Yeah, according to the crew it's the second set. They were blabbering away to interested passengers this morning.
Major plus points:
1) Crew well dressed, suits rather than the usual uniform.
2) Excellent Passenger Info system, far better than anything I've seen on IE to-date.
3) On-train cleaners. A cleaner went up and down the train picking up any rubbish passengers might have on their tables and making sure everything was spick and span.
4) Train manager made a manual announcement introducing himself.
5) Excellent climate control. The journey was very comfortable.
6) I wouldn't say the suspension's bad, but it's a little harder than the MK3s. Also, the actual trains are very heavily sound insulated so you tend to notice any noise/vibration. I'd say it could be tweaked to make it a bit softer. I didn't find the ride particularly poor though, it felt very solid and smooth for most of the journey.
7) Wide doors, wide easily maintainable toilets.
8) Simplified carriage end doors and improved, well insulated gangways.
Overall, I was very impressed by my first trip. They feel a lot less cluttered than an IE MK3 and are a hell of a lot brighter and quieter on board. I don't think the suspension is anywhere near as bad as the enterprise though.
Also, the coaches seem to be EXTREMELY heavily computerised. Even the toilets have voice prompts suggesting that you should lock the door by pressing the lock button
Glitches:
1) The PIS didn't announce our arrival at Charleville... It worked flawlessly for every other station.
2) When it arrived in Cork it went to huge effor to explain where all the bus links, taxis etc are located but didn't mention that the No 5 bus runs regular services to the city centre.
Incidently, one of the crew was explaining the PIS to someone. Apparently it's using GPS location to figure out where it is. It doesn't rely on the signalling system.
I am well impressed anyway. I found the whole experience slick and professional which is somthing I never thought I'd have said about CIE.