There is little point in doing up premier class by just tarting it up a bit with leather seat covers. In my mind, premier class means getting more space which means 2 + 1 seating. Anything else is just a rip off.
The 22k seats aren't terrible but they aren't as comfortable as the old green seats on the Mark 2's on the Sligo line. They are certainly better than the 29k seats. My biggest gripe comfort-wise with the 22ks is that the decor is just too bright and the lighting is too harsh. But it doesn't bother me terribly as I usually have my nose stuck in a laptop and it is actually good office lighting.
If they were to do a premier carriage with 2+1 seating, as a commuter I wouldn't mind paying a 33% surcharge on my pass for the extra space, but it would be pushing it a bit to pay any more. This is probably why they gave up on first class on the Sligo line - nobody was willing to pay for it and it used to cause a lot of agro with people getting kicked out. At one point, I used to pay the first class surcharge - it was something like £3 each way in the early 90's if I remember correctly but there was usually just myself and one or two retired major types in the half-car they used to have for first class apart from the last train on a Friday evening when it would be busy.
|