Great Western Coffee Shop

Earlier today I was travelling between Reading and Basingstoke on a voyager and I was not very impressed.  The train smelt of toilets and the seats were very uncomfortable. I have to say that FGW HSTs are far superior.

anyone agree or disagree?

He he! Try and guess how I feel about Voyagers! ;D

I'll give you a clue:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=2473.msg19082#msg19082

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=4243.msg34743;topicseen#msg34743

;)

I've only travelled on Voyagers twice, a few years ago, between B'ham International and New Street - and the toilets stank. Nasty!

They're really cramped.
I can only assume that because they're designed to "voyage" all over the place, they have to fit through the smallest gaps on the entire network.

Not a fan of voyagers myself. HST's much better!

I find that they also give off rather offensive smells in the passenger compartments... ::)

The reclining feature on the seats in First Class is sometimes a bit tempermental... Many a time when i've pulled the leaver to recline the seat and the seat has shot off the end... :o

There is also the small problem of not being enough seats in First Class at peak times.

Such a shame the HSTs pass through this part of the world at such silly times eh!

But they're not silly if you're travelling from the North East, Yorkshire, the East Midlands and Birmingham... where there are rather more passengers about than on the Devon leg of the journey outside the summer season.

Yes, the timings are bad for us, but I understand why XC have chosen them. Two reasons:

*commuters into Birmginham from the East Mids have extra capacity;

*all the trains can be kept up North overnight.

Not a fan of voyagers myself. HST's much better!

I find that they also give off rather offensive smells in the passenger compartments


that will be because the waste is sucked through pipework that rests behind panels in side train and also behind toilet mirrors you can find a filter fitted inline in the crap tank vent pipe that goes out the roof vent they dont seal very well.
so with every flush the smell from inside tank goes through pipe and filter out to roof vent but some ends up entering the carriage.

Thats something I witness all too often...!

Just an aside, the best place to get a mobile phone signal on a voyager is in "The Rubber Bit" between the carriages! Although standing there to take/make a call does offer a complimentary look of stupidity... ::) :P ;D

Good - if it makes people leave the carriage when on their phone!

am i correct in thinking they have some sort of coating on the windows to reduce phone signals and stop people constantly gassing on phones annoying other passengers? i have seen somewhere FGW are looking to do the same in hst quiet carriages.

I believe the coating on Voyager windows was to do with blocking heat from the sun, it wasn't intended to degrade mobile phones, that was an accidental side-effect. It is c2c that have discussed a window coating designed primarily for phone blocking, IIRC.

Paul

Has any progress been made by XC, as I know they said they were looing to enhance mobile reception during the coure of their franchise.

No doubt this will take the form of removing windows or something drastic!

Glad to see i'm not the only one  :)

Are XC HSTs as good as FGW ones?

I know some on this forum aren't fans of the FGW HSTs either  ;)

interior wise i prefer xc hst's apart from the fact there is no buffet,exterior paint job i prefer dynamic lines.

XC never seem to put their HSTs through a train wash.  After closing a few doors my hands are usually filthy!!  The interiors are nice - and preferable to FGWs, but the exteriors are looking awful now.

No doubt due to the fact that they are maintained by Stagecoach and National Express!!

Very apt thread as I had the pleasure of travelling XC from Bristol to Plymouth last week, Voyager down and HST back, and I know which I prefer.

Although First Class, the journey down wasn^t worth the money tbh, distinct lack of hostess, we were asked once between Bristol and Exeter whether we wanted anything and I had to get up and ask for a drink after that. Trolley doesn^t venture into First, I get better service on Pompey/Cardiff runs.

The return was a joy, hardly anyone in First and regular checks by the host that everything was ok.

The biggest difference is in the lack of underfloor engine noise, the constant speed up/slow down in the Voyager becomes so irritating after a while, whereas in the HST speed changes are almost unnoticeable.

My one hope is that the HST^s displaced by the new SET^s will cascade to XC. Some of the later builds must have a few more years left.

What HSTS are being displaced? I personnaly think that XC will end up getting some of the new HST2 trains, to replace its HSTs, with them going to the East Midlands trains, to supplement its fleet, until it in turn gets its own new fleet of trains. 

NXEC's and FGW's HSTs will be displaced by IEP/SET.  MML is not even mentioned in the DfT's published plans, though it does get a huge amount of popular support...

Paul

Iimagin that XC will possibly take on some of the HSTs then?

Though lets not forget that by that time, The owner of the WCML franchise wil be getting their new pendos, so a lot of the voyagers can once again return to XC. 

Where are these Stagecoach and National Express depots?

