Poll: What are your thoughts on travelling on Pendolinos?

[Sheepy1209]

The main problem with the luggage space is that people won't put their bags up despite the racks being quite reasonably proportioned, a useful shape and quite low down as well. An IATA trolley case will fit just fine.

Not in Coach C under the pan! It's like a letterbox there.

Sent from my Lenovo P2a42 using Tapatalk

 

[bramling]

So, the people thinking they're awful are in a pretty small minority. Maybe it's time for some to change the record on here and accept they're not a bad train by any means.

Ok I work for VT so have some bias but if they were so bad, then why do the satisfaction rates come back as well as they do?

I think the general theme is that they could be better with some relatively minor alterations, barring the small windows. I like the trains, they are good performers and I've had some extremely pleasant journeys on them including London to Glasgow. However much depends on getting a decent seat, more than most trains this really makes or breaks the journey experience -- and this is an area where the trains could easily be improved such that the numbers of people experiencing a negative journey on them could be significantly reduced. The stuff like dull lighting is subjective (for every person who doesn't like it there will be someone who does, and many who wouldn't have even noticed if it wasn't pointed out), but having a seat with no window view isn't subjective - it's just bad.

 

[darylyates17]

Im on one now as I speak just wish they were a bit less cramped and they had bigger windows and the seating was better aligned with them other than that they are very quiet and smooth but the newish announcements are anoying though

 

[doa46231]

Depends how you interpret the results.
What's the difference between 'they are very good trains' and 'they are fine', but prefer 40year old HST's?

One could argue that only half the voters think they are very good trains! which considering they are on a line which had Pullman trains in the past is not very encouraging.

And of course, compared to what? Pacers, ICE's?

Having said that, the poster who said it depends where you sit is spot on. A window seat at a table makes a tremendous difference to the enjoyment of the journey. But it should not be like that.

 

[Seacook]

A window seat at a table makes a tremendous difference to the enjoyment of the journey. But it should not be like that.

It certainly makes a difference to my enjoyment of a journey. That's why I avoid window seats and table seats. This applies to all trains - not just Pendolinos.

 

[Stewart2887]

Daughter and I came back from Edinburgh short notice on Monday. With the Festival, could have been rammed, and too late to reserve seats. Two unreserved coaches on this train, got two table seats all the way to Wolverhampton. Lovely smooth ride, just a long walk to the shop!

 

[SS4]

I dislike them for their narrow and claustrophobic nature. You really feel like you're penned in and you can't relax because the seats are too narrow.

I prefer the LM 350s and the Chiltern stock and will use those two over virgin every time

 

[driver_m]

If you think those of us who don't like them are going to change our opinion, you are out of luck. They are badly specified, badly designed and badly built piles of junk.



Because normals are stupid and have no idea what they could have had. Try an ICE and tell me Pendolino is better.

Those 'normals' that you are so insulting about pay my wages. I'd take their view over yours anyday. What gives you the right to call someone a 'normal' and to label them all as stupid and inferior? Your opinion is no better than theirs and to then write the train off as a piece of junk suggests you don't know what your talking about. I also haven't asked you to change your mind either, just to accept you're in a minority. They aren't perfect but I love driving them and have full confidence in them to do the job. If you can't give an objective critique about them and just call them junk, then why should anyone listen to you?

 

[RichmondCommu]

Because normals are stupid and have no idea what they could have had.

Your arrogance is astonishing. I only hope that you are not a railway employee.

 

[Eccles1983]

Normals?

That's brilliant. No wonder most railway employees and the travelling public avoid spotters like the plague.

Normals. A basher with no sense of irony is great to see.

 

[yorksrob]

Without wishing to be disparaging about the "normals", they do tend to be overly excited about the shiny and new, to the detriment of real concerns such as comfort. It is the way of the world. They will call for new trains without any thought to whether they will have a better interior to existing ones and the train specifiers are able to get away with poor design (thin hard seats etc). This is an issue which is in no way restricted to pendolinos (which aren't the worst new trains by any stretch of the imagination).

