The Railway Review to the Class 220/221

A massive thanks to Railway Graphics for drawing the fantastic artwork for the thumbnail. You can see more of their work here: / train.graphics
Welcome to this review of the Class 220 and 221. There's not much to add other than it's a parody of Sliphantom's Unicum Guides, just with a railway spin on them.
Railway Review playlist: • Railway Reviews
All films/photos outside of the joke and stock images were taken by me. Everything else was used under fair use/creative commons.
Song used was Deltarune - Chaos King

[@mattevans4377]

All Voyagers will be pretty much cascaded to Cross Country, meaning they will have extra capacity.....right up until they remove their HST units for being 'outdated'....

[@MarstonValeProjectOfficial]

respect to the Class 43, HST, InterCity 125

[@Bullmannumber4]

I've actually taken a voyager from Edinburgh to Oxford, and from Glasgow Central to Birmingham New Street. They're ok when there relatively empty, but hideous when full. I seem to remember reading somewhere at some point, most likely in a railway magazine, that they were never designed for the work they are currently undertaking. It's crazy to think that they are put on some of the longest runs in the UK, they just aren't capable in any way, especially when they get full up which is pretty much all the time. I also understand that they were designed to run pretty much anywhere on the UK network, hence why they're so narrow, which then makes the interior even more squashed.

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Many condolences for your suffering :(

[@lloydclevely9956]

Edinburgh to Cheltenham here :( Not sure my arse has recovered. Never again.

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

@@lloydclevely9956 I think my longest journey so far was Crewe - Euston. Supposed to be a 10 car from Holyhead but surprise, train fault so it had to be a squeeze into a 5. Not as bad as your ones but I still feel unclean after several months has passed.

[@RANNd0mUser]

@@MaverickHunterDanielI absolutely love them however avanti doesn't like them one bit they deliberately delay them and they have got lots of class 805s coming to take over

[@sudanese.ball77]

I stand with the voyager

[@cjpro2517]

so basically just disabled the uncouple button on all the voyagers and then you'll have a good train

[@Trainspottinkid]

😂😂

[@stevewalsh1987]

I saw a double voyager yesterday and would have longed to get on it whilst stuck on a 2 car packed service to Holyhead.

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

You poor soul.

[@JamesTecho]

i won't lie when i trainspot, i very rarely see avanti 221s that aren't double

[@jakecopeland8068]

The class 222 used to have 4 and 9 car formations on the MML before EMT took over. They were edited to have 4/5/7 car formations so they could run 8/9/10/11/12 car services in multiple for better flexibility

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the next new show. I finished this first as I had all the footage/scripting planned already. Bonus ducks for anyone who can guess all the locations filmed at (excluding interior footage.)

[@317Dan]

0:03 Banbury 0:07 Reading 0:16 Oxford 0:34 Millbrook 0:55 Market Harborough 1:09 Crewe 1:23 Bournemouth 1:43 Wolverton 1:52 Tamworth 1:57 (Class 139) Stourbridge Jn 2:00 (Class 390) London Euston 2:01 Kings Norton 2:17 Dudley Port 2:29 Reading 2:41 St Albans City 2:46 Southampton Central 3:16 Hinton Admiral 3:23 Kensal Green 3:33 Appleford 3:46 Kings Sutton 3:56 Luton 4:03 Kentish Town 4:18 Southampton Central (and the next few shots leaving SOU) 6:02 Luton Airport Parkway 6:09 (interior pics) St Pancras International 6:14 Dudley Port 6:25 Kenton 6:31 Apsley 6:38 Milford 6:43 (345) Shenfield 6:44 Luton Airport Parkway 6:51 Reading 7:37 Coseley 7:46 Tilehurst

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

@@317Dan You sad human. Well done! :D

[@Izoom1728]

Guys my 139 just flipped over bc of the tilt near Stourbridge Town

[@rabd9881]

The voyager looks epic in the final virgin trains livery at 3:23

[@Deltic55-mw4bo]

not wrong there mate

[@HeTaLiA152]

I don't remember how I found this channel or why I subbed but I'm staying cause this heres quality content

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Well thanks. Enjoy your stay.

[@blackman-bp4tq]

I found this channel because of yawwie

[@michaelshields1802]

It was for virgin radio back in the day dick and Dom used to do a radio show

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Dick and Dom? Now that is a name I haven't heard in a LONG time.

[@funnygallie7863]

The buttons next to the seats are for the old onboard entertainment system which virgin trains used to use as virgin trains used to own all voyagers until cross country bought most of them. This can be seen when the black and door is in the inside of the voyager which virgin trains had and you can see were the virgin trains logo went at the front of the voyagers.

