Can't stand the Arriva colour scheme, so very drab and depressing.
If you are talking about Arriva's standard scheme (as on the 150, 153, Pacer and 175 fleets) I completely agree. The 175s, with that livery coupled with their very bland front end design are in my opinion one of the most boring looking trains in the
UK▸ .
Of Arriva's current mix of 158 liveries I think I like the refurbished ones
such as 158838 the best, followed very closely by the
blue and silver sets, then much further behind is the
plain turquoise livery with cream doors. The standard
ATW▸ livery
as on 158829 comes rock bottom. Consequentally I hope the 158s in ATW's standard livery are refurbished (and get the new, much smarter, livery) first. The blue and silver liveried 158s were really smart once, so that I would have prefered them to the new refurbished ATW livery, but without the Alphaline logos, the addition of Arriva's black logo and the amount of dirt they normally seem to be caked in they have slipped down the rankings slightly.
Saw a refurb 158 on the Maesteg service today - it was 158840 - how many refurb 158's are now ready and are in service?
Just 158840 and 158838 I think, but judging by how long 838 took to refurb and comments that the rest are expected to be faster I'm guessing the 3rd unit should be out this week. Just guesswork based on what I've read on the web mind.
Does anyone else suffer from an irrational desire, rapidly turning into burning hatred of those ''Mickey Mouse ear' handgrips ? Every time I see them I want to do a supermarket sweep of the whole carriage. grabbing them all and dumping them out of the window at the end.....
I'm not entirly sure what you mean by 'Mickey Mouse ear' handgrips, but if I'm thinking right I don't like them either. In fact, appearance wise, the only thing that I think is an improvment in the interior is the fabric design on the seats. Can't say which I'd prefer to travel on as I've not actually got inside a refurbished unit yet.
