New TPE first class menu

[Scotrail314209]

Excellent, thanks

Although, depending on the service the catering may start or end at Carlisle (1S88 20:04 Manchester Airport to Edinburgh) only being crewed by Carlisle hosts.

With the exception of a few early morning ones from Glasgow, everything is pretty much fully staffed and catered.

 

[Bungle965]

Although, depending on the service the catering may start or end at Carlisle (1S88 20:04 Manchester Airport to Edinburgh) only being crewed by Carlisle hosts.

With the exception of a few early morning ones from Glasgow, everything is pretty much fully staffed and catered.

The one I was on (1S71 15:04 off Manchester Airport) the other week was indeed crewed throughout although all of the catering was taken off at Carlisle.

 

[ainsworth74]

Although, depending on the service the catering may start or end at Carlisle (1S88 20:04 Manchester Airport to Edinburgh) only being crewed by Carlisle hosts.

With the exception of a few early morning ones from Glasgow, everything is pretty much fully staffed and catered.

I was thinking a morning service from Edinburgh to Manchester so that should be okay I guess?

 

[Scotrail314209]

I was thinking a morning service from Edinburgh to Manchester so that should be okay I guess?

Yeah those are normally fully catered, the only exception in the morning is the few early services from Glasgow which convey no hot food.

 

[ainsworth74]

Thanks

 

[800Travel]

How does it work with the regional breakfast on the TPE services please? Is it like an airplane meal, heated and plated, or is it prepared on board? Wondering how long it would normally take for them to get it to you. Thanks!

 

[hexagon789]

How does it work with the regional breakfast on the TPE services please? Is it like an airplane meal, heated and plated, or is it prepared on board? Wondering how long it would normally take for them to get it to you. Thanks!

I assume it's microwave/convection oven and plated. Certainly the 'egg' part is a frittata not a frier egg or scrambled (though of course you can do scrambled with a microwave).

Personally I enjoyed it thoroughly, I wouldn't describe it as a 'microwave meal' but others may have their own opinions.

Just note that if travelling south from Glasgow or Edinburgh, hot food isn't available until Carlisle. Northwards its from Manchester Piccadilly.

Not sure where they start service on Liverpool to Glasgows though.

 

[800Travel]

I assume it's microwave/convection oven and plated. Certainly the 'egg' part is a frittata not a frier egg or scrambled (though of course you can do scrambled with a microwave).

Personally I enjoyed it thoroughly, I wouldn't describe it as a 'microwave meal' but others may have their own opinions.

Just note that if travelling south from Glasgow or Edinburgh, hot food isn't available until Carlisle. Northwards its from Manchester Piccadilly.

Not sure where they start service on Liverpool to Glasgows though.

Good to know - thank you Pictures I've seen in the thread certainly look good!

 

[voyagerdude220]

Hopefully TPE have improved their availability of food in First Class, since I sampled it last Summer Preston to Glasgow and back, heading northbound on the 08:58. When I asked about food about half an hour into the journey, the Host apologised, stating he'd run out of all food, but would offer me something once we'd left Carlisle- annoyingly it was the daytime menu and not the Breakfast I'd been looking forward to.

 

[kkong]

Just note that if travelling south from Glasgow or Edinburgh, hot food isn't available until Carlisle. Northwards its from Manchester Piccadilly.

I received a hot meal before we'd reached Carstairs on the 12:12 Edinburgh to Manchester TPE service last Tuesday.

 

[hexagon789]

I received a hot meal before we'd reached Carstairs on the 12:12 Edinburgh to Manchester TPE service last Tuesday.

I've since found out it only affects the first three departures from Glasgow.

 

[Foxcover]

Just sharing my more recent experiences of TPE first class catering. This week I seat-frogged a Liverpool to Leeds first class return on the Newcastle run (which has the kitchen) - early morning out, evening peak return.

There was no hot food at all on the early morning outbound (0555) - explanation that ‘they didn’t give us any’. They weren’t expecting anything until York which seems a bit sparse logistically. On the evening peak return there was plenty of food, and a busy first class carriage, but no proactive taking of orders for food, only drinks, and after Leeds the crew locked themselves away in the kitchen except to take the trolley down the main train and clear away in good time for the end.

