London North Eastern Railway (LNER) First Class service

[Butts]

Is there a food/booze run between FKG and EDB on the Chieftain? Agreed I would rather have "All Day" than a bacon sandwich and a coffee. You should try and get yourself reserved in "J" on that one.

No doubt you'll find yourself a "4" in coach K on the return.

No run between FKG and EDB :cry:

I barely got a reservation in "M" - might have been the last £13.40 ticket couldn't change it at time of booking. Unfortunately the HC is always rammed.

As you mention return a different ball game - I'll probably go for a "4" in L

 

[calc7]

Hopefully you'll get lucky, Butts.



What do people think about this one? On a weekend KGX-LDS service recently, the upgrade prices were announced as £15 as far as DON and £25 to WKF or LDS. Isn't a tenner a little steep for what is about half an hour with no further food or cold drinks so just a coffee?!

 

[Butts]

Hopefully you'll get lucky, Butts.



What do people think about this one? On a weekend KGX-LDS service recently, the upgrade prices were announced as £15 as far as DON and £25 to WKF or LDS. Isn't a tenner a little steep for what is about half an hour with no further food or cold drinks so just a coffee?!

Book in advance I'm paying £13.40 1st Class from Falkirk to Newcastle with full (ie alcohol) freebies not a w/e special.

Mind you when I have seen the "criminal crush" in cattle I may have been tempted. When you get to a platform for an EC service look at where everyone is standing and head in the opposite direction. - the feeling is fantastic -I'd love to get on the tannoy and advise those suckers in 2nd class how much I have paid for a "4" to myself and complimentary catering.

I've got to be the biggest scrounger on East Coast countless 1st Class journeys - none costing more than £30

If Nym was on the train we could organise a game of Bingo with the prize being an upgrade !!

 

[voyagerdude220]

 

[ainsworth74]

What do people think about this one?

That East Coast weekend first upgrades are horribly over priced?

 

[blackhill]

Speaking of which, there's reduced catering on this morning's Chieftain service, due to a train fault.

Do you get many passengers who actually go all the way from Inverness to London?

The only person I could think of who might do that is Danny Alexander, who's
the Member of Parliament for Inverness!

It fills up at Perth and Stirling, normal to get in to Edinburgh almost full in 1st with no room for Edinburgh passengers without a seat r/s.

 

[Butts]

It fills up at Perth and Stirling, normal to get in to Edinburgh almost full in 1st with no room for Edinburgh passengers without a seat r/s.

Never mind those getting on at FKG.......don't forget us !!!

 

[HST Power]

I've got to be the biggest scrounger on East Coast countless 1st Class journeys - none costing more than £30

I take it you mean £30 one way? Or do you just travel short distances?

I will be travelling up to Newcastle (from Stevenage) during the Christmas period. With a Young Persons Railcard enabled, the cheapest tickets I could find were £58.10, that's for two First Class Advance Singles.

I'm no whizz with ticketing, but I'm struggling to see how you're picking them up so cheap!

 

[Butts]

I take it you mean £30 one way? Or do you just travel short distances?

I will be travelling up to Newcastle (from Stevenage) during the Christmas period. With a Young Persons Railcard enabled, the cheapest tickets I could find were £58.10, that's for two First Class Advance Singles.

I'm no whizz with ticketing, but I'm struggling to see how you're picking them up so cheap!

I see you have picked up the £29.05 1st Advanced with R/C which is the cheapest well done.

Try inputting FKG to Stevenage and £31.15 is the cheapest equivalent or indeed the same fare to Kings Cross.

My trips are mainly to EC destinations in The North of England - there are more options than in the south (more cities on or near the line)

FKG to Newcastle £13.40 , Durham £14.80 , York £19.40, Darlington £12.55, Northallerton £15 odd all advanced 1st Singles with RC.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

No run between FKG and EDB :cry:

I barely got a reservation in "M" - might have been the last £13.40 ticket couldn't change it at time of booking. Unfortunately the HC is always rammed.

As you mention return a different ball game - I'll probably go for a "4" in L

Much as I predicted the Chieftan was virtually full but I got my Pork Pie , Whisky,Coffee, Crisps and Shortbread.

I write on my way back 1952 ex Newcastle I'm at a "4" in L and there is no one else in the Carriage or the train hardly (1st) for that matter.

Hardly suprising as 7 minutes earlier there is another EC service from NCL that stops at Morpeth whilst this one stops at Berwick-upon -Tweed. That was also empty. Whats that all about.

However I have a veritable picnic in front of me :

Sandwiches (loads)
Crisps
Cake
Biscuits
Cheese and Biscuits
2 Whiskys , A Cider and a Coffee

Happy as a pig in sh*t

 

[caliwag]

HoHo...hero fella. Fantastic stuff.

 

[Butts]

HoHo...hero fella. Fantastic stuff.

Yes indeed, I'm only a bit perturbed I had to pay £16 for journey which I normally book early enough to pay £13.40 for

Best laugh no one has checked my ticket - I could have blagged the whole hamper !!!

 

[harri2626]

My wife and girlfriend used 1st for a Leeds-London round trip this weekend. They weren't offered any alcohol or hot food. I know that weekend catering is much more basic, but the fares don't seem to be any cheaper compared to weekday off-peak which has a more comprehensive menu of food and drink. I suppose it reflects the age-old railway assumption that weekend travellers don't want food, just snacks. Try telling that to restaurants and gastropubs.

 

[ainsworth74]

They weren't offered any alcohol or hot food.

The weekend service does not include complementary alcohol or hot food. Personally I think that the first class product on weekends is overpriced.

