Avanti West Coast experience

[AlterEgo]

I’m sure this will surprise some people but I had a near perfect trip with Avanti yesterday. London to Birmingham on the 1216 to Edinburgh.

First Class lounge was well stocked - lovely scones and tea on offer amongst other small snacks. Staff very helpful and proactive with offering or suggesting more.

Went to board the train - in reverse formation. This was well communicated. Sat down in Coach J in a refurbished seat. My first time in one - I really like it although the partially folding table part did slope down a bit so wasn’t a completely flat. This needs to be fixed with some brackets under each one, most of them in the carriage had the same issue. USB charge points a welcome addition.

Greeted immediately upon sitting down by a host who asked if I’d like something to drink - coffee please! This was served before we even moved off.

Departure on time at 1216, and no sooner had the wheels started turning than the second host appeared taking food orders. I had the toastie - served at Watford Jct, very pleasant and just right for a Birmingham run (not sure I’d settle for just that all the way to Edinburgh though).

Staff did a drinks run at every stop - Watford, MK, Rugby, Coventry, International. Serving 1.3 carriages with two hosts seems to result in better service with a motivated crew.

On departure at New St, a host was waiting by the door to say goodbye to first class passengers. Generally this was a good trip made excellent by motivated and personable hosts who knew exactly why they signed on to work that morning. I was pleasantly surprised.

I haven’t been travelling Avanti First for a long time - I’ve been doing Standard Premium. But I might reconsider after this trip.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Went to board the train - in reverse formation. This was well communicated. Sat down in Coach J in a refurbished seat. My first time in one - I really like it although the partially folding table part did slope down a bit so wasn’t a completely flat. This needs to be fixed with some brackets under each one, most of them in the carriage had the same issue. USB charge points a welcome addition.

There does seem to be that problem with the new tables, they do need to design a fix. The original ones don't have the issue.

I like the refurb too, not done it in 1st but Standard is great. The buffet is a bit so-so but it does the job and because it's counter services it works better when busy than when lots of different people were trying to get to different things tripping over each other like a hotel buffet after a big night out. But the "killer app" is that the new Standard seats add about 2-3" of legroom to every seat despite to me being more comfortable than the old ones and not bolt upright unlike many modern seats.

I've been critical of Avanti and will continue to be so so long as they can't run things punctually and reliably, but the refurb is a very good job indeed.

 

[DarloRich]

I’m sure this will surprise some people but I had a near perfect trip with Avanti yesterday.

I have had several decent journeys recently with Avanti and even some during the peak of thier breakdown. I know that isn't what the cognoscenti want to hear but everything has been fine.

My trips were only in cattle class so cant comment on the lounge ( the platform was cold if that helps) nor the drinks service ( but Greggs did a cheap & warm cup of tea) nor the free food ( I paid for a sausage roll at Greggs. It was warmish and lardy) but the refurbed train looked nice and wasn't too busy so everyone had a seat. Sadly, no one greets us mere plebs at the door but the guard looked slightly less frazzled than normal.

Hope a view from the cheaper seats is welcome

NOTE: OBVS and I cant stress OBVS enough the timetable is vastly cut back and everything can go to pot in an instant but my journeys have been fine

EDIT: Avanti ticket purchasing seems bonkers. How has the system managed to get into such a state that some times i cant seem to buy for a week hence?

 

[Butts]

On 1st Class Ticket from London Euston to S&D at the moment and can't deny after wonderful Lounge Service at Euston I feel (surprisingly) distinctly underwhelmed.

Service left Euston at 2010 and they were quick to come around with the booze trolley and take orders for food - I opted for the toastie as well which was nice.

After toastie was served they came around with Tea and Coffee.

That was it !!! - Luckily I was sat in coach K so managed to procure an extra Whisky by asking.

If they are only coming around once with drinks on 90 Minute plus journey they should at least offer to "double up"

As a result of the above no other food such as crisps or biscuits was offered - not even an ugly.

Two of them manning one and a half sparsely populated coaches - not good enough !!

 

[Kite159]

Yesterday 11:35 Glasgow to Wigan, pre upgraded to Standard Premium and that coach was nice and quiet (standard class looked busy). Lost a couple of minutes due to calling additionally at Oxenholme but an uneventful journey, unusually went from platform 9 at Glasgow (I think it is booked from P9).

This afternoon I arrived at Manchester Piccadilly to find the 14:15 London train showing as cancelled (along with the following 2 departures), thankfully I hung back (taking a seat to have a late lunch) as the 14:15 got "uncancelled" around 14:10 and departed 5 minutes late. Standard class in coach F was quite quiet throughout, lost a few minutes along the way, but not as bad as other trains due to the various issues.