I got hot food by asking specifically if they had it, and being told they had - seemed like the full selection - following which some others also asked. Drinks refills only available by knocking (hard) on the kitchen door, for the whole journey. There were four hosts in total, and a train manager of course, so it looks like they had everything but the motivation.

Definitely lots of room for improvement and one for TPE to do some mystery shopping on.

 

[800Travel]

Just sharing my more recent experiences of TPE first class catering. This week I seat-frogged a Liverpool to Leeds first class return on the Newcastle run (which has the kitchen) - early morning out, evening peak return.

There was no hot food at all on the early morning outbound (0555) - explanation that ‘they didn’t give us any’. They weren’t expecting anything until York which seems a bit sparse logistically. On the evening peak return there was plenty of food, and a busy first class carriage, but no proactive taking of orders for food, only drinks, and after Leeds the crew locked themselves away in the kitchen except to take the trolley down the main train and clear away in good time for the end.

I got hot food by asking specifically if they had it, and being told they had - seemed like the full selection - following which some others also asked. Drinks refills only available by knocking (hard) on the kitchen door, for the whole journey. There were four hosts in total, and a train manager of course, so it looks like they had everything but the motivation.

Definitely lots of room for improvement and one for TPE to do some mystery shopping on.

Food just not being loaded is something I've encountered a few times too. Quite concerning. Once I was travelling to Newcastle, and was told that the food for the service was being loaded at Newcastle. Not so great given that's where the train terminates...

 

[Foxcover]

I know the hot food etc is carefully described as ‘complimentary’ but there comes a point where the product advertising is simply misleading - as the delivery is so inconsistent.

 

[ainsworth74]

I know the hot food etc is carefully described as ‘complimentary’ but there comes a point where the product advertising is simply misleading - as the delivery is so inconsistent.

In my experience with LNER if you write to them when the advertised service has not appeared they'll usually chuck some sort of compensation your way. Not had to do it with TPE so not sure if they'll take the same approach!

I had one where the train was advertised as Dine and on the day the crew offered nothing but biscuits and crisps. That yielded a £20 credit to spend on a future journey.

 

[A S Leib]

On TransPennine Express's website, it says that the core catering hours are until 18:30. What, if anything, should I expect for the weekday 18:20 York to Newcastle in first class?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It's a very good question. You might, realistically, expect nothing. Anything you do get is then a bonus. Anyone know for definite?

 

[Willie Bee]

What about NCL to LDS tomorrow morning (09:45)

My wife and I travelled from Manchester to Newcastle in February and got a decent meal. I believe the new TPE menu had only started that same week.

UPDATE !

We had a breakfast meal, which was quite nice .. see image

 

[Tugzrule]

On TransPennine Express's website, it says that the core catering hours are until 18:30. What, if anything, should I expect for the weekday 18:20 York to Newcastle in first class?

It should be a fully catered service for first and for standard so I’d expect the full Coast to Coast menu

 

[A S Leib]

Thank you.

 

[Craig2601]

Anyone know what to expect from Edinburgh to Newcastle in first? I get the impression its the Express Plus menu but just wanted to confirm.

 

[danbarjon]

Anyone know what to expect from Edinburgh to Newcastle in first? I get the impression its the Express Plus menu but just wanted to confirm.

Can confirm it’s just snacks and drinks. No hot food sadly.

 

[Iskra]

Two journeys today with TP:

Sheffield-Manchester on the train that leaves about 6am. No refreshments provided at all, with the trolley not joining until Manchester, which seems a bit tight on an early morning service where customers are likely to want to enjoy (or need) a coffee…

Then I took the 0725 to Carlisle. It was like a different world; an excellent cooked breakfast, two nice coffees, a slice of cake and bottled water provided at every seat. The cooked breakfast was really nice and filling, my only quibble being the disposable plate/cutlery which feels cheap and I don’t like the texture of wooden cutlery. Presumably they don’t have a dishwasher onboard like a proper catering vehicle would? The service was excellent and I thought this a strong offering, I’d definitely do it again.

 

[Andy Pacer]

Two journeys today with TP:

Sheffield-Manchester on the train that leaves about 6am. No refreshments provided at all, with the trolley not joining until Manchester, which seems a bit tight on an early morning service where customers are likely to want to enjoy (or need) a coffee…

Then I took the 0725 to Carlisle. It was like a different world; an excellent cooked breakfast, two nice coffees, a slice of cake and bottled water provided at every seat. The cooked breakfast was really nice and filling, my only quibble being the disposable plate/cutlery which feels cheap and I don’t like the texture of wooden cutlery. Presumably they don’t have a dishwasher onboard like a proper catering vehicle would? The service was excellent and I thought this a strong offering, I’d definitely do it again.




