Newly-refurbished Eurostar E300 trains - seriously?
 

I'm getting increasingly disappointed by Eurostar. It's feels like every year, they get together and decide how to downgrade the service one step further.

The last attempt are the new trains. I travelled from Paris to London in business premier on the newly refurbished E300 trains.

To start with, the new design is ugly. It's very dark and grey, with a lot of cheap plastic. It really feels like you are on a bus (not a nice bus, a regular mid-distance road bus).

The seats are also cramped and hard. Armrests are small, made of hard plastic, and uncomfortable. Overall, there is less space, and the tray barely had enough space for my small dell laptop. The magazine holder above the tray feels like it's made out of cardboard.

Worse of all is the headrest (made of plastic of course). I'm fairly tall (6'4'') and it was stuck between my shoulder blades in a really bad way. Nothing is adjustable, and it does not fit people who are not the "right" size. It was really uncomfortable. I removed the cushion, but this exposes the velcro straps, who then dig into your back.

Of course no internet.

So overall a big thumb down.

Pictures here: http://imgur.com/a/Jnn0w

The internet on the E300s isn't being enabled until the new-new E320 trains come into service late this year.

(Can't comment on the rest, as I've yet to have a chance to try an E300)

Just got another refurbished E300, this time travelling in economy from London to Paris.

Economy is definitely an improvement over the old trains. The tray is too small and the design is still very bland, but the seats are far more comfortable and I think there is more leg room than with the previous train. My biggest gripe with the new business seats (the head rest) is perfect for tall people in economy.

So, oddly enough, economy seats are now better than business seats on the Eurostar.