[@ClassOneThousand]

XC disabling the tilt on the 221s is like EMR removing 1st class on the 170s. Wait, no they already did that.

[@mvm03vm3]

They're a bit better now they regularly run in 8/9/10 car formations and so you can often get a quiet and comfortable ride

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Still don't like them even in spite of that.

[@mvm03vm3]

They're ok however saying that was at Wakefield late last November and saw the horror of a 4 car 220 on a Newcastle service, must have been nearly 100 people crowding to get on. They had to do an announcement telling Leeds passengers not to get on.

[@BethanyBeckett-h2b]

@@MaverickHunterDanielu forgor another station for the class 220s and 221s are Crewe and Wolverhampton and I think Liverpool lime street 💀☠️

[@FABhomespotting]

The one Time I did see a Double Voyager was at Plymouth Station. But as I was walking along the train one of the sets was out of use and because there was only one guard, the one time we get a double Voyager, we were still constricted to 4 of the 9 cars!! Honestly

[@TheTrainiac377]

Every time I’ve seen a class 220/221, they’ve always had two units together running a service, just be Crosscountry tricking a lad from the south

[@liamgunn4722]

So cross country have recently announced they are upgrading their voyagers… however the announcement didn’t say whether or not that meant they were increasing the number of coaches per train… if not they have literally learnt nothing

[@andrewreynolds4949]

It sounds like the problem with the Voyager is it needs more Voyager

[@andrewreynolds4949]

As a side note, the math here isn’t quite correct. The 20 Avanti Voyagers are being replaced with 13 five-car bi-modes and 10 seven-car EMUs, so more and longer trains. EMR’s 31 unit (mostly) five-car DMU fleet is being replaced with 5-car bimodes, with some uncertainty on whether the 4 class 180 units will stay or not.

[@Sebi1963]

As far as I know is that the controls between the seats were ment for the on board entertainment system that virgin used to have but it hasn't been used for years and maybe some went to cross country.

[@LucasTheElectrostar]

5:20 there used to be small televisions in each coach back when phones were being introduced, the mini-TV's were also added on the 390's but only used for a very short period of time.

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Oh wait, I never knew that. Do you know if there are any photos of it?

[@LucasTheElectrostar]

@@MaverickHunterDaniel unfortunately no

[@LucasTheElectrostar]

@@MaverickHunterDaniel And I was wrong also, I assume that they were used for listening to the radio, as you can see the 2 headphone jacks to the left of it. Also I'm going on a Voyager in a week, wish me luck

[@andrewreynolds4949]

Grand Central has now taken on the two off-lease units from Avanti West Coast. It will be interesting to see what kind of refurbishment they get (if any)

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Oh dear. But at least they're using them instead of letting them rot.

[@niplbby0073]

I hope Im not the only one who travels on these for 6 hours

[@niplbby0073]

@@TheArkamedBat I feel for them, hot take but purely for avoiding the stop start nature of Crosscountry I would choose the class 800s any day of the week.

[@FarmYardGaming]

I love how these look, and almost went on one at Reading but since Cross-Country doesn't have the tilting mechanic I just went home after checking out the IETs. Avanti it is.

[@FarmYardGaming]

o-o

[@LHoriginal]

That comment about Sheffield made me laugh too much

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Yeah, it was an issue that always perplexed me to this day. The amount of 1st class seats a 7 car meridian has is ridiculously unbalanced.

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

@@lamborghinihexagons5502 I am aware of that, yes.

[@Speedster-jw7qx]

@@MaverickHunterDaniel I live in Sheffield and the 222s are awful EMR have only refurbished 1 unit that being a 4 car I've rode on the voyagers and meridians a lot and even rode on one from Sheffield to Bristol many years ago and despite it being a 4+5 or 4+4 i can't remember tho it was afuwly uncomfortable

[@danieleyre8913]

It’s insane how they’re set to be replaced after only 20 years in service. Surely they’ll be passed on to other routes/services/franchises?

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

I've always had a beef with things that aren't built to last and/or have zero futureproofing. Surely in a society that advocates looking after the enviroment, the last thing you'd want to do is keep building things with a limited shelf life.

[@danieleyre8913]

@@MaverickHunterDaniel I would think that they were designed and intended to be in service for the standard ~45 years. It’s just that they were designed and:or built with flaws. However knowing the corporate culture of British rail at the time and how Branson & Virgin operate; it wouldn’t surprise me if they neglected the usual checks & balances when they drew up the tender.

