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St Pancras to Canterbury - is there a 1ST compartment?

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OLJR

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I am looking forward to a trip to Canterbury and will be taking the express service from St Pancras.

Is there a 1ST compartment on these services? And if so, how many seats are there abreast in both 1ST and STD?

The East Coast site will sell a 1ST fare at GBP 42.70, but when I click on it all the trains become available, which suggests either that 1ST is not offered or the fare has not been filed correctly!

Many thanks in advance. :)
 
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yorksrob

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Sadly you've missed the days of first class compartments by about ten years :(
 
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ainsworth74

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OLJR said:
The East Coast site will sell a 1ST fare at GBP 42.70, but when I click on it all the trains become available, which suggests either that 1ST is not offered or the fare has not been filed correctly!
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The reason you're being offered that fare is that the ticket will be issued from London Terminals in which case it is possible to get train that convey first class accommodation (from Victoria for example).
 
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21C101

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What surprises me more is that you cannot even buy a cup of tea on SE HS1 trains. These are basically crack intercity trains after all.

#wheresthebuffetgone
 
Chris125

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21C101 said:
What surprises me more is that you cannot even buy a cup of tea on SE HS1 trains. These are basically crack intercity trains after all.

#wheresthebuffetgone
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They need a top speed of 140mph to operate on HS1, but otherwise they are commuter trains operating services aimed at commuters and are designed as such.

Chris
 
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phil beard

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No chance of a cuppa or anything on a SE trains working going anywhere following the discontinuation of their on-board refreshment service at the beginning of this month. Better get your food and drink at St Pancras before setting off; there are plenty of places from which to make your choice. :)
 
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extendedpaul

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I occasionally travel first class on a through ticket from Kent to Wales but still use HS1 to St Pancras rather "proper" first to Victoria.

In my opinion the seats on the High Speed services from St Pancras to Kent are superior to first class on other Southeastern services.
 
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21C101

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Chris125 said:
They need a top speed of 140mph to operate on HS1, but otherwise they are commuter trains operating services aimed at commuters and are designed as such.

Chris
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If London to Canterbury is not Inter-City I don't know what is!

While they are widely used by commuters a distance of 80 miles from London is not exactly metro services.

A few years ago all principal Southern long distance services had a manned buffet car selling hot and cold food and hot and cold drinks. Now, not even a trolley......
 
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edwin_m

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21C101 said:
While they are widely used by commuters a distance of 80 miles from London is not exactly metro services.
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The important factor is time not distance. The length of time spent on the train will determine how likely a traveller is to want to buy a drink or snack.
 
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Failed Unit

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edwin_m said:
The important factor is time not distance. The length of time spent on the train will determine how likely a traveller is to want to buy a drink or snack.
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True, scotrail have trolleys on the 50 min Edinburgh- Glasgow shuttles and people buy stuff. however no idea if they make a profit.
 
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21C101

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Chris125 said:
It's less than an hour from London and has a population of around 40-50,000 - that's not my idea of 'Inter-City'.

Chris
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So is Brighton, but Brighton express services have always had refreshments (and used to have a full blown Pullman service).

The purpose of on train refreshments is to enhance service quality and attract passengers not make a profit in itself, which is why its often dished up free to First Class passengers. Even the Gatwick Express with 30 minute journey times still provides decent refreshments:

Sorry but I think not providing any refreshments on intercity services (in all but name) on 80+ mile express journeys to popular tourist and coastal resorts is in my opinion dreadful and comes out of the same apalling customer service school that serves up seats which don't line up with windows, ever smaller standard class seats with ever thinner cushions, first class seats that are identical to second class seats and connections not held. Meanwhile virtually every new model of car has more comfortable, spacious seating and improved features at a lower cost than the previous model.
 
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backontrack

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phil beard said:
No chance of a cuppa or anything on a SE trains working going anywhere following the discontinuation of their on-board refreshment service at the beginning of this month. Better get your food and drink at St Pancras before setting off; there are plenty of places from which to make your choice. :)
Click to expand...

Which reminds me, anyone want some SUSHI?

Since when was a Sushi restaurant at a railway station the norm? I know it's an international terminus, but still.
 
Trainfan344

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^It's for all the Sumo Wrestlers that travel with Virgin obviously.
 
telstarbox

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backontrack said:
Which reminds me, anyone want some SUSHI?

Since when was a Sushi restaurant at a railway station the norm? I know it's an international terminus, but still.
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Clearly enough people want it as there's also one at Manchester Piccadilly. Plenty of other choices at St Pancras anyway.
 
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SephenWorceste

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Sushi also at Paddington. Not an ideal environment to serve food. Pigeons pecking about at floor level. Also hot food goes cold very quickly in such a large drafty space. Seems very popular though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Busaholic

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SephenWorceste said:
Sushi also at Paddington. Not an ideal environment to serve food. Pigeons pecking about at floor level. Also hot food goes cold very quickly in such a large drafty space. Seems very popular though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

And at Liverpooll Street.
 
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AmeralGunson

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21C101 said:
What surprises me more is that you cannot even buy a cup of tea on SE HS1 trains. These are basically crack intercity trains after all.

#wheresthebuffetgone
Click to expand...

My understanding is that they are high speed commuter trains not "crack Inter-City trains".
 
Chris125

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21C101 said:
So is Brighton, but Brighton express services have always had refreshments (and used to have a full blown Pullman service).
Click to expand...

I really don't think the traffic between London and Brighton is comparable with that of Canterbury, the Brighton Express for example is well used in both directions throughout the day and this no doubt supports the case for a trolley - HS1 services on the other hand don't even have First Class and in my experience are classic commuter operations carrying the vast majority of the traffic in the peaks.

Chris
 
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