LOOK! : First Great Western Refreshed HST's

[whole diary]

[DevonTrains2008]

how many others think that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) has done a good job on refreshing their HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) fleet. I think they're great and try to plan journeys around the 'H' in the timetable! How many agree, or disagree? as many replies as possible please!

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

all that glitters is not gold... they look realy good very modern i cant fault them in that respect, airline seats pros and cons.... pros more private more room for passengers to sit...cons not great for familys or groups

build quality well time will see luckly passengers in this area are alot more civilized if you look at the voyagers they are no wlooking very tatty but to be fair fgw seem to be doing a great job on maintanance and cleaning these days

end of the day were always going to view our journeys on them as overcrowded and delayed which taints your view of the units if they were not overcrowded and always ontime then i think you would find more people happy with them, only way to fix it is more trains

[DevonTrains2008]

More FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s would be good to sort overcrowding!

[Chris from Nailsea]

Well, this is certainly a very popular subject for discussion!

For example, there's a huge amount of useful information on a previous topic on this forum, at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=2578.0 

[smithy]

hst refurb seems to be better than the west fleet,sugar coated turd springs to mind for the local stuff

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

hst refurb seems to be better than the west fleet,sugar coated turd springs to mind for the local stuff

i think the 150's refresh is very good

[smithy]

hst refurb seems to be better than the west fleet,sugar coated turd springs to mind for the local stuff

i think the 150's refresh is very good

they look ok to start with but do not wear very well,have you seen the inside of cabs?
in my opinion 158's were the best but they are looking tired already.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

i havnt been on a 158 yet and to be fair i have only been on a handfull of refreshed 150's i think there is an ongoing issue with refreshes they look great but there not built to last a full on 142 refresh would probably prove to be quite amusing they cant make them worse

[Timmer]

in my opinion 158's were the best but they are looking tired already.

Why is this? SWTs^▸ (South West Trains) 158s/159s were refurbed before FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s and still look as good as new.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

in my opinion 158's were the best but they are looking tired already.

Why is this? SWTs^▸ (South West Trains) 158s/159s were refurbed before FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s and still look as good as new.

im kinda a fan of swt even tho im in devon in sidmouth with no station and 90% of the stations within a 50 mile area are fgw my closest stations are ran by swt (whimple and honiton)

[Chris from Nailsea]

On a couple of mornings last week, I was presented with a refurbished three-car 158 for my journey into Bristol - and I was impressed, to be honest!  I think they are indeed the greatest beneficiaries of the refurbishment programme. 

[John R]

Still catching the 0859 then Chris? Though I had assumed that it was more by chance that a 3 coach set was rostered, on a couple of days it has been a 2 car 158 + 153, so it is clearly deliberate. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Yes, John, I'm a glutton for the 08:59!

All too often we get a tatty old 143, so a 158 is a real treat! 

[tramway]

IMO^▸ ('in my opinion') the only improvement on the 150's was the reduction in the blinding lighting levels.

For the 158's unfortunately FGW^▸ (First Great Western) didn't get much opportunity to put the same amount of effort SWT^▸ (South West Trains) did into their spec. IRRC FGW had promised customer info systems, improved air con etc etc, none of which appeared, let alone other mechanicals that may have been considered.

The long term maintenance has also I'm sure have been affected by a lack of an equivalent dedicated facilities that SWT have in Salisbury. What happened to SPM^▸ (St Philip's Marsh (Bristol depot)). 

Give the 158 fleet another 12 months and they will be ready for another refresh. 

[devon_metro]

IMO^▸ ('in my opinion') the only improvement on the 150's was the reduction in the blinding lighting levels.

Its still pretty blinding at night, what is the need to use white fluorescent tubes? Voyagers have lighting (IMHO^▸ ('in my humble opinion')) spot on!