Cross Country 1st class food + drink + service

[boyaloud]

I regularly travel from Stafford to Birmingham New St or vice versa on £2.70/£3.05 Advance 1st - great value, I'm sure you'll agree and can always get them with lots of availability. However I do find a lot of the staff grumpy + hard work, they tend to hide.

Recently, I asked what the hot option was after hearing neither host nor any customer make any mention of it (I was last to be served), and no menus being on the tables (this was lunchtime), the host whispered "ham+cheese panini" to which I replied yes please. It was then very swiftly delivered, piping hot + very tasty too. I was left feeling slightly underhwhelmed + annoyed that other passengers would be missing out, as they didn't know about it. Later on I requested 2 drinks at once, and the host looked gobsmacked and exclaimed "TWO drinks!!!" - to which I just replied yes, and then asked for water too, same shriek again, "THREE drinks!". She brought me the 2 + not the 3rd!

I'd like to hear others experiences of XC 1st?

 

[Crossover]

I've only done 1st on XC a couple of times, one of which was the flow you refer to. The first time was 2nd to last train off Piccadilly and we provided our own catering. The day after (Sat AM) a couple of us did Stafford to Birmingham as the 1st AP was cheaper than anything else for the same journey. Given we'd made a saving massively, any freebies I decided would be a bonus. Not long before arriving at New St we were offered a drink, which the host went back to get. There was no other offering, but for the short distance I wasn't surprised

 

[scotsman]

I haven't traveled first in XC for years, but last time I did I couldn't even get a bottle of coke as they were only complimentary on weekday services. Contrast this to Virgin, where alcohol is only free on weekdays.

 

[amcluesent]

I did PBO-SSD many times on XC FC and felt lucky to get a coffee.

My recollection is FC was often full of XC staff commuting to CBG.

 

[ffm]

I will simply add to the thread title.....
= very little. Deduct the service (usually good) and you get less, much less. The breakfast bacon roll is a soggy, grey bacon,microwaved package, served in a lovely cardboard box. Joy! Coffee and tea often too cool (I was told they aren't allowed to use very hit water fir health and safety reasons and only ever in a paper cup. I know they don't have the same business that the west and east coast do, but their first class refreshment offer us poor, very poor.

 

[swt_passenger]

So XC's cunning business plan is to sell a First fare with food thrown in for less than what the same food would cost in a typical station outlet?

How does that work then?

 

[Butts]

Considering the length of some of their journeys, the standard should at least be equal to that of Virgin or East Coast.

It is nowhere near - particularly the lack of free alcohol :cry:

I had five double scotches on a 90 min journey from Lancaster to Wolverhampton the other night - that would have been over £20 on XC !!

 

[lincolnshire]

I did PBO-SSD many times on XC FC and felt lucky to get a coffee.

My recollection is FC was often full of XC staff commuting to CBG.

Not all of us are up on shortening station destinations to 3 letters, I guess PBO is Peterborough but what is SSD and CBG? Ther are a lot of new people or ones that are not railway staff will not know what you mean, so please just spend a couple of minutes extra and put the locations in full as that will help us all understand the journey your talking about in this case.

Many thanks .

 

[LowLevel]

To be fair, knowing what sort of quality complimentary on train food is, I don't really understand why anyone is bothered about it - the tea and coffee in particular are generally awful. I'd quite happily settle just for a comfier seat!

 

[Butts]

To be fair, knowing what sort of quality complimentary on train food is, I don't really understand why anyone is bothered about it - the tea and coffee in particular are generally awful. I'd quite happily settle just for a comfier seat!

Forget the food - it's the booze that counts (and the quality is fine)

 

[Minilad]

Not all of us are up on shortening station destinations to 3 letters, I guess PBO is Peterborough but what is SSD and CBG? Ther are a lot of new people or ones that are not railway staff will not know what you mean, so please just spend a couple of minutes extra and put the locations in full as that will help us all understand the journey your talking about in this case.

Many thanks .

SSD is Stansted Airport and CBG is Cambridge
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I would be interested to know how important food is to the average passenger when booking first class. As opposed to the other attractions that first class has. Bigger seat. Better ambiance. Quieter. Status.
I would hazard a guess and say not really very much

 

[LowLevel]

Forget the food - it's the booze that counts (and the quality is fine)

But why would you want to drink 5 double measured spirits on a 90 minute rail journey in the first place? It seems a little excessive to me - I'd rarely be inclined to drink that much in that time in a pub - is it some kind of satisfaction to rinse as much as you can out of it?

