London North Eastern Railway (LNER) First Class service

[The Sleeper]

Well, my First Class journey is at an end. Thought you might like to see the email I've just sent to Ms Holt (making the most of the free wi-fi)...

Dear Ms Holt,



Your recent advertising campaign to try out East Coast’s new First Class offering for £25 seemed too good to be true, so I was initially delighted when I was able to book a round trip from London to the north of Scotland. As a connoisseur of rail travel, I was genuinely looking forward to spending a couple of days using your trains as a ‘mobile office’ while glamorous assistants attended to my every need.

Having now just completed the journeys (Kings Cross to Aberdeen on the 1400 service, 26 July; Inverness to Kings Cross on the 0755 service, 27 July), I would like to respond to your original ‘25 reasons’ email with details of my own experience.

1. Our fantastic £25 one-way fare for travel across the East Coast route
The £25 fare is undeniably good value. Are there any plans to run the promotion again? I feel that I may be able to persuade others to partake on the strength of the recommendations that follow.

2. Enjoy a genuinely warm welcome the moment you step on board
I wasn’t specifically welcomed on board either train that I used. Nor even greeted, in fact. No-one said ‘hello’ or helped me find my seat. There were no newspapers – not even an East Coast magazine – on either train. Coffee (of sorts) was served within three minutes of departing London, though, which was quite welcome.

3. Stretch out in your roomy, reclining seat and watch the beautiful East Coast scenery pass by

The table for four on the return journey was amply proportioned, but the table for two on the outward journey was surprisingly cramped for those of us who are blessed with a full complement of legs.

4. Spread your newspaper, computer, books or magazines on the table and relax in comfort with that extra leg room

There was only just room for an average-sized laptop on the outward journey (table for two). The ride quality was poor, especially on the 0755 Inverness – Kings Cross between Edinburgh and York. Are you also trialling a new type of wheel on your trains? Of a pentagonal design? With no table cloths, the crockery was sliding all over the place with some alacrity.

5. Take time to enjoy the calm and peace of the First Class Quiet Coach
I wasn’t in the Quiet Coach for either leg, but I did observe train crew laughing and joking loudly with platform attendants about the under-staffing on the 0755 Inverness – Kings Cross. The crew change at Newcastle appeared to introduce characters from the cast of Fawlty Towers, one of whom was to be heard shouting ‘don’t you start, bloody woman’ from the vestibule. Sadly I didn’t hear the punchline.

6. Relax and tuck into one of our vegetarian breakfasts
Was not available on the 0755 Inverness – Kings Cross. Although, to be fair, I didn’t spot many people clad in hemp.

7. Opt for a hearty full English instead
Was not available on the 0755 Inverness – Kings Cross. Staff were very matter-of-fact about this, not especially apologetic. Although, to be fair, they were predominantly Scottish and may not have appreciated the south-of-the-border reference.

It is particularly annoying that the absence of breakfast service was not advised to passengers prior to boarding. If it had been, there would have been an opportunity to buy a half-decent breakfast on Inverness station. It is very poor customer service not to admit to serious deficiencies until after departure when this must surely have been known about. I note that the departure boards en route failed to mention any issues with the catering either.

Denying a man bacon that has been previously promised is, I’m sure you’ll agree, a discomfiting precedent and one that would be viewed dimly by, say, the European Court of Human Rights.

8. Or be virtuous and choose a healthy breakfast of Greek yoghurt with fruit compote and granola
Was not available on the 0755 Inverness – Kings Cross. Although, to be fair, I didn’t spot many Greeks.

9. Whatever you choose, enjoy it served to you at your seat
Due to ‘being understaffed’, there was only a choice of bacon or sausage sandwiches – and only then after a stomach-rumblingly long wait. The bread was not toasted and the filling was not remotely warm. A far cry from the feast of bacon, egg, sausage, tomato, mushroom and potato cake that had been promised. And not even hot toast available. How many staff does the breakfast service require? There didn’t seem to be a shortage of bodies.

