Britain's Most Divisive Trains - Voyagers and Meridians

Hello all! :D

This week, we take a look at some of the most divisive and controversial trains ever employed on Britain's railways, the Class 220 and 221 Voyagers, and the Class 222 Meridians, two variants of the same family of DEMU trains that were delivered in the early 2000s to replace ageing stock on the Cross Country network and the Midland Mainline out of London.

What resulted for the Voyagers, though, was one of the most hated trains among the public for their short formations, cramped interiors, noise and vibrations and general unreliability, traits which remain to this day and are often discussed as the face of privatisation's shortcomings, though the initial feedback on the Class 220s and 221s would form the basis of a more refined edition of the same basic platform for the Class 222s, which were seen as a general improvement to the design and would go on to become the mainstay of the Midland Mainline during the 2010s and 2020s.

Chapters:

0:00 - Preamble
1:13 - An Opportunity for Change
4:48 - Class 220 Voyager
8:40 - Class 221 Super Voyager
10:30 - Immediate Problems
13:31 - Class 222 Meridians and Pioneers
18:26 - Career Changes
22:10 - Decade after Decade
25:32 - Conclusion

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References:
- Key Model World (and their respective sources)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references)