 

[Butts]

But why would you want to drink 5 double measured spirits on a 90 minute rail journey in the first place? It seems a little excessive to me - I'd rarely be inclined to drink that much in that time in a pub - is it some kind of satisfaction to rinse as much as you can out of it?

Ah shucks....rumbled at last

 

[andythebrave]

Well, I did once manage the equivalent of a standard bottle of whisky between Glasgow and London.

This was aided by the usual inexplicable lengthy en route delay and mandatory stroll through Northampton; about 7 hours in all so well paced.

 

[telstarbox]

As DaveNewcastle pointed out in the East Coast thread: if you're on business all day with a long rail journey in the morning and evening, it's both desirable and convenient to have decent meals on the train.

 

[Butts]

As DaveNewcastle pointed out in the East Coast thread: if you're on business all day with a long rail journey in the morning and evening, it's both desirable and convenient to have decent meals on the train.

That's XC out of the picture then

 

[Crossover]

That's XC out of the picture then

Funny you should say that - one of my colleagues told me of him having attended a conference in Oxford and that he took the train both ways (we are based in the Manchester area) and plumped for travelling First, given the distance, and expecting a Virgin service. He found on arrival that it was XC and (I knew what was coming at this point - my colleague didn't know at the time of my interest, and thus knowledge, of these things) it wasn't quite as good as they had hoped! Microwave meals etc etc

From a layperson who doesn't use rail all that much, and First Class even less, it is pretty damning of XC really!

 

[Butts]

Funny you should say that - one of my colleagues told me of him having attended a conference in Oxford and that he took the train both ways (we are based in the Manchester area) and plumped for travelling First, given the distance, and expecting a Virgin service. He found on arrival that it was XC and (I knew what was coming at this point - my colleague didn't know at the time of my interest, and thus knowledge, of these things) it wasn't quite as good as they had hoped! Microwave meals etc etc

From a layperson who doesn't use rail all that much, and First Class even less, it is pretty damning of XC really!

Love it....

The Railway is a religious vocation !!

 

[SamS]

First post here, but I'll add my experiences on.

I regularly travel with XC from York to Sheffield for Uni.

Usually it's cheaper than an anytime return to get a 1st advance & a standard advance (after railcard & NUS discount).

First class service seems to vary by the first class host. With some nothing is too much trouble and they will regularly come round with their trolley offering more snacks and drinks etc.
With others you get one thing when you get on (Tea, Panini, crisps etc) and you have to ask for anything else you want. Last week I asked for another drink and some biscuits after my sandwich and got told "but I've just given you lunch, oh, you're getting off at Sheffield and want everything you can have before you leave", I was reluctantly given what I had asked for.

I've also noticed that even on busy trains some staff seem to have some sort of irrational fear of the trolley that they could use, and instead go round each passenger individually (I usually sit towards the end vestibule where they are for precisely this reason).

I've never found anything particularly wrong with what they've served (the tea has always been piping hot) and the sandwiches etc are usually fine.

There's only been one occasion when all the host could offer me was a drink and biscuits, apart from that I've always got a sandwich or something similar.

But, the larger comfier seat, free wifi and table make it a much more comfortable journey than in standard class, and so next week with a dissertation deadline looming I'm going to buy a 7 day season ticket so that I can get on (with writing) - otherwise it's 11 hours wasted.

Finally, as an aside can anyone tell me what I can expect on the 08:45 HST from York? I know it should be a Scrambled Egg Ciabatta, but I've never been 1st class on a morning HST service - only lunchtime and evening.

(Sorry for the long post, I've needed a rant about the differing service for a while...! )

 

[Yew]

As DaveNewcastle pointed out in the East Coast thread: if you're on business all day with a long rail journey in the morning and evening, it's both desirable and convenient to have decent meals on the train.

Alas, this is made harder by a complimentery offer, that is small and may/may not arrive, depending on the alignment of jupiter..

 

[TOCDriver]

Apart from possible easier seating availability, I really can't see the obsession with 1st class, and particularly the food. You pay way over the odds for it and you could quite easily prepare a ready meal yourself for a fraction of the price. 1st class is a rip-off, to put it bluntly. And as for free alcohol, is it really free? Nup. Get yourself to bargain booze before boarding with your standard class ticket if booze is so important to you.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I try and avoid using CrossCountry where possible, but first class seems to be getting worse. It was never brilliant but when I used to use it (maybe six years ago, just when Arriva took over) the choices were things like lasagne. Microwaved, sure, but at least it was a proper meal.

Last time I was on XC first class it was after disruption on the ECML. I had to travel from London via Manchester. Virgin staff were fantastic, couldn't have been nicer or offered me more. TPE staff were the same. XC? "You can't have anything as it's for our passengers". Eventually managed to get a cup of coffee out of them, begrudingly.