10. Alongside a nice cold glass of fresh fruit juice

The orange juice was nice, cold and in a glass. I faintly recall apple juice (and pineapple juice?) being available before the changes to the service provision though.

11. Sip a cup of freshly-ground coffee or English Breakfast tea

Are you sure the coffee is ‘freshly ground’? It didn’t smell like it to me, and it tasted suspiciously like something that Anthony Head might have promoted before he took up vampire slaying.

12. Admire stunning East Coast scenery framed by your window
This was indeed admirable, although I’m not sure East Coast can take all the credit for that…

13. Nibble complimentary snacks and refreshments
I’ll allow ‘nibble’.

14. Indulge yourself with a complimentary glass of Sauvignon Blanc

This was available – but there used to be a whole wine list before the ‘improvements’.

15. Email your friends to tell them how great your journey is with free Wi-Fi

The wi-fi worked well, although seemed to think I was in Sweden. Aldrig åtanke! I would have been able to work profitably for the duration, had I not been so moved by my experiences that I was compelled to write this riposte.

16. Revive your laptop by hooking it up to the power socket

This worked well. Not so good if you’re sitting in the aisle seats of the tables for four, where such facilities did not appear to exist.

17. Peruse the menu and choose your complimentary lunch

There were no menus to peruse (or make paper aeroplanes with) on the 0755 Inverness – Kings Cross, despite a verbal announcement advising customers to consult them for details. The menus on the 1400 Kings Cross – Aberdeen raised high hopes in the anticipation of a proper sausage-and-mash dinner with lemon cheesecake to follow. Sadly, this proved not to be one of the trains that said ‘evening meal’ is served on, despite the journey running right through what most people would consider to be dinner time. Do you not have dinner until after 9:30pm? How do you survive?

18. Again, served to you at your seat

Not really a ‘reason’, I’d venture. If only you'd made it a £10 offer, you wouldn't have had to conjure up so many reasons. Hindsight, eh?

19. Choose from a selection of mouth-watering sandwiches

The crew were offering two small triangles of a sandwich, which didn’t really satisfy the appetite of someone who had earlier been denied their full cooked breakfast! Someone sitting nearby had the temerity to ask for more, in a scene reminiscent of Oliver Twist. I’m not sure that I saw them again after that.

20. Or a delicious hot meal

The ‘hot meal’ on offer northbound was actually a lukewarm-ish ‘cauliflower cheese tart’ – with no discernable trace of cauliflower. It was served with a light flurry of dressed leaves, which was very disappointing. A snack – yes. A hot meal – absolutely not. Had it been served with new potatoes and French beans, for example, or a decent hunk of warm bread, it would have been far more suited to the task. Both the Aberdeen and Inverness journeys are in excess of 7 hours long – a substantial meal is a necessity.

The ‘hot meal’ offered southbound was something called beetroot risotto. The name alone was sufficient to put me off, although the person sitting opposite me was clearly of a braver disposition. It looked worse than it sounded, and my unknown companion pushed it around the plate for a while before going in search of something from the buffet car.

21. And finish your meal off with a tempting slice of cake

This was quite tasty. I’m not usually a fruit cake fan, but the spiced cake concoction was admittedly pleasant.

22. Treat yourself to one of our National Trust-inspired creations – like our handmade Nunnington Spiced Fruit Loaf

Is there an echo in here? See 21.

23. Have just one more bite of our delightful Marmalade Cake

No sign of that on either leg of my journey. Would be more appropriate for First Great Western services to/from Paddington anyway.

24. Or lick your lips at the thought of a complimentary scone oozing with strawberry jam and cream

The thought of a scone oozing with jam and cream was as close to reality as I got. Which ‘selected services’ are these mythical scones served on? It’s impossible to tell from the menu and/or the timetable. Who ‘selects’ them? I thought the 1400 departure from Kings Cross would be the ideal timing for afternoon tea… alas I was very much mistaken.

25. Immerse yourself in culture along a route that covers some of the UK’s most historic and beautiful cities

Not sure East Coast can take the credit there either, but a tantalising bit of PR spin I grant you.

