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When they revealed the the class 230 as being a "new/upcycled/reconditioned/rebuilt" train for the railway industry from old Underground D78 stock I didn't think they'd actually go ahead. But go ahead they did and after a few teething trouble they were deployed on the Marston Vale Line. Since they have also been deployed on TfW and they've been converted to EMUs and put on the Isle Of Wight and there are battery versions as well. The review is below the photo.
This a review of my trip on it and my own opinions.
Firstly let me address ride. It's quite clunky at times. Now whether it is the rails or the train itself I couldn't quite tell. I wasn't that impressed to be honest and actually felt like it was about to go back underground. I will, at some point, take a trip on a TfW one to see if it is the unit that is the issue here.
The Lateral Seating
Seats. The moquette is a drab grey with flecks of green in it and is quite depressing. On a sunny day like the 16th July, the moquette is dull but on a cold winters day I imagine it'd just look even duller. The lateral seats were fairly uncomfortable and reminded me of the class 378 but actually slightly less comfortable. One of the real positives is the USB charging sockets under every hand rest and is a really good idea.
There were other seats to be had as well. Generally they felt like your typical seats we have now with little support or comfort afforded to them. To be honest they were only fractionally better than a 700 which we all know are some of the worst seats on the railway. The tables were quite nice, admittedly someone had split at water bottle on the one I sat at but that's not the train or TOCs fault. As per a lot of modern stock now there is one three point plug between the table seats and two USB charging ports too.
Doors. The door do appear to be a throwback to their LUL days and are wide and able to accommodate a couple of people in and hour. But the release and opening of them is rather slow. I can imaging that on a weekday when passengers need to get off one and over the platform for a connections it could be frustrating if connections are missed. The hussle alarm is nice and not overly loud.
Apart from the Moquette the interior is quite bright and airy which is down to the large windows.
I've added some more photos at the end of the post.
The toilet is a large affair and is one of the accessible ones which is good. That said, whilst on the route, I think the platforms were rather low and not easily accessible. If this is wrong them I apologise. Looking at the toilet (I didn't manage to get inside it) it is really bright and doesn't detract from the train.
Below are some other photos I took of the class 230.
Overall: I guess it is a good try at refurbing/upcycling or whatever you want to call it. Personally I think that the D78s should have been given their rest and scrapped. I know others think that the 230s (and I guess the 484s) are great but for me - not so much. As I have said I will give them a go again (after all I need to get them for 5 miles for haulage) but like some people with other classes I won't enjoy the experience.