TransPennine Express review! Best regional first class in the UK?
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- Опубликовано: 29 окт 2020
- A trip aboard TransPennine Express from Huddersfield to York in what could be Britain's best regional first class!
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Date of Travel: 3 October 2020
Class of Travel: First Class
Rolling Stock: Class 185 Siemens Desiro
Cost of Ticket: £14.45 ($18.65, €15.95; Railcard discount and onward connection to Scarborough included)*
Origin: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom (England)
Destination: York, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom (England)
*Currency conversions correct as of 15/10/2020
Felix and Bolt's Twitter page: / felixhuddscat
On-board entertainment service "Exstream": www.tpexpress.co.uk/travellin...
The Class 185 does seem to have a kind of unique personality among trains in the UK. I used to love travelling over the Pennines on them listening to the huge diesel engines roaring up the hills.
I agree. The Class 185 was my childhood and it’s still my favourite intercity train to this day
@@jamrah8713 for now...
@@jamrah8713 same
I’ll miss them when the transpennine route is electrified, of course they will still run the Liverpool - Cleethorpes service, (unless the hope valley line gets electrified which it won’t do in a hurry)
Hi Dylan. Here's an amusing story from Ottawa, Canada, that relates to the statue of Harold Wilson in front of Huddersfield Station. When I was in college in Ottawa (1974, the start of the PM's second term in office), one of my professors was named Harold Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson saw a house that had come up for sale, and they jumped at the opportunity. He and his wife (first name Mary, just like the wife of the British Prime Minister, but without Baroness title) would invite four of his students to dinner every other Friday. He enjoyed calligraphy, so the invitations were beautiful. The elegant, hand-lettered invitations read: "Harold Wilson and his wife, Mary, invite [student name] to dinner on [Date] at 7:00 p.m. at No. 10, Downing Street. Dress: Casual." The street and address in Canada's capital can be found on Google Maps. I've kept my invitation all this time as a souvenir.
Nice! Cool story.
I love how UK uses cats for a purpose, even 10 Downing Street has a "Chief Mousser"
These cats do pest control? Not very good at their job If they let the passengers onto the station
if the Chief Mousser does pest control, why hasn't it caught Boris Johnson yet?
If you're out and about on the TLGN network anytime soon, there's a station cat called Sprout at St. Neots! :)
@@moose_ringo9161 Can you blame the cat? I think I'd rather eat rats than that thing.
Wow, your hometown train station actually has cats? You lucky guy!
Thank you, Dylan. It was fun to see your hometown. I noticed that your train was bound, ultimately, for Redcar. I'm from San Francisco, and when I was growing up we had neighbors who had just moved the US from Redcar. In 1997, I visited York, and loved it. We took a side trip to Haworth, where the Bronte sisters lived. It's a beautiful part of your country.
Nice!
💚 Agreed, re York and *Haworth* , Caty. Stay free. Rab (and my Darling Mary). 🍻 😎
Huddersfield looks like a lovely place! The train itself was also very attractive. Thanks for the photos of the train museum at the end. Glorious locomotives! 🍂🍁
Huddersfield used to be very very rich during the industrial revolution, hence the beautiful buildings. To say that that is no longer the case would be an understatement.
@MantisSZNYA2 R*pe Gangs? Stay free, M. 🍻 😎
You missed the First Class Lounge at Huddersfield, it's not well signposted, turn right on entering the platform from the ticket office area
Huh, I didn't realise it had one (although I imagine it's closed atm.) Thanks for the info!
Hi Dylan, I have to agree that the Class 185 unit, despite it being a car or two short for some journeys, is one of the best UK trains I have had the pleasure to ride in. I enjoyed two journeys in first class on a 185 while I was in your country in September 2018. One of these was from York to Manchester while I was transferring accommodation from York to Stourbridge. The downside to that journey is that we lost our path into/through Manchester at Stalybridge due to Northern sending an all stations Pacer out in front of us as we gazed out the window. Instead of going onto Manchester Airport, the 185 was ceremoniously terminated at Victoria and I had to struggle with luggage between platforms at Victoria and again at Piccadilly for my onward connection to Crewe, Wolverhampton and beyond. To make matters worse, the wheels fell off my large suitcase along the way and I was up for a new one on arrival at Stourbridge, contributing unexpectantly to the local economy. The decor of the 185 units is superb, light, welcoming and timeless and the catering service was excellent when I travelled. On the social side, I'm glad to have found out a bit more about you through this clip. I knew you were from Yorkshire by your accent, but didn't know from exactly where until viewing this clip. I now understand the Inverness connection. I've viewed your other clip about your journey in July from Lyon to Geneva that you just released and I bet you are glad not to be in France at the moment with all the violence that has occurred in the last few days. On a bright note, my home city of Melbourne is easing away from COVID lockdown and we expect to be able to travel more freely from November 8. Thanks for your ongoing good work and please stay safe and well. Cheers from Michael downunder.
