VT 390
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- 7 Dec 2018
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After finishing a 14 day first class All Line Rover last Friday I thought I would give a report on some of the various first class service of different operators as of April/May 2026.
To start with is an overview of the 2 main first class operators Avanti and LNER:
Avanti West Coast
I travelled on 38 Avanti West Coast services in first class varying in journey length from around 20 minutes to 6 hours.
On every service booked to have first class catering I was offered something, even on one of the shortest journeys from Birmingham International to Rugby I had Juice, Water and Toast.
On longer journeys travelling through Preston I was usually offered the full food service twice when travelling on Glasgow to London (direct Trent Valley) services, however on via West Midlands services second service was only offered after Wolverhampton heading south.
The full menu was almost always available with all advertised items usually being available, with the exception being a declassified (due to overcrowding) service from Manchester to London.
An area to improve would be to have the up to date menus as multiple times (usually on a weekend) the menu handed out was the previous December 25 to March 26 menu not the current March 26 to June 26 menu, this was not a problem for me as I knew the current menu but did cause confusion and delayed service for some passengers.
On weekends with just a single member of staff on busy first class services (more than around 8 passengers) I did find the service quite slow, especially if passengers all wanted different items with my Breakfast not arriving until approaching Coventry (from London Euston). This is not the staff members fault as they were working hard but is an issue for passengers on weekend services.
Requests for drinks/snacks on Avanti outside of the full service runs were usually accommodated without issue with most staff being more than happy to provide (reasonable) extra requests.
On Breakfast services whenever I requested toast with the Great British Breakfast this was always accommodated, though this varied from a single slice to a full toast rack.
The number of Breakfast items on the menu is very good with a good range of different options, staff usually accommodated customised requests where possible for passengers which is good to see from a first class service.
The biggest area for improvement for me would be the confusion regarding the weekend offering on Evero services. On class 807 services there is supposed to be a first class host however not on class 805 services. This seems odd to me as for most casual passengers it would make more sense to keep both Evero classes the same as they look similar inside compared to the class 390.
The Avanti First Class Lounges are generally really nice areas to wait, with the Euston lounge in particular having a nice food/drink offering and friendly staff. The smaller lounger usually have a decent range of hot drinks and soft drinks with a small to medium selection of decent snacks available.
I did find gaining entry to some of the unstaffed lounges difficult with a paper ticket as multiple times staff either had to come out to manually check the ticket or I would have to go and find a member of staff, this was a particular issue at Liverpool Lime Street where it took more than 10 minutes to get in to the lounge.
Overall the service on Avanti I found to be consistently good with no bad experiences. While some staff clearly put in more effort than others even on the weaker service received it was still the full advertised offering.
London North Eastern Railway (LNER)
I travelled on 30 LNER services in first class varying in journey length from around 30 minutes to 3 hours.
Due to LNER often being busier than Avanti with a higher density and more first class seating on most trains the service is more structured and less personalised compared to Avanti.
In most journeys over an hour the full food offering and a drinks offering was provided without asking. In some cases dessert pots and crisps were only available by request and in almost every journey the biscuits (in the hot drinks trolly) were only offered in requested.
On journeys that did not start from London Kings Cross I found that you need to be travelling for at least 90-120 minutes before BOTH hot and cold drinks were offered. I do find the consistency of this frustrating, especially when hot drinks are offered with/before food but cold drinks not until a while later and this appeared to be quite random as to which routes/services the order was.
Unlike on Avanti if a hot or cold drink is requested outside of the full drinks run through with the trolly then the request is usually denied, while most staff explain this politely and when the next drink run is expected a few come across quite aggressive in their response and I am a person who does not mind being straight to the point but some staffs attitude is not really acceptable for a first class service.
