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inspector_blakey
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« on: November 13, 2012, 23:31:35 » |
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Am currently installed in Birmingham, in the latter half of two weeks' working up here. Given that I'm now based in Surrey and had to travel up here last Monday to be in Brum before 1030, taking the train via London and Chiltern looked like a good option, all the more so when I spotted that I could travel ex-MYB▸ on the 0837 (1R14 67-hauled mk 3 service to BMO), with a good chance of sampling one of Chiltern's refurbished sets.
The first thing that went hugely in Chiltern's favour was the price: I had three choices. Travel via London to New Street on Virgin, which would have cost GBP 180 return at the time I needed. Travelling via Basingstoke to New Street also required an Anytime ticket, at a cost of about GBP 100. Chiltern won hands down here, as a Super Off Peak ticket is valid on the 0837 off Marylebone, and I live a relatively short hop on SWT▸ from Waterloo which is a straightforward journey on the Bakerloo away from there. This journey set me (well, my company) back GBP 42.50, an incredibly reasonable price IMHO▸ .
There was indeed a refurbished set waiting on the blocks to form the 0837. First impressions were good: very smart on the outside, and demand has apparently been such that these trains have been extended to 6 cars. The passenger saloons also looked very inviting, clean, smartly upholstered and turned out. However, that's where the good points really end, and I was left with quite a mixed impression of this stock.
Firstly, the refurbishment was obviously carried out to a budget, and the vehicles are still fitted with those wretched IC70 seats that offer no support and have an incredibly awkward fixed armrest between pairs (I appreciate however, that for many of you that might be a plus point). More irritating was that there was literally nowhere on the entire train, other than a seat, where I could stow my modestly-sized suitcase, as all the vehicle-end luggage stacks have been refurbished away. I know that these services are really tarted up commuter trains pretending to be a genuine long-distance express, but this was still a surprise.
There are no doors separating the saloon from the vestibule anymore either, which leads to noise and drafts. At least one of the sliding plug doors on this set was defective, locked and labelled out of use. I have to say that the absolute worst part of the train was the new toilets, which have apparently been designed by someone who never actually tried using them. They are very cramped, of necessity, because of the new door equipment installed in the vestibules, but are an absolute ergonomic catastrophe. Large bulky hand-dryers have been installed, and for some reason mounted about six inches off the floor so that anyone taller than your average midget has to stoop significantly to use them. There's also a slightly ridiculous sink: it's a tiny, fairly flat slate-effect affair that does look very smart, but because it's flat and has very little in the way of a lip leads to water p*ssing all over your feet and the floor when you try and wash your hands whilst the train is on the move.
I really wanted to like these trains, and truth be told they're not bad, but it strikes me as a real shame that the attention to detail in the refurbishment seems to have been so sadly lacking. Interestingly I read part 3 of Paul Bigland's network travelogue in RAIL a few days later and noted that he had raised many of the same points that had occurred to me.
Another point of irritation was that there were four staff clustered around the buffet counter (which from my seat was directly in my sight line) for the bulk of the journey, and only once did the conductor make any kind of half-baked attempt at a ticket check, without carrying a machine so it's unclear what he would have done had anyone needed to pay. This was a disappointment as Chiltern staff have always been very thorough with tickets in my experience in the past.
Anyone else used the service and have any thoughts?
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