In summary, as you will probably have gathered, I am not a convert to your revised First Class arrangements. The ability to order hot, freshly prepared meals in the restaurant car and from the at-seat dining service is a sad loss. The replacement offering is, if my two experiences are representative, poorly executed and inadequate.

To conclude, if you’d like me to help with your next ‘25 reasons’ campaign, my rates are very reasonable. But you must excuse me for now as I duck into Burger King on Kings Cross station. Having just got off one of your trains, I am hungry.

Absolutely brilliant response -DG you should be in PR...offer your services to Ms Holt, I'm sure your charges are 'reasonable' -A great post many thanks for a smile at my 'delicious' breakfast.

 

[Failed Unit]

I was surprised to get an reply back from Ms Holt (or her PA) - I have offered to take her out for dinner on the 1600 see how if the first call on her arrival to Edinburgh is the first chippy after getting few 2x Sandwich Quarters and a slice of cake and if she considers that better than a the previous at seat offering.

 

[StrollerEd]

if only you could call on the romance of the half bottle of Claret shared in the restaurant car ...

 

[amcluesent]

I'd be happy to be a secret-shopper on ECML for a discount on FC tickets.

P.S. After working on a delayed train etc are staff given the nod to have a 'bracer' off the drinks trolley?

 

[Blindtraveler]

never mind the chippy, shel be flashing her bite card at BK!

 

[Failed Unit]

never mind the chippy, shel be flashing her bite card at BK!

I wonder if Eliane Holt (and other senior East Coast staff) would ever consider the train to Scotland or if they just fly? Would be interested if they took the train up before the flying scotsman debute run.

 

[jon0844]

Elaine is head of DOR, it's Karen Boswell who is in day-to-day charge of East Coast.

As far as I am aware, Elaine lives and works in London so may not even get to use EC that often. So, she may not be fully aware of the situation. Assuming she's recognised by staff, it may also be quite hard to 'mystery shop'.

I am sure she will get free travel, so flying would seem rather silly. I am sure she could have taken the train the night before and stayed in a hotel.

 

[Failed Unit]

Elaine is head of DOR, it's Karen Boswell who is in day-to-day charge of East Coast.

As far as I am aware, Elaine lives and works in London so may not even get to use EC that often. So, she may not be fully aware of the situation. Assuming she's recognised by staff, it may also be quite hard to 'mystery shop'.

I am sure she will get free travel, so flying would seem rather silly.

It is silly when it is free but I am sure it happens! Better product etc (or as Chris Garnet of GNER fame put it) keeping an eye on the competition.

I remember once on Scotrail I was on the same train as Mary Dickson, when the trolley had not shown up by Linlithgow (from Edinburgh) she went looking for it personally, I almost felt sorry for that member of staff.

 

[me123]

I had my first experience of EC First Class this morning, on the 08:00 from Edinburgh. Indeed, it was my first ever FC experience, so I may have been a little over-excited I obviously can't compare to the previous offering here.

I was actually very impressed with the overall experience this morning. You got your complimentary copy of the Independent, a cup of tea or coffee minutes after leaving Edinburgh, some toast and juice not long after, and served with your meal (Great British Breakfast for me) somewhere between Berwick and Alnmouth. I also had another cuppa between Alnmouth and Newcastle.

In terms of quantity and service, it exceeded my expectations. In terms of quality, the breakfast was only "satisfactory" IMHO. It looked a bit... meh... and the tattie scone was soggy, but it was a nice suasage, and quite good bacon. It's complimentary, so I shouldn't moan too much, and I reckon that the issues could probably be easily fixed. Would I do FC again in the morning? In an instant, provided the fares were reasonable.

