Tom Anderson writes:

More importantly, they're presumably cleared for higher levels of jerk
and deceleration than trains - after all, the limits on train
maneuvering are regulatory ones related to passenger comfort and
safety, rather than engineering ones, right? If they have
forward-facing all-seater accomodation, such a difference would make
sense.

If a vehicle is going to deccelerate sharply, I'd rather be in a backwards
facing seat than a forwards one!

In fact, don't the seats in the end carriages on a Pendolino face
backwards (when leading) for this reason?

Adam