In all but 1 instance if a water was requested it will be brought to you within around 5 minutes however on one journey from Darlington to Doncaster I was effectively refused a still water, while I can understand not providing any other drinks outside of the provided runs if this is LNER policy not being able to get a simple water I was quite disappointed by, especially considering this was all I wanted on this journey and a full food service with hot drinks was provided well before a any cold drinks were offered. This is the only time on any operators service I have effectively been refused a water.
On Signature menu services I find the selection of food adequate and the chef prepared options are generally very good, especially the Full LNER (which I find to be the best complimentary first class breakfast currently available). On Dish services I would like another hot option on the menu and as it will just be heated the Signature dessert should be available on Dish services. Also, on dish services a few more breakfast options would be nice as it is quite limited, especially compared with other operators.
I do find the strict restriction on 1 menu item on Edinburgh to London services disappointing, as on Avanti Glasgow to London you usually get 2 full services. I could understand it more if you could either have 2 smaller options or 1 larger option but currently you could have a simple (small) overnight oats Breakfast option and this would be it for the entire journey. Some staff even count a piece of fruit as your option which I think is to extreme, however a few staff offer fruit as an extra item.
Some people may have an issue with the speed which some staff come through with each part of the service however I do not really mind this due to how busy the services can be as it serves everyone quicker. This is only really an issue when they are so fast they skip people (often the case with the hot drinks trolly).
The LNER first class lounges are closer to nicer waiting rooms than the higher quality Avanti lounges. All the lounges have a hot drinks machine and usually offer biscuits and crisps along with water (either bottled or from a machine). Kings Cross, York and Edinburgh sometimes have additional items such as pre packaged Croissants and Pan Au Chocolates along with juice cartons. The 3 lounges along with Newcastle also usually offer Orange and Apple juice. It would be nice to see some more soft drinks, at least at Kings Cross, but generally the LNER lounges are more pleasant places to wait with light refreshments.
Overall the service on LNER was usually as expected however the staff can be much more varied with most providing the expected service efficiently, however others clearly were putting in minimal effort with the full offering not being provided but some form of offering was usually provided. Compared to Avanti there were not really any great standout experiences in first class however a few staff did provided more than expected and were genuinely friendly and clearly trying to provide the best service possible.
To start with is an overview of the 2 main first class operators Avanti and LNER:
Avanti West Coast
I travelled on 38 Avanti West Coast services in first class varying in journey length from around 20 minutes to 6 hours.
On every service booked to have first class catering I was offered something, even on one of the shortest journeys from Birmingham International to Rugby I had Juice, Water and Toast.
On longer journeys travelling through Preston I was usually offered the full food service twice when travelling on Glasgow to London (direct Trent Valley) services, however on via West Midlands services second service was only offered after Wolverhampton heading south.
The full menu was almost always available with all advertised items usually being available, with the exception being a declassified (due to overcrowding) service from Manchester to London.
An area to improve would be to have the up to date menus as multiple times (usually on a weekend) the menu handed out was the previous December 25 to March 26 menu not the current March 26 to June 26 menu, this was not a problem for me as I knew the current menu but did cause confusion and delayed service for some passengers.
On weekends with just a single member of staff on busy first class services (more than around 8 passengers) I did find the service quite slow, especially if passengers all wanted different items with my Breakfast not arriving until approaching Coventry (from London Euston). This is not the staff members fault as they were working hard but is an issue for passengers on weekend services.
Requests for drinks/snacks on Avanti outside of the full service runs were usually accommodated without issue with most staff being more than happy to provide (reasonable) extra requests.
On Breakfast services whenever I requested toast with the Great British Breakfast this was always accommodated, though this varied from a single slice to a full toast rack.
The number of Breakfast items on the menu is very good with a good range of different options, staff usually accommodated customised requests where possible for passengers which is good to see from a first class service.
The biggest area for improvement for me would be the confusion regarding the weekend offering on Evero services. On class 807 services there is supposed to be a first class host however not on class 805 services. This seems odd to me as for most casual passengers it would make more sense to keep both Evero classes the same as they look similar inside compared to the class 390.
