Page 10 - Rail Express - September 2019

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‘Ironing board’ seats fail
IN BRIEF

£10 MILLIONFOR NEW
WALSALL STATIONS
THE Government has allocated £10 million newcomfort standards
towardstwo newstations on the Walsall
to Wolverhampton line at Darlaston and
Willenhall. Further costs arebeing met Research by theRSSB finds little thought has been given to passengers.
from the region’s HS2 Connectivity Fund.
The original stations closed in 1965 By ‘Industry Witness’ The RSSB research project, which
and the reopenings will accompanythe beganinFebruary2018, included input
reintroduction of direct local passenger DISSATISFACTION with the comfort of from the Furniture Industry Research
services on the route, passengers currently seating on newtrains, which emerged Association. The resultsare now
having to travelvia Birmingham NewStreet. with the introduction of Siemens-built available, andthe investigationfound
The project is being led by the West Class 700 units on Thameslink services it waseasiertodefine what caused
Midlands Rail Executiveand Transport for as oldertypes were replaced, resulted discomfortratherthan whatwas
West Midlands (TfWM) in collaboration with in the Rail Safety and Standards Board comfortablegiven differentpassenger
the Department forTransport, Network Rail, (RSSB) commissioning research to expectations. Tenfactors were
West Midlands Railway,Walsall Counciland establish futurestandards. identified that could result in aseat
the City of Wolverhampton Council. Passengers have branded the beingregarded as uncomfortable, which
Planning applications aredue to be Thameslink seating as ‘ironing boards’, would alsobeinfluenced by the typeof
submitted later this year and it is hoped to with the same description subsequently Seating on aClass 700 EMU,which kick- journeymade:metro,regional,inter-city,
start work in 2020 forservicestobegin by appliedtoother classes, such as the started the ‘ironing board’ nickname. andfirstclass.
the end of 2021. Class 387s operating between King’s RM/CC Foreach of these types, four
Cross and King’s Lynn. In the latter potentiallyadverse attributes were
MORE MARITIME SERVICES case, thereisavery poor experience preferred choice of seat and layout. identified –the seat dimension, seat
MARITIME Transport has launched two in terms of passenger comfort when In the case of the Siemens-built Class pad requirement, seat attractiveness,
further rail services from DP WorldLondon compared to the Class 365 trains they 185 TransPennine Express units, for and the need forseataccessories (such
Gateway to its rail terminals in TraffordPark replaced, as these were specified by example, this ledtoawooden mock-up as charging points formobile devices),
and Wakefield.The daily trips, hauled by DB Network SouthEast as express units being built to demonstrate the options. with values attached foreach heading.
Cargo, areMaritime’s fifth and sixth to date with full carpeting and seating arranged Morerecently, project managers appear The involvement of the furniture
following the launch of Maritime Intermodal in bays adjacent to thewindows. to have opted forthe cheapest seat industry has produced awake-up call
in April. The newlong-distance Class 800 that complies with safety requirements to train manufacturers who, while
With the capacity to move up to 76 series of trains being built by Hitachi in terms of crash worthinessand fire producing well-engineered trains,
TEUineachdirection,both services are arealsonot immune from criticism, safety,with apparentlylittle input from have given the impression of providing
hauled by Class 66 locomotives liveried with the viewthat seating standards vehicle owners or futureusers. scant regard to user comfort. After the
in Maritime’s colours, which operate comparebadlywith the 40-year- Up to now, no standardhas been standards had been agreed, the RSSB
MondaytoFridayonexport services and old HSTsets theyhave replaced on available to quantify comfort, and applied thefindings to the seating in
TuesdaytoSaturdayonimports, providing Great Westernroutes. With ongoing standards have been reducedfurther sevenrecentlyintroduced vehicle types
customers with alink between DP World introduction of the trains under the as aresult of franchise specifications and theyall failed.
London Gateway and the manufacturing ‘Azuma’ brand on East Coastservices requiring the planned train service to This confirms thereissubstance
and consumer conurbations in Northern (see also page9), therecould be similar provide aset number of seats at peak to the adverse comments from regular
England. comparisons made with the outgoing periods. Uncomfortable high-density passengers and also the viewof
HSTs and Mk.4 hauled stock. seating can result in afinancial saving medical experts, who have advised
GBRf CELEBRATESPRIDE When newtrains were being to the franchise bidder,rather than passengers to takea cushion on long
TO mark this year’s Brighton Pride, GB planned in the past, consultation took the alternativeofrunning moreor journeys to avoid alossofcirculation
Railfreight named No. 66773 Pride of GB place with stakeholders to identify a longer services. and cramp. E
Railfreight at the town’s station on
August 2. Besides the name, the loco
features rainbowflags on the cabsides and GWR prepares for‘biggest timetable changesince the 1970s’
amulti-coloured versionofthe company’s
logoonthe bodysides. SERVICES between Paddington and
South Waleswillbespeeded up from
CONWY VALLEY REOPENS December as anew timetable makes
THE Conwy ValleyLine has fullyreopened use of the electrification through
after closing in Marchdue to extensive to Cardiff.Great Western Railway
flooding. describes this as the biggest change
To celebrate, Network Rail and since 1976 when HSTs were introduced.
Transport forWales hosted aspecial steam Class 800 bi-modes in electric
train along the line on August 3. Bill Kelly, mode will offer faster acceleration
route director forNetwork Rail Wales and andallow typical journeytimes on the
Borders, said: “After months of hardwork to twice-hourlyCardiff-London service to
repair the flood-damaged Conwy Valleyline, be shortened by 14 minutes to 1hour
we aredelighted to have reopenedit in time 53 minutes. Therewillalso be athird
forthe National Eisteddfod.” service per hour at the busiest times
The 'Conwy Quest' ranfromChester of day, which will run nonstop between
to Blaenau Ffestiniog 'top and tailed' by Bristol Parkway andPaddington,
'Jubilee' No. 45690 Leander and Stanier 8F covering Cardiff to London in 1hour 42
No. 48151. minutes. The additional services are
also said to makeanextra15,000 seats
‘385’ ANNIVERSARY available perday. GWR has four Class 319s that will be used fordrivertraining ahead of receiving
SCOTRAIL has celebrated the one-year Services between Cardiff and converted tri-mode Class 769s. One of them, No. 319449, is pictured at Didcot
anniversary of its Class 385 EMU trains Portsmouth will see five-car ‘Turo’ Parkway on August 1. James Bushnell
entering passenger service on July24, trains (a two-car Class 165 and three-
2018. To mark the occasion, the train car Class 166) replace the current than 1800 seats every day. in 2017. Wires west of Cardiff were
operator handed out cupcakes to three-carriageClass 150units, while GreatWestern electrification has subsequentlycancelled, with IETs
customers, as well as providing on board those between Cardiff and Taunton/ been dogged by rising costs and late runningindiesel mode, while Bristol
entertainment. 62 of 70 '385s' arenow in Exeter will use Class 43 ‘Castle’ HSTs at running, with the original scheme to wasput back pending resignalling and
serviceonnine different Scottish routes. the busiest times of dayadding more Swansea due to have been completed trackremodelling.
10 RAIL EXPRESS September 2019