Five things that were not well thought out in Jubilee’s SGR coaches – PHOTOS & VIDEO
Kenyans were over the weekend given a sneak view of the 32-passenger coaches to be used on the Standard Gauge Railway moments after they arrived at the port of Mombasa on Saturday.
Netizens were however quick to criticize the necessity of some features in the first-class coaches, even as Kenya Railways corporation insisted that the coaches needed to be more comfortable.
Here are some of the things Kenyans noted with the offloaded first-class coaches:
1. No leg room
The distance between the seats in the coaches cannot comfortably accommodate passengers with long legs. It is even worse when one attempts ‘spinning the seat’, a star feature in the coaches.
Live demo of the features you’ll have on the First Class Passenger Coach #TheTrainsAreHere pic.twitter.com/GDiQMLbIXM
— Kenya Railways (@KenyaRailways_) January 29, 2017
2. Spining crushes your neighbours’ legs
Kenya Railways officials kept demonstrating the spinning seat as one of the best features of the coaches. They could not however concede that the feature inconveniences other occupants. And don’t forget that before attempting the spin, one has to seek consent from those seated behind owing to the squeezed space between the seats.
3. Foldable table
The foldable tables attached to the back of the spinning seats also poses a dilemna. If an occupant spins their seat, the passenger behind loses control of the foldable table. This means even the meetings the corporation had cited as the best reason for the spinning seat, will be held while passengers carry their paperwork and gadgets on their laps.
First class coaches the world over have a fixed table on the space between the seats.
4. Windows
Some of the seats have no direct access to the windows meant for sightseeing during long journeys. This robs the passengers the luxury otherwise expected in a first class couch. The window sizes are also not wide enough compared to those in coaches used by other countries.
5. No reclining seats
Having first-class seats that cannot recline makes long distance travel strenuous. Even Kenyan buses plying long distances have seats that allow passengers nejoys hours of sleep during a journey.
