Best/worst mess facilities across the network

[Zontar]

I know a number of members on here have extensive route cards, but it would be interesting to hear how facilities up and down the country compare.

Good/bad, not just facilities but atmosphere too.

 

[Boilinthebag]

Not sure if this counts as a mess facility but I was recently at Kyle of Lochalsh and the driver was sat having a PNB on a station bench, sun shimmering off the loch, surrounded by mountains, a view of Skye bridge and seals lounging about just off shore. Certainly beats a portacabin in the stone terminal.

 

[Mattydo]

Tbh I find it's the "contents" of the mess room that dictates whether I spend my PNB there or go looking for a sunny spot to enjoy my sandwich. Thankfully my shift are a decent bunch but it only takes a visitor from down the line to sour the mood

 

[Crazyb]

Before moving to a TOC, i was at Intermodal so as the above mentions mess room atmosphere, here goes.

Doncaster platform 3, I felt like a leper, no-one said hello, and just looked at you as you walked in.

XC Leicester, I was told it was a XC kettle...lol

Lincoln depot..... I could use their kettle and they were really friendly.

Doncaster EWS depot didn't like Freightliner drivers, well not the ones I came across.

GBRF drivers at P'boro, really friendly, well at any depot.

When I was at the road learning school at Euston depot in the 90's, I was told the water butt was for Euston Drivers...Really...lol, I glad I never sat on the Euston Table then!!!!

I remember when I was a secondman when we dropped a liner off at Eastleigh and was pass home. The guard walked into the drivers mess room with us and got told to leave, only for my driver to say to the other driver to **** off....That was the first time I ever came across a segregated mess rooms.

At the end of the day, we're all crew's, but some depots made you feel unwelcome and most probably to this day.....And apologies if some are at the above depots.

Good jobs iPads are issued to every driver, as I reckon I could walk in and out of a mess room, use the kettle and drink all the water without being seen!!!!!

 

[matt_world2004]

Queens park is pretty good , snooker table tv decentish tables

 

[Juliet Barvo]

I remember when I was a secondman when we dropped a liner off at Eastleigh and was pass home. The guard walked into the drivers mess room with us and got told to leave, only for my driver to say to the other driver to **** off....That was the first time I ever came across a segregated mess rooms.


In 2020 the Elizabeth Line Messroom at Paddington had a sign on the door that read "MTR Drivers only"

 

[Train_manager]

They keep changing the door code for the EMR mess room @ Nottingham station.

There trying to keep us dirty freight out. Lmao. Good luck with that.

 

[Horizon22]

London Victoria is an incredibly segregated mess room by bothcompany and grade.

 

[EZJ]

XC Leicester, I was told it was a XC kettle...lol

If went into a messroom and someone told me I couldn't use their kettle they would be wearing it as a hat. I find it utterly repulsive that railway staff act in such a way, and yes it's happened to me whereby I was told the table I was sat at was for senior men only, the twerp who said that to me was told in no uncertain terms to grow up, I spent the rest of my 30 minutes there with the twerp death staring me, pathetic behavior that sadly still exists today.

 

[james_the_xv]

If went into a messroom and someone told me I couldn't use their kettle they would be wearing it as a hat. I find it utterly repulsive that railway staff act in such a way, and yes it's happened to me whereby I was told the table I was sat at was for senior men only, the twerp who said that to me was told in no uncertain terms to grow up, I spent the rest of my 30 minutes there with the twerp death staring me, pathetic behavior that sadly still exists today.

That sort of behaviour, while childish, doesn't just happen on the railway. Any office/building site with a toxic or 'us vs them' culture will have similar stories.

 

[EZJ]

That sort of behaviour, while childish, doesn't just happen on the railway. Any office/building site with a toxic or 'us vs them' culture will have similar stories.

I fully understand it does, this is just my experience and having only ever been a railway man it's all I've seen. Either way pathetic wherever it may occur.

 

[LowLevel]

They keep changing the door code for the EMR mess room @ Nottingham station.

There trying to keep us dirty freight out. Lmao. Good luck with that.

Door code bingo has increased of late. Some of the freight crews are friendly and come in for a chat, especially the regular DB bods, others just sit out the way and keep themselves to themselves, whatever works. It's a lot better now it's been done out a bit and tidied up. There's always been a large core ex freight drivers from places like Toton and Worksop at Nottingham so freight certainly are welcome.

 

[scotraildriver]

If went into a messroom and someone told me I couldn't use their kettle they would be wearing it as a hat. I find it utterly repulsive that railway staff act in such a way, and yes it's happened to me whereby I was told the table I was sat at was for senior men only, the twerp who said that to me was told in no uncertain terms to grow up, I spent the rest of my 30 minutes there with the twerp death staring me, pathetic behavior that sadly still exists today.

Glasgow Central is like that. Dare to sit at the "wrong" table or in "someone's" seat and you'll get the death stare. An utterly repulsive place, thank goodness I don't get PNB''s there anymore. Actual weirdos.

 

[greatkingrat]

Are there formal agreements for staff of one company to use another companies messroom (perhaps with money changing hands?), or is just an ad-hoc arrangement?

 

[LowLevel]

Are there formal agreements for staff of one company to use another companies messroom (perhaps with money changing hands?), or is just an ad-hoc arrangement?

Yes, companies generally pay each other for access to mess facilities though that tends to be mostly for locations with booked personal needs breaks. At many locations there are now multiple mess rooms and each TOC will use specific ones.

