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I suspect we're just arguing about the subjective comfort of
various seating designs. I'm happy to agree that modern intercity
trains are quieter, smoother and air-conditioned, so it's just a
case of which seat designs we prefer. As far as I'm concerned, no
train seats come close to matching the comfort and adjustability of
my car's seats, and none let me adjust the temperature to suit
myself, so it's just a case of which trains have the worst seats
compared to my car or a good business class airline seat. But, with
the exception of the awful Mallard standard class seats, I can
tolerate any of them for an hour or two without complaint, and the
best of them for quite a few hours.

I can't say I have any problems with the Mallard seats personally. I'm
tall and therefore bit fussier than some. OTOH I hate airline seats
with a vengeance, mainly because they are so claustrophobic.

I think the problem with modern train seats is that they have little
padding and little or no adjustment -- if the shape happens to suit your
shape, they're very comfortable. If they don't, it soon gets painful,
and there's no way round it.

Older seats were deeply sprung, and it was less essential that they
fitted your shape exactly. Car seats are highly adjustable, and in most
cases can be made to fit your shape, rather than vice versa.

I agree about claustrophobic tombstone seats, though that's different to
seat comfort.