I have wanted to visit York for such a long time- so many layers of history!
Huddersfield !! Me too - well, Meltham anyhow! Once (about 40 years ago) shot a student film on Cine at the station :)
When you filmed this trip report, you filmed it on my birthday. My birthday is the 3rd of October
I don't think we in the USA could play with things so nice and not muck it up. Light colored seats and carpet in the aisles.
Thanks for the ride, that's a nice clean train and some nice countryside,. Stay safe Dylan .
transpennine express is definitely one of my favourite operating companies in the UK. Great video as always 👍
Thanks!
First class looks very sharp. The large windows throughout the train are nice.
I've been to York twice but have yet to make it to the Railway Museum.
See you tomorrow, Dylan!
Hey... wait a minute man, that Station looks like the City Hall in the movie Back to the Future...!! With the Clock and everything, exception is, that this station in Huddersfield is bigger and therefore has 6 columns and not just 4. Nice regional train, I like the interior Color Palette, thanks for the ride..!!
Interesting to see living not too far from Huddersfield! :)
An another wonderful travel report, Dylan👏🏻❤️...Basically, I'm a big fan of train travelling and each of your videos makes me to travel. Thanks a lot and keep creating more and more videos.. Cheers👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed 😁
Gotta love the engine sound of a 185, same 750hp engines the Voyagers and Meridians have, which is why they can push you back into your seat when pulling away. They've doubled up a lot of them to make 6 cars as well :)
The one I took the previous day was 6 cars. One of the benefits of the Nova project is that the 185s can finally have enough coaches to meet demand.
Great video! I love the 185s, until recently I used to travel on them at least once a week for work. Shame there's no onboard service at the moment. The Huddersfield station façade bears quite the resemblance to the town hall in Back to the Future, I'm reminded of it every time I visit!
Thanks 😁
Big fan of Huddersfield station and 185s which have scrubbed up nicely on refurbishment. Love the journey t'other way (westwards) over the Pennines which is very scenic, especially with snow on the hills.
Lots of Huddersfield lads and lasses popping up in the comments. I'm one too, though I've not lived there since 1981! It's a magnificent station building. I met Felix once, on Platform One. She even allowed me to tickle her chin for a couple of seconds.
I agree - the interior is really nice - reminds me of a modern Volvo!
Great video, haven't been on a 185 for a while, they are great trains but everytime I've been on them they are always jam packed haha
Thanks! That's the only problem with them. 3 cars just aint enough!
Great video. Nice train and great value for money. Have you ever done Manchester to Sheffield on TPT? It's very scenic and I would love to see you do that one.
Thanks. I haven't but maybe I will at some point.
Thanks, Dylan! We are really immersed in the journey. Nice train. You're right, I really like these recent, airy, spacious trains. It's a change from old trains that are really ... dated. It no longer corresponds to our days. It is also a great pleasure to see maintenance personnel cleaning the train. The same cannot be said of all the trains, especially the ones we took while you took this one ... Thank you!
I went train spotting at Huddersfield yesterday there where some class 195s in the Depot which is rare as they don't run on the Penistone line or the Huddersfield-Bradford Interchange lines
Nice to see that you booked traditional Yorkshire weather for this journey - pissing down..
Had to provide a "true" Yorkshire experience after all 😅
Great video Dylan thank you for sharing ! 😊👍
Thanks 😁
Thanks so much for your attention to detail with no ability to travel right now these are a daily joy to watch.
Glad you enjoyed 😁
Wonderful Compilation
Nice one glad you managed a stop back at your home turf
Great video as always Dylan - loved the extra sneak peek at the NRM. I've been twice and everytime I would go I'd keep telling my dad which locomotive was which much to the delight of the other visitors xD
Thanks!
It’s the legitimate best regional first class, I’ve been on first class many times on the 185’s to and from Leeds and Manchester airport and I can truly say, they never disappoint!!! + the sound of the Cummins QSK19 is one of my favourite of all DMU’s
Always a good video Dylan and pleased you gave my home town, Dewsbury, a mention. The station has two blue plaques relating to computing “firsts”.
Thanks 😁
I loved the video. Keep up the great work. Can't wait to watch the next one.
Thanks!