The Avanti First Class Lounges are generally really nice areas to wait, with the Euston lounge in particular having a nice food/drink offering and friendly staff. The smaller lounger usually have a decent range of hot drinks and soft drinks with a small to medium selection of decent snacks available.
I did find gaining entry to some of the unstaffed lounges difficult with a paper ticket as multiple times staff either had to come out to manually check the ticket or I would have to go and find a member of staff, this was a particular issue at Liverpool Lime Street where it took more than 10 minutes to get in to the lounge.
Overall the service on Avanti I found to be consistently good with no bad experiences. While some staff clearly put in more effort than others even on the weaker service received it was still the full advertised offering.
London North Eastern Railway (LNER)
I travelled on 30 LNER services in first class varying in journey length from around 30 minutes to 3 hours.
Due to LNER often being busier than Avanti with a higher density and more first class seating on most trains the service is more structured and less personalised compared to Avanti.
In most journeys over an hour the full food offering and a drinks offering was provided without asking. In some cases dessert pots and crisps were only available by request and in almost every journey the biscuits (in the hot drinks trolly) were only offered in requested.
On journeys that did not start from London Kings Cross I found that you need to be travelling for at least 90-120 minutes before BOTH hot and cold drinks were offered. I do find the consistency of this frustrating, especially when hot drinks are offered with/before food but cold drinks not until a while later and this appeared to be quite random as to which routes/services the order was.
Unlike on Avanti if a hot or cold drink is requested outside of the full drinks run through with the trolly then the request is usually denied, while most staff explain this politely and when the next drink run is expected a few come across quite aggressive in their response and I am a person who does not mind being straight to the point but some staffs attitude is not really acceptable for a first class service.
In all but 1 instance if a water was requested it will be brought to you within around 5 minutes however on one journey from Darlington to Doncaster I was effectively refused a still water, while I can understand not providing any other drinks outside of the provided runs if this is LNER policy not being able to get a simple water I was quite disappointed by, especially considering this was all I wanted on this journey and a full food service with hot drinks was provided well before a any cold drinks were offered. This is the only time on any operators service I have effectively been refused a water.
On Signature menu services I find the selection of food adequate and the chef prepared options are generally very good, especially the Full LNER (which I find to be the best complimentary first class breakfast currently available). On Dish services I would like another hot option on the menu and as it will just be heated the Signature dessert should be available on Dish services. Also, on dish services a few more breakfast options would be nice as it is quite limited, especially compared with other operators.
I do find the strict restriction on 1 menu item on Edinburgh to London services disappointing, as on Avanti Glasgow to London you usually get 2 full services. I could understand it more if you could either have 2 smaller options or 1 larger option but currently you could have a simple (small) overnight oats Breakfast option and this would be it for the entire journey. Some staff even count a piece of fruit as your option which I think is to extreme, however a few staff offer fruit as an extra item.
Some people may have an issue with the speed which some staff come through with each part of the service however I do not really mind this due to how busy the services can be as it serves everyone quicker. This is only really an issue when they are so fast they skip people (often the case with the hot drinks trolly).
The LNER first class lounges are closer to nicer waiting rooms than the higher quality Avanti lounges. All the lounges have a hot drinks machine and usually offer biscuits and crisps along with water (either bottled or from a machine). Kings Cross, York and Edinburgh sometimes have additional items such as pre packaged Croissants and Pan Au Chocolates along with juice cartons. The 3 lounges along with Newcastle also usually offer Orange and Apple juice. It would be nice to see some more soft drinks, at least at Kings Cross, but generally the LNER lounges are more pleasant places to wait with light refreshments.
Overall the service on LNER was usually as expected however the staff can be much more varied with most providing the expected service efficiently, however others clearly were putting in minimal effort with the full offering not being provided but some form of offering was usually provided. Compared to Avanti there were not really any great standout experiences in first class however a few staff did provided more than expected and were genuinely friendly and clearly trying to provide the best service possible.