I chose not to opt for it on the way back up, because the fare was quite a bit higher and I was dubious about only getting a sandwich. I noticed that this week's menu for the All Day offering was the bizarre Onion Bhaji sandwiches, the interesting Beetroot Risotto, and the relatively dull Chicken Caeser salad - I thought there was previously only one "hot option" (usually the vegetarian choice), so that's a step in the right direction I think. But, of course, this doesn't address the issue of availability (which one can only assess by being on the train). Let's remember that the EC website proudly proclaims that you will get the free food, and for many that will be the reason they upgraded to FC. Certainly if I didn't get my breakfast this morning, I'd have been extremely annoyed considering that's why I upgraded.

Obviously I can't compare it to what was there before, but I was satisfied today and would definitely try it again.

 

[richa2002]

It's complimentary, so I shouldn't moan too much.

Ah, this is exactly what East Coast want you to think!

 

[AlterEgo]

I have reserved judgement on this thread until now, and will try to be fair and reasonable given that I work for one of EC's competitors.

I took the 0730 train from King's Cross to Newcastle on Tuesday morning, taking advantage of the £25.00 flat fare in FC. I have to say I was rather disappointed. £25 is excellent value, even for what I got, but I would be loath to do the same journey again, even on a cheapish Advance ticket.

Loadings were quite low - despite having a reserved seat in M, I moved up to K, which was empty save for me and two others.

Breakfast

Breakfast service was punctual, if a little impersonal. I was served a decent cup of tea with milk about five minutes into the journey. A chap came round and took orders, and I was served toast and jam, with orange juice, a little north of Stevenage. I ordered the full English breakfast. I'm afraid the food was astonishingly poor given the hype about at-seat meal service. I had one sausage, which was tough, a small portion of powdery scrambled eggs, some rather plasticy bacon, and half a tomato. I also got three mushrooms, which actually tasted alright and were the best part of the meal. Sadly, I had saved my appetite for the train, was hungry and ate the lot.

Staff

The staff, with the exception of the Guard, were off-hand and looked pretty unhappy. I was served three cups of tea up to Newcastle, which is fine, but this was done in a very perfunctory manner. There seemed to be little pride in the job. I should mention that the Guard at least seemed to enjoy his job and took the time to engage in small talk as I was waiting in the vestibule to leave the train in Newcastle (he left too for a crew change).

Ambience

I do like the Mallard interior that EC have. However, I do miss seeing the GNER crest on the antimacassars. This is one of the small touches that used to make a customer feel that a company had pride in its product. The curtain on one set of seats was broken, and at the same set the power point also did not work. I relocated - I travel with a laptop, charger and gubbins for anything over around two hours. The ride quality was very poor - not as a result of wheelflats, but twice I had to put my cup of tea down as I was drinking it. Reading my paper was also a pain at times. This was not even over junctions!

Conclusions

Unfortunately I was very disappointed, particularly with the quality of the food. £25 is a good deal even for Standard Class, KGX-NCL. However, I will be very reluctant to use East Coast again, even if I had a cheap Advance. The staff seemed demotivated and apathetic; and who could blame them? Very few passengers will welcome this new change - it is not fun to serve people with a substandard product. I just despair at the lack of pride, and I hate to say that. It could be so much better.

It looks (from this thread at least) as though the HST services are even worse than 91-hauled services like mine!

I think I will leave my Chieftain bash for now.

Shame.

 

[G123T]

Let's remember that the EC website proudly proclaims that you will get the free food, and for many that will be the reason they upgraded to FC. Certainly if I didn't get my breakfast this morning, I'd have been extremely annoyed considering that's why I upgraded.

For me this is the key point - for many people complimentary food is a good reason to upgrade. It adds a lot of value to the first class offering, which was previously poor compared to Virgin in my opinion. Haven't tried it yet but will be in few weeks time - so can't comment on the actual food just yet. Reading this thread it seems to me it just needs a little improvement here and there. I was more bothered when nat express stopped putting the bottles of water on the tables than I was at the loss of pay extra at seat dining.

 

[38Cto15E]

AlterEgo made an excellent point, "it is not fun to serve people with a substandard product"

It must demotivate the on train team when they know that they have been let down by management and RG when the menu is poor or supplies not as they should be.

