Ordering food to be delivered to trains.

[8ace]

Moderator note - split from:

Lumo running train with no toilets

Lumo are/were running a train from London Euston to Stirling with no working toilets this morning. The 06:11 from Euston to Stirling had a 25 minute 'personal needs break' at Preston when it eventually arrived there 25 minutes late and just shy of 3 hours after leaving Euston. The train was...

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About 20 years ago I was in New Zealand on the train from Auckland to Wellington, somewhere a party of school children, possibly heading to/from a rugby tournament, boarded the train. When we stopped somewhere (Palmerston possibly) the station call seemed to be taking along time. It was then I noticed a pizza delivery driver handing over a huge stack of pizzas for the kid's tea. Only then did we proceed on our way

 

[LRV3004]

I've seen it done, not on Lumo but on railtours and on service trains.

While on the GBRF21 tour (yes, ‘that one’), my mate spearheaded a mass pizza delivery to the train, timed to happen during the changeover from 86101 to 92032 at Crewe. During the day he gathered the orders and then phoned the takeaway in question. The guy thought he was just taking the mickey until my mate said he was serious. The bloke then asked for a deposit on the order and when my mate duly paid up, he then realised it was indeed a serious order! We kept him updated throughout the day and sure enough, when we rolled into platform 12 at Crewe, someone was there with a wheeled trolley stacked high with pizzas!

 

[TheTallOne]

Do they need a platform ticket to deliver to the train?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Do they need a platform ticket to deliver to the train?

Depends on the station. Not at an ungated station.

 

[Tetragon213]

There's a bloke on YouTube by the name of Max Fosh who once did this exact thing.

Iirc ordering outside food to the train is relatively standard for China Rail High Speed services. For 8 Yuan (about a quid) and ordering 2 hours in advance, you can get food from an outside restaurant delivered straight to your seat!

 

[Acathater]

I wonder if the new Curry house at Lancaster Station will take delivery orders? Seems a perfect opportunity

 

[Western Sunset]

Would Pizza Express only deliver to class 1 (or 9) passenger trains? Is there a Pizza Ordinary delivering to class 2 trains?

 

[Halwynd]

I wonder if the new Curry house at Lancaster Station will take delivery orders? Seems a perfect opportunity

Only if Lumo want to lose passengers. I honestly can't think of anything worse in a confined public environment. In any event, I don't think Lumo call at Lancaster.

 

[Bill57p9]

The buffet at Crianlarich used to do advance orders which would be handed over during your stop. Obviously most trains join or split there, giving enough time for the transaction!

 

[Halwynd]

The buffet at Crianlarich used to do advance orders which would be handed over during your stop. Obviously most trains join or split there, giving enough time for the transaction!

Perfect, what could be nicer than a morning roll with lorne sausage and a runny fried egg?

 

[teaspoon]

In 2014, Virgin Trains trialled at-seat pizza delivery - you ordered from the shop, and they cooked them in the first class galley.


(attached images show a flyer for the service, offering 9" haggis, cheese & tomato, or ham & mushroom pizzas for £5; and a ham & mushroom pizza in a cardboard takeaway container)

I quite liked the idea, but it obviously wasn't a very successful trial if it disappeared without a trace!

 

[Acathater]

Only if Lumo want to lose passengers. I honestly can't think of anything worse in a confined public environment. In any event, I don't think Lumo call at Lancaster.

Lumo? At Lancaster it's Northern, TPE, or Avanti

 

[Halwynd]

Lumo? At Lancaster it's Northern, TPE, or Avanti

Indeed it is. Getting mixed up with the other Lumo threads at the moment, haha, my apologies. Same response though, no way to curry in the confined environment of a train.

 

[Bald Rick]

The buffet at Crianlarich used to do advance orders which would be handed over during your stop. Obviously most trains join or split there, giving enough time for the transaction!

Perfect, what could be nicer than a morning roll with lorne sausage and a runny fried egg?

Something for the Real Food Cafe at Tyndrum to offer. And two stations to cater for!

 

[styles]

In 2014, Virgin Trains trialled at-seat pizza delivery - you ordered from the shop, and they cooked them in the first class galley.

View attachment 210371View attachment 210372View attachment 210373
(attached images show a flyer for the service, offering 9" haggis, cheese & tomato, or ham & mushroom pizzas for £5; and a ham & mushroom pizza in a cardboard takeaway container)

I quite liked the idea, but it obviously wasn't a very successful trial if it disappeared without a trace!

I like the idea but could they be any more stingy on the cheese?

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

IIRC Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, wanted to replace pantry cars with an app allowing passengers to order food to be delivered at the next station.

 

[mickey]

IIRC Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, wanted to replace pantry cars with an app allowing passengers to order food to be delivered at the next station.

Very common in India, I’m pretty sure even Portillo sampled it on one of his jollies.

Off-railways for a second, but I’m sure you’ll see the relevance… there’s a longstanding arrangement at Newquay airport where pilots can place a pasty order when they report their arrival into terminal airspace. If paying cash someone will bring it out to the aircraft, otherwise it’ll be packaged up ready to pop in and pay before departing.

 

[bramling]

Moderator note - split from:

Lumo running train with no toilets

Lumo are/were running a train from London Euston to Stirling with no working toilets this morning. The 06:11 from Euston to Stirling had a 25 minute 'personal needs break' at Preston when it eventually arrived there 25 minutes late and just shy of 3 hours after leaving Euston. The train was...

www.railforums.co.uk

About 20 years ago I was in New Zealand on the train from Auckland to Wellington, somewhere a party of school children, possibly heading to/from a rugby tournament, boarded the train. When we stopped somewhere (Palmerston possibly) the station call seemed to be taking along time. It was then I noticