XC Voyagers

[Masboroughlad]

First time in a while that I've done 2 long journeys with XC.....

When are the Voyagers due a refurb? They need one!

Flat cushions on worn seats
Grotty carpets
Lights not working
Shabby, smelly toilets

Hardly worthy of high priced, long duration journeys. Bad enough when new, now desperately need some TLC

 

[Blindtraveler]

Agreed totally, sadly I doubt it will happen til the next XC franchise starts, unless their noew owners decide otherwise. A mear tarting up woant be enough though, whats needed is a full internal strip, bulkheads doors and all and when reconfigured make them as near to the far nicer 222 interior as possible.

 

[XCTurbostar]

Just one look at the window sills and.. ughh. This is why, where possible, I always try and travel on the HSTs on CrossCountry. Much better environment to be in.

 

[bnsf734]

Perhaps their new owners might spend some cash and refurbish them..... They have certainly had a hard life since introduction.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Better still we might be able to buy bits of them in Morrisons in a couple of year iether containing shaving gell or stuck to a plastic handle and marketed as a disposable razer!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Nothing about XC impresses. It’s an expensive, low spend, low quality lackadaisical attempt at a TOC. Typical Arriva, really; Northern is the same, as is ATW, as is my experience of their bus services.

The difference between the VT Voyagers and the XC ones says it all.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Perhaps their new owners might spend some cash and refurbish them..... They have certainly had a hard life since introduction.

Agreed. Reform to 6 cars, new seats, new panelling, new carpets etc are needed, as well as new toilet modules. But they’ll still stink of fumes.

The huge windows are about the only thing going for them.

Even better would be a fleet of 800s or FLIRTs and bin the lot.

 

[ainsworth74]

Reform to 6 cars

Of course the problem with that is you'll end up with loads of spare driving vehicles that are neither use nor ornament.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The XC Voyagers are leased until well beyond the end of the current franchise.
The WC ones expire in 2019.
They also have new real owners (Beacon Rail), who may or may not have plans for them.
I think we can say nothing will happen until after the next XC and WC (WCP) franchises are let in a year or two.
They are not the best trains on the network, but nor are they as awful as most posters assert.
I repeat my view that there is no stock other than 221s that will deliver journey times as good to WC destinations off the wired WCML, and that includes bi-modes unless we get a tilting version.
HS2 changes the game in 2026 - I expect they will stay until then at least.

 

[sprinterguy]

They have certainly had a hard life since introduction.

Indeed; the most travelled examples will be up around the 4 million miles mark. In terms of Intercity stock, neither the HST nor Intercity 225 fleets went this long from new without an internal refurbishment, although I cannot recall how involved the 1983 refurbishment of the HST stock was beyond increasing the seating density in standard class (something that the XC Voyagers have had done to then).

I too am interested to see if their new owners will be invigorated to carry out a full refurbishment at some stage, perhaps under the terms of the next franchise.

 

[cactustwirly]

ATW 143s & 150s are much worse! At least the Voyagers have matching upholstery

 

[Bletchleyite]

ATW 143s & 150s are much worse! At least the Voyagers have matching upholstery

ATW don’t look after any of their stock. The refurbs are to a good standard but they will soon be knackered for want of proper care.

Re HSTs I think the 1980s refurb was just seat layout and the change from blue to red seat covers and the red stripes at the vehicle ends.

 

[sprinterguy]

Re HSTs I think the 1980s refurb was just seat layout and the change from blue to red seat covers and the red stripes at the vehicle ends.

Had a feeling that was pretty much the case, cheers for a bit of detail. Not bad after only seven years of frontline service. Personally, as a rule of thumb I think that passenger stock should have a refresh (new seat covers, deep clean, etc) every 7/8 years to keep things looking smart, and a complete refurbishment (complete strip out, new seats and carpets, etc) every 15 years to meet changing demands and expectations. Since privatisation such cyclical approaches, which BR generally seemed to be quite good at in its later years, have become increasingly erratic in the face of the merry go round of short franchises.

 

[Ash Bridge]

A little more detail added to what Neil already provided would be upgraded main lighting in both classes with the original solid opaque defusers replaced by a slatted version. 1st class seats received a dust pink moquette with winged headrests, with saloon end panels covered in a carpet style tufted veneer.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Nothing about XC impresses. It’s an expensive, low spend, low quality lackadaisical attempt at a TOC. Typical Arriva, really; Northern is the same, as is ATW, as is my experience of their bus services.

