From the hard-back seats/coaches on wheels to plush seating and electronic displays, what next for Class ??? trains in the UK?
I'd say a good deal of the focus now needs to be on making sure people can get one of these seats, rather than having to stand - I feel a lot of the investment for the time being really needs to be in the areas of making trains and platforms longer, and enabling higher frequencies, even in areas where traditionally this has been ignored.
FGW have already selected this option on a few of their trains. Will it be expanded to other services? I think more and more intercity trains will have it over the next few years, but at the same time I think greater numbers of carriages with wifi, and seats with power sockets, should be a priority!
Backs-to-the-window seat layout configurations?
If it works on LO 378s, then I see no reason why this cannot be expanded to other stock used for metro-style services on the NR network. Obviously, a great deal of the LU stock already has this feature.
There was a suggestion on the forum recently that 2+2 (rather than 2+3) becomes a standard layout on commuter services, with wider aisles providing more room for standing passengers. This might also help with wheelchair access throughout trains.
I'd love that, but the new options that I hear are available on the Settle & Carlisle and one or two of the open-access operators' trains are a start!
Not without a colossal investment in much larger loading gauges, or a clever way to put the floors of passenger seating vehicles closer to the trackbed than ever before!
Forum, it's over to you...
I'd like to see:
- More luggage areas - perhaps between back-to-back seats.
- Slightly larger bins - possibly even a limited range of recycling facilities.
- Carriages with "carriage-end" doors abolished on commuter routes.
- Better First Class options on medium-distance commuter services.
- Unit interconnection doors by default.
- A significant number of third-rail/diesel-electric hybrid units (in the event of power failure on busy third-rail routes, this could be a very good backup, plus some routes near third-rail territory are not yet electrified).