With the exception of the replacement of 142's which is long overdue, I tend to dread the news of any replacement of existing rolling stock.

 

[Mordac]

Because we are talking about the interior fit rather than the loading gauge of the train.

The interior fit out of the ICE (even allowing for the more generous bodysize) is vastly superior - it just oozes high quality. Pendolino comes across as having a cheap and nasty interior.

The food on the pendo first class is better by a mile.

 

[driver_m]

Without wishing to be disparaging about the "normals", they do tend to be overly excited about the shiny and new, to the detriment of real concerns such as comfort. It is the way of the world. They will call for new trains without any thought to whether they will have a better interior to existing ones and the train specifiers are able to get away with poor design (thin hard seats etc). This is an issue which is in no way restricted to pendolinos (which aren't the worst new trains by any stretch of the imagination).

With the exception of the replacement of 142's which is long overdue, I tend to dread the news of any replacement of existing rolling stock.

Again, this use of the phrase 'normals' is wrong. If you use the railway, that's all that matters, those of us who have reason to, or have an interest in the railway should not use disparaging terms for those that don't have an interest. I've found that the public on the railway have the complete spectrum of views of the railway, just like in everything else and you can't pigeonhole them.

 

[xotGD]

Again, this use of the phrase 'normals' is wrong. If you use the railway, that's all that matters, those of us who have reason to, or have an interest in the railway should not use disparaging terms for those that don't have an interest. I've found that the public on the railway have the complete spectrum of views of the railway, just like in everything else and you can't pigeonhole them.

I've always seen the use of the term 'normals' as self deprecating, since it implies that enthusiasts are abnormal.

 

[najaB]

I've always seen the use of the term 'normals' as self deprecating, since it implies that enthusiasts are abnormal.

That's the way I see it too. "You and I care about this, but normal people wouldn't..."

 

[43096]

Again, this use of the phrase 'normals' is wrong.

Oh get over yourself!

Perhaps I'll start using "slamron" instead....

 

[chris89]

Don't have any issues with them myself and use them quite a lot.

Yes the walls are annoying (same goes for Voyagers) even if you select a proper window seat you still get that wall view.

Coaches C, U, H got to contend with the Pantograph wells, so over head storage is poor on that end of the coach if in those seats.

Biggest annoyance i find is that normal 'airline' seats in Standard for the Pendo's don't have any power sockets. Compare to first where all seats do though.

Prefer them over Voyagers though, journey up to Edinburgh last Friday (4th) was fine and wasn't that busy considering first weekend of the Fringe. Although 40 late no fault of the Unit. My next pendo journey is down to London in a few weeks, gladly though cheap first tickets both ways.

 

[satisnek]

I don't think I travel in them enough to be able to cast a vote here, and I'm not too sure what 'Meh' means (sorry, I don't do 21st Century English ). There's also the issue of having to put aside my prejudice against the TOC before I can form an objective opinion of the rolling stock (I've nothing against Sir Richard's business empire, I just wish he would stay away from trains!).

However... a couple of weeks ago I caught one from Rugby to Brum on a Friday evening. The train was busy; I walked through two or three carriages. The saloons had that difficult-to-describe atmosphere of people packed too closely, which you didn't get with the 64 seat Mk2 TSOs which used to ply the route. Some of the vestibules smelled like canalside sanitary stations, and there was an all-pervading air of misery and sufferance.

Now I don't know whether the blame can be pinned on Virgin Trains or too many people wishing to travel between London and Birmingham, but the one thing that struck me was that this is not progress.

 

[yorksrob]

Again, this use of the phrase 'normals' is wrong. If you use the railway, that's all that matters, those of us who have reason to, or have an interest in the railway should not use disparaging terms for those that don't have an interest. I've found that the public on the railway have the complete spectrum of views of the railway, just like in everything else and you can't pigeonhole them.

