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Finalists - Best UK 'High Speed' train

Out of these 3 finalists, which one would you crown the best UK High Speed train?

  • Class 43 HST

    Votes: 140 46.5%

  • Class 91 IC 225

    Votes: 57 18.9%

  • Class 390 Pendolino

    Votes: 104 34.6%
  • Total voters
    301
  • Poll closed .
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M

MattRat

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So first, an apology. I have a massive procrastination problem. As such, it has taken me till now to make this poll, which should have been done months ago. So to those kept waiting, apologies. To those who haven't seen the first poll however, to start, it was just making a big long list of all UK high speed trains, and having people vote for the 'best' one, whatever that meant to them. However, I realised I wanted a definitive winner, which is how the idea for this poll came about.

Anyway, enough rambling, please choose out of these 3 finalists your winner of Best UK 'High Speed' train. Discussion and discourse on these 3 trains is also welcome.
 
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RailUK Forums

43096

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MattRat said:
So first, an apology. I have a massive procrastination problem. As such, it has taken me till now to make this poll, which should have been done months ago. So to those kept waiting, apologies. To those who haven't seen the first poll however, to start, it was just making a big long list of all UK high speed trains, and having people vote for the 'best' one, whatever that meant to them. However, I realised I wanted a definitive winner, which is how the idea for this poll came about.

Anyway, enough rambling, please choose out of these 3 finalists your winner of Best UK 'High Speed' train. Discussion and discourse on these 3 trains is also welcome.
Click to expand...
You had a definitive winner on the last poll!
 
LNW-GW Joint

LNW-GW Joint

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I've long enjoyed the joke that you can divide GB into "the west side, the east side and the soft under-belly".
In railway terms, that's roughly the WCML, ECML and GWML (although I think the humourist meant that strange area south of the Thames covered by the Southern).
There must be many "westerners" who hardly ever get to ride on a 225 (or Azuma), or an HST, since they only worked on the WCML for a short period in the 1990s.
Similarly, "easterners" won't be that familiar with Pendolinos.
So any vote is likely to be biased to where people live and travel from.

For instance my only use of 225s was for a few years in their early days (1990s): between King's Cross and Stevenage, the odd trip to Leeds, and one solitary trip the length of the ECML when a strike closed Edinburgh airport.
Since then, based around Chester, I have had just one 225 trip from York to Newcastle, in an refurbished Mallard set.
I have had many more trips up and down the WCML in Pendolinos (and Voyagers), and some in HSTs on the GWML and XC routes.
So my vote goes to the 390. Folk in, say, York, or Reading, might say otherwise, simply from their regular usage.

It looks like the Hitachi 80x series will become the ubiquitous inter-city train, working over all three (four with the MML) main lines to all parts, as well as TPE routes.
 
TT-ONR-NRN

TT-ONR-NRN

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I would be genuinely interested to know how many voters for the HST are younger than forty…
 
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"Best" is an interesting question. I would say that as a full package out of the 3 the Pendolino and so have voted for it. But "historically most important" or "most iconic" would have to be the HST.

The 91+Mk4 is an average train with a poor ride built down to a price. Yes, the current interior is nice, but you can put a posh interior in anything.
 
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Voted HST. It was a game changer when it was first delivered. It probably rescued Inter-city travel in the UK. And it was so much better than what went before.
But a large part of that was the Mk 3 coach, which also became the mainstay of West Coast 110mph running.
 
fgwrich

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Ignoring the debate of the right or wrong interiors for the HST (eg FGW vs EC vs BR), it will still always be the HST / Mk3. Smooth riding, versatile, large windows and plenty of luggage space. If only they’d been built with sliding doors and CET tanks earlier. The Pendolino comes a close second as one of the best intercity EMUs (along with the 444) but suffers from poor window height and a poor seat to window ratio (another bonus of the HST layout).
 
B

Bletchleyite

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fgwrich said:
Ignoring the debate of the right or wrong interiors for the HST (eg FGW vs EC vs BR), it will still always be the HST / Mk3. Smooth riding, versatile, large windows and plenty of luggage space. If only they’d been built with sliding doors and CET tanks earlier. The Pendolino comes a close second as one of the best intercity EMUs (along with the 444) but suffers from poor window height and a poor seat to window ratio (another bonus of the HST layout).
Click to expand...

