GWR discomfort

[24lemons]

Admittedly I’m not a regular train traveller but I remember the old Intercity 125 service between Paddington and Worcester as being quite a comfortable pleasant trip.

I’m now sat in one of the new shiny green GWR Jobbies and my god is it uncomfortable. The seats make most ironing boards look luxuriously upholstered. They are bolt upright and to be honest after 45 minutes, my bum is starting to go numb, my back is aching and I’m desperate to get off.

I was looking forward to enjoying the Cotswold scenery with a cold beer as part of our weekend trip to London but the food service is not operating today and while the scenery is lovely, my bum is taking the shine off it somewhat.

[bristolbaron]

Happy to trade a bit of leg room from my current ‘Northern’ train seat for ‘shiny and new’ if you have some of that spare.

[24lemons]

That’s pretty grim. I’ve lost feeling in both of my buttocks you’ll be interested to hear. There’s a strange hard ridge that runs widthways across the seat. I cannot work out anatomically what it’s for. The seat next to me is the same.

[miniman]

The GWR standard class seats are terrible. Plenty of other operators have fitted the Hitachi trains with decent seats.

Download Seatfrog and get yourself a cheap upgrade for the way home.

[Deranged Rover]

I came back from Cornwall to Hampshire last weekend on three trains - one GWR, two South Western Railway.

The GWR train was quiet, comfortable, clean (with the exception of the seat full of rubbish in front of me, but that was left by a family of tattooed chav scum who got on at Plymouth, to be fair) and had clever lights and screens to signify reserved seats, which I thought was very neat.

The SWR trains were old, knackered and the Exeter to Salisbury one didn't have air conditioning which was nice in 30+ degree heat.

GWR gets my vote, to be honest.

[HRH2009]

24lemons said:

Admittedly I m not a regular train traveller but I remember the old Intercity 125 service between Paddington and Worcester as being quite a comfortable pleasant trip.

I m now sat in one of the new shiny green GWR Jobbies and my god is it uncomfortable. The seats make most ironing boards look luxuriously upholstered. They are bolt upright and to be honest after 45 minutes, my bum is starting to go numb, my back is aching and I m desperate to get off.

I was looking forward to enjoying the Cotswold scenery with a cold beer as part of our weekend trip to London but the food service is not operating today and while the scenery is lovely, my bum is taking the shine off it somewhat.

I could not agree more. The seating is just so uncomfortable, my guess the fabric is chosen for maximum longevity and not for the comfort of the passenger.

Seating in any modern car is by comparison light years ahead. My ten year old Golf doesn't leave you aching after driving for three to four hours.

[surveyor]

HRH2009 said:

24lemons said:

Admittedly I m not a regular train traveller but I remember the old Intercity 125 service between Paddington and Worcester as being quite a comfortable pleasant trip.

I m now sat in one of the new shiny green GWR Jobbies and my god is it uncomfortable. The seats make most ironing boards look luxuriously upholstered. They are bolt upright and to be honest after 45 minutes, my bum is starting to go numb, my back is aching and I m desperate to get off.

I was looking forward to enjoying the Cotswold scenery with a cold beer as part of our weekend trip to London but the food service is not operating today and while the scenery is lovely, my bum is taking the shine off it somewhat.

I could not agree more. The seating is just so uncomfortable, my guess the fabric is chosen for maximum longevity and not for the comfort of the passenger.

Seating in any modern car is by comparison light years ahead. My ten year old Golf doesn't leave you aching after driving for three to four hours.

LNER is no better. They are still using 225's for some journeys. So much more comfortable.