I'm not sure it's particularly disparaging to call normal passengers 'normals'. If anything, it acknowledges that we enthusiasts are, to an extent the unusual ones. Anyhow, it has been pointed out many times on here by the non-enthusiast contingent that rail enthusiasts sometimes have a different perspective from non-enthusiasts.

 

[bramling]

Again, this use of the phrase 'normals' is wrong. If you use the railway, that's all that matters, those of us who have reason to, or have an interest in the railway should not use disparaging terms for those that don't have an interest. I've found that the public on the railway have the complete spectrum of views of the railway, just like in everything else and you can't pigeonhole them.

Whether you or I like or dislike it is largely irrelevant - the term has been used within the enthusiast community for many years to refer to non-enthusiast rail users. I don't think anything further than this basic meaning should be inferred. It's simply an evolution of language.

 

[xotGD]

Whether you or I like or dislike it is largely irrelevant - the term has been used within the enthusiast community for many years to refer to non-enthusiast rail users. I don't think anything further than this basic meaning should be inferred. It's simply an evolution of language.

Enthusiasts tend to reserve negative terminology for fellow enthusiasts:

Neds, knackers, clowns, cranks, etc.

 

[woodhouse122]

first class on a pendo is good,but stuck in standard to me is a nightmare as i usually end up next to white plastic instead of a window

 

[driver_m]

I'm not sure it's particularly disparaging to call normal passengers 'normals'. If anything, it acknowledges that we enthusiasts are, to an extent the unusual ones. Anyhow, it has been pointed out many times on here by the non-enthusiast contingent that rail enthusiasts sometimes have a different perspective from non-enthusiasts.

I'll admit that the post last night was influenced by a lot of beer! The normals thing is just a pet hate of mine, I look on that avherald a lot and the staff and enthusiasts are brutal on there at times with people who take a passing interest. I stand by the comment to 43096 though as it's just pure ignorance to call something junk amd to be fair, a few people agreed didn't they?

 

[yorksrob]

I'll admit that the post last night was influenced by a lot of beer! The normals thing is just a pet hate of mine, I look on that avherald a lot and the staff and enthusiasts are brutal on there at times with people who take a passing interest. I stand by the comment to 43096 though as it's just pure ignorance to call something junk amd to be fair, a few people agreed didn't they?

Indeed, I have posted a few too many times under the influence myself

In terms of "normals", I quite enjoy getting one over on them by knowing where the less busy trains are going to be etc!

Yes, I agree the pendolinos certainly aren't "junk" and are technically impressive. But the passenger environment could be better IMO.

 

[43096]

I stand by the comment to 43096 though as it's just pure ignorance to call something junk amd to be fair, a few people agreed didn't they?

Why is it ignorance? I stand by every word I said - they are vile, horrible trains that are not fit for purpose in terms of the passenger environment.

 

[AverageTD]

I don't travel on 390s a lot but when I do they're OK. Personally I find Voyagers and VTEC 91s better but I love going round a turn at 125mph and feeling the tilt. Nothing can beat it

 

[Andyh82]

Seats without a window view shouldn't even be an option on the table in my opinion. No trains should be designed this way, and should be on the 'back to the drawing board' list just the same as if they came up with a layout where one row had 10 cm leg room.

 

[yorksrob]

I suppose it's easy to be critical when one can still enjoy the perfect passenger environment (posted from a first class IC125 Mk3. A carriage which has never been bettered).

 

[Starmill]

The Turbostar, now that is a cheap and nasty interior.

More nonsense! Have you not been on a refurbished ScotRail one (that's almost all of them now). What about 170 203 or 208? Or a 171/4?

 

[richieb1971]

If you don't want to spectate out of the window then its ok.

The last time I travelled I got about 10% of the window so my line of vision was very limited. If your a phone addict or want to sleep they are nice.

I preferred East Coast 91's. For the British standard of passenger they are easily better designed.

Nothing beats the internals of a HST though. Its the perfect balance of comfort, design and nostalgia all in one package.