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London North Eastern Railway (LNER) First Class service
- Thread starter MidnightFlyer
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The croissants are absolutely awful, I'm pretty sure they are baked by RG on the Friday night en-masse and left to go stale.
The weekend sandwiches have always been wrapped and tbh I always felt they were better than the weekday ones. Hopefully you've just had a bad pack and there has been no change to the quality of them.
Although when they're not packaged, you do get the option of a couple of each flavour.
That said, yesterday's packaged ones were very nice.
The packaged and platter sandwiches are no different (having had both over the last few days) - just the weekend packaged ones are easier to serve and doesn't involve crockery
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Agreed - we did try to just get hold of an entire cake to share between our table but they wouldn't let us
:P
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Think it's you that's been unlucky as I've never noticed a real difference between the packaged and platter sandwiches
The croissants however? I've yet to have a packaged one which is anything other than rubbish, the fresh ones during a weekday are however quite nice.
You're lucky if you think that! The ones in a packet are frequently a bit stale
The ones we had yesterday were far from stale
And that, Sir, is a completely separate argument :P
Especially on a Monday as they have more than likely been delivered on a Friday night/Saturday morning.
Were you on the train with me? Yes it was about 2130 one Monday night I got a packet (and before some smart aleck turns up, no, it was not a bank holiday).
You never know
On the weeks that there had been the mixed bean sandwiches there was always loads of them loaded on the Monday to try and get rid. I'm surprised that one lasted the duration of the menu tbh.
Mutant Lemming
Established Member
I think the offerings in the lounges have gone downhill a bit. Not much change on board but I have a feeling that the 'boxes' are on their way.
Butts
Veteran Member
How could the offerings have gone downhill if you are talking about the former East Coast Lounges ?
All most of them had was biscuits to start with, whereas the Virgin Lounges always had a lot more.
warriorofrovac
Member
- Joined
- 23 Feb 2006
- Messages
- 313
I'll pop this here rather than start a new thread.
Meal service in First Class.
I'm looking at the 08:16 Peterborough to York, returning on the 18:31, both are timetabled to take 1hr15minutes.
I noticed on the VTEC website, it says complimentary snacks are available for a journey 70 minutes or less. Now 1hr15 is literally just pushing over 70mins.
What could I expect in First Class if I went for it?
Meal service in First Class.
I'm looking at the 08:16 Peterborough to York, returning on the 18:31, both are timetabled to take 1hr15minutes.
I noticed on the VTEC website, it says complimentary snacks are available for a journey 70 minutes or less. Now 1hr15 is literally just pushing over 70mins.
What could I expect in First Class if I went for it?
They should (note should) come round on departure from Peterborough and take orders, although I have seen some crews do meal service on leaving London and then just do the joining passengers at York. However by York the menu will have moved onto mid morning, at 0816 you should get a full breakfast.
Southbound there is a full service leaving York and it will be the all day menu.
At 75 mins though you are entitled to the works.
There is a lengthy thread on VTEC first class food which should give you all the info you need here - http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=44279
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applepie2100
Member
- Joined
- 16 Aug 2011
- Messages
- 170
I'm currently on the 0752 from Aberdeen and it's fair to say that the first class service needs a fair bit of polishing up for want of a better term. We still have the usual ticket validity announcements (made at least twice) which make you feel like a criminal before you've even sat down. The announcements generally still feel a touch excessive in all regards.
The quality of the breakfast and the service itself still leave something to be desired too. The chap coming around doing the breakfast orders was efficient to the point of being blunt and a smile, a please or a few other pleasantries wouldn't have gone amiss. The "rare breed bacon roll" seems to be an excuse for having a lot of fat and not a lot of bacon as a good chunk of the two rashers on the roll was completely indelible. There was also the rather strange service order of the bakery trolley/orange juice etc coming after the main breakfast order. They also don't seem to have loaded any glassware as the orange juice etc is being served in plastic buffet tumblers.
Looking around at those having the full breakfast it looked okay but it seemed rather strange that the grilled tomato was basically a whole tomato just plonked onto the plate.
I really hope that this mornings service is simply the leftovers of the old East Coast days and that Virgin get to grips with things quickly, get them schooled in the Virgin trains way of doing things with smile and humour and bring the breakfast service offering up to west coast standards. Right now VTWC is feeling far superior to VTEC.
The quality of the breakfast and the service itself still leave something to be desired too. The chap coming around doing the breakfast orders was efficient to the point of being blunt and a smile, a please or a few other pleasantries wouldn't have gone amiss. The "rare breed bacon roll" seems to be an excuse for having a lot of fat and not a lot of bacon as a good chunk of the two rashers on the roll was completely indelible. There was also the rather strange service order of the bakery trolley/orange juice etc coming after the main breakfast order. They also don't seem to have loaded any glassware as the orange juice etc is being served in plastic buffet tumblers.
