SWR Refurbished Class 444 - Standard Class Review (Portsmouth to London)
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- čas přidán 23. 02. 2021
- Hello, and welcome back to another train trip report. Today I am travelling with South Western Railway on one of their recently refurbished Class 444 'Desiro' units, on a pleasant journey from Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo, the busiest station in the UK for passenger usage.
For this trip, I travelled on the Portsmouth Direct Line, from Portsmouth Harbour, through to Portsmouth & Southsea, then onwards to Havant, the major junction of Guildford, before speeding towards London on the South Western Mainline after Woking.
This route can have two types of train, the one I used in the video (the Class 444) that are very nice trains and appreciated by the locals, or the much maligned Class 450, which suffer from cramped conditions due to 2+3 seating. I was quite lucky in this regard.
In my opinion the Class 444 units are very high-quality trains, capable of providing an atmosphere that exceeds the quality of many new InterCity trains. Watch the video to see why!
#swr #southwesternrailway #class444 #desiro #tripreport
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Journey Details:
Origin: Portsmouth Harbour
Destination: London Waterloo
Company: South Western Railway
Train: UK Class 444 'Desiro'
Accommodation: Standard Class Seat (2nd)
Distance: 74 miles / 119 kilometres
Price: £14.90
Time: 1h41m
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The voice on the train is definitely Jago Hazzard's voice, it's so similar
I was expecting a massive FPS drop at Clapham Junction
🤣🤣🤣
Lol 😂
TSW2?
@@williamhuang8309 Train Simulator 2021
LOL
I am really happy that you did a review on this, the class 444 because that and other siemens desiro trains like the class 185, and 360 are my all time favourite trains!
Good to have you back, missed my weekly Superalbs fix last week, always a great watch, hope all ok.....
That interior looks quite nice!\
Would make sense for them to change the livery for a refurbished train tho
They're all slowly being updated
@@jamescapetv - Slowly being the operative word as First/MTR took over the London and South-Western Railway franchise during the Summer of 2017!
@@KempSimon tbh glad they spent the money and time on fixing the issues with their service eatery then painting their trains
@@jamescapetv - What "issues with their service eatery" are you referring to?
@@KempSimon sorry - that’s a typo, meant “rather” not “eatery”
When I learnt Russian I was taught that the Russian word for “station” was derived from Vauxhall, and although it seems odd I have no reason to disbelieve my teacher who spent a year in Moscow to absorb the culture before teaching us.
Tis true. The railway used to terminate at Vauxhall before Waterloo was built. A group of Russian dignitaries were being shown around at Vauxhall and thought that was what stations were called, hence the name - вокзал 'vok-sal' (looks like a B but it's a V in Russian).
I shed a nostalgic tear for Guildford as you passed through. How many times I waited at Platform 5 for the London Waterloo train :)
Love the 444s I used them travelling between London and Bournemouth for uni for 3 years throughout their refurb
Nice video! 😃 I travel on 444s fairly often and they are great trains! 😁
Absolutely brilliant video! I go on these trains nearly everyday!( before the pandemic of course) I definitely prefer the old livery to the new one.
This is such a great and genuine review. I really like the subtitles and all the information given. I personally like the 442's due to nostalgia of the Gatwick express but the class 444 are very good.
I would like to see the difference between standard and first class.
- What "difference" between Standard and First Class? In First Class the seats are all-leather and in Standard just the head rest is leather. In First Class the fixed tables are larger and there are more of them. That's about it - and the reason why I'll no longer fork out an extra £10 to upgrade to First Class at weekends!
Once again an outstanding job on this video!! I would love to see a review on the class 442 when/if they come back in to service if you could? You make amazing video please don’t stop if you had the idea to!
Thanks, will see what I can do, glad you enjoy!
Love London Waterloo, my terminus station for 3 years coming from Putney. Nice video
I actually like it, I'm always ending up there.
Thank you for this video, loved every minute of it, thanks for the serotonin boost! xD.
Glad you enjoyed it - bababooey!
@@SuperalbsTravels I will say though that the Class 444 4DES would be so much safer with Jakob Bogies
I would love to see a 442 review once they are back in service! Even though I live on SWR, I have never been on one before, and it would be great to see what it is like!
