Butts
Veteran Member
True it does say he got on at York but no specifics of where he originated so I assumed that was the starting point.
If he did come from the West Country it would be cheaper and far faster to fly up from Exeter
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London North Eastern Railway (LNER) First Class service
- Thread starter MidnightFlyer
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True it does say he got on at York but no specifics of where he originated so I assumed that was the starting point.
If he did come from the West Country it would be cheaper and far faster to fly up from Exeter
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True it does say he got on at York but no specifics of where he originated so I assumed that was the starting point.
If he did come from the West Country it would be cheaper and far faster to fly up from Exeter
From a post on another thread they mention they live in Burton.
Burton to Inverness on a first open return is a staggering £660.
Two of you and you would be cheaper in a taxi
PermitToTravel
Established Member
About an hour quicker too :P
DaveNewcastle
Established Member
I'm very fond of the tagine - partly attributable to cumin being my spice of choice. But have you noticed that the tagine changed about a month ago? The texture is a little thicker, and the spice is slightly milder than it was when initially introduced.
Yes, it does look/feel gloopier than it used to now you mention it.
It's still nice but a combination of only two menu rotations and extended menu durations has got me to the point I'm fed up.
Also I'm not keen on salmon or Caesar dressing so that rules out three things on the menus straight away which doesn't help matters.
Blindtraveler
Established Member
- Joined
- 28 Feb 2011
- Messages
- 10,544
I think the next change is going to be a big one, given the huge length of time this one has run for.
In regards to the post by
Sniffingmoose
obviously the service falling over and the resultant efforts by tocs to get trains crews and pax all in the right places can and does happen to everyone and is unfortunate. The fact that the offerings onboard are insulting to those on very long journeys and or on full price tickets doesnt encourage rail travel IMO. Certainly from Burton to Inverness the train and aircraft would surely have beem both quicker and cheeper? I do hope
Sniffingmoose has better experiences in the future.
In regards to the post by
Sniffingmoose
obviously the service falling over and the resultant efforts by tocs to get trains crews and pax all in the right places can and does happen to everyone and is unfortunate. The fact that the offerings onboard are insulting to those on very long journeys and or on full price tickets doesnt encourage rail travel IMO. Certainly from Burton to Inverness the train and aircraft would surely have beem both quicker and cheeper? I do hope
Sniffingmoose has better experiences in the future.
dave87016
Established Member
I tweeted VTEC about when the new menus will be available and they replied with from 12th December
Is it a full permanent change or just a change to a Christmas themed menu?
VTWC put their Christmas menu online yesterday which also starts on the 12th. Theirs then revert back for a fortnight before the official change.
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dave87016
Established Member
I would imagine the new menu would be in place after the Xmas menu has finished I will be surprised if they revert back to the current menu , have you got a link to the Xmas menu Chris? I can't seem to find it
At least that claim will get you half your money back, so effectively you've not paid for that half of the journey (I'm not saying that makes everything ok, but it's more than you'd get in a lot of industries).
Sniffingmoose
Member
Yes we did start the journey on Crosscountry in Burton on Trent.
As a general point, because I have learned that food on all train services is subject to availability and once disruption happens on a fragmented railway the service falls apart quickly you taking a risk by paying a premium for a non guaranteed food service.
So the railway is again is a special case where food is not part of the 1st class ticket contract. Buyer beware.
In light of my experiences, is it up for debate that first class should be removed from UK trains as in reality the catering service is not guaranteed and we do need the space on overcrowded services for all passengers.
As a general point, because I have learned that food on all train services is subject to availability and once disruption happens on a fragmented railway the service falls apart quickly you taking a risk by paying a premium for a non guaranteed food service.
So the railway is again is a special case where food is not part of the 1st class ticket contract. Buyer beware.
In light of my experiences, is it up for debate that first class should be removed from UK trains as in reality the catering service is not guaranteed and we do need the space on overcrowded services for all passengers.
It depends if that's why people choose 1st class.
If you abolish first class entirely TOCs will want to increase the price of standard travel to make up for their loss of these sales - some to much cheaper standard tickets and some off trains entirely.
Abolishing 1st will make some extra space in standard but won't make a huge difference in passenger capacity.