Really had some bad expierences om TPE. Pre Covid times always seem to have not enough carriages avaliable. Especially on Sheffield to Manchester Route. Hopefully this improves in future but if it doesn't and if you have not booked in advance, I would always expect to stand up and packed in like Sardines as per every single time in my previous expierence.
I think that's the idea behind the Nova fleets. These trains are great but 3 coaches is usually nowhere near enough and often no seat reservation = standing.
thank you for the confidence for travvling tpe first class from liverpool
Ooo I went to college in Huddersfield, nice to see it online :)
In the depot on the left there was an ild stoct HST with what looked like "Slidey windows / slammy doors" (ALA Geoff Marshall's video) 👍
Used to love taking the TPE from Huddersfield to Manchester, sadly now live in Norham near Berwick upon Tweed, good video brought back some very happy memories.
Glad you enjoyed 😁
Looks amazing
i go there on most tuesdays for the market collectables very nice only a 30 min drive
love your trips Dylan
Thanks!
Wow. Been watching your brilliant videos for some while now, and commented on one or two, but I didn't realise you were from Huddersfield. Me too. Nearly fell off my chair when I saw the intro from Trinity Square. I moved away years ago when I went to uni, but I still recognise the place. No barriers, station cats or statues of Harold back then, though.
The coach next to the Penistone Lane platform has been there forever (although the actual coach may have been replaced). My Dad, who was a local head teacher, knew the guy who set up the educational charity that owned and ran it. Cannot remember the full story though, and Dad is not around to ask any more.
You panned past one of the interesting features of the station area. The enormous brick railway warehouses beyond platform 8. They were out of use even when I was a kid, but you could see the tracks that ran under them, and the lifts to take railway wagons up to the upper floors. I've never seen anything quite like them anywhere else in the UK. I'm not sure if they have found a new use since, but your video confirms that at least one of them still exists.
Great video Dylan. I really love the TPE 185s in full livery but sadly they're all going to be removed from TPE 😭😭.
TPE are retaining approximately half of the 185's so you will still see them about for the foreseeable future:)
great video i do like the class 185 trains and i also really like the interior both standard and first class i wonder if these will stay when all the new trains for tpe are in service ? also thanks for showing your birthplace town hopefully you enjoyed going back there also Leeds big major city but i prefer york mainly because of the rail museum i want to visit there this year
Hi Dylan I really enjoyed the train ride. Excellent video!!!
Glad you enjoyed!
Great video !!
Thanks!
Home territory for my father-in-law. He was born in Farnley Tyas and his sister lived in Brockholes House, beside the tracks by the railway station (house now demolished to make way for little brick boxes). I think Huddersfield has the most handsome station outside London (and that includes the stations designed by my family!).
Hull Paragon, Newcastle Central, Bristol Temple Meads are worthy too.
Really nice one.
Awesome! Have you ever taken the Shakespeare express to Stratford Dylan? I'd sure be interested in seeing what that's like. Maybe a bit costly but that and a bit of a walk round the Stratford station would be interesting. Just an idea for future travels.
Thanks! I haven't but maybe some day.
It's easy to spend hours in that Railway museum. I have on a couple of occasions. I once took the train from Manchester to York, but for some reason it wasn't running the whole way. They dropped us off at Huddersfield, and there were buses waiting for us near the station, actually right where your video started. Had to bus to Leeds, then transfer on another bus to York. It was a Sunday, so maybe there was limited service.
I do like the colors and materials in those cars. Beats the heck out of whatever they call the design of our metropolitan railroad.
Again another great video❤❤
Thanks!
nice train ride thru the english countryside and nice bargain tickets for first class; lots of walking at the train station; good exercise for us all lol
Nice video! I'd take this over a Nova 1 or 3 anyday, haven't been on a Nova 2 yet so can't judge that. The TPE WiFi is so abominally bad and slow (it's practically nonexistent!) it probably didn't even register on your speed test thing lol!
I passed through Huddersfield station in 2017 on my way home from Manchester to Ipswich
Another good video! Gee I wonder what that wet stuff falling from the sky is? I think it's rain, but since we haven't had any since April it's hard to remember =) Stay safe buddy!
Thanks! We haven't seen the sun since about then 😅
@@DylansTravelReports I'll send you some!
Great video, I'm from Huddersfield, didn't realise you were too - never heard you speak! The lack of commentary on your videos makes me concentrate all the way through as I don't want to look away in case I miss the on screen text, LOL!
Thanks! Check out my Q&A vids if you want to hear me speak 😁
I’m glad that the old British Rail route is still (somewhat) in service under private ownership.