I use EMT more than EC because of where I live, I cannot comment on the new £4.95 menu but previously I stated to friends that First Class extras were good for about £30 with an Advance ticket, but if paying £150+ I would be disappointed with the offerings.
At least with EC you get a spoon for your tea and coffee and not a recycled Lolly stick.

 

[Failed Unit]

Certainly until the point I stopped using East Coast the staff were very demotivated, but that is not really surprising, they offer 2 sandwiches the customer moans and they basically doing as they are told and as you say the company has let them down. The staff said to me the management are not listening to them, they certainly are not listening to the customers so everyone seems unhappy (at least on the Anglo-Scottish route!)

 

[blackfive460]

It adds a lot of value to the first class offering, which was previously poor compared to Virgin in my opinion.

Can't comment on a comparison with Virgin as I've not done FC with them for ages but the important thing about the old offer was that you were pretty certain what you were in for; frequent tea & biccies plus the option of getting something hot & substantial at a reasonable price or there was always the M&S/Tesco/Sainsbury take away. Now, if you are lucky, you may get a snack of some sort, maybe even a hot one.
The problem is consistency; there isn't any. Unless you opt for standard, of course.

 

[amcluesent]

Loadings aren't that good. 19:03 KGX-LDS and I'm the only paying pax in K. Also no nibbles with drinks and no cake on the trolley

 

[Tom B]

I tried the offering last week on an evening train towards London.

The first thing that struck me was that there was no indication as to how things worked - did they come down with a trolley? Did you go to the buffet? Having boarded at Doncaster I went up at Newark to enquire, to be told that they'd be coming down shortly, "Like we always do". Great, but I've not used the First Class service since the timetable change, so I wouldn't know!

The chef trundled down with a trolley and a fantastic choice of salmon sandwiches or... salmon sandwiches. There was a hot option ostensibly served, but it had "run out". The crisps and fruitcake were ok. The staff all seemed to be British Rail I-don't-want-to-be-here types with the exception of the lass in the buffet car who was positively delightful.

Perhaps I had a bad experience - although it seems from other posts here, it is very variable as to what is and isn't available. If passengers can't rely on e.g. the breakfast being there, they'll buy it elsewhere, and perhaps not bother with first class.

 

[me123]

Perhaps I had a bad experience - although it seems from other posts here, it is very variable as to what is and isn't available. If passengers can't rely on e.g. the breakfast being there, they'll buy it elsewhere, and perhaps not bother with first class.

What I don't understand is why they don't overstock their trains for FC. I'm not saying my breakfast was poor quality, but I reckon the use-by date would be at least a few days after it was made. Assuming that to be the case, they should be able to stock enough for every seat in First Class and just use a "first in first out" rotation system. Fair enough, you're going to have teething problems at first, but it's been over two months now so these should be resolved by now.

 

[amcluesent]

I was unlucky enough to get the EMT Mk3 set out of PBO the other morning. Dear, oh dear! No wi-fi of course, plus the 3-pin sockets were 'dead'. Old skool squeaky ride and everything 'bounced' when passing another service. That said, the seats seemed wider than on the Mk4!

Anyway the FC food offering also took me back in time, coffee\OJ\biscuit - just like they used to do...

 

[tgsh2011]

My regular 1st Class runs being EUS-MAN return I decided to try out the East Coast from LDS to KGX this afternoon on a very nicely priced Advanced 1st with 16-25 Rail Card. The Weekend offering, to someone used to Virgin, was IMO excellent. Sandwiches, crisps, tea/coffee in proper mugs, full sized 330ml soft drinks, and biscuits. To me this bettered Virgin's weekday 'lite bites' menu! Now I've not tried the weekday offering and I have read the thread about this, but based on today's experience I have only positive remarks about the complimentary offer. Also, I have to say it felt better on the 'old style' first class rather than the Pendo!

 

[All Line Rover]

I have reserved judgement on this thread until now, and will try to be fair and reasonable given that I work for one of EC's competitors.