Anyone have any idea when the Christmas/New Year reduction in service will kick-in? There doesn't appear to be anything on their website as yet.
Butts
Veteran Member
Next time do yourself a favour and get a Plane from Manchester or Birmingham Airports.
Throw in a taxi to and from the airport and you will easily have enough change from a Grand to pay for your Hotel and a Cordon Bleu Meal to accompany it.
Please never pay a monkey for a Train Fare
Nope and when I asked via twitter last week I got a rather smart response saying "We will put it on the website when we have the information".
Four weeks out the rota will be done etc so it's laughable that they can't tell you.
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Butts
Veteran Member
West Coast seemed to manage so what's the delay ? - an excellent response to their tweet ?
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Do airlines reduce their 1st class service during Christmas or is it just rail?
Butts
Veteran Member
Put it this way they don't have £35 Seat Sales try multiplying that figure by 100 and guess what the answer is
Yeah I figured as much! Very disappointing. I'm sure they've announced it much earlier in previous years.
The webpage is certainly not very useful for anyone, let alone those interested in first class, at the moment!
Butts
Veteran Member
It's definitely been earlier than this in the past AFAIK.
Is it just me or is VTEC completely disorganised at the moment?
I know they have had a rough time of it recently with disruption etc but every single day the service updates page is littered with services running with missing carriages, faulty toilets, no catering trolley, reduced catering, carriages locked out of use etc etc.
I'm not suggesting that they should cancel or anything because of these issues but they seem to be very frequent at the moment.
Is it a case of the fleet is now being worked too hard with all the Edinburgh extensions etc?
Butts
Veteran Member
Well why don't you get on twitter and point out the salient facts - don't let them get away with the bland generalisation you got before.
Is that not what twitter is for - to get a speedy answer ? (I'm not on it)
From what I've heard that does seem to be one of the main problems. Hence why there's a 90 on hot standby to sub-in!
I DM'd them when asking and received that reply. I then replied back saying that it was less than a month away now and why was it taking so long.
They declined to reply.
If there is nothing online by tomorrow afternoon when I'm heading back home from Lancashire I'll ask again.
PS you need to get yourself on twitter, it's amazing what you can do with 140 characters.
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Butts
Veteran Member
No I'm an old fogey...but see my new Twitter Thread and join in
..Doh what does DM mean ?No I'm an old fogey...but see my new Twitter Thread and join in
If my granny can use it so can you Butts
. Infact she's addicted to it. DM - Direct Mail/Private Message.
Butts
Veteran Member
If my granny can use it so can you Butts
DM - Direct Mail/Private Message.
Surely if you take it out of the Public Arena it is easier for them to fob you off?
You can do more than 140 characters in DM and I was also asking about something else to do with a reservation. It was easier than sending multiple tweets.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
When they announced it I did think it may cause a few issues with maintenance and the ability to respond to disruption effectively.
Sniffingmoose
Member
Next time do yourself a favour and get a Plane from Manchester or Birmingham Airports.
Throw in a taxi to and from the airport and you will easily have enough change from a Grand to pay for your Hotel and a Cordon Bleu Meal to accompany it.
Please never pay a monkey for a Train Fare
My advice DONT DO IT. You are supposed to get 2 meals if you are lucky. One of those is sandwiches on the rest of the day menu.
Yes you are so right. I think it will be Inverness from Birmingham Airport or Aberdeen from East Midlands airport next time.
We will be getting a full refund as we were heavily delayed on the return trip as well. We had just gone a few yards south of Newcastle when a passenger went unconscious. A Doctor was called for, so my wife (Who is Medical) went to assist. They could not reverse the train into Newcastle so a decision was made to make an additional stop at Durham for an ambulance to attend. So we missed our connection and seat reservation on the Crosscountry Voyager at York. The next Voyager turned up with 4 coaches being Friday afternoon it totally rammed and I mean totally rammed. No seats anywhere not even on the luggage rack. So we had to stand York to Derby! What a trip. They certainly owe us one!
My learning. A first open return does not guarantee any food nor a seat even if you reserve one. Oh and to rub our noses in it we found out that there is no First Class lounge at York to wait in after missing our connection.