Pendolino: Worse than Voyager
There is something worse than the dreaded Virgin Voyagers. It's called the Virgin Pendolino
The railway press has been gushing praise about this train; I don't know if Virgin have been plying them with so many free drinks that they've been ignoring the train's obvious flaws, or whether they're taking the Railway Modeller line; it looks OK at normal view distances (i.e. not from inside), and will improve with running-in.
On Friday night I travelled on one of these horrors for the first time. All I can say is that Pendowobbles are to Voyagers what the Voyagers are to the good old Mk3s. Clearly nobody from Modern Railways or Rail has travelled in the Standard class portion of one of these things on a busy Friday night.
The interior resembles the inside of a plane, and not in a good way. The combination of high seat backs and the ridiculously small windows makes them very claustrophobic indeed. A significant percentage of the seats have no external view at all; imagine facing a blank window pillar all the way from London to Glasgow. And if you are lucky enough to get a seat by a window, you find the lower sill of the window digs into your arm. And finally, just like the Voyagers, there's a serious lack of luggage space.
All part of Branston's plan to make rail like air. They'll be charging excess baggage soon.
Posted by: cyganski on March 29, 2004 09:13 PMIt's a relief to find others share my feelings about the Voyagers and now the Pendolinos. I need help with my efforts to complain about being asked to pay a �15 supplement on a VV. I am 61 by the way and 6'3'' tall. On 22 Feb 04 I finally took - in exhaustion and semi-despair - the last seat in Club Class on a Darlington to Birmingham Virgin Voyager that was so packed with people I suspect it would have failed EU tranport of livestock laws. I had reserved a seat a week before but not only was this taken the train manager said reservations were cancelled and he would not try to find me a seat. indeed so packed were the corridor spaces he couldn't have got out of Club Class. All others paid the supplement. i refused and persist in this. Have I any case? I am seeking help with appealing against the Revenue Protection Service who insist I pay. I can pay �15 but do not on principle feel I should. Any ideas? Sorry if you've read this already but I'm seeking advice.
Posted by: Simon Baddeley on April 6, 2004 02:12 PMI haven't been on a Pendolino so I can't comment on the ride/seats/windows, but I've had an idea about solving its lack of luggage space. The class 460 EMUs used by Gatwick Express have seven passenger cars plus another car that is designed solely to carry luggage. Wouldn't it be a good idea to convert one of the Pendolino cars in each set (or, to preserve the number of seats, add another) for that purpose? Of course, that would probably make too much sense to even get considered at Virgin HQ. :(
As for the Voyagers... I too have had the misfortune of having to endure a "sardine special". In my case, it was standing for two and a half hours between Carlisle and Glasgow. This was on the 21st of March, and my legs still hurt.
IMHO, I don't think they're bad trains, I just think that they're completely unsuitable for their current duties. They would be of more use on short to medium distance routes like those operated by 158s, 170s etc rather than the uber-long cross-country expeditions. I would replace the Voyagers on CrossCountry with new LHCS (Mark 5's, anyone?) hauled perhaps by Class 67s, as I understand there are quite a few of those spare just now. Of course, these trains would have plenty of seats AND luggage space. But I think that's enough of the fairy tales for one night...
Posted by: Scotia on April 9, 2004 01:29 AM