The availability of booze doesn't usually bother me, it's not a deal breaker (I enjoy first class on FGW and EMT despite no booze). But rude staff who won't even give you a tiny packet of crisps? Really?

 

[Gemz91]

Apart from possible easier seating availability, I really can't see the obsession with 1st class, and particularly the food. You pay way over the odds for it and you could quite easily prepare a ready meal yourself for a fraction of the price. 1st class is a rip-off, to put it bluntly. And as for free alcohol, is it really free? Nup. Get yourself to bargain booze before boarding with your standard class ticket if booze is so important to you.

For many people its a status thing. Got a couple of friends who only travel by first class (trains and planes), for them its not about the comfy seats, free wi-fi or free food, its simply because its first class. If there's no first class, they won't travel. They'd rather get a taxi then been seen slumming it with the commoners in standard class. I expect they must quiver at the thought of us commoners buying cheap advance tickets and lowering the standards of their first class carriage, filling our boots on free coffee and biscuits.

 

[Jonfun]

Genuine question - how many of those contributing to this thread have actually taken a couple of minutes to write or email in with their feedback (positive as well as negative) rather than just grumble on a forum? There's some things that won't change - ie they're not suddenly going to respec and extend the galleys so there's more than the microwave Virgin specced it with originally. But there's no excuse for staff being rude, so feedback would allow support to go where necessary, and certainly any positive experiences commented on would get passed back to the staff via management.

 

[cf111]

I've only used XC 1st class once from Glasgow to Newcastle. The ham and cheese panini was quite nice and alright for a short hop like that. The first class host was a very nice gent who went out of his way to help find the best route to Cardiff for the couple sitting across from me.

I can't imagine I would have been happy with the train or food provided for a long journey, this particular train was bound for Penzance, but the member of staff was a fantastic ambassador for XC.

 

[anti-pacer]

But why would you want to drink 5 double measured spirits on a 90 minute rail journey in the first place? It seems a little excessive to me - I'd rarely be inclined to drink that much in that time in a pub - is it some kind of satisfaction to rinse as much as you can out of it?

Because he's Scottish and it was free! Haha!

(Says the guy from Yorkshire).

 

[Bishopstone]

For many people its a status thing. Got a couple of friends who only travel by first class (trains and planes), for them its not about the comfy seats, free wi-fi or free food, its simply because its first class. If there's no first class, they won't travel. They'd rather get a taxi then been seen slumming it with the commoners in standard class. I expect they must quiver at the thought of us commoners buying cheap advance tickets and lowering the standards of their first class carriage, filling our boots on free coffee and biscuits.

When FC is reduced to 1.5 coaches on the fGW HSTs, many couples accustomed to having a '4' to themselves, and singletons alone in a '2', will need to share space with strangers. I suspect some of these will return to the road, and I say that as an observation, not a criticism of the fGW/DFT decision.

As the new arrangements bed down, I suspect bags and coats will be deployed in forlorn attempts to defend the adjacent/opposite seat.

 

[Deerfold]

Apart from possible easier seating availability, I really can't see the obsession with 1st class, and particularly the food. You pay way over the odds for it and you could quite easily prepare a ready meal yourself for a fraction of the price. 1st class is a rip-off, to put it bluntly. And as for free alcohol, is it really free? Nup. Get yourself to bargain booze before boarding with your standard class ticket if booze is so important to you.

Pay way over the odds for it?

Last time I travelled first class it cost 20 quid more for two of us from Leeds to London. The time before that it cost me 12 pounds less from Penrith to London.

Some people pay way over the odds for it...

 

[Butts]

Because he's Scottish and it was free! Haha!

(Says the guy from Yorkshire).

- rumbled again !!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

When FC is reduced to 1.5 coaches on the fGW HSTs, many couples accustomed to having a '4' to themselves, and singletons alone in a '2', will need to share space with strangers. I suspect some of these will return to the road, and I say that as an observation, not a criticism of the fGW/DFT decision.

As the new arrangements bed down, I suspect bags and coats will be deployed in forlorn attempts to defend the adjacent/opposite seat.

This is a valid point about occupancy. One of the main reasons I like to travel
1st Class Off Peak is the availability of a "4" to yourself - the free booze is a welcome supplementary.

I hope the reduction in capacity does not extend to East Coast and Virgin.

 

[Deerfold]

This is a valid point about occupancy. One of the main reasons I like to travel
1st Class Off Peak is the availability of a "4" to yourself - the free booze is a welcome supplementary.

I hope the reduction in capacity does not extend to East Coast and Virgin.

Wonder how much of an IEP will be 1st class?