Looking around at those having the full breakfast it looked okay but it seemed rather strange that the grilled tomato was basically a whole tomato just plonked onto the plate.
I really hope that this mornings service is simply the leftovers of the old East Coast days and that Virgin get to grips with things quickly, get them schooled in the Virgin trains way of doing things with smile and humour and bring the breakfast service offering up to west coast standards. Right now VTWC is feeling far superior to VTEC.
Iskra
Established Member
Im my opinion it seems to vary wildly on a crew by crew basis.
Anyone know what I can expect in 1st on the 2100 off Edinburgh and 2246 off Newcastle to Leeds (two seperate trips) ...I'm a little concerned the service may be lacking at that late time.
I've never done the 0752 from ABD but I have encountered the crew returning on the northbound service around 1430 off EDB and depending which ones it is you know everything is going to be wrapped up by Leuchars. No tea/coffee run or anything after Dundee.
The tomatoes, how they are supposed to be presented is anyones guess. I've seen them whole, halved, quartered and even sliced. The whole one though just smacks of laziness.
As starmill says not a lot.
From what I have worked out they do LDS/KGX/EDB/LDS (Going by what was said on a service I was on a while back) so its probably one of the longest shifts they have, although clearly some of them think they clock off at Dunbar.
A disappointing proportion. It's only half nine! Some of the times I've been on it, you wouldn't get anything at all offered if you travelled Berwick - Leeds, and people got on at Newcastle to go to York and didn't get anything. The crew who bring it from Aberdeen are generally fantastic though. I wonder what you'd get if you were to ask?
Growled at probably.
On saying that I've complained twice about the food since the switchover to VTEC and have received vouchers on both occasions.
I'd imagine come the winter timetable things will start to change. The old EC way of working won't last forever. I'd love to see some of the current EC lot serving up breakfast silver service style like the West Coast, if anything it would be entertaining to see where the full tomato landed.
The Plymouth CR department don't do vouchers in my experience! I've recently been writing them feedback* quite regularly.
*I make an attempt at balanced feedback, pointing out when it is very nice or taste good or service is lovely - it sometimes is. But I must point out that the biggest problem with their catering is its inconsistency.
*I make an attempt at balanced feedback, pointing out when it is very nice or taste good or service is lovely - it sometimes is. But I must point out that the biggest problem with their catering is its inconsistency.
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Best crews are Newcastle crews without a doubt, closely followed by the Scottish crews.
Had the displeasure of a London crew the other day (I try to avoid them, but unless someone produces the diagrams....) Only offered a hot drink and nothing else between York & Newcastle (boarding at York and going further), and one of them was looking for staff passes to avoid giving out food (just because someone has a staff pass does not mean they are using it for that journey!) Now before you say they are trying to save Virgin money and do their job correctly, that wasn't so, as she asked the Guard to let her partner travel free. So a case of double standards there! Any rail staff travelling on EC in 1st, using "public" rate tickets are therefore advised to hide their passes from prying eyes.
Journeys that terminate in Yorkshire from the South also seem to be particularly bad for service. Some of the Leeds based crews want to chat as much as possible. I've even seen one particular person try to convince passengers not to upgrade to Weekend First (yes, really!) as it "isn't worth it". The only offering on a >70min journey was one coffee/tea round, and his face when someone asked for a hot chocolate was priceless.
That said the gossip can be interesting, and I'd therefore recommend the 'loud' coach (this is the part of Coach K next to where the crew sit) on such runs.
However I mostly get the superb Newcastle based crews who are truly excellent, so most of the time I have to say I get great service.
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I've had superb service on the 2100 off King's Cross, including very busy Saturdays where First was full with perhaps no seats remaining. But if you get a train that is no more busy (indeed, for the most part, less so) heading from Newcastle to Doncaster/Leeds in the evening, they have use the fact it's busy as an excuse to give out no food whatsoever.
It would be better if they had a colour for "no service" in the timetable and just put that on all the trains which terminate in Yorkshire from Scotland/Newcastle, as at least then we would be able to buy sandwiches ourselves and know exactly what to expect
Had the displeasure of a London crew the other day (I try to avoid them, but unless someone produces the diagrams....) Only offered a hot drink and nothing else between York & Newcastle (boarding at York and going further), and one of them was looking for staff passes to avoid giving out food (just because someone has a staff pass does not mean they are using it for that journey!) Now before you say they are trying to save Virgin money and do their job correctly, that wasn't so, as she asked the Guard to let her partner travel free. So a case of double standards there! Any rail staff travelling on EC in 1st, using "public" rate tickets are therefore advised to hide their passes from prying eyes.
Journeys that terminate in Yorkshire from the South also seem to be particularly bad for service. Some of the Leeds based crews want to chat as much as possible. I've even seen one particular person try to convince passengers not to upgrade to Weekend First (yes, really!) as it "isn't worth it". The only offering on a >70min journey was one coffee/tea round, and his face when someone asked for a hot chocolate was priceless.