As an example EMR use Liverpool Lime Street for booked PNBs and the only mess room their staff have access to is the Northern one, there are also NR, TPE and Avanti facilties at the station.

 

[Towers]

The reported attitudes in some crew facilities are utterly unacceptable, and quite frankly some of the employers deserve a bollocking for not dealing with it.

 

[chuff chuff]

Glasgow Central is like that. Dare to sit at the "wrong" table or in "someone's" seat and you'll get the death stare. An utterly repulsive place, thank goodness I don't get PNB''s there anymore. Actual weirdos.

The welcome at Central is legendary around scotrail even amongst those who haven't been there.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

Based on my limited experience of the place, Portsmouth & Southsea felt rather grim. The outside looked like a derelict building and the spartan room itself offered little more than a handful of heavily-stained seats which looked like something had died on them.

The initial thought I had about Aldershot's messroom was "doctors surgery". Awful NHS-style turquoise walls, chairs straight out of a doctors surgery waiting room (wooden frame with light blue leather seat) and hardly any natural light save from a small window caked so heavily in grime you couldn't see out of it. I didn't have the courage to dare check out the toilet.

By contrast, Guildford depot messroom is really quite nice, although it's still fairly new as I understand it.

 

[DMckduck]

Before moving to a TOC, i was at Intermodal so as the above mentions mess room atmosphere, here goes.

Doncaster platform 3, I felt like a leper, no-one said hello, and just looked at you as you walked in.

XC Leicester, I was told it was a XC kettle...lol

Lincoln depot..... I could use their kettle and they were really friendly.

Doncaster EWS depot didn't like Freightliner drivers, well not the ones I came across.

GBRF drivers at P'boro, really friendly, well at any depot.

When I was at the road learning school at Euston depot in the 90's, I was told the water butt was for Euston Drivers...Really...lol, I glad I never sat on the Euston Table then!!!!

I remember when I was a secondman when we dropped a liner off at Eastleigh and was pass home. The guard walked into the drivers mess room with us and got told to leave, only for my driver to say to the other driver to **** off....That was the first time I ever came across a segregated mess rooms.

At the end of the day, we're all crew's, but some depots made you feel unwelcome and most probably to this day.....And apologies if some are at the above depots.

Good jobs iPads are issued to every driver, as I reckon I could walk in and out of a mess room, use the kettle and drink all the water without being seen!!!!!

Split mess room behaviour should always be challenged, reminds me of the Waterloo “drivers” mess room. If there’s a problem with a different grade sitting in there raise it with management otherwise keep quiet. I find it’s always the dinosaurs trying to keep up appearances and targeting easy targets in these places

 

[Towers]

Split mess room behaviour should always be challenged, reminds me of the Waterloo “drivers” mess room. If there’s a problem with a different grade sitting in there raise it with management otherwise keep quiet. I find it’s always the dinosaurs trying to keep up appearances and targeting easy targets in these places

In this day & age the whole concept of different messrooms for different grades should be long gone!

 

[GalaxyDog]

"Different messrooms for different grades should be gone".
Not a freaking chance. Still prevalent on my now former network. One big Midlands station had three messrooms. Two in one building, plus toilets and a quiet/nap room. Other was across the way on the opposite platform.
Messroom one was the largest and got given an all new smart TV. Along with the cooking facilities and more seats, it basically became the Drivers domain. Other grades not welcome; sometimes guards who were known to be in the driver recruitment process at that depot, or (so I was told) guards who were invited allowed in, but anyone else got the cold shoulder and often verbally harrassed. And if a guard were to be in the naproom when a driver wanted a kip, often the snarls could be heard...!

The second messroom was more the guards messroom - drivers never used that or the one on the opposite platform. Visitors from others depots such as myself usually used the second or in a pinch third messes as we knew we were not welcome in "the drivers" messroom. Some of the stories that came out though from the first messroom - racism and blatant homophobia galore. Which was funny as that depot had a few Asian drivers. Must admit, am much relieved, won't miss it now.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

Other grades not welcome; sometimes guards who were known to be in the driver recruitment process at that depot, or (so I was told) guards who were invited allowed in, but anyone else got the cold shoulder and often verbally harrassed. And if a guard were to be in the naproom when a driver wanted a kip, often the snarls could be heard...!

Disgusting behaviour...

Certainly if I were to be on the receiving end of any verbal harassment, I would've told, quite pointedly, whoever it was to sod off (or a phrase containing a four letter word to that effect).

In fact, I probably would've taken great pleasure in making myself at home in said "drivers room", just to rub the ones who had a problem with it up the wrong way.

Completely and utterly unacceptable to have this kind of segregation still happening today.

 

[800 Driver]

Paddington has rats in the basement, mice on the ground floor main mess room and until recently bedbugs in Macmillan House. Though the grades are all mixed in the main mess room, certain tables tend to be dominated by the region staff are from, as a Padd driver even I'm intimidated by the Bristol table and the Welsh crews having their own room that we call Little Swansea. Though the old top table is less rigidly enforced now that certain people have retired. It's moderately friendly by railway standards but totally. unacceptable in health and safety terms. They're never gonna spend the millions it would cost to bring it up to date and to an acceptable standard, so they should just move us out of the station and to one of the new build office blocks just outside.

 

[UTV]

The only place I felt uncomfortable is when I was at Freightliner based in Brum. We’d sometimes have to use SWRs mess room at Basingstoke for our PNB. Every time I walked in there, it felt like I was walking behind enemy lines. They didn’t like outsiders in there one bit.