The difference between the VT Voyagers and the XC ones says it all.

Actually XC do have their good points on some things, the XC only walkup prices on some northern ECML flows make things a tad more barable and I recently had the best bustitution for a very long while off them; old coach but refurbed well with nice driver, refreshments and it thundered up the A1 getting in to EDB 30 ahead of shedule and 1 hour ahead of VTECs less cumfy stopping service.
Their food when you can get it is nice, staff often good and the HST's are loveley.

Of course the problem with that is you'll end up with loads of spare driving vehicles that are neither use nor ornament.

Strip them of everything usable and send whats left to Booths.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Or keep them for parts and in case of accident damage.

 

[dk1]

Don't quite understand the silly comments of scrapping or being wasteful when it comes to driving vehicles. They've got a good 20yrs useful life left & with a bit of rejigging of interiors are a good & very reliable unit.

 

[221129]

Don't quite understand the silly comments of scrapping or being wasteful when it comes to driving vehicles. They've got a good 20yrs useful life left & with a bit of rejigging of interiors are a good & very reliable unit.

This. They are far from perfect but they are no where near as bad as people are trying to make out.

 

[gg1]

Strip them of everything usable and send whats left to Booths.

.....or run them permanently doubled up rather than messing around reforming them into 6 car units and scrapping perfectly good vehicles.

 

[DenmarkRail]

Couldn't the spare driving cars be used as a sprinter type train, if the main fleet was reformed to 6 cars?

 

[6Gman]

Agreed. Reform to 6 cars, new seats, new panelling, new carpets etc are needed, as well as new toilet modules. But they’ll still stink of fumes.

You do realise that would mean reduced capacity overall?

 

[gg1]

Couldn't the spare driving cars be used as a sprinter type train, if the main fleet was reformed to 6 cars?

That wouldn't work, the electrical gubbins required to make the unit run are distributed across multiple carriages, 2 Voyager driving cars alone wouldn't move. Not sure if a 3 car Voyager would work.

 

[xc170]

Oh dear, I don't understand enthusiasts at times, you can find post after post on here about how wasteful the rail industry is currently being, with all the new stock on order, but as soon as Voyagers are mentioned all you see is scrap them, replace them, razor blades, baked bean cans etc, etc...

 

[221129]

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[Ianno87]

Oh dear, I don't understand enthusiasts at times, you can find post after post on here about how wasteful the rail industry is currently being, with all the new stock on order, but as soon as Voyagers are mentioned all you see is scrap them, replace them, razor blades, baked bean cans etc, etc...

Precisely, ideally we'd have *more* Voyagers, not less, to provide enough capacity (which is basically the real crux of the complaints). 10-car sets have bags of capacity, huge windows and go like the clappers.

 

[yorkie]

Couldn't the spare driving cars be used as a sprinter type train, if the main fleet was reformed to 6 cars?

Do you have any examples of services that could sensibly be formed of 2-car 125mph heavy fuel guzzling Voyagers? I'm curious to know!

 

[AndrewE]

That wouldn't work, the electrical gubbins required to make the unit run are distributed across multiple carriages, 2 Voyager driving cars alone wouldn't move. Not sure if a 3 car Voyager would work.

That's a bit of a surprise, can you enlighten us any further? All cars are powered so it ought to be able to move, could it be something to do with tilt not having another car to talk to?

And having recently suffered journeys on overcrowded 2-car 150s (and a 4-car Voyager) in Cornwall I would suggest or propose that they could be used there, maybe with a new intermediate car to add capacity.

 

[DenmarkRail]

Do you have any examples of services that could sensibly be formed of 2-car 125mph heavy fuel guzzling Voyagers? I'm curious to know!

Thinking if these displaced class 170 routes on the XC network, then the displaced 170s could replace 150s across the nation?

 

[DenmarkRail]

That's a bit of a surprise, can you enlighten us any further? All cars are powered so it ought to be able to move, could it be something to do with tilt not having another car to talk to?

And having recently suffered journeys on overcrowded 2-car 150s (and a 4-car Voyager) in Cornwall I would suggest or propose that they could be used there, maybe with a new intermediate car to add capacity.

That was what I was thinking

 

[221129]

Thinking if these displaced class 170 routes on the XC network, then the displaced 170s could replace 150s across the nation?

Just no.