London North Eastern Railway (LNER) First Class service

[DaveNewcastle]

Last week I noted that the 'cheese platter' had been progressively reducing, one of the latest losses being the celery. Tonight, the celery was back.

However, the mains had recently been served with very little veg. Tonight's was just two florets of cauliflower and one of broccoli (no potato or carrot). If any of us had failed to point out how inadequate a meal that is, then I shall say it again; between 'lunchtime' and getting home at 10:20pm, an EC evening meal leaves me feeling hungry enough to cook as soon as I get home (and no, I've no intention of eating sandwiches instead of meals).

And for the avoidance of doubt, the staff are all great, as ever (in fact I owe one of them a debt of gratitude right now after a slight embarrassment, and which I hope to repay tomorrow).

 

[All Line Rover]

Last week I noted that the 'cheese platter' had been progressively reducing, one of the latest losses being the celery. Tonight, the celery was back.

However, the mains had recently been served with very little veg. Tonight's was just two florets of cauliflower and one of broccoli (no potato or carrot). If any of us had failed to point out how inadequate a meal that is, then I shall say it again; between 'lunchtime' and getting home at 10:20pm, an EC evening meal leaves me feeling hungry enough to cook as soon as I get home (and no, I've no intention of eating sandwiches instead of meals).

And for the avoidance of doubt, the staff are all great, as ever (in fact I owe one of them a debt of gratitude right now after a slight embarrassment, and which I hope to repay tomorrow).

Could that be spilling tea all over the place? That happened to me on EMT - on the only time I have ever traveled with them.

Which perhaps might add to my slightly sour opinions of them. It wasn't their fault, of course.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Though I should add given the choice I would still go back to the old at-seat dining service

No doubt the new franchisee will consider that and other options - perhaps they will even (how can I put this?), er, listen to their customers?

However, with the changes to the kitchen equipment - some implemented and some not (yet) - and the creation of additional module spaces on-board, heir options will never be the same again. Nevertheless, a sound business model with viable a P&L account is possible.

 

[Turbocharger]

However, with the changes to the kitchen equipment - some implemented and some not (yet) - and the creation of additional module spaces on-board, heir options will never be the same again. Nevertheless, a sound business model with viable a P&L account is possible.

Damn good point Dave and one I have been thinking of. Surely whoever gets the line won't dump all that hardware recently installed.

Unless they cough up and get shut of it and get proper kitchens installed again. But guess we are back to the old "at seat" service question again, damn

 

[YorkshireRider]

The kitchens are better than before and would have no problem providing a old style at seat dining or restaurant offer, the ovens are better and just as big, there is more fridge space and the grill and hobs are still in place, the only draw back is there is problems with the fridges tripping out on HSTs. Be intresting to see the reaction of first class customers if a new company came in and went back to pay for drinks and food, how would it go down on the west coast i wonder?

 

[Turbocharger]

Be intresting to see the reaction of first class customers if a new company came in and went back to pay for drinks and food, how would it go down on the west coast i wonder?

Very interesting indeed YR. Thanks for the kitchen info too. Hmmmmmmm

 

[ainsworth74]

Well I'm sure ALR would have a hissy fit if complementary food were to be replaced with paid for food on ICWC

 

[Turbocharger]

Well I'm sure ALR would have a hissy fit if complementary food were to be replaced with paid for food on ICWC

Lmao I nearly spat my drink out when I read that

 

[All Line Rover]

Well I'm sure ALR would have a hissy fit if complementary food were to be replaced with paid for food on ICWC

Well it would be a little annoying for people on an ALR. It was like an all inclusive holiday! (Except at the weekend, where I tried to survive on Bronte biscuits from the EC FC lounge at KGX, but in the end had to buy some cheese from John Lewis out of utter desperation!)

 

[Turbocharger]

Well it would be a little annoying for people on an ALR. It was like an all inclusive holiday! (Except at the weekend, where I tried to survive on Bronte biscuits from the EC FC lounge at KGX, but in the end had to buy some cheese from John Lewis out of utter desperation!)

ALR don't rise to the bait mate. Oh no that rhymes too

 

[Failed Unit]

You say that you won't travel First Class again, but in what way do your criticisms of the new offering differ to those of the previous one?

The thing is from feedback from the Anglo Scottish travellers - which I know are a minority, many of us not won't only use First Class again we won't even use East Coast. I fly a lot more, if east coast monitored account usage they would notice that and see that my spend was reduce from £600 per month to £0 since May!

