Review of the IET from an unconnected source / "Business Traveller"

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Review of the IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) from a regular traveller ... long article on Business Traveller

I am sitting on a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Azuma^▸ (Brand name for Class 80x trains on LNER) train from Bath to Paddington in Standard Class as I type this. The Azuma trains came into service in December 2017 and as far as I know, GWR are the only operator though I understand that LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) will also operate it. In that time, I have not seen any reviews of the train and so I thought I would fill that gap with a review of my experiences over the last year or so. Where relevant, I will compare and contrast with the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) 125 trains that most of us will be familiar with.

Much of the comment is what we've seen on the Coffee Shop before (and perhaps I should point out our presence to the author as he says "I have not seen any reviews of the train") but it does add some angles and perspectives ...

[paul7575]

Many forums included personal reviews of IEPs^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) long before the first one was ever delivered.  He must have looked in the wrong places, or didn’t go back far enough...

Paul

[eXPassenger]

He is probably referring to a review in a business or general interest publication, rather than the ream sof reviews in specialist rail forums.

[tomL]

I must confess I have come to prefer the trolley service and I don’t miss the buffet car.

Controversial for some. 

A good review though. Interesting point about the practicalities of 2x5 vs 9.

[dhassell]

Urgh I hate the misconception VTEC (now LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about)) have created by hyping up their sets as 'Azuma^▸ (Brand name for Class 80x trains on LNER)'s' and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) now being called the same thing...