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British open access operator Grand Central has new trains! Sort of… we’ll be looking at their most recent fleet addition, the Class 221 Super Voyagers, which are second hand from Avanti West Coast. These were introduced as a stopgap measure owing to the unreliability of their Class 180 fleet, but are they suited for their operations? Find out in this video!
Journey details:
Date of travel – March 2024
Operator – Grand Central
Train type – Class 221 “Super Voyager”
Class of travel – First
Origin – Bradford Interchange
Destination – London Kings Cross
Price.- £40.90 (advance first single including 1/3 Railcard discount)
Distance – 226 miles
Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video!
Music from EpidemicSound and is used under license.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:40 Bradford Interchange
02:37 Trip.com Black Friday Sponsorship
04:19 The Grand Central Voyagers
05:45 Boarding First Class
06:28 Trip Summary
07:00 Departure
07:18 A Gloomy West Yorkshire!
08:02 Know Your Seat
09:39 Halifax and Beyond…
10:36 “Catering”
12:28 Walkthrough
13:22 Loo Review
14:00 Pontefract and Entering South Yorkshire
15:35 The East Coast Main Line and an Unexpected Delay!
17:39 Conclusions and Prices
18:33 Arrival into Kings Cross and Outro – Thanks for Watching!
48 Comments
No I've never travelled on Grand Central.
I’ve heard that Grand Central want new Bi-mode trains and to replace Class 221 Voyagers and Class 180 Adelantes. I think that they should keep the Class 180 and Class 221 that have been cascaded from Avanti West Coast.
Please drop the stupid music! It adds nothing! Oh I see you have, thank you. By the way, the Voyagers are rubbish as evidenced by short sets on Cross Country lines . The sooner they are scrapped, the better
Wow. Of you think that stop is a depressing state come to the states
Good video! I’ve had to endure one of the these units on a trip I did not so long ago, but I did it northbound.
They seem a tad better than the voyagers that XC use, but I prefer the 180s. The one fundamental thing about them is, as you mention, they’re far too cramped. WHY? Why can’t this be noted before it’s too late? The seating needs to be more spacious. Get rid of hideous airline style seats and add more tables. For more capacity simply make them longer. Instead of five coaches make them eight or nine, or maybe even ten.
I've seen one before weeks aog because i see grand Central trains and northern rail but the class 221 and 220 are my favourite trains
GC do often serve Pontefract on Sunday.
Damn,,,,almost 2025 and the 180's are STILL as unreliable as ever!
You'd have thought they wold have fixed them by now.
Nice video. I love the Avanti/ex Avanti Super Voyagers. I think if the the current Cross Country ones were refurbished to be identical to the Avanti ones, retained the Shop, had the better First Class offer and had far more carriages, they wouldn't be as disliked. Yes I realise it's extremely unlikely any of that will happen.
grand central owned by Arriva say no more theyre useless
The street stencil at 01:15 if of 'Bradford Jesus Man' Geoffrey Brindley (he has a Wiki). It has been painted over, without explanation, many months ago, so this film has obviously been some time in the editing.
The front entrance of the Interchange has reopened, but the shops and bus stops are still closed. On top of that the side ramp access has been shut. Combined with Bradford's chaotic multiple road rebuilds, that mean I, and many others, have to walk massive detours or walk in the road, if you can work out which way to go!
I use Grand Central a lot. It's the only direct service from Bradford to most of the stations on route; and while LNER do serve London from Forster Square, the frequency and run-times are pathetic. That, and the low cost, means I have put up with the 180's appalling reliability. The Voyagers are better in every way, apart from the space in Standard, but seeing it's usually less than half full between BDI and DON that is less important.
They stink of sewage, awful things. Britain’s railways are so backward compared to Europe.
Interesting route from Bradford to Doncaster.
I'd have a Voyager over a Cl 180 every day of the week!!! The 180s were just not suitable – rattly noisy and uncomfortable. The Voyagers are better though admittedly they aren't the very best – the ride is a bit suspect. Do the refurbished Voyagers still smell of wee like the Cross Country ones used to?
We invented the railways yet are decades behind other countries….. That 1st class looks awful and shoddy…… Take a look at Japanese and Chinese railways they are miles ahead seen from 1st hand experience
The Voyager is a nice train , but it,s very noisy dieseltrain , my favorit British train is the electric Pendolino and that train is going faster than the Voyager train !