 

[andylloyd]

Rightio here's my feedback so far on the said service :
Friday afternoon got the 1658 ex NCL-KGX(1E21).
first offering was just south of Newcastle, then south of Doncaster.
Is it normal spec for the crew to close everything down by Retford? Earlier i had been tipped off by a very nice EC employee I was advised even before I got on the train the offerings
I will see what it's like again on Monday on the 1230 off of the cross

 

[krisk]

Here is my take on all of this:

Firstly it should not still be having teething problems all these weeks later, first week yes ok maybe but not now. It sounds like if you are only being offered two sandwiches that either the initial loading of food was set too low (RG will only deliver what has been previously estimated) OR they are trying to make the food last in order to reduce placing an order later on (which no doubt incurs delivery charges from RG)

How they justify you can have a hot meal going north but not going south I don't understand. They have that reasoning for dinner trains well why not for breakfast too, it's only offered on south bound trains and dinner only offered going north. Logistically it can be done, I wouldn't be happy that at 5pm going north I get a hot meal, at 5pm going south I don't. That is one where they need to have a rethink.

My advice is to keep on at EC if you feel that unhappy but don't level the criticism at the staff as they do not choose the food they serve nor the times they serve it. If you are not happy, ask how and to whom you complain. I can only imagine if faced with daily criticism every time you come to work how it would leave you feeling disheartened.

If EC can get it right whereby something hot is available should you want it, a selection of sandwiches is also available with various snacks, served with hot drinks and cold drinks too then I get how they see that adds value to a first class ticket and may encourage people to pay the difference from the standard fare. But they have to be getting it right first as if you travel first and have a bad experience then the impression that leaves is that it just isn't worth the difference, even if its only £20- £30 say.
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Is it normal spec for the crew to close everything down by Retford? Earlier i had been tipped off by a very nice EC employee I was advised even before I got on the train the offerings

Was it their last trip of the day? If so I think you probably just found the answer.

 

[blackfive460]

Is it normal spec for the crew to close everything down by Retford?

I've had a few runs from York, first stop Kings Cross where tea/coffee, sandwiches(2!) followed by a booze run is completed before passing Doncaster. After that, you are lucky if there's another tea/coffee run but never anything else in my experience so, yes, on non-stop runs south from York, that could well be the norm.

 

[andylloyd]

Here is my take on all of this:

Firstly it should not still be having teething problems all these weeks later, first week yes ok maybe but not now. It sounds like if you are only being offered two sandwiches that either the initial loading of food was set too low (RG will only deliver what has been previously estimated) OR they are trying to make the food last in order to reduce placing an order later on (which no doubt incurs delivery charges from RG)

How they justify you can have a hot meal going north but not going south I don't understand. They have that reasoning for dinner trains well why not for breakfast too, it's only offered on south bound trains and dinner only offered going north. Logistically it can be done, I wouldn't be happy that at 5pm going north I get a hot meal, at 5pm going south I don't. That is one where they need to have a rethink.

My advice is to keep on at EC if you feel that unhappy but don't level the criticism at the staff as they do not choose the food they serve nor the times they serve it. If you are not happy, ask how and to whom you complain. I can only imagine if faced with daily criticism every time you come to work how it would leave you feeling disheartened.

If EC can get it right whereby something hot is available should you want it, a selection of sandwiches is also available with various snacks, served with hot drinks and cold drinks too then I get how they see that adds value to a first class ticket and may encourage people to pay the difference from the standard fare. But they have to be getting it right first as if you travel first and have a bad experience then the impression that leaves is that it just isn't worth the difference, even if its only £20- £30 say.
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Was it their last trip of the day? If so I think you probably just found the answer.

Cheers for that, the crew had been on from edb so it may kinda make sense.
The final stop was York.
It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow when I'm on the 'all shack' calling 1230 to Newcastle tomorrow.
Hopefully it'll be fully loaded by RG at the cross, am
I right in thinking that?

 

[Failed Unit]

It does make me wonder if east coast are deliberately only offering 2 sandwiches and making it difficult to get the hot meal. Then if they don't get a lot of complaints they can drop the hot meal because no one "wants it" and say everyone is happy with 2 sandwiches. I bit like the - we have no demand for restaurants but if you board at York we have ran out of food so you can't use it even if you want to.

 

[All Line Rover]

It does make me wonder if east coast are deliberately only offering 2 sandwiches and making it difficult to get the hot meal. Then if they don't get a lot of complaints they can drop the hot meal because no one "wants it" and say everyone is happy with 2 sandwiches. I bit like the - we have no demand for restaurants but if you board at York we have ran out of food so you can't use it even if you want to.

On my previous journeys I was served 4 (quarter) sandwiches and the menus were placed on every table, allowing the customer to order any hot food they desired.