View attachment 182969

Excellent, glad to see the quality hasn't deteriorated since last year when I tried it.
Typical TPE though isn't it, when it's good it's very good but when it's poor it's very poor!

 

[ScotTrains]

I'm still finding TPEx very hit and miss. Last week I took the 0909 travelling from Glasgow to Manchester. Despite there being a fair amount of empty seats on departure the catering lady came round removing the menus and told us we wouldn't get any breakfast until after Carlisle.

None of the tables had the usual bottles of water on them. We were given a drink around Motherwell. As the train got busier we finally got our food order around Penrith. All they had left was a sausage roll. When I bit into it I discovered it was actually Vegan, very dry and disgusting. We didn't get our second drink order until after Bolton!

We paid hundreds for our anytime first tickets yet only received one small orange juice at Motherwell, one disgusting vegan roll at Penrith and one coffee at Bolton. This is really not acceptable. We were planning to use Avanti but their 0939 service was cancelled. To make matters worse the First class lounge at Manchester was also closed. We ended up going to Sainsbury's at the station to get some food and drink.

If I travel again I'll make sure to have breakfast before I leave the house!!!

 

[mad_rich]

I wasn't sure what to expect for Newcastle-Manchester yesterday (Sunday).

• 0759 Newcastle-Manchester
• 2041 Manchester-Newcastle

According to this page on the Transpennine website, the Coast to Coast services only get food between 0900-1830.

• For services with our TransPennine Kitchen – Coast to Coast, Express Plus and Express Café offerings: Catering is available between 07:00-18:30 Monday to Friday and 09:00-18:30 Saturday and Sunday.

But according to to the PDF catering map on the very same page, it's available on every service:

For services carrying our TransPennine Kitchen - West Coast / Coast to Coast & Express Cafe menus, catering is provided on all services Monday to Sunday.

As it happens, I got a full breakfast on the way down, with excellent service from the host - he was back and forward, constantly offering top ups, and practically forced me to take armload of cakes and biscuits when I left.

No host on the way back. The train manager managed to find me a can of coke and a bag of crisps, but never offered any more. Nothing offered to anyone after Leeds, where the crew changed.

The southbound host gave me a comment card, where I gave him and the catering a glowing review. Obviously no comment card for the northbound!

 

[mad_rich]

Failed to get fed again today on the 0902 Newcastle-York.

The inbound was late, so it took them a while to set up the galley. The host started taking breakfast orders 45 minutes after we left Newcastle.

He wouldn't take my order 'because I can't promise I'll get it to you'.

I was pretty jealous when half the carriage got their bacon rolls 7 minutes later!

 

[danbarjon]

Failed to get fed again today on the 0902 Newcastle-York.

The inbound was late, so it took them a while to set up the galley. The host started taking breakfast orders 45 minutes after we left Newcastle.

He wouldn't take my order 'because I can't promise I'll get it to you'.

I was pretty jealous when half the carriage got their bacon rolls 7 minutes later!

In my experience between York and Newcastle LNER seem to be better for food, 9 times out of 10 I usually get a meal before Doncaster.

 

[800Travel]

In my experience between York and Newcastle LNER seem to be better for food, 9 times out of 10 I usually get a meal before Doncaster.

Doncaster isn't between York and Newcastle? Do you perhaps mean Durham or Darlington?

 

[ainsworth74]

I've only tried it the once but I must admit it did seem a little slow. I did Liverpool to Darlington and the food orders weren't taken until around Huddersfield! As far as I could tell the catering crew were onboard from Liverpool and did spend an inordinate amount of time swapping beverages from one trolley to another. When it did arrive (the burger) it was very tasty and, of course, not that long ago it would have been biscuits only(!) so still a huge upgrade. But yeah, they do seem to be struggling with some of the onboard delivery aspects which is a shame. My food was great, and all the other feedback I've come across has also been glowing. Really makes the upgrade to first class worthwhile (where it's not crazyily more expensive anyway) on those services.