They have a HST feel to them when they pull off, and their motors sound nostalgic
@@court692able Won't sound exactly the same tho, should sound simular Given the new traction package they are getting so should sound like the SWR 455's as they are similar traction motors I believe
I live in Portsmouth and the 442s are very popular for commuters. Plenty of seats, good comfort, great suspension and quiet unless your in the motor coach.
they will also be considerably slower taking off too.... whilst with GatEx they could hit 25 within a matter of seconds out of BTN normallu beating a 8 cat 377 but over all still pretty solid units
agreed!
Good to see the 444s back on the route, much nicer than the 450s with 3+2 seating which were frankly insulting for an intercity service. The 442s are also comfortable, sad to hear they are having problems, but they are pretty old now (1988, with the original traction motors being 1967, but now replaced). Plenty of pleasant scenery on the Portsmouth Direct. The last 3 miles into Waterloo have changed totally in the last 50 years - you used to be able to see the river in the gaps between buildings. The 377s on the rival (but slower) Portsmouth-Victoria route are also pleasant.
£14.60 for that journey in my eyes is a bargain. I’m used to paying £36 for a journey from Oxford to Havant and I think that is rip off. But I haven’t been on a 444 in over 16 months so I don’t remember if I had been on the refurb or not, but I’m glad they haven’t ruined the seats and I’m glad you gave it a thumbs up for the quality of the ride. Can’t wait to use them again
From watching all of Alb's fine reviews, he seems to regard anything over about 14p a mile as expensive! I agree, I thought the price paid was really cheap for the distance and a 1hr 45min journey.
Nice review! You and simple have inspired me to make my first one
Look forward to seeing it! :)
@@SuperalbsTravels oh thanks
A video at the usual excellent quality.
Agreed with you on the new livery. The original SWT livery was much more colourful. Nice to see that the seats have been improved though.
Esher which you pass through is my local station
Gotta love the desieros
Nicely done. I like the captions vs the talking. No loo report? All in all good job. Your site reminds me of two other train reports. Dylan's Train Reports and Simply Railway.
Just working my way through some of your older videos. I lived in Poole 1991-2018, which included commuting to London for nearly 5 years. The 442s were far superior units in terms of comfort and having the buffet/guards/luggage sections. The 444s can't cope with luggage during the summer and when there's cruise ships docking at Southampton.
A fun fact about Vauxhall, is it used to be called "Fox Hall" back in the day, which then became what it is today as "Vauxhall", and is also where the car company Vauxhall was founded in a nearby road.
"It was perfectly cool on board!"
-a guy in England, in February!
I think that this was filmed back in the summer!
Excellent....really interesting thank you:)
Thanks, glad you enjoyed.
Great video mate. You wish to travel on SWR 442 Pigs but I still like the 444s but at least they're still staying on SWR even 450s and 442s. But 445s, 456s, 707s and 458s are leaving which is sadly.
4:39 Love the conductor's tone
It was nice and professional! :)
Great video the class 444 seems definitely good choice for intercity or long distance travel the refurbished interior is quite nice i also like this part of the country has loads of flat field scenery also London is pretty much the New York of Europe now
Not much "flat field scenery" on the original Portsmouth Direct line between Havant and Guildford! This part of South-East England is actually quite hilly!
12:38-This final approach looks a lot similar to the approach to Union Station here in Toronto (using either VIA Rail, Amtrak, or GO [Government of Ontario] Transit), with the same kind of condos.
Wow, always nice to spot similarities across the globe. :)
Looks like a good interior, wish they'd made for effort in First Class and added more blue to the design. Good video as always
Great Video, You should Definitely Try out the 357’s on the c2c Line. They are the First Electrostar and would definitely be Worth it. Keep up the great work 👍
I recorded that at the end of November, but it was sadly corrupted.
@@SuperalbsTravels how did the C2C 357 review get corrupted?
Thank you for an excellent review. I too am a great fan of the Desiro Class 444, and agree the refreshed interior is very good. I wonder why First are so slow at repainting the exteriors of these units, for many now look really grubby.
Time and money - or the lack of them?
Great video. ☺️
I’ve always found Siemens desiro family of trains in the UK to be amazing, My favourite is the class 185 on the transpennine express routes, I think the UK should put more desiro’s on regional routes
180 whole trains an hour through clapham... Thats almost enough to provide some service!
I've always been a fan of Siemens trains from a passenger experience point of view.
I'm a big fan of the Desiro platform, so I'm pleased to see the 444s get a good write-up 😊. Would be interesting to see what you think of the 450s on a similar journey, just how much of a difference there is between the two.