That said the gossip can be interesting, and I'd therefore recommend the 'loud' coach (this is the part of Coach K next to where the crew sit) on such runs.
However I mostly get the superb Newcastle based crews who are truly excellent, so most of the time I have to say I get great service.
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It's not so much the time as such, but more the fact it's a Leeds crew doing a turn that they will have earmarked as an opportunity to have a chat
I've had superb service on the 2100 off King's Cross, including very busy Saturdays where First was full with perhaps no seats remaining. But if you get a train that is no more busy (indeed, for the most part, less so) heading from Newcastle to Doncaster/Leeds in the evening, they have use the fact it's busy as an excuse to give out no food whatsoever.
It would be better if they had a colour for "no service" in the timetable and just put that on all the trains which terminate in Yorkshire from Scotland/Newcastle, as at least then we would be able to buy sandwiches ourselves and know exactly what to expect
Iskra
Established Member
Best crews are Newcastle crews without a doubt, closely followed by the Scottish crews.
Had the displeasure of a London crew the other day (I try to avoid them, but unless someone produces the diagrams....) Only offered a hot drink and nothing else between York & Newcastle (boarding at York and going further), and one of them was looking for staff passes to avoid giving out food (just because someone has a staff pass does not mean they are using it for that journey!) Now before you say they are trying to save Virgin money and do their job correctly, that wasn't so, as she asked the Guard to let her partner travel free. So a case of double standards there! Any rail staff travelling on EC in 1st, using "public" rate tickets are therefore advised to hide their passes from prying eyes.
Journeys that terminate in Yorkshire from the South also seem to be particularly bad for service. Some of the Leeds based crews want to chat as much as possible. I've even seen one particular person try to convince passengers not to upgrade to Weekend First (yes, really!) as it "isn't worth it". The only offering on a >70min journey was one coffee/tea round, and his face when someone asked for a hot chocolate was priceless.
That said the gossip can be interesting, and I'd therefore recommend the 'loud' coach (this is the part of Coach K next to where the crew sit) on such runs.
However I mostly get the superb Newcastle based crews who are truly excellent, so most of the time I have to say I get great service.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
It's not so much the time as such, but more the fact it's a Leeds crew doing a turn that they will have earmarked as an opportunity to have a chat
I've had superb service on the 2100 off King's Cross, including very busy Saturdays where First was full with perhaps no seats remaining. But if you get a train that is no more busy (indeed, for the most part, less so) heading from Newcastle to Doncaster/Leeds in the evening, they have use the fact it's busy as an excuse to give out no food whatsoever.
It would be better if they had a colour for "no service" in the timetable and just put that on all the trains which terminate in Yorkshire from Scotland/Newcastle, as at least then we would be able to buy sandwiches ourselves and know exactly what to expect
I'm intrigued to do these two journeys now.
I presume the 0710 off Leeds to Aberdeen is a Leeds crew? I've had good service on that.
The only other time I think I've had a Leeds crew it was good too.
I think the best service I've had has been from Scottish crews. London are consistently poor and don't look like they want to be there at all.
On the 1833 down now. Excellent drinks service but I can't take full advantage as I've a 40 mile drive from Shipley. Only one hot main, and that ran out before half way through (crew apologised), but the continental platter was nice. Very nice cheeseboard but more crackers would have been better. Did it justify the upgrade, even at railcard price? Not sure, but the wifi means I can post....
Fortunately I wasn't too hungry having had the hot main course on my TGV earlier - in case anyone wants to know, it was hot but had nothing else to recommend it.
PS agree about the Leeds Aberdeen being good.
Fortunately I wasn't too hungry having had the hot main course on my TGV earlier - in case anyone wants to know, it was hot but had nothing else to recommend it.
PS agree about the Leeds Aberdeen being good.
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Leeds crews are, generally, good. But I agree that Newcastle/Scottish crews seem to be consistently the best.
The 0710 is LDS crew and they take the 1200 back south IIRC. On the whole they are OK apart from one tall lady with a light brown bob who is an absolute charmer. My main issue with the 0710 is the lack of anything substantial to eat by the time I board at Newcastle.
The "Full" breakfast I was served the last I was on it consisted of one sausage (Burnt), one rasher of bacon, egg, three mushrooms the size of a shirt button and a quarter of a tomato.
Rather than run out it appears they ration.
applepie2100
Member
- Joined
- 16 Aug 2011
- Messages
- 170
It very much seems to me like some of the East Coast crews need to be sent for a stint at the talent academy in Crewe to get them fully set up with the Virgin Trains way of working!
not a lot has changed since the franchise started, at somepoint there is going to be a massive change in the EC way of working and I reckon a few will get a fright.