I have not seen East Coast trying to "hide" the hot food option. There definitely isn't some sort of "conspiracy" going on here, otherwise it would be happening across the board. It is the fault of certain staff who aren't doing their job properly - and they need to be reported to management.

 

[Failed Unit]

On my previous journeys I was served 4 (quarter) sandwiches and the menus were placed on every table, allowing the customer to order any hot food they desired.

I have not seen East Coast trying to "hide" the hot food option. There definitely isn't some sort of "conspiracy" going on here, otherwise it would be happening across the board. It is the fault of certain staff who aren't doing their job properly - and they need to be reported to management.

Did you use any of the busier Anglo-Scottish services or only the London - Leeds. I am not suggesting they hide the hot option, just rarely get it delivered (to the Edinburgh service centre)

 

[All Line Rover]

Did you use any of the busier Anglo-Scottish services or only the London - Leeds. I am not suggesting they hide the hot option, just rarely get it delivered (to the Edinburgh service centre)

I used a London to Doncaster train (continuing to Edinburgh) twice, which also had the menus on the tables. You seem to be having a spate of bad luck unfortunately.

 

[Blindtraveler]

rite wel with a relative in hospital down
south iv been up and down rather a lot lately, often leaving EDB on a Fri afternoon. 2 weeks in a row no hot food on afternoon/early evening southbound services. 2 sarnies on one occasion

 

[Turbocharger]

I do EC LDS to LGX and back nearly every other Friday FC and there have always been menus on every table since eureka started. Only reason I can think of for tables missing menus is customers removing them.

The only time I have ever been offered the hot meal was a 17:00 service to Edinburgh when I decided to go back to Leeds via York due to the Adwick incident the other week.

But then normally I travel down to KGX about midday Friday and return between 15:00 and 18:00 on the Monday to LDS and it's always sandwich quarters, two or four depending!

It is being fed back (no pun intended) to EC management about the inconsistencies of the food service though.

 

[amcluesent]

Sunday service out of PBO to KGX is poor, just a tea/coffee run with some biscuits in a paper bag. No waters or juice or papers offered.

 

[andylloyd]

Just out of curiosity has anyone travelled on the 1230 Kgx-NCL?
Just wondering when they stop serving first class?

 

[amcluesent]

Had my first 'afternoon tea' and TBH it wasn't bad. The smoked salmon fingers (just two...) and the scone were nice. No cheese nibbles with the drinks mind.

 

[andylloyd]

Just out of curiosity has anyone travelled on the 1230 Kgx-NCL?
Just wondering when they stop serving first class?

Here we go,
first drinks service a Huntingdon which then tied in quite nicely with the food service which was served just as we got to PBO, I opted for the Cray fish salad and very nice it was too.
Then between Doncaster and York the last drinks service followed through.

All in all pretty decent service but maybe EC could have managed one more as it was an all shack from KGX-NCL

 

[telstarbox]

Tried EC FC (!) for the first time on 1305 Kings Cross - Doncaster today, obviously with much anticipation after all the discussion on here.
All the catering crew were very friendly and took time to explain the menu to other passengers, although FC was very quiet with only 8 passengers in my coach. They did two tea/coffee/booze runs, one just after KGX and another after PBO. I was offered another full meal after PBO if I'd wanted it but I was stuffed! Went for the cauliflower cheese tart with fruit cake and found both delicious.

Having read the various experiences of posters here I wasn't sure what to expect but I think the attention to detail shows - choice of teabags, good quality teacups and chilled glasses for beer/cider! After such a good trip the only disappointment was XC's First for the last leg to Sheffield, with a paper cup of lukewarm tea.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Also amazed that this thread is now longer than the wheelchair one!

 

[IanXC]

Also amazed that this thread is now longer than the wheelchair one!

Second only to "that" Grand Central discussion now! Some work to do to beat that one though!

 

[williamn]

A few points after a recent VT trip to Glasgow and back from London.

- no stickers or anything needed, staff just wrote down where you were sitting and your order and everything worked fine

- No menus but everything announced over PA instead

- Evening meal very poor - a souffle sized about the size of a drinks coaster and a few leaves.

Not that EC have to just copy what VT do, but I'd say that on the first two points there are some easy ways to improve. If I hadn't had a big lunch I would have been very hungry on the way back though! The other option was meatballs and nachos which I thought was just a bit weird!

 

[YorkshireRider]

I have never used or seen these stickers that are supposedly used, most crews do just write the orders down and there is already far too much jibbering over the PA without adding to it.

 

[jon0844]

Can they do announcements for only certain carriages? I can see why you might want to brag to standard about what they're missing, but it would be quite annoying. Far better to annoy only those in FC once before serving.