And yes, I'm with you 💯% on the new livery being dull as ditchwater. One of the things that really gets me is the "contrasting doors" thing. The requirement for contrasting doors was to make it easy for visually impaired people to see them. But by having charcoal doors against a pale grey wash at one end of the carriage and grey wash doors against a charcoal body at the other end of the carriage, you lose that easy visual reference. Having nice, distinctive colours like the old red ones is a much better choice for people with poor eyesight, as well as looking more attractive.
blimey the entrance into waterloo has changed a lot since I used the train many moons ago
Fantastic video! Please can you do a review of the class 450s and South Western Railway's class 159s please?
I am expecting to do the latter pretty soon, I was going to do it tomorrow but I doubt I will.
Great video but a bit puzzled by your final comment about first class being empty and hoping operators change their tune soon. What did you mean by this. The standard class was almost empty too and as the trip was on a Sunday off peak in the middle of a covid lockdown you wouldn't expect many takers for first class. Morning/evening peak in normal times another story I would think.
Very nice video !!!
I think the SWT seats were more comfortable as they used a softer material for the padding compared to the SWR ones. The SWR seats are still very good though. As for catering the contract SWR had for this has been terminated so catering will not be back, even after Covid-19.
4:38 The announcer is so wholesomeee
Nice to see my home town as your departure point. The seating on 444 and 450 are shocking ironing board seats. The 450 have terrible 3 + 2 configuration which makes for a terrine "Intercity" route. Having travelled on other UK and European lines it really is most depressing to have my final leg from Waterloo on a 450
Yep same with me ☺️ Portsmouth/Southsea is my hometown to- though I was born in Bournemouth
Thankfully we are getting 458s that are being refurbished for an intercity interior. Cant wait for em if im honest cus that means no more 450s on the fast.
Yes I would like to see your opinion on the class 450 (I'm going to do that on my trip report channel soon)
I'll see what I can do...
I love your vids
Something I'm never a fan of for Desiro units is the fact that if there are numerous stops en route, then the interior passenger information screens seem to stop halfway through. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look up a train journey on LNWR from Euston to Rugeley Trent Valley, and see how far the station list goes, while the voice continues. Luckily, I live on a line with 1980's EMU's (317's), so having some days where they work and other days not is a given risk, but for 2000s built trains, it is a bit ridiculous.
the boards are so flickery and with green letters and its hard to read, i also live near 317s
Just for future reference when travelling on the direct, on up trains its much less busier at the back. I always slum it at the back and alot of the time ive got the coach to myself.
i have been on the class 444 train from London Waterloo all the way down to Bournemouth and yes i agree that the seats are very comfortable
Just a bit on the small side as each generation of new travellers gets larger and heavier than those who went before!
You might have explained to the uninitiated why the railway line between Portsmouth & Southsea and Fratton stations runs in a deep cutting well below street level - because it follows the course of what was once London's direct inland waterway route to the sea .... the Wey and Arun Canal!
Or to be really pedantic, the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal, which was a separate organisation from the Wey and Arun but in effect a continuation of it. The P&A was an inland route along the coast after the W&A reached the coast, with the idea of avoiding French privateers. Never successful and then wiped out (literally) by the railway. One of the roads by the cutting in Fratton is called Canal Walk - like the many "Station Roads", a bit of evidence of the past. Interesting name coincidence :)
I found those new seats generally better than the old Stagecoach ones. Whether they remain in good condition in years to come is another matter...
New seats generally better than the old Stagecoach ones? Not in First Class they're not!
Horray! New Video I wanna see the Class 185
It's interesting to compare this to other Siemens Desiro units. The Transpennine Express Class 350s have 2+1 seating in First and I'm surprised that wasnt the case on the 444. The standard class seats are the same. The 444 has the advantage of doors at the end of the carriages with vestibule doors eliminating draughts, unlike the Class 350s, which are outwardly identical to the 450s.
Also the 444 is like how you said and it has first class....for a reason. These trains go on long 3 hour (180 minutes) journeys from Central London to Weymouth!
Never been on a 444. But I expect it to be fairly decent if i do go back to the uk any time soon. Just a shame you dont get to hear a bit of the UFO sounding motors
Not sure why I didn't, as I thought I was in the motor coach! :(
@@SuperalbsTravels you were in the motor coach but I think the motor itself is placed above the so called first Class section. I say that as I find it less comfortable than standard class
@@SuperalbsTravels the driving cars on 444s are the motor coaches so you were in it, its because desiros have too much sound proofing
@@SuperalbsTravels you were. It's just the sound proofing is almost military level.