[@physiocrat7143]

Don't scrap them. The trailers would be OK in loco hauled formations. Put in a sensible number of seats and change the bogies for eg B4 type

[@mustapha_transport]

5:20 those buttons are radio, they havent been there for a long time it started on the 2000's and later on most people have the ipods

[@TEBEnthusiast]

I like them, but they should have more coaches to have less crowded coaches, quite like a 222

[@thomsonfly645k]

Other than the lack of seats/coaches there isn't really much wrong with them. I have used these trains many times between Bristol and Birmingham and even a couple of times on longer journeys and they weren't that bad at the times of day I was travelling.

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Unfortunatley, 75% of my experience on the voyagers especially back in the day was between Reading and Bournemouth. Getting a seat on that route may of been a coin flip in the summer holidays.

[@lnerfan4468]

personally daniel I might be on my own here but i actually quite like the voyagers I found them comfortable and nice to ride on with a smooth ride and i travel on the reading stafford rode on them the most and 80% of the time they are fine with plenty of seats and coaches available i have also travelled on the bristol to taunton and bristol to birmingham section and they are fine on that route as well its just that they are put on the wrong route for the size of train they are hopefully the voyagers from avanti if XC get them they will hopefully keep there services double set

[@stalbanstransport]

2:44 my local stop I love east Midlands trains livery

[@BGSG-dr2yo]

4:18 made for kettering wellingborough and market harborough people ie the first 3 stops lol

[@lnerfan4468]

At least now they are doubling up more services now

[@minniemariebobe]

i was not expecting deltarune music

[@TheR.I.D]

I think that avantis voyagers will probably go to XC and replace their HSTs

[@TripleDoubleA]

At the time of making this comment : class 221s have started running on Grand Central

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Indeed they have. Feels odd seeing them on the ECML though.

[@pinza55007]

LOL!!! You forgot to mention the smell where the chemical retention tanks vent near the intake for the air-con :P

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

I honestly have never been unlucky to notice that but oh dear!

[@AlexanderBrassington]

So that's what the classic voyager smell is

[@ThatKentSpotter]

I witnessed an 8 coach XC voyager set yesterday!

[@HamishG199]

Me and my friends like the voyagers I am the only one who has seen it in flowing silk livery and I think it was the best livery ever

[@seanmawson296]

The trains are not the problem it’s the routes they are used on.

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

I'd say a mixture of both still even to this day.

[@channelnotinuse4078]

Cool

[@samjone9359]

Don't forget to 222

[@StagecoachLondonEnthauist]

Do The Railway Review To The Class 222 'Meridian' Please!

[@davidmoulder9]

I love voyagers

[@MarstonValeProjectOfficial]

Is why avanti do most of their voyager services as 10 car formations (2 5 car units) bust Cross Country don't do it often because lol

[@StagecoachLondonEnthauist]

The Class 220 & 221 Are The Same But Similar! The Class 220 Has 4 Cars & The Class 221 Has 5 Cars.

[@nether_bat]

Watch the video Some 221s have 4 coaches

[@AirTaxiA370]

the first voyager i went on was a double

[@srgntsylveon2919]

You reckon you could do an episode of this on the sprinters

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

It would most likely be done in multiple parts like 150+153+155+156 then 158+159. It's not out of the question for the future but I need to get ALOT more footage for the 153, 155 and 156 before I even start.

[@srgntsylveon2919]

@@MaverickHunterDaniel yeah l, understand that, but thanks for talking it into consideration, and i could probably help with footage of 153s, 156s, and 158s, as i live in an area where they operate

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

@@srgntsylveon2919 I do appreciate the offer but I think I'll be OK for the time being. I'm just fussy about getting as much footage from myself for these review videos. Nothing personal but thanks :)

[@srgntsylveon2919]

@@MaverickHunterDaniel no problem

[@Zukowksi24]

double 221/220 are not rare any more

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Only because of current circumstances.

[@Deltic55-mw4bo]

@@MaverickHunterDaniel 3 years on, they're still common, so things might be on the up.

[@powhaha]

@Deltic55-mw4bonot anymore, haven’t seen one in ages

[@darksars3622]

Iv said it once i will say it again, i have heard bad thing about voyergers but replacing it with iet is worst

[@smudgycat6750]

Just make them longer

[@HehehehehYT-1]

i saw a karen in manchester one one

[@physiocrat7143]

The poo trains. If you were sitting on them you could feel bumps in the track you had nevrr known were😊 there. And the engine vibration.