Don’t know how the voyagers are so hated I love them. And same for the 180s I know they are unreliable but still great trains
I have only used Grand Central once
many many years ago
My parents lived in Huddersfield and their nearest stations
were Brighouse and Mirfield
so going back to London we tried
Grand Central from Brighouse to London.
The interesting thing was they had a station volunteer team
at Brighouse.
This was a great help as my partner is disabled so
getting him in the train and knowing where to stand
were helpful.
The problem is the lack of services running
so I generally used either Wakefield Westgate
or Manchester Picadilly to connect to Main Line services.
It the capital of England not Britain you donut😂😂😂
Train Station!
I use Grand Central usually about 2 or 3 times each year between London and Bradford. Last went in September and it was class 221 both ways; definitely prefer the class 180s, never had a problem with them except for one cancellation in very severe weather some years ago. I’ll be going up there again a couple of days after Christmas. I used to do Bradford by National Express coach, but this days I have bad legs which don’t like sitting for the five hour journey, so I go by train now.
I’ve used the Sunderland service twice to get to Middlesbrough, changing to a local train at I can’t remember where; pity Grand Central don’t serve Middlesbrough directly. I will be doing this trip again in the summer, so perhaps I’ll get another trip on the 180s then.
A useful review. Considering the mission that the Voyagers were built for in 2002, I believe that they have done well – I used them extensively up to 2020, from the South Coast to Manchester and they worked well. I do agree about the benefits of using First Class. I guess that (when the commentary disappeared) that 17:20 sees the hitchin flyover?.
Do they still smell like toilets? I get cross country voyagers regularly and they stink and the seats are so worn out
The FC section on these is fairly decent, provided there aren't a lot of passengers with suitcases as the stacking rack is small. No steward/trolley for first class is obviously poor, as is the refreshment offer. I had imagined GC had a higher spec offer but obviously not. Worth doing if you get a good price in FC but otherwise not.
Mobile phones everywhere.
There have been reconditioned there not new there the old West Country
I would rather drive than get a voyager. I actively avoid them!
Lots of video featuring secuirty and police in Bradford with the dystopian feel, thanks for sharing.
Diesel, evil since Rev Audrey introduced him back in the day
Wonder if they will use the Class 221 for the new West Coast service starting next year.
Which Idiot thought it was a good idea to use a terminus station for through trains?
What happened to Brighouse Station ?
Numerous times I have caught this service from my hometown.
I truly HATE these trains the fact that they replaced the loved hsts witch i truly love
No wonder, Arriva are just running the trains into the ground
Question : who came up with idea to pay a company to design and build the Adelante and Bombadier replacements for HSTs ?
re-engined and refurbished, class 253 should still be on the tracks instead of the current abominations running on the GC
and cross-country services.
Concentrate on the advertised subject !!!!
When will the UK get some decent 300 km/h (186 mp/h for the hardliner Brits) lines on the main island? Really disappointed, 3rd Place Is never a win
I think the class 8xx are likely the most hated. What's you're source? Was there a survey?
wow i've driven it faster than that
UK Railway system is shocking disaster. Only 2 words to describe….
Cancelled…..or delayed!!!!!!!!
Certainly don't miss those horrid things
Not travelled with Grand Central but have been let down badly on many ocassions by LNER going from Leeds to Kings Cross and not had any compensation as the Rail Ombidsman is obviously working for LNER !!!
The best thing to do with the 180s (and the similar 175) would be to turn them into locomotive powered push-pull sets.
Give me a good old Diesel loco and 12 mk2 or mk3 coaches every time.
I've travelled from Yorkshire to London on Grand Central many many times and have never suffered any delays more than one or two minutes, and not one breakdown in dozens of journeys. The trains have always been clean, fast and comfortable – what more can you want
Had a trip from Northallerton – King's Cross in September on not 1 but 2 Class 180s as the first one was buggered and we swapped to another one at Doncaster
The voyagers aren't as bad as people make out. The problem came when Virgin replaced full length HST, (the best train ever made in Britain), with a 4 or 5 car Voyager leading to the inevitable overcrowding. At least the seats aren't washboards like the current Japanese fleets ! Though they'll never match up to the fabulous IC70 seats.
Voyagers were hated because of what the replaced however preferred over the 800s