 

[bib]

Was on the 1730 departure from Glasgow yesterday, I suppose given the disruption in the morning and rest of the day I was fairly fortunate, the incoming train was only 11 mins late and we left on time and all was fine as far as Preston where there was a crew change but no replacement driver, possibly due to the cancellation of the 1730 from Euston? They did manage to find a driver somehow and we departed 35mins late. I had a 37 min change in Crewe so was vaguely hopeful I might make it but we then seemingly went on a go-slow from Preston to Warrington until we were an hour late, and presumably more-or-less on the path of the following 1840 Glasgow-Euston train which was delayed by 30 mins by the time it left Oxenholme. It ran about 60L the whole way to Euston.
I don't know much about planning/signalling but I was suprised that they seemingly deliberately slowed down to get to 1hr late, there didn't look to be many other trains around on the signalling map. Is it really that difficult to get a path on the southern end of WCML at 10pm?

It was my first time on a refurbished unit and I did quite like it, seat reservations weren't working but it wasn't too busy so that didn't matter. The seats were pretty decent, good legroom, didn't try but I think I would've slept better in them than the Caledonian sleeper seat I was in last week. Although they now don't seem to have any sort of media hub where you can stream films etc, which I'm pretty sure they had a year or 2 ago.

Realtime Trains | 1730 Glasgow Central to London Euston | 23/01/2023

Real-time train running information for 1730 departure from Glasgow Central to London Euston on 23/01/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[jfollows]

I don't know much about planning/signalling but I was suprised that they seemingly deliberately slowed down to get to 1hr late, there didn't look to be many other trains around on the signalling map. Is it really that difficult to get a path on the southern end of WCML at 10pm?

Your train used platform 6 at Wigan North Western which is unusual. A bit of digging at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/cleared.aspx and I found

Incident created23/01/2023 17:35Route affected
Avanti West Coast between Edinburgh / Glasgow Central / Blackpool North and London Euston

Northern between Blackpool North / Wigan North Western and Liverpool Lime Street, and between Stalybridge and Wigan North Western

Train operator affectedAvanti West Coast; Northern; Description
Disruption caused by a points failure at Wigan North Western has now ended.

I don't work for the railways and I wasn't there, but I infer from this that there was a problem in the Wigan area limiting the number of platforms available for trains and therefore a queue to get into the remaining ones; that's only a guess on my part but things like this do happen, annoyingly when you're already running late of course.

 

[bib]

Your train used platform 6 at Wigan North Western which is unusual. A bit of digging at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/cleared.aspx and I found

I don't work for the railways and I wasn't there, but I infer from this that there was a problem in the Wigan area limiting the number of platforms available for trains and therefore a queue to get into the remaining ones; that's only a guess on my part but things like this do happen, annoyingly when you're already running late of course.

Ah right, yes that would make sense. We did sit north of wigan for a bit and I was wondering why when there was nothing in P4, maybe that also put us onto the slow lines for a bit which cost some more time

 

[Trackman]

I haven’t been travelling Avanti First for a long time - I’ve been doing Standard Premium. But I might reconsider after this trip.

So have I, those days are long gone for me.
For one of my usual trips, the difference between SP and First (advances) is £50.50 when booking well in advance. It just ain't worth it. If I had a full steak dinner (or whatever) and some fine wine and uglys, I may consider it under very exceptional circumstances.

 

[jfollows]

Ah right, yes that would make sense. We did sit north of wigan for a bit and I was wondering why when there was nothing in P4, maybe that also put us onto the slow lines for a bit which cost some more time

Your train used the Up Slow line from Wigan to Golborne Junction, yes. You can see this if you select “Go to detailed version” from the link you posted earlier.

 

[Howardh]

So have I, those days are long gone for me.
For one of my usual trips, the difference between SP and First (advances) is £50.50 when booking well in advance. It just ain't worth it. If I had a full steak dinner (or whatever) and some fine wine and uglys, I may consider it under very exceptional circumstances.

I strongly suspect that those now using first class have their tickets on expenses or paid for, as I can't see many tourists or ordinary commuters being able to afford the fare (like we used to when there were cheap advances) or even wat to use first if they could due to the poor quality?

 

[jfollows]

I strongly suspect that those now using first class have their tickets on expenses or paid for, as I can't see many tourists or ordinary commuters being able to afford the fare (like we used to when there were cheap advances) or even wat to use first if they could due to the poor quality?

Yes, although I don't have a problem affording first class, it's simply because I no longer think it's worth it, and that would remain the case were "Standard Premium" not an option, because from what I can see Avanti's first class

1. costs significantly more than it used to
2. can result in being crammed in to a single carriage
3. offers a significantly inferior food menu than it used to.

All these means that I'm not going to pay for it. Of course, (2) is an indirect result of "Standard Premium" I totally accept.

 

[Bletchleyite]

As long as M&S Food is common on stations and still offers the superb quality and range of food it does, I can see no case whatsoever for paying extra for 1st. All I want is the more comfortable seat, and SP provides that at a reasonable price, while paid-for at seat service is available anyway.

