The Ticket Collector

First Great Western launches new refurbished train.

Biggest investment since Brunel built “God’s Wonderful Railway” in mid 1800s.

Thats what the First Group Corporate statment said.

Today First Great Western launched a new internally refurbished HST train, one of our regular contributers to this blog has sent us some information and photographs about the launch event today.

The redesign covers everything inside the trains from seats, lighting and toilets to at seat power throughout the train.

There is new seating in Standard Class, the new seats have a pitch of 32 inches, comparing favourably with top airlines such as British Airways World Traveller seats (31 inches) and Virgin Atlantic Economy seats (32 inches). One of the things in Standard which was noticable was the lack of tables in one of the coaches.

Other features of the new look interiors include:
· Leather seats in First Class – a first for any UK train operator;
· Vibrant new colour schemes – taupe and blue in First Class and lilac and blue in Standard Class;
· 240V power points at table level in all First Class seats;
· 240V power points between seats, which are mainly airline style, in Standard Class;
· Redesigned drop tables in Standard Class that are large enough to accommodate a laptop and a cup of coffee;
· Glass screens to replace old partitions of luggage racks so passengers can see their luggage easily from their seats;
· New toilets, including a drain-away floor, which has been designed for easy cleaning;
· Express Café to replace buffet area;
· Textured, ridged carpets in the vestibules, which are anti-slip and easy to clean;
· Dividers in the overhead luggage racks, which stop luggage moving along the racks;
· Hooks for jackets in both First Class and Standard Class;

· Both wheelchair spaces are in Coach E where the disabled toilet is;
· Braille signs on toilet doors and facilities inside the toilets.

Power cars are also having new engines, which will make them 15 per cent more fuel-efficient and produce less emissions. For example:
· 64 per cent less CO2;
· 21 per cent less NOX;
· Hydrocarbon emissions down 46 per cent;
· Smoke emissions down 42 per cent.