I used to live in Yorkshire and commute between Bradford & Leeds so I know Huddersfield fairly well :)
Dylan, great to see that you are a Huddersfield lad - so am I. What school did you go to? I went to the old Rawthorpe Secondary (yeah, that long ago). Haven't been to Huddersfield in over 15 years, which was the last time I was back in England.
I left Huddersfield when I was only 5 and have only recently moved back. I went to school in Inverness.
Another great video. I can't believe the price. Here in Connecticut a return ticket to New York is about $30, and you are crammed in 3 +2 seating.
Thanks! That's similar to the service you can expect in the south of England.
Probably worth noting that you guys get much wider train cars overseas so the 3+2 might well provide the same room for each seat as this 2+2. Of course sitting 3 wide will always feel more claustrophobic.
I didn't know you were from Huddersfield. I used to live in Dalton.
I get a certain amount of free train travel as I used to work for the railway and I sometimes use the TPE between Manchester and Leeds when visiting my mate in Bradford. The scenery is great travelling over the Pennines, but the trains can get very crowded, at least when there isn't a pandemic on, it would be better if the trains were longer. I see the weather is living up to its Yorkshire tradition as well...
I used to take this train between York and Leeds quite a bit and it was a case of if you didn't have a seat reservation, you were standing.
Raining in Huddersfield eh ? Very cool station building, how big is Huddersfield ? Great shot of the train entering the station . Although more than 10 years old train looks good seems clean & in good shape. Price is certainly fair, too bad about no food. Same deal in Canada.
Huddersfield has a population of around 160,000 so is relatively big and also quite close to both Leeds and Manchester.
i took the train 2 weeks ago..it felt soo good to get back on the train,,Amtrak thats our trains here in the States
A ride aboard Amtrak is always good fun!
Hehe. I drive trains through Huddersfield all the time except on Train Simulator.
Except it's old rollingstock such as the Class 101, Class 40, Class 47 and Class 45.
It's a shame you didn't mention in passing the historic waggon lift,listed I believe, which you had in shot.It's outside the old mill opposite platform 8.A great video as usual and I agree at £15 pound well worth it.If you have a discount card it's always worth a look at the First Class price and if you can, travel at the less busy times.
Damit you came so close to me my local stop is greenfield
Also I So Agree With The Title I Use TPE All The Time It’s The Best Seats In Both Classes I Have Seen
Hello from not too far away in Leeds mate :)
Love Leeds, great city!
Great video!! Could you do the TFW premier express or 221101 first class in new Avanti interior?
Thanks! Hoping to do TfW dining service next summer.
@@DylansTravelReports ok
Fabulous station, Huddersfield has.
Hi I did a review on one of these I tell you I was just as impressed as u :)
Finally the video I wanted
The class 185 first class is very nice. And prior to covid. They do offer food
Wow, looks better than many main line first class seats. Why can't train companies get the fact that a nice seat is what most people want!
Thank you for an excellent report. The Desiro 185 is certainly my favourite British DMU, and the seating in First Class is better than the new Mark 5 carriages, which ride very badly. TPE are disgraceful for not offering on board service, saying it is due to Covid ! Their sister company First Great Western does, so why can't or won't they ?
TPE uses RG for their onboard catering service. RG has pretty much furloughed their staff due to low number of people travelling. Business wise it wouldn't make sense to put a trolley host on a train that has less than 25-50% of people travelling. As well as running the risk of the host catching covid.
P.S. FGW hasn't been around for a few years. I assume you meant GWR?
With GWR, they do use RG for their catering. I suspect that they reintroduced catering (though at a limited level) as the number of people travelling has grown to a level that is justified to offer a service.
I am well aware that First run the Great Western franchise as GWR, having travelled with them for many years between Cardiff and London Paddington. The loadings on the South Wales route are also very poor in comparison to those before the outbreak of the Corona virus. They do however offer a reduced catering facility in First, and sometimes provide a trolley service through the rest of the train. It should be perfectly feasible for TPE to provide a trolley service also, for LNER do so !
@@anthonywarrener1881 Like I said I'm assuming it's down to number of people travelling. TPE probably doesn't have enough people travelling to justify RG running a trolley service, whereas GWR probably does. It doesn't make sense for a business to runa service if they aren't going to make money. Same way that you would pay more to travel to work than you would actually earn from that job. You wouldn't do this.
I'm not sure about LNER as RG only supplies the food/drinks and LNER staff are the ones who are serving people. Whereas GWR and TPE it's RG staff etc.
Yes I agree, if the TPE Mk5s are just as bad as the CS ones, the ride quality is truely dreadful!