 

[Butts]

My wife and girlfriend used 1st for a Leeds-London round trip this weekend. They weren't offered any alcohol or hot food. I know that weekend catering is much more basic, but the fares don't seem to be any cheaper compared to weekday off-peak which has a more comprehensive menu of food and drink. I suppose it reflects the age-old railway assumption that weekend travellers don't want food, just snacks. Try telling that to restaurants and gastropubs.

On East Coast at least you should have got more than on Virgin or Cross Country at the Weekend - cheap fares weekdays are definitely the "pick of the pack" on East Coast - just look at what i got for £16 tonight.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The weekend service does not include complementary alcohol or hot food. Personally I think that the first class product on weekends is overpriced.

Agreed compared to my weekday jaunts from FKG to almost anywhere on the EC Network.

 

[YorkshireRider]

My wife and girlfriend used 1st for a Leeds-London round trip this weekend. They weren't offered any alcohol or hot food. I know that weekend catering is much more basic, but the fares don't seem to be any cheaper compared to weekday off-peak which has a more comprehensive menu of food and drink. I suppose it reflects the age-old railway assumption that weekend travellers don't want food, just snacks. Try telling that to restaurants and gastropubs.

There has never been any such assumption on the railway, while the advance tickets may be priced the same on a weekend, the quotas of these advances are much higher on sat and sun. They also have a weekend first upgrade. Hot food and drink is available at the buffet.

 

[harri2626]

Traditionally, proper restaurant cars in the UK have always been weekdays only. This was, I suspect, not because of any lack of demand but to allow staff to have time off. In these days of 24-hour, 7-day work and shopping patterns (for railway staff and Joe Public) it no longer makes sense for weekdays to be treated any differently than weekends. Now that we have lost proper restaurant cars, we are offered pub grub and drinks on weekdays and sarnies and a cuppa at weekends, and often for the same ticket price. There is no logic to this.

 

[HST Power]

I'd love to get on the tannoy and advise those suckers in 2nd class how much I have paid for a "4" to myself and complimentary catering.

I often get the feeling of wanting to do that myself, just for the hell of it!

Though as Alan Partridge would say, Tannoy is the company, loudspeaker is the device.

I see you have picked up the £29.05 1st Advanced with R/C which is the cheapest well done.

All I need to do is get my Railcard. I will apply in November.

 

[Bungle73]

Though as Alan Partridge would say, Tannoy is the company, loudspeaker is the device

Actually the device is a PA system, of which the speaker is a part.

Do you call a hoover a "vacuum cleaner"?

 

[ainsworth74]

Do you call a hoover a "vacuum cleaner"?

Erm, yes and quite a few other people I know do as well (most of them in fact).

 

[HST Power]

Actually the device is a PA system, of which the speaker is a part.

Do you call a hoover a "vacuum cleaner"?

Yes, and it was a joke anyway so it doesn't make any difference!

 

[Butts]

Erm, yes and quite a few other people I know do as well (most of them in fact).

"Dyson" is another contender these days ....

 

[voyagerdude220]

Well i've got another EC service in FC today, and hit the previously mentioned 'Scone Express'. Despite 3-4 offers of the all day food on the way down, the staff on my 1400 ex Kgx have told me that my 4 sandwiches & a scone after leaving London is the only food i'm allowed. I don't feel it sufficient for a journey over 4 hours.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

"Dyson" is another contender these days ....

Yes, I was going to mention that I own one of those and not a Vacuum or Hoover. .

 

[Butts]

Well i've got another EC service in FC today, and hit the previously mentioned 'Scone Express'. Despite 3-4 offers of the all day food on the way down, the staff on my 1400 ex Kgx have told me that my 4 sandwiches & a scone after leaving London is the only food i'm allowed. I don't feel it sufficient for a journey over 4 hours.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Yes, I was going to mention that I own one of those and not a Vacuum or Hoover. .

Ah non-stop to York the 1400 , did they not come around after York and Newcastle - or are they the occassions you were refused further sustenance?

Was the service particularly busy in 1st Class ?

 

[calc7]

Well i've got another EC service in FC today, and hit the previously mentioned 'Scone Express'. Despite 3-4 offers of the all day food on the way down, the staff on my 1400 ex Kgx have told me that my 4 sandwiches & a scone after leaving London is the only food i'm allowed. I don't feel it sufficient for a journey over 4 hours.

Oh dear - the Scone Express claims another victim!

Were the staff continuing all the way to EDB? Had the EDB depot phoned down to KGX advising of a severe lack of food

May I enquire as to how much booze was offered?

 

[voyagerdude220]

Haha they came round with food after each stop, however, they only offered it to those who had just joined.
It wasn't too busy, i'd say 60% in coach L. The Crew Leader said that had it been the all day menu, I would've got more to eat.
Drinks were frequent.

 

[Butts]

Haha they came round with food after each stop, however, they only offered it to those who had just joined.
It wasn't too busy, i'd say 60% in coach L. The Crew Leader said that had it been the all day menu, I would've got more to eat.
Drinks were frequent.

60% thats rammed - I had the whole coach L to myself last night !!!!

Avoid this "scone express" at all costs seemingly

 

[voyagerdude220]

Haha I'll certainly avoid the 'scone express.'

 

[Butts]

Haha I'll certainly avoid the 'scone express.'

If you go back 3200odd posts to Matt's original post on this thread it says that a hot option will be available in lieu of the Afternoon Tea if required. I am unsure as to whether this should still be the case - mentioned biryani as one.

 

[ainsworth74]

mentioned biryani as one

Ha those were the days. The Biryani was dropped quite awhile ago along with the (in)famous Beetroot Risotto.

 

[HST Power]

So is the 'scone express' any particular service or just any non-stopper running from KGX to York?