When new the class 442 was one of the best modern trains on the network.
I vaguely remember riding one of them ONCE, when I was much much younger... :)
@@SuperalbsTravels - The Class 442 Wessex Electric sets were the finest Third Rail EMU's ever designed by British Rail, with a unique "Snug" in what should have been the parcels compartment and a quirky mixture of First Class seating in compartments and an open saloon!
You barely ever see people doing train videos of Portsmouth! It gave me a flush of pride to see it
I love the SWR decal 'lines' pattern livery, kinda wish they had it on all their trains as it's a lot less basic and bland compared with the oversimplified one they're putting on the rest of the fleet.
The new version without the stripes has spoiled it really. I guess they did it to save money and it's easier to change
@@oliverstemp9132 it's just as easy to change as they're both vinyl sheets. Unsure if it's much more expensive either but who knows.
Maybe an interior like this can be added to EMR Class 360s
I find the air-conditioning units very noisy on 444 and 450 units. You have to sit at the end of the carriages to avoid most of the hairdryer racket.
I've tried the Class 450. It is not the best class for intercity services, but you should try it out to see how it is like.
Your arrival platform at Waterloo, is that the former Eurostar area?
I would love to see a review of the class 450
They're shocking
Yes!!
Class 444s and 450s have to be so of the best trains in the UK, especially these refurbished ones. I'm from Guildford and every time I travel somewhere else I'm never as impressed with their trains.
The 444s in particular are so nice. 😊
Great
The last time I took a journey from Portsmouth the rail operator was Connex South Central 🤣
FINALLY A 444 yayayayay
Ahaha! At last. :)
For SWR, i think they should add a limited service to victoria or charing cross. SWR has lots of destinations but the only London stop is waterloo.
I agree they should extend there services elsewhere in the UK as long there is third rail
@@SuperOpticJ exactly thank you for understanding
The White trains are better than the blue ones for long distance I have used this route when I visit the Isle of Wight either. Portsmouth or the Southampton routes
These style seats are already on the SWR 159s. For standard class there very good.
Not so good for First Class though! The ones which they replaced were far, far better!
@@KempSimon Those were pretty good. All they needed were plug sockets and free item food/drink from the trolley
@@Paradice4Life - Exactly! You read my mind on that one!
Review of the 442!
If they enter service, I will try to!
@@SuperalbsTravels i think he means the german br 442
@@marcogeurts9881 Nah I actually did mean the plastic pigs aka. br class 442!
@@trainsimproductions_ oh okay the only class 442 i know is the BR 442 Talent 2 DB trains but that train has also that numbet😅
10:38 What's that Network Rail train do?
i remember the 4-cor units on this line,they were much better than these new trains in all ways !and included a buffet/pantry car.
Change does not always mean progress! The 1963 stock (CIG's and VEP's) had its fair share of admirers!
Like the video.
Now that SWR are showing unit allocations on Realtime Trains you can what type of train is set to operate a future service by looking at historic allocations
Thanks, this video was actually edited a long time ago, and I sort of forgot to upload it! :)
bruh realtime trains provides incorrect info, one time i saw a 20 car 455 (5 units) and 15 car 444, the 444 showed 444026 twice, 444xxx (i forgot), 444026 and 444026
@@lamborghinihexagons5502 That's just a Bug..Which I'm pretty sure RTT are aware of and are fixing
Can you do a review of Great Western Railway's class 166s refurbished interior please?
There is only one, therefore it's quite hard to find. I've never had it personally, though have seen it once.
@@SuperalbsTravelsall the 165s and 166s have been refurbished
@@maimadha Not all of them.
The 444s are much better on this route than the 450s - I rode a class 442 once on this route and it wasn’t great
£14.90 is quite expensive for the route though, when I use to travel on it, I could get a ticket for £9
444s are for long distance and the 450s more commuter regional
@@danielboulton98 - Class 444's are supposedly Inter-City units whilst Class 450's are definitely Outer Suburban stock which should NEVER have been used on a flagship long-distance route such as London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour!
Review of 450 yes please
*Southern routes via Barnham and Gatwick are to London Victoria
And a darn sight cheaper than SWR if you can book ahead, use a discount railcard, travel off-peak or use a combination of all three techniques to save money!
Would love to see 450 update review,with 1st class
Ooh yeah, maybe when I get the chance!