@@tonywilkins6090 Thank you, and I'm sure you are right. It is unfortunate that the catering can't be justified at the moment, for last February I enjoyed a run in the new Mark 5 stock from Liverpool to Scarborough. The catering was excellent then, but sadly I found the ride of the mark 5 carriage very rough, and the comfort of the First Class seat was not as good as those in the Desiro 185s. Whilst Dylan travelled on the Middlesbrough/Redcar service in a 185, I understood that TPE intended to use the Class 68s and Mark 5 stock on the Redcar route also. Perhaps they have changed their minds, and will now inflict the Mark 5s on another route !
TPE's first class used to have catered service
but it has temporarily ceased due to covid
Had the pleasure of travelling on Class 185s regularly from Newcastle to Manchester. Glad the new NOVAs have replaced them and making the journey quicker (125mph trains > 100mph trains), but these were very enjoyable units
Hey it's Hoodezfield! As The Late Show with Stephen Colbert put it
Or Huddersfloof as Felix calls it!
You missed out the George Hotel. The birth place of Rugby League.
Shame you can’t get a train to British Steel Redcar anymore
Desiro, the most favourite regional trainset in UK (CMIIW).
Why was that big area outside of Huddersfield station blocked off with a bunch of bicycle racks?
Excellent report, Dylan. When you review the Wi-Fi on a train, is it an unsecured network? Do you use a VPN, or not actually use the network? Thanks, I just joined you on Patreon BTW :-)
Thanks for your support! Yes the WiFi is unsecured and I sometimes use a VPN but more often than not, I just use the 4G on my phone.
I noticed your train was for Redcar is you got off at Middlesbrough you could of got a quite scenic route down to Whitby
You mention about the seat back tables in 1st class being on the small side; in fact until the class 185's were refurbished a few years ago, the tables were larger. As for on board catering on TPE, I believe this is starting up again in November
maybe not anymore hahaha
@@swisscarlover3942 Although it's a slightly different situation as they resumed some form of catering a few weeks ago, I have been told by someone who works for LNER that refreshments will still be provided during lockdown
@@jimmenycricket4598 ah that’s good, i can’t imagine there being many people on the trains though, it will be like spring again
@@swisscarlover3942 I travel 5 days a week to and from work on TPE, Northern and LNER and while the trains are "busier" now than during lockdown, they are still nowhere near as busy as before. It'll be interesting what the next few weeks brings.....🤔
@@swisscarlover3942 Seems that TPE have postponed the reintroduction of on board catering......
Na best train trip reporter ever👍🏻
Thanks!
Did you think of reviewing other classes of polish long-distance trains, such as the budget TLK and the medium-class IC?
I think you have been looking at my schedule 😅 I have a review of TLK coming up in a couple of weeks and I'll be realeasing videos on PKP IC (both loco hauled and Pesa Dart) in the new year.
You see, I read people's minds 😆
Apparently the Mk1 at Huddersfield is getting replaced with a class 142 pacer. Great video by the way!
If you mean the one at the side of Platform 1, it isn't being replaced. Both items will be present once the Pacer is installed.
@@severs1966 Ah ok, thank you, I use that platform every day. It will be interesting to see it.
@@gbtraintripreports2147 I volunteer in the bike workshop at the Platform-1-HD1 men's mental health charity, so I get to overhear these plans.
Thanks! That will be cool 😁
So, you share a hometown with Sir Patrick Stewart; cool!
(8:01) Hello Dylan, did you noted how narrow the aisle is between the seats? To me the narrowest in all regional and commuter trains you reported. - Greetings, Heinz
Yes, thanks to our narrower loading gauge in the UK.
Yorkshire through and through!
Dylan do a journey on SWR from somewhere like Southampton to London on a 444 or 450
I see they "upgraded" this Class 185 with the same white leather seats as used on their Class 350s. I wonder how easy it will be to keep them clean?
Could you do a video about the Long Island railroad or metro north railroad? They do have good service
Maybe at some point.
Why is the cafeteria sign in LMS colour (i think)?
Can't say i've ever had a problem with readers for e-tickets on the WCML, and those gates look identical..... Turn the brightness on your phone up perhaps? Or upgrade to a higher resolution screen?
I always set brightness to full and the phone has a high resolution display. Just pot luck I guess.
@@DylansTravelReports Fair doos. I know the London Northwestern app automatically increases the brightness on your phone to full when you bring up an e-ticket. Avanti's app doesn't, so I generally do it myself to be safe. Guess the only logical explanation is ghosts then ;)