Let’s turn to trains and East Midlands Railway, who are in the awaiting their new fleet of bi-mode trains. The Class 810 “Aurora” will feature new seating on its new units.
East Midlands Railway Class 810 “Aurora” – Image, East Midlands Railway
East Midlands Railway will install a variant of the FISA Lean seat. The company claims it has refined it to offer enhanced comfort and support, as well as improving the e appearance to match what they believe customers expect from an InterCity service seat, working with DGDESIGN.
The major changes to the seat include increasing the size of cushions, headrests and armrests and making sure that high-quality durable materials are used throughout, such as a wool-rich moquette and leather.
In terms of passenger experience, the seats will feature power and USB points, generous legroom, coat hooks, well-sized seat-back tables for all airline seats and space to stow a cabin-bag under each seat.
The standard seats will be in a typical 2-2 formation, with a mixture of airline and table seating
East Midlands Aurora Standard Class Seats – Rendering, East Midlands Railway
The First Class section will feature wider seats, in a 2-1 formation.
East Midlands Aurora Standard Class Seats – Rendering, East Midlands Railway
The trains will have 254 Standard seats and 47 First Class per five-car trainset.
They will be bi-mode trains, being able to be powered by overhead electrics and a diesel engine. The trains will also include features including air conditioning, free WiFi throughout, plug sockets and better information screens.
They’ve also released a video to go along with the new seats.
In Quotes
Rachel Turner, Head of New Trains at East Midlands Railway, said:
“We know the FISA seat has a good level of comfort, but we wanted to further enhance this by providing additional support in key areas, developing something that looks comfortable, inviting, and unique to EMR. All this has been done whilst ensuring we still meet the latest seat safety standards.
“Our customers are used to large comfortable seats, as found in our Meridian trains, so we wanted to maintain this character but go even further.
“It has taken a lot of work but we are delighted with the final product, not only are they comfortable to sit in and look refined, but they are also easy to keep clean and include all the features passengers should expect from a new generation of trains.”
David Gordon, Director at DGDESIGN, said:
“After safety and punctuality, seat comfort is probably the most important customer requirement and therefore a key focus for our interior design work, with every effort being made to optimise the at-seat experience by further enhancing an already proven seat system.
“Headrests have improved lateral support for added comfort and privacy, cushions have been widened, armrests are softer and deeper, additional privacy screening has been introduced and upholstery detailing has been refined to improve aesthetics and cleanability.”
Mike Kean, Chief Originations Officer at Rock Rail, said
“Comfortable seating plays a key part in delivering great passenger travelling experiences. We are delighted that the new Aurora seats will help transform passenger journeys together with the many other improved passenger, operational and environmental features of this state-of-the-art fleet.”
Amy Webb, Head of Programmes – Commuter, Hitachi Rail, said:
“Hitachi is excited to be working with EMR to deliver the new Aurora Fleet for its passengers. As today’s announcement underlines, Aurora passengers can expect to benefit from a comfortable journey, with more capacity and a new, modern interior.
“The manufacturing of the trains is also benefiting over 75 suppliers across the UK – a number that will continue to rise – and will also support hundreds of jobs at Hitachi Rail’s factory in County Durham.”
Entering service in 2023
The East Midlands Railway Aurora trainsets will be entering service in 2023, replacing the existing Class 180 and Class 222 “Meridians”.
Comfort will be in the eye of the beholder
Seating comfort is something that very much in the eye of the beholder, or more precisely, the feeling in ones posterior and back. The FISA Lean seems to be a popular choice, being used by DB and Greater Anglia, with passenger feedback being variable (if one is to spend 10 minutes looking at Railforums).
As with airline seats, some people will find one sort comfortable, some will find them akin to ironing boards. The proof, of course, is in the pudding – or trying these seats with the modifications they have when they roll out.
With a maximum journey time of 2 hours or so on this route, comfort will be on the agenda for passengers as they cross up and down the heart of the country.
Let’s hope they deliver on that.
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