Re: Newcastle - Melbourne trip just completed

["Dave Proctor" <daproc@spambait.ozemail.com.au>]

"John Kerr" <jkerr@gil.com.au> wrote in message
3ac099f5$0$21828@wodc7nh6.news.uu.net">news:3ac099f5$0$21828@wodc7nh6.news.uu.net...
> Your comments about XPT seats for overnight are painfully accurate. They
are
> a real challenge to sleep in. Try adding some padding somewhere in the
back
> area to help sleep. I always thought that NSW people must be built
> differently to other Australians as I found NSW seats so uncomfortable,
the
> XPT have to be the most uncomfortable. The seats on the Overland were a
> delight in comparison. In each case I am comparing overnight trips. One
> reason I happily go overnight on QR compared to XPT. Overnight in the ICE
> trains on QR is much inferior to the 'lander cars especially LAL, LBL
cars.

The problem with the XPT seats is that they try to accommodate to two
different markets, and fail miserably in both.

Day time travel needs a lot of lumbar support, but night time travel is the
exact opposite. By having firm seats, they are catering to the day market,
but are doing the wrong thing by overnight customers. By having the neck
supports the way they do, they are doing the right thing by overnight
customers, but are failing the daytime customers.

This is the problem with rolling stock that serves multiple roles, you
cannot please everyone, and in trying to do so, you satisfy noone. Same with
VLP, and using N sets on long distance runs. The BN's and RBN's are totally
unsuited for long distance runs, they are more suited for commuter runs. But
what can they do with them otherwise?

Dave