I took the 0730 train from King's Cross to Newcastle on Tuesday morning, taking advantage of the £25.00 flat fare in FC. I have to say I was rather disappointed. £25 is excellent value, even for what I got, but I would be loath to do the same journey again, even on a cheapish Advance ticket.

Loadings were quite low - despite having a reserved seat in M, I moved up to K, which was empty save for me and two others.

Breakfast

Breakfast service was punctual, if a little impersonal. I was served a decent cup of tea with milk about five minutes into the journey. A chap came round and took orders, and I was served toast and jam, with orange juice, a little north of Stevenage. I ordered the full English breakfast. I'm afraid the food was astonishingly poor given the hype about at-seat meal service. I had one sausage, which was tough, a small portion of powdery scrambled eggs, some rather plasticy bacon, and half a tomato. I also got three mushrooms, which actually tasted alright and were the best part of the meal. Sadly, I had saved my appetite for the train, was hungry and ate the lot.

Staff

The staff, with the exception of the Guard, were off-hand and looked pretty unhappy. I was served three cups of tea up to Newcastle, which is fine, but this was done in a very perfunctory manner. There seemed to be little pride in the job. I should mention that the Guard at least seemed to enjoy his job and took the time to engage in small talk as I was waiting in the vestibule to leave the train in Newcastle (he left too for a crew change).

Ambience

I do like the Mallard interior that EC have. However, I do miss seeing the GNER crest on the antimacassars. This is one of the small touches that used to make a customer feel that a company had pride in its product. The curtain on one set of seats was broken, and at the same set the power point also did not work. I relocated - I travel with a laptop, charger and gubbins for anything over around two hours. The ride quality was very poor - not as a result of wheelflats, but twice I had to put my cup of tea down as I was drinking it. Reading my paper was also a pain at times. This was not even over junctions!

Conclusions

Unfortunately I was very disappointed, particularly with the quality of the food. £25 is a good deal even for Standard Class, KGX-NCL. However, I will be very reluctant to use East Coast again, even if I had a cheap Advance. The staff seemed demotivated and apathetic; and who could blame them? Very few passengers will welcome this new change - it is not fun to serve people with a substandard product. I just despair at the lack of pride, and I hate to say that. It could be so much better.

It looks (from this thread at least) as though the HST services are even worse than 91-hauled services like mine!

I think I will leave my Chieftain bash for now.

Shame.

Oh dear. It sounds like you had a poor crew. I have traveled with East Coast three times. Twice on a weekday, where the service was excellent, once on a Saturday, where the First Class hosts were very grumpy. However, they served me a sandwich before Stevenage, so I got off at Peterborough!

Of course, you rarely - if ever - come across grumpy, depressing staff when travelling with Virgin!

I don't think you are in a position to criticize East Coast's breakfast too harshly. OK I've never tried it (the one before 9:30am) but Virgin's "Great British Breakfast" is not "Great" at all. The service is very inconsistent - sometimes you get two rashers of bacon, sometimes one, sometimes none - the same applies to the sausages. My biggest gripe is about how dry the breakfast is, which in turn makes it bland and tasteless. It could do with some mushrooms, or baked beans, or both, to add a bit of moisture. You have also received an e-mail criticizing your appallingly bad tomatoes which are the worst I have ever tasted - they are putrid, they really are! (Admittedly I have slightly "high" tastes, and have never tried the Asda breakfast for example... )

I'm not too bothered about Virgin's "Great British Breakfast" being poor quality as I always go for the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, which is very nice. It just annoys me when you've run out of smoked salmon!

Nevertheless, if you want to see what a breakfast is supposed to be like, travel on the ATW Premier Service!

 

[ainsworth74]

Nevertheless, if you want to see what a breakfast is supposed to be like, travel on the ATW Premier Service!

Or jump into a local time machine and try the at-seat dining breakfast on EC before May 22nd

 

[jon0844]

If you don't have an advance ticket, has anyone considered jumping off the train at, say, Peterborough, and waiting for the next one in 30 minutes to try again for good service? If you got something before PBO, you may even get more than you should!

