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facebook.com/RailExpressMag10 RAIL EXPRESS September 2019
IN BRIEF
‘Ironing board’ seats failnewcomfort standards
ResearchbytheRSSB finds little thought has been given to passengers.
By ‘Industry Witness’DISSATISFACTION with the comfort of
seating on newtrains, which emerged
with the introduction of Siemens-built
Class 700 units on Thameslink services
as oldertypeswere re placed,resulted
in theRail Safety and Standards Board
(RSSB) commissioningresearch to
establish futurestandards.
Passengers have branded the
Thameslink seating as ‘ironing boards’,
with the same description subsequently
appl iedtoother classes, such as the
Class 387s operating between King’s
Cross and King’sLynn. In the latter
case, thereisavery poorexperience
in terms of passenger comfort when
compared to the Class 365 trains they
replaced, as thesewere specifiedby
Network SouthEast asexpress units
with full carpeting and seating arranged
in ba ys adja cent tothewindows.
The newlong-distance Class 800
series of trains being builtby Hitachi
arealsonot im mune from criticism,
with the viewthat seating standards
comparebadlywith the 40-year-
old HSTsets theyhave replacedon
GreatWester nroutes. With ongoing
introduction of the trains under the
‘Azuma’ brand onEast Coastservices
(see also page9), therecould be similar
comparisons made with the outgoing
HSTs and Mk.4 hauled stock.
When newtrains were being
planned in the past, consultation took
place with stakeholders to identify apreferred choice of seat and layout.
In the case of the Siemens-built Class
185 TransPennine Express units,for
example, this ledtoawooden mock-up
being built to demonstrate the options.
Morerecently, project managers appear
to ha ve optedforthe cheapest seat
that complies with safetyrequir ements
in terms of crashworthinessand fire
safety,with apparentlylittle input from
vehicle owners or futureusers.
Up to now, no standardhas been
available toquantify comfort, and
standards have beenreduce dfurther
as aresult of franchise specifications
requiring the planned train service to
provide aset number of seats at peak
periods. Uncomfortable high-density
seating canresult inafinancial saving
to the franchise bidder,rather than
the alternativeofr unning moreor
longerservices.The RSSB research project, which
beganinF ebruary2018, includedinput
from theFurniture IndustryResearch
Association. The resultsare now
available, andthe in vestigationfound
it waseasie rtod efine what caused
discomfortrathe rthan whatwas
comfortablegiven differen tpassenger
expectations.Tenfactorswere
identified thatcould result inaseat
bein grega rded as uncomfortable, which
would alsobeinfluencedby the typeof
journeymade:metro,regional,inter-city,
andfirstclass.
Foreach of these types,four
potentiallyadverse attributeswere
identified–the seat dimension, seat
pad requir ement, seat attractiveness,
and the needforseataccessories (such
as charging pointsformobile devices),
with values attachedforeach heading.
The involvement of the furniture
industry has producedawake-up call
to train manufacturers who, while
producingwell-e ngineered trains,
have given the impression of providing
scant regardto user comfort. After the
standards had been agreed, theRSSB
applied thefindings to the seating in
sevenrecentlyintroducedvehicle types
and theyall failed.
This confirms thereissubstance
to the adverse comments fromregular
passengers and also the viewof
medicalexperts, who have advised
pass engers to takeacushion on long
journeys to avoid alossofcirculation
and cramp.EGWR preparesfor‘biggest timetable changesince the 1970s’
GWR hasfour Class 319s that will be usedfordrivertraining ahead ofreceiving
converted tri-mode Class 769s. One of them, No. 319449, is pictured at Didcot
Parkway on August 1.James BushnellSeating onaClass 700 EMU,which kick-
started the ‘ironing board’ nickname.
RM/CCSERVICES betweenPaddin gton and
SouthWaleswillbes peeded up from
December asanew timetable makes
use of the electrification through
to Cardiff.Great WesternRailway
describes this as the biggest change
since 1976 when HSTs were introduced.