(I'm also slightly less likely to upgrade now because the new Standard is so good )

 

[Howardh]

As long as M&S Food is common on stations and still offers the superb quality and range of food it does, I can see no case whatsoever for paying extra for 1st. All I want is the more comfortable seat, and SP provides that at a reasonable price, while paid-for at seat service is available anyway.

(I'm also slightly less likely to upgrade now because the new Standard is so good )

Greggs!!

Wonder if a company like Greggs could run a franchise actually on the trains? M+S is you must....

 

[Butts]

Sandwell & Dudley to Edinburgh yesterday in 1st Class Coach K 1617 Service.

Experienced 2 of the 4 "main meals" Cheese Toastie and Charcutier Plate (cold meat, cheese, crackers, twiglets) neither a proper meal but together over a couple of hours okay.

The other 2 on offer were Noodles or a Salad - menu is changing soon apparently.

With the tea and coffee run did have "marble chocolate" bars (white and milk chocolate) very tasty.

The trolleys are appearing rarely and no longer laden with crisps, biscuits, cakes etc, they seem to be doing more to order at each main stop.

Managed 3 Scotches as they are no longer "doubling up" or "in and out" and I had to ask for the last one.

On a bright note it was over 15 Minutes late so I get 25% of my fare back (£17 odd) auto delay repay informed me this morning.

 

[dave87016]

Sandwell & Dudley to Edinburgh yesterday in 1st Class Coach K 1617 Service.

Experienced 2 of the 4 "main meals" Cheese Toastie and Charcutier Plate (cold meat, cheese, crackers, twiglets) neither a proper meal but together over a couple of hours okay.

The other 2 on offer were Noodles or a Salad - menu is changing soon apparently.

With the tea and coffee run did have "marble chocolate" bars (white and milk chocolate) very tasty.

The trolleys are appearing rarely and no longer laden with crisps, biscuits, cakes etc, they seem to be doing more to order at each main stop.

Managed 3 Scotches as they are no longer "doubling up" or "in and out" and I had to ask for the last one.

On a bright note it was over 15 Minutes late so I get 25% of my fare back (£17 odd) auto delay repay informed me this morning.

Not to shabby , the new menu that starts tommorow is already on the website and looks very good and an improvement

 

[jfollows]

Not to shabby , the new menu that starts tommorow is already on the website and looks very good and an improvement

The new menu does appear to be an improvement, but what sloppiness led to them using my former dentist's surname - Lester - to describe the cheese?

 

[greyman42]

The new menu does appear to be an improvement, but what sloppiness led to them using my former dentist's surname - Lester - to describe the cheese?

That's incredible. How would a mistake like that ever get onto the menu?

 

[railfan99]

I’m sure this will surprise some people but I had a near perfect trip with Avanti yesterday. London to Birmingham on the 1216 to Edinburgh.

I'm not surprised, because on a Global first class two month Eurailpass in late September 2022 my first trip was on a Saturday morning from Euston to Manchester Piccadilly.

It ran like clockwork (four minutes late on arrival), staff were extremely pleasant, car K was well patronised and the morning food including a hot chocolate and fruit salad was enjoyable and just what I wanted.

Fortunately I didn't have to travel backwards, though later I did from Glasgow Central to London, which wasn't my favourite but again, staff were pleasant and food good, plus train was very clean and the seat and table a good offering.

 

[Falcon1200]

1M09 0740 Glasgow C-Euston was 28 minutes late from Carlisle today, due firstly to a schedule error involving 6M51 0807 Millerhill Yard-Carlisle Yard (60mph freight not booked to be looped anywhere for passenger trains to pass, was in the event looped at Abington) and what seemed to be a signalling issue in the Bodsbury LC area. Neither of these delays was in any way Avanti's fault of course. However;

9M52 1008 Carlisle-Euston via Birmingham started from Preston at 1118 due to a planning error, which meant 1M09 picked up that train's passengers between Carlisle and Preston, including an additional stop at Oxenholme, and therefore arrived at Preston at 1128, so missing the connection into 9M52. But no problem, the Train Manager announced that 9M52 would be held at Preston, and even told passengers which platform each train would use.

However; As 1M09 was arriving at Preston - actually entering the platform - it was announced that 9M52 had not in fact been held - Unbelievably, it had departed Preston (late) at 1125, 3 (three) minutes before 1M09 arrived. So passengers on 1M09 were told to remain on board for a special stop at Stafford where another connection to Birmingham was available. 1M09 duly stopped at Stafford, but only after standing outside the station for 8 minutes waiting access to platform 1. And occupying platform 1? None other than 9M52, delayed further there due to its own late running. Also, thanks to the stand outside Stafford an otherwise achievable connection into an LNWR service to Birmingham was lost.

What a shambles.