The media showcase of the refurbished First Great Western High Speed Train stock was held on 17 January 2007 when a 2+5 formation was displayed to the media, and user groups in controlled events at Plymouth, Bristol Temple Meads and Paddington.

For reasons better known to FGW none of the invited guests were allowed to actually travel on the new train, only shown it in a static environment. Directors of the company assured those present that the train rode and felt wonderful in operation, but far more positive publicity would have been generated if people had actually been able to sample some of the £63m investment first hand. It is speculated that to have FGW and the media together for lengthy periods (Plymouth-Bristol or Bristol-Paddington) in the light of recent problems was the main reason, as questions would have been asked about the poor performance and few positive answers would have been offered.

However, looking at the train, following the media visit to Bombardier Derby last December a number of questions about the overall passenger reaction to the refurbished train remain. In standard class, where the vast majority of seats are in the airline configuration passengers are likely to be unhappy. Yes, some people like this style of seating, but all one has to do is look at any carriage offering a mix of airline and group (table) seats, and see which fill up first – it’s the table seats every single time. Coach E or FGWs Family Coach is likely to attract the most serious adverse comment, as no table groups are provided at all, quite what happens when a family ie husband, wife and a couple of children want to travel as a group is not clear. The FGW Trains Director told TRC “they can sit either side of the corridor” but in reality what it will mean is that families will turn away from FGW travel and use a car!

The high back seats in the standard class while very comfortable offer no real ‘room’, yes the leg space is slightly better than other airline configurations, but the high back of the seat in front gives the passenger just a seatback to look at, its cold, plastic and coloured light grey, a material might have looked better. The fold down table, while of a fair size offers little room to work, with a pull out wire support to hold the front of your laptop. These are likely to get damaged and look a mess. At Derby last December the media were shown the ‘low-density’ versions of vehicles, now the high-density layouts have been shown, very little room for luggage exists and major problems can be seen in this area, having airline rather than group seats, no luggage space exists between seat backs and on busy trains either the vestibule ends or some seats will end up being taken over for luggage.

In the first class, the high quality leather seats do look very pleasing to the eye and are very comfortable. Cloth fabric is however far more forgiving in terms on misuse, spillages or impact from luggage or catering carts. A passenger with a sharp pen or pencil in their back pocket would just sink into a material seat, but with leather its likely to cut the covering. The reduction by 25 percent in the number of toilets available in first class coaches is also seen by many of the passenger groups as a retrograde step. Frequently on main line services with high first class patronage, people have to stand around at coach ends waiting to find an empty toilet compartment.

On a plus side the provision of power sockets will be very welcome, with the increasing number of people working on laptops while travelling. It is a shame that some form of passenger information system has not been fitted as this has shown to be very popular, especially for first time travellers.

At Paddington on 17 January, as at Derby in December, the interior lighting was considered far too bright for a quality travelling atmosphere, eight people asked today, ranging from passenger user groups to FGW staff, all considered the lighting too bright, the present levels of illumination on the HST fleet is just about correct for workers and those trying to rest. Very few will be able to take ‘forty winks’ with the new lighting levels.

Externally the livery and finish is excellent, the retention of the all-over blue on the powercars, known to be favoured by the FGW Managing Director, is welcome, as the ‘dynamic lines’ or the two prototype refurbished powercars was a little overpowering. The revised style of dynamic lines on the trailer vehicles is now very pleasing to the eye, even if the pink passenger doors are a little bright.

I reserve final judgment on other issues such as rattling of the new fittings and the ride on the new seats until FGW allow ‘bums on seats’ The overall impression is a train designed to cram as many people on board as possible with only moderate thought for anything but single passengers or people with little luggage. The key to the success of this train will be public reaction to the high-density airline style seating – my fear is we might see more cars on the roads.