[@robllan]

Whoever wrote the tender specification / approved the design for the Voyager fleet was a mindless idiot! It was obvious back then that they’d accumulate >50% of their mileage travelling under the 25kv overhead wires….. The fleet has almost everything needed to be retrofitted to bi-mode (E.g. traction system) yet there is no pantograph well, no space for a transformer nor are there any intermediate and low voltage bus lines. It’s so sad that it was never designed with future proofing in mind. The marginal cost difference back then would have been negligible. Even despite this terrible mistake, the fleet should have been retrofitted by adding an additional pantograph / trailer car years ago, whilst the assets were young enough to be worth the investment. I know about the aborted “Project Thor / eVoyager” proposal, but that was always going to fail to achieve a credible business case because it wasn’t let as a competitive tender. As for the long term future, I could see this fleet having its engines and propulsion scrapped at some point and then being used as loco hauled coach stock.

[@silastrain486]

0:36 and 0:39 i saw brum and ivor

[@willallen2894]

how are double voyagers rare? I see them all the time 🤣

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

The key is the ability to read the upload date of the video before commenting. Also I was referring more to XC's practices where double sets were rarer at the time.

[@cam43002]

I kinda agree with the points that you made i hate everything about them there too small too loud and really ugly apart from the 222s they look alright

[@MatthewK421]

I think the 220/221 looks better than the 222. It’s my opinion

[@cam43002]

@@MatthewK421 really? I seem to think the 222s just look better dunno might be the livery on them

[@MatthewK421]

Yeah possibly, imo the 220/221 looks good but the livery on the 222 is very attractive

[@eternalturtle2439]

I rode on a voyager for just one stop. One. And i hated it. Capacity wasnt an issue because, get this, it was two paired units. On XC. I know. Smelled horrible, super unclean, rattled to hell. Even on the last 20 minutes betweem Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot. Hate the 220s.

[@ayaanmalik7363]

220/221/222

[@DonaldTrumpIsGreat]

I Agree That The Voyager's Need To Be Extended Longer To Hold More Passenger's and Crew 👍

[@XNick291X]

Not sure about the mass dislikes on tthis video tbh, but a good video tbh!

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

It's either a dislike bot or a bunch of fake accounts. They were all sudden, just like my last stream so I'm going to presume it's a good ol' script kiddie again.

[@zenkor1996]

6:28 class 807

[@jamesgoodman1733]

05:25 SCP

[@wickednana3555]

THE VOYAGER CLASS 220 AND THE 221 ARE THE BEST TRAINS OM EARTH I AGREE WITH HPW THEY LOOK AND I LOVE THERE SOUND AND THE INSIDE OF THEM IS AMAZING WHEN THERE OVERCROWDED YOU CAN STAND AT THE DOORS BY THE BIKE STORAGE THERES ALWAYS A PLACE WHERE YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE ON THE VOYAGERS AND YES THE WINDOW LINING WITH THE SEATS THERE INCREDIBLE HOW EVER THE CLASS 222 IS THE SECOND WORST TRAIN IN ENGLAND THE NUMBER 1 WORST TRAIN IS THE NET WORKER CLASS 166 GWR THERE A9 SLOW NICE LOOKS BUT JUST A BAD TRAIN AND THE CLASS 220 AND 221 I WISH THEY DON'T HT SCRAPPED I HAVE BEEN ON THEM MOST MY LIFE

[@wickednana3555]

I agree but I like them either way

[@gabrielstravels]

I hate Voyagers. They are boring and crammed. Can't wait for them to be finally replaced with more awesome Hitachi Class 800 series.

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Rather they'd be replaced by something good, like a Siemens Desiro HC but alas, our UK Loading Gauge is here to say no to that :(

[@gabrielstravels]

@@MaverickHunterDaniel Even better, I'd love to see a Stadler KISS running the UK rail network. But as you say, the loading gauge is the only thing that prevents it...

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

@@gabrielstravels I'm down for a Stadler KISS too, though I've yet to ride one.

[@gabrielstravels]

@@MaverickHunterDaniel I've been on one in Germany: the ODEG Class 445. And they are really good

[@ChristopherPin]

Isn't the train the person complaining being full at 0:32 a pendolino

[@physiocrat7143]

Poo trains

[@lunar_electro]

69th comment poggers

[@theflippedpacer2429]

The Voyagers are the worst intercity train replace them with IETs

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

No way. The voyagers are bad but the IET is far worse if you ask me.

[@LucyMichela]

Bottom 3 trains in the uk. Voyagers Pacers IETs

[@millercool21]

Do Aventras bounce? No are they shaky? No so they are goods

[@tescotrain]

@@MaverickHunterDaniel At least IETs don't ignore the announcements saying smoking is prohibited. (At least most of the time)

[@physiocrat7143]

Even worse