As built the HST had Standard misaligned pretty much exactly as per the TPE Mk5a sets. The later 76 seat layout was better but not much better.
 
Mikey C

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I can't say I'm enthused about any of the options really! Ended up voting HST, as it was a great train in its day, whereas the 390 I find cramped and claustrophobic in Standard, though mechanically impressive
 
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Purple Orange said:
I think those with a lack of green cones at the back of their eyes will ensure that HSTs come out on top.
Click to expand...
The 390 is pretty close considering the uphill battle it has to fight. I had thought it would be a fight for second between it and the 91, with the very popular HST racing ahead, due to rose tinted glasses. So, to see a fight this close, speaks volumes about the 390.
 
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Bletchleyite

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MattRat said:
The 390 is pretty close considering the uphill battle it has to fight. I had thought it would be a fight for second between it and the 91, with the very popular HST racing ahead, due to rose tinted glasses. So, to see a fight this close, speaks volumes about the 390.
Click to expand...

Its 11 coaches (hard to imagine they started as 8!) are a venerable people eater, clearing platforms with (slowish due to the end doors) ease.
It is 140mph capable, and rides well at 125mph, not to mention the tilt.
First Class is really, really good, and Standard seats are decent enough though legroom is lacking.

All in all a pretty good train that is well-liked by its passengers. I hope the new thinner seats solve the legroom issue, then it'll just be a case of avoiding the seats with no view.
 
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MattRat said:
Unless they give it an 80X treatment......
Click to expand...

They are not fitting Fainsa Sophias, if that is what you mean. The new seats are said to be of the same type as the Lumo ones but with a slightly different cushion. They appear, from pictures of the Lumo interior, to share the clever design of the Class 175/180 seat, in having the support pillar in the middle meaning you can have an even thinner back at the sides of the seat where your knees go.
 
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Bletchleyite said:
They are not fitting Fainsa Sophias, if that is what you mean. The new seats are said to be of the same type as the Lumo ones but with a slightly different cushion. They appear, from pictures of the Lumo interior, to share the clever design of the Class 175/180 seat, in having the support pillar in the middle meaning you can have an even thinner back at the sides of the seat where your knees go.
Click to expand...
Hopefully you are right, as I've been on a 175, and I do like those seats.
 
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43096 said:
You had a definitive winner on the last poll!
Click to expand...
1) Did you just edit your post?
2) I just thought last poll had two many options which diluted votes. Plus, who knows, maybe this one will turn out different ;)
3) Did you vote HST by any chance?
 
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Retorus

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I voted for the 390. It's a wonderful train really, with (pretty comfortably imo) the best First Class on the network.
 
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northernbelle

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Of the three, it has to be the Pendo - the fact it rides nicely and is far more reliable than the other two swings it for me!
 
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biglunn

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I grew up seeing the Class 43 HST being introduced on the Great Western aged 6 - and boy I fell in love on Platform 3 at Slough! Looked (and still looks) amazing! Although saying that, the scream of the locomotives did make me cry with fear for days! Been on them and they have a special place in my heart (my uncle was a guard on them). Technically, they are a great!

Fast forward 30 years and after taking many train journeys I had a chance to be on a class 390 Pendolino - wow! Amazing looks inside & out, good seats, quiet and best of all a fantastic ride improving on the Mk3’s all while tilting! For me, the Class 390 is the best train AND possibly the best modern day technical achievement I have seen on Britain’s railway even though it never achieved its intended target of 140mph running!
 
D365

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How anyone can like the 390 is beyond me. In terms of the interior, at least.
 
TT-ONR-NRN

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xotGD said:
Probably most of them.

Us older folks can remember what they replaced.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I can’t believe people see them so highly even now, when they’re so old and tired. Doesn’t make sense to me :D
 
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xotGD said:
Probably most of them.

Us older folks can remember what they replaced.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Most HSTs fans would be in the age bracket that was born in the 80s and 90s, where they were pretty much the most rateable mainstream traction.

Just to add, I cannot understand this love for Pendolinos, always thought it looked like a lego train in that crap Virgin grey livery, and the ride on the northern WCML is awful if you suffer travel sickness. What is enjoyable to some is a barrier to travel for others. I know at least 2 people who have been physically sick between Preston and Scotland , and I myself have felt sick. And thats just from the Tilt. Don't even mention the stench!
 
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