Okay, so you're hanging around for 30 minutes, but as long as you know you'll get a seat then it may be worth it.

 

[All Line Rover]

Or jump into a local time machine and try the at-seat dining breakfast on EC before May 22nd

Nevertheless, if you want to see what a complimentary breakfast is supposed to be like, travel on the ATW Premier Service!

 

[voyagerdude220]

Nevertheless, if you want to see what a complimentary breakfast is supposed to be like, travel on the ATW Premier Service!

I personally found the Premier breakfast to be very disappointing, when I used the 07:33 ex Crewe on Wednesday. I greatly preferred the Virgin breakfast, despite the dryness which ALR points out.

On the way back using the 16:15 ex Cardiff however, I loved the entire three course meal, this being my fourth or fifth time on the northbound Premier service. I'll just stick to using the northbound Premier from now on, but I'm still happy that I sampled the breakfast run so I know what it's like.

 

[AlterEgo]

Virgin's "Great British Breakfast" is not "Great" at all. The service is very inconsistent - sometimes you get two rashers of bacon, sometimes one, sometimes none - the same applies to the sausages. My biggest gripe is about how dry the breakfast is, which in turn makes it bland and tasteless. It could do with some mushrooms, or baked beans, or both, to add a bit of moisture.

I agree that beans would really help. Sausages and bacon etc can be rather dry on any breakfast. Even NXEA serve beans with their (paid-for) breakfast on the 1000 Liverpool St - Norwich service.

 

[Tom B]

What I don't understand is why they don't overstock their trains for FC. I'm not saying my breakfast was poor quality, but I reckon the use-by date would be at least a few days after it was made. Assuming that to be the case, they should be able to stock enough for every seat in First Class and just use a "first in first out" rotation system. Fair enough, you're going to have teething problems at first, but it's been over two months now so these should be resolved by now.

Quite. I guess they have some sort of contract with RailGourmet? (a bad name if ever there was one) to supply X slices of bacon, Y sausages etc to a given train and if it all goes wrong they don't offer the breakfast and hide behind "well it's not our fault, it's the contractor".

Of course this is wrong. I know it's a little more complex doing catering on a train but I'm sure that with thought they could keep a bit of stock on each train. Someone I know runs a cafe, they get a daily delivery of many ingredients but always ensure there's a day's supply of common things e.g. bacon so if the delivery doesn't turn up it isn't an immediate crisis.

However this would involve treating the passengers like paying customers rather than an inconvenience which is not something I can see happening too soon!

 

[jon0844]

As soon as it went free, EC could think that people get what they're given, and if that's nothing then so be it - it's free, so no refund.

Of course, they're advertising a service and this means they could come unstuck. That is unless they change their advertising to say 'Don't expect anything and if you do get something, consider it a bonus'. Not quite as slick a campaign!

 

[All Line Rover]

I personally found the Premier breakfast to be very disappointing, when I used the 07:33 ex Crewe on Wednesday. I greatly preferred the Virgin breakfast, despite the dryness which ALR points out.

On the way back using the 16:15 ex Cardiff however, I loved the entire three course meal, this being my fourth or fifth time on the northbound Premier service. I'll just stick to using the northbound Premier from now on, but I'm still happy that I sampled the breakfast run so I know what it's like.

Well the 16:15 service is rather amazing if you get the fish and chips or the lamb dish, followed by a waffle and ice cream for dessert.

I still say that the Premier breakfast is extremely good - especially the mushrooms and the tomato - and I much prefer it to Virgin's "Great British Breakfast." It's not worth £59 when you consider that the 16:15 service is the same price, but I didn't care as I was on an ALR! The general "English Breakfast" is rather boring anyway - especially in comparison to a "Continental Breakfast" - but Arriva are doing the best they can. My only criticism is that they don't have smoked salmon and scrambled eggs.

 

[exile]

Travelling round Europe a couple of years ago I found the standard of catering to be not particularly impressive. Some trains had vending machines which sounds like something that could be pursued.