Re: New VIA Club Car Design!

--- In Canadian-Passenger-Rail@..., "tim_hayman"
<tim_hayman <at> ...> wrote:
>
> 
> The Renaissance cars all feature the 2+1 seating, because there simply isn't space in the narrower
European cars to comfortably seat 2+2. The new design Jason linked to is for the LRC Club Cars (formerly VIA
1, now Business class). The idea is to make them more spacious and comfortable for people paying the extra
first class fare. I know one complaint I've heard from some before was that the Club cars didn't have that
much better seating than the coaches, so it didn't seem to make sense to upgrade. I expect VIA hopes to make
travelling business class in the Club cars extra attractive, even on shorter runs.
> 
...

My wife and I recently returned from what has become an annual visit to the UK.  We always travel with a first
class Britrail Pass. The normal seating in first class is "2+1" and in standard class "2+2."  There are some
short-haul - essentially commuter - trains in England which have "2+2" seating in first and "3+2" in
standard, but that is not common and certainly not on long-hauls. Some trains in Britain do not offer first
class, so we sat a few times in standard and it didn't appear to be too cramped. I have travelled on the
continent and the seating arrangement is the same as in the UK.  Even on the Eurostar, which I assume has the
same loading gauge as the Renaissance equipment, the "2+1" and "2+2" seating is provided.

The LRC Business Class seats provide a seat width of 19" and a pitch of 42". The Ren. seats are 19.5" wide
between arm-rests with the double seats averaging 22" for each person if the wide centre arm-rest is
lifted up.  Despite what some people have claimed, the aisle on the Ren. cars is wider than on the LRCs and HEP
cars: 26" as opposed to 21".  I've not travelled on Eurostar, but I have looked through the window and the
seating looks comfortable.  As is customary in Europe, most seats are arranged in facing pairs and quads,
but there is ample side by side seating. From their Website, the seat width in first is a bit wider than on
Ren. but the standard seats are narrower, which is to be expected. Pitch is only 37" in first and 33.3" in
standard, which is less than on VIA.

 I am pleased that VIA is going back to providing real first class seating even if it is now called Business
Class. This "2+2" seating is rubbish, except for the ample leg-room.  No offence to the fans of Turbo, but it
was with this train that the "rot set in" as up to that time first class seating was either parlour car style
with single rotating or fixed chairs or the European style "2+1."  Turbo did provide eight traditional
parlour seats in one end above the engine, but these were hard to get because CN (and VIA in the early days)
did not believe in assigning seats. Usually only those who had the time and stamina to stand in long
line-ups got them, but I was able to enjoy that section twice.

David Brain,
Mississauga, Ontario

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