Class 800 bi-modes in electric
mode will offer faster acceleration
andallow typical journeytimes on the
twice-hourlyCardiff-London service to
be shortenedby 14 minutes to1hour
53 minutes. Therewillalso be athird
service per hour at the busiest times
of da y, which will run nonstop between
BristolParkway andPaddi ngton,
covering Cardiffto London in1hour 42
minutes. The additional services are
also said to makeanextra15,000 seats
available perday.
Services betweenCardiffand
Portsmouth will see five-car ‘Turo’
trains (a two-car Class 165 and three-
car Class 166)replace the current
three-carriageClass 150units, while
those betweenCardiffand Taunto n/
Exeter will use Class 43 ‘Castle’ HSTs at
the busiest times of dayadding morethan 1800 seatsevery da y.
Grea tWestern electrification has
been doggedby rising costs and late
running, with the originalscheme to
Swansea due to have been completedin 2017. Wireswest of Cardiffwere
subsequentlycancelled, with IETs
runningindiesel mode, while Bristol
wasput back pendingresignalling and
trac kremodelling.£10 MILLIONFOR NEW
WALSALL STATIONS
THE Government has allocated £10 million
towardstwo newstations on theWalsall
to Wolverhampton line at Darlaston and
Willenhall.Further costs arebeing met
from theregion ’s HS2 ConnectivityFund.
The original stations closed in 1965
and thereopenings will accompanythe
reintroduction of direct local passenger
services on theroute, passengers currently
having to travelvia Birmingham NewStreet.
The project is being ledby the West
MidlandsRail Executiveand Transportfor
West Midlands (TfWM) in collaboration with
the DepartmentforTransport, NetworkRail,
West MidlandsRailway,Walsall Counciland
the City ofWolverhampton Council.
Planning applications aredue to be
submitted later thisyear and it is hoped to
start work in 2020forservicestobegin by
the end of 2021.MORE MARITIME SERVICES
MARITIMETransport has launched two
furtherrail services from DPWorldLondon
Gateway to itsrail terminalsin TraffordPark
and Wakefield .The daily trips, hauledby DB
Cargo, ar eMaritime’s fifth and sixth to date
following the launch ofMaritime Intermodal
in April.
With the capacity to move up to 76
TEUine achdirection,both services are
hauledby Class 66 locomotives liveried
in Maritime’s colours, which operate
MondaytoF ridayonexport services and
TuesdaytoSaturdayoni mports, providing
customers withalink between DPWorld
London Gateway and the manufacturing
and consumer conurbations in Northern
England.GBRf CELEBRATESPRIDE
TO mark thisyear’s Brighton Pride, GB
Railfreight named No. 66773Pride of GB
Railfreightat the town’s station on
August 2. Besides the name, the loco
featuresrainbowflags on the cabsides and
amulti-colouredversio noft he company’s
logoont he bodysides.CONWY VALLEY REOPENS
THE ConwyValleyLine has fullyreopened
after closing inMarchdue to extensive
flooding.
To celebrate, NetworkRail and
TransportforWales hostedaspecial steam
train along the line on August 3. BillKelly,
route directorforNetwork Rail Wales and
Borders, said:“After months of hardwork to
repair the flood-damaged ConwyValleyline,
we aredelig hted to have reopenedit in time
forthe National Eisteddfod.”
The 'Conwy Quest'ranfromChester
to Blaenau Ffestiniog 'top and tailed'by
'Jubilee' No. 45690Leanderand Stanier 8F
No. 48151.‘385’ ANNIVERSARY
SCOTRAIL has celebrated the one-year
anniversary of its Class 385 EMU trains
entering passenger service on July24,
2018.To mark the occasion, the train
operator handed out cupcakes to
customers, aswell as providing on board
entertainment. 62 of 70 '385s' arenow in
serviceonnine different Scottishroutes.