refurb voyager

[whole diary]

[dog box]

was on the no shop voyager yesterday, and is it me or is this a complete lash up, the shop has been replaced by a bike store either side of a central aisle,{ with rumour being that no bikes can actually fit in the bike area}and a 153 type of luggage shelf.
Most of the tables have been removed, with the remainder positioned by one of the big window pillars. only the luggage stacks at the extreme ends of the saloons remain and the pitch of the seats has been closed up meaning the reservation displays now dont line up.
the seats have not been recovered and still have the comfort of sitting on an Iorning board.
the catering is now a trolley which managed to get through with ease ,but as the train was near empty this wasnt difficult.
comments please

[Chris from Nailsea]

I agree with the 'complete lash up' theory, dog box!

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

the money they spent on this they could have hired locos and coachs and just took a couple of voyagers apart to make longer ones!

[thetrout]

Haven't seen it yet. But by your descriptions it doesn't sound like anything special. Still, thats why we still have XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s.

relax109 is right here, they could have hired LHCS^▸ (Locomotive Hauled Coaching Stock) and given it a refurb similar to the HST's and then made longer voyagers.

But one things for sure, they need to fix the seating in the First Class on voyagers. The amount of times i've reclined a seat has moved but the back hasn't, which then exposes all the mechanism to your backside is quite frankly annoying...! 

[inspector_blakey]

Virgin may have had their faults but I don't think that anyone could argue that they didn't have a bit of a flair for style and customer service. As soon as I read details of the Voyager "refurbishment" I had a nasty feeling that is there was an operator that was capable of making a Voyager less comfortable to travel in the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) would step up to the plate. I find the airline seating in the original Voyagers cramped (I'm tall, but not ridiculously: 6' 1") so god only knows what I'll find the new seats to be like. Incidentally, full marks to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) for providing ample legroom for someone of my height at every seat in the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) refurbs.

I'm now actively trying to avoid XC in my travel plans: fortunately because their timings are so slow if I'm heading north from Oxford it's often just as quick to travel via London (and proper trains!) rather than Birmingham. I travelled to Keighley and back yesterday using FGW and NXEC^▸ (National Express East Coast) which took almost exactly the same amount of time and was much more comfortable. It was also cheaper: when I booked XC advance purchase fares were very very thin on the ground, but I was lucky with the FGW/NXEC journey and got advance purchase tickets for about ^20 each way.

[devon_metro]

Cross Country are quite frankly awful, their customer service department is either incapable of replying to emails or completely crap!! They make my blood boil. 

[thetrout]

Cross Country are quite frankly awful, their customer service department is either incapable of replying to emails or completely crap!! They make my blood boil. 

Agreed. I could go on for days about XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)), but I wont, however I cannot resist these following points...

From experience their catering department clearly hasn't heard of vegetarians...

And what good are the microwaves on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s if they refurbishment company hasn't even connected them to a power source.

Where is First Class? "At the rear sir" Train Arrives... ... ... Great, It's at the front *looks like a prat whilst sprinting to the other end of the platform* thanks for that

Or, would you like some refreshments sir? Ok, I'll bring them to you now, 30 minutes later, no refreshments

Please don't think i'm a grumpy old fart, because I'm not, I just find XC's idea of a train company SHOCKING!!!

[Chris from Nailsea]

My personal view is that Cross Country are indeed rubbish, in terms of their lack of customer service.

However, as their services are generally 'full and standing' (or 'sitting on suitcases in the aisles', last time I travelled to Manchester), they just don't seem to care.  So, they're not too concerned about their refurb, on the basis that we 'mugs' will still travel on their 'cross country' routes, when we need to do so.

 

[thetrout]

Just got off a 4 coach XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) Voyager,

Only one working toilet which you wouldn't want to use unless it was an absolute must. Also no paper 

Full and standing. People sat in the vestibules, which made my trip to the buffet car somewhat less likely. 

Fare Dodgers 

Kinda says it all really

[inspector_blakey]

Odd that a train service can go downhill so quickly really. I assume that the train crews are largely the same staff as worked under Virgin which suggests that there must be some truly inspirational management going on to elicit the precipitous drop in customer service standards that XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) have achieved.

Given that the parent company is the same, I find my experience of XC difficult to square with my experience of Arriva Trains Wales - it may be a "bargain bucket" franchise running some fairly ratty old units but I'd happily use ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) over XC any day.

[Timmer]

Voyagers are just completely unsuited for long distance XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) travel and we have the SRA^» (Strategic Rail Authority - about)/Virgin to thank for that. Toilets being out of order on Voyagers are nothing new when you only have three on a four car train that is travelling the length of the country.

I'm now actively trying to avoid XC in my travel plans

Sadly so am I if I'm heading north of Birmingham as I'd rather go via London. The HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) that XC run don't operate at the times heading north when I would travel which is a bit of a shame as I was so pleased when I heard they were bringing them back 

[bemmy]

Surely XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) is the country's the least important franchise..... it doesn't serve London, so the national media aren't interested, and MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) probably don't use XC trains to connect into London trains, as they might with Scotrail and ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))). So however bad it may be, it won't get the attention that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) got when it all went spectacularly wrong.

[Doctor Gideon Ceefax]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00gtc6j/Inside_Out_West_Midlands_14_01_2009/

This is worth viewing, as it shows the extent of the overcrowding on voyagers. No doubt they've deliberately picked the worst trains, but even so it shows just how unsuitable voyagers are. HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s used to get very busy on the routes, and that was when they had 7 carriages (averaging 400 seats - unrefurbished), rather than 4 (averaging 188 seats) or 5 (224 seats). Even the 6 car Mark II coaching stock had around 270 seats.

[Doctor Gideon Ceefax]

Also a 5 car 180 has 268 seats + 16 tip up seats in vestibules.

Data taken from http://www.therailwaycentre.com/New%20TRC%20Main%20Pages/Recognition%20main%20page.html

[noddingdonkey]

I know, they can run 142s doubled up. That would provide more seats and a new travelling experience for all!
It's strange to think that trains run to Barnstaple with more seating in them than those going from Plymouth to Leeds!