on this previous leg, which is clearly an inadequate provision on trains which are largely focussed on airport routes.
Overhead racks were large and better than average.
Performance
Took about 6.5 minutes to reach 100mph, but that isn’t representative as there was a restriction over some points we crossed. Accelerated to 50mph in 2:15. Again may have been hindered by the restriction out of Preston.
Acceleration is exemplary up to about 50mph. Tails off slightly afterwards, but still accelerates at an impressive almost-constant rate.
Attached files (
on the next post) are from Preston to Carnforth (which was a non-stop pass).
Other
The guard was dressed smartly. Proper black trousers and a light blue
shirt. None of the unprofessional polos and shorts which can be found on other services and in my opinion completely cheapen the look of the brand. Admittedly working aircon stock is different to a Sprinter.
There must have been 5+ staff members on board: driver, guard, and also a Spanish CAF fitter, Northern manager, additional Northern staff member (perhaps a Northern fitter/engineer) and an on-board cleaner picked up at Oxenholme.
The train was also clean upon arrival at PRE.
If you’ve been reading, I’ll sneak in here that the guard explained that the current plan for further introductions is 9 per month. Read that how you like; 9 on the 1st of August, a few here and there tricked in per month… only time will tell.
WiFi worked flawlessly. Easy to connect; no email address required (as yet). It said the speed was capped at 1Mbps but I measured 1.4Mbps. There was a cap of 125Mb (not sure on the timescale).
1 socket per pair is a bit stingy, especially at tables. Quite an awkward position but you’d probably get used to it after a few journeys. Great that these are 3 pin so I can charge at 22.5W and not a miserable 1-2W like a USB port would allow.
Improvements
Although hugely useful, I think the outdoor temperature gauge was 2-3° overzealous.
There was no indicator to show whether the toilet was occupied. This would be great to have as an icon on the PIS screen.
Vertical luggage racks, ASAP. Even just 1 per carriage.
I’d like to see extra carriages added to the 2-cars to make them 4-car. Which would invalidate the argument about lack of gangway connections when running coupled up.
Wrap Up
One of the best journeys I’ve had with Northern in a long time. Northern have really ticked a lot of boxes with these units. Are they a game-changer? Absolutely. Superb performance with a great interior make these one of the best investments in the Northern (region) rail scene in a long time.
The biggest question is; is it as good as a 185? A definitive yes from me.