Is it East Midlands Trains and NXEC?

surely you mean voyagers can then be sent for scrap

I think this 'new Pendos' story is gaining a life of its own. :o
There are only effectively three new whole trains, because one is just to bring the fleet back up to the original 53. Then there are 62 vehicles to lengthen 31 of the existing trains. There is also an uncommitted option for 42 additional carriages to lengthen the remaining 21 trains. Any further Pendolinos on top of that are little more than 'what ifs' at this stage...

Paul

VT are 2 Pendos down at the moment! I wonder how the Mk3 rakes are keeping to the timetable? ???

They obviously did not plan ahead when they ordered them - they should have had at least 2 spare when running the VHF timetable. ::)

The hired in mk3 set isn't doing too badly. It only suffers on EPS sections of the route.

I had the delights of 2 XC Voyagers yesterday on thetrout's outing to Bristol!

Needless to say I wasn't too impressed with either journey!

On the up trip, The TM decided to hand out complimentary First Class upgrades to about 15 people...! Fare enough it's not pleasent to have to stand in the vestibules, but I paid more than double what they had paid for their tickets >:(

I travel First Class because I struggle with large groups of people and I like the peace and quiet, Which consequently was not delivered by XC and trout was annoyed...!

On the return journey, the service was busy, but only one toilet was working, which was in a rather poor condition and tissue paper was noticeable by it's absense... ::)

I've heard through the grape vine that XC aren't going to refurb their voyagers >:(

I think they class shutting the shop, and adding a bike compartment too small for a bike, a refurb!

They might ram some more seats in - although I expect the "34% extra seats" have mainly been delivered by the HSTs.

When they ordered them Virgin were going to get a 140mph railway. And I guess they didn't plan on losing a complete set in a crash and then two more being temporarily out of action due to a collision.

Still, 4 more are under construction, so things will improve.

Talking if re-furbs, how has Virgin increased the no of seats on a Voyager, and created a hybrid coach? ???

And why will the hybrid coach be First Class on busy trains? Surely extra capacity will be needed in Standard!?

Because on some of the peak services to and from North Wales and Chester, there is the demand for first class to justify doing this. Most of these trains are operated by a pair of 221s between Chester and London, so they aren't short of standard seats.

Last time this happened to me I actually had the WHOLE fare for First Class refunded, in vouchers, for that leg of the journey.

Depends how you define a "refurb". XC are "refurbishing" their voyagers but it's nothing like the "back to the metal" repaint and refit that FGW gave the HSTs. Basically it consists of removing the shop, adding some cruddy bike storage, nipping up the seat pitch and removing some fixed tables. dog box has posted on the subject elsewhere:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=4226.msg34547#msg34547

Notably, the seats are not being reupholstered, nor are the carpets being replaced. Allegedly the vehicles are being "deep cleaned" but having travelled on a couple of refurbs they haven't done a very thorough job.

I was wholly unimpressed with FC on a refurbished Voyager the other week (filthy antimacassar, broken seat recline) until I battled my way through the mass of people in standard to the trolley to pick up some refreshments and at that point gave silent praise for forking out the extra few pounds for an FC advance fare!

Two ways of telling a "refurbished" set from a non-refurbished one. Firstly, if it's got a trolley service not a shop then it's refurbished. Secondly, the refurbished units have the box immediately above the Dellner coupler coloured blue at the standard class coach F end, or blue-yellow-blue at the first class coach A end. Unrefurbished units have a yellow bar above the coupler at the first class end only.

Having read here about the appalling standard class refurb, I will now make an extra effort to book ahead for a cheap 1st ticket!

The legroom was bad enough before! I can't start to imagine a trolley pushing through...

Willc, if there is demand for 1st seats on certain trains, I expect there is even more of a demand for standard seats!

Yes, but on a handful of trains, there is a clear demand for first class, in excess of the 52 seats that the two regular first class coaches offer, so they have taken steps to meet it - and a 10-car Super Voyager formation isn't short of standard seats - something in the region of 400, even with the dual-purpose coaches.

And you'll probably find a Virgin coach D to your liking, since it is now seats arranged around tables throughout, so probably a half-decent way to do Birmingham-Glasgow and off-peak to Chester and Holyhead. All they need to do now is fit a pantograph and an electric power pack under one of the coaches and they can stop using diesel power all the way under the wires to Scotland.

The 5 car set I was on today had a buffet in D, and the customer host's announcement went:  "I regret to inform that we do not have a trolley service, but a static buffet... we have no INSTANT drinks, just stuff from the coffee machine, and unfortunately we are able to offer a wide selection of sandwiches and hot bacon panini's."

One way of telling everyone she was anti-trolley I guess...  ;)

Marvellous...do these people get no training? :'(

The past couple of trips I've been on I've been treated to an announcement from the buffet car to the effect that they are offering a selection of instant hot tea and coffee.

I'm rather tempted to tell them where they can shove their hot instant tea next time I'm passing.

Ah sorry! The irony was lost on me  ::)