@@SuperalbsTravels they are still awful things
@@ajf3202why are 450s awful?
I hope the 442 wessex electrics cone back theyre lovely
They WERE lovely - until Southern spent millions of pounds wrecking them for use on the London Victoria to Gatwick Airport route!
cuz it southern and they did it because lol
imo it doesn't really matter whether you sit in First or Standard Class, I'd rather sit in the Quiet Zone though on trips to London
I would’ve expected first class to be 1+2 seeing a trains with 2+2 standard typically have it as 1+2 for first eg 390/800
The seating in First Class on 444 Desiro EMU's was originally laid out in the 1 + 2 format across the aisle with 35 seats occupying the front 2/3 of the leading vehicle, thus making it worthwhile to pay £5 extra for the "Weekend First" upgrade. In order to pack more seats into each five-car trainset, SWR have reduced the overall number of First Class seats as well as adopting the 2+2 format. So there's no longer any point in me paying extra to upgrade to First Class at weekends as the benefits are negligible. Another "own goal" from First/MTR which means lost revenue over the lifetime of these units!
@@KempSimon ah shame
The Upgrade programme has made paying for first class redundant, since they changed the seating there to 2 + 2. Stupid.
Yes please do
Love the new livery, especially the newest one with the crosshatching, just neutral and inviting, not a big fan of the old vibrant ones
I think you should do a reveiw of my local train, the 165
How about a 166?
@@SuperalbsTravels you've already done the class 166
@@maimadha yup
@@SuperalbsTravels try reviewing the class 165 operated by GWR and Chiltern
I usually catch these trains at Clapham
This is kind of an off-topic comment, but something that has been on my mind for a while. Is it weird that South Western Railway and Southwest Airlines use the same color scheme?
Was a strange coincidence, wasn't it!
You don’t understand how many times I have bumped a train to here
What do you mean?
@@SuperalbsTravels where you just run through the barriers
Pls revew the swr class 458 juniper units
Superalbs Travels will review the 458s when they enter service on the Portsmouth Direct Line
I actually prefer the new SWR livery, it's nice to see something new on 444s & 450s rather than the same livery that has been on there for ages
Fair enough, just wish it had a bit more identity...
You should do bus reviews
Here's some interesting info for you. The Train Management System (TMS) is run by MS-DOS & Microsoft Windows For Workgroups 3.11 operating system. (1993) (Yes, pre Windows 95)
That would be Windows 3.1. I actually miss using DOS language.
@@wendellwhite5797 Not quite. Windows 3.11 was a standalone upgrade from Windows 3.1. WFW and standard 3.1 was released in 1992 and WFW and standard 3.11 1993.
@@mjohnston1986 Thanks. I only knew about Win 3.1 when it had DOS and an upgrade to Win 3.1 (?) DOS Shell.
@@wendellwhite5797 the DOS shell was sort of abolished in Windows 3.0. Windows 1 along with Windows 2.0, the entire program’s shell is named as MS-DOS Executive. From 3.0 This disappeared although technically, Windows is a DOS program with DOS being the primary OS behind the scenes all the way up until until Windows ME. Excluding Windows NT 3.1 & 4 which are entirely independent and incompatible with the DOS based systems.
@@mjohnston1986 I remember the NT's. Weren't they used for business and then Win 98 came out or was it Win XP? Those days of the DOS OS systems were a long time ago. I used to be able to code that OS.
Today, I only work with PLC's and they operate on Win 7 and Win 10. I liked Windows 7 better than 10.
Mind you I quite like the Class 444 and Class 450 Desiro. I’ve been on them lots of times. And I’ve also went on the Gosport Ferry with my Nanna and my cousin. Do you know when the Class 442s will be allowed to enter service to Portsmouth Harbour from London Waterloo. Plus with the Class 701 “Arterio” that is soon to come into service to operate on the suburban services and to operate on the Windsor & Eton Riverside and Reading services. I think that SWR should retain the Class 458/5s and to use them on the Alton service.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_442
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_458
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_701
Eurgh... I hate the name Arterio, it sounds like a disease. ”I’m sorry sir, you have arterio of the lungs”
The SWR livery is nice looking, but certainly doesn't have the character of the SWT liveries. Like a lot of FirstGroup's stuff.
What's the top speed?
Top speed on these is 100mph (160km/h).
Why not do the class 442 in the future
All the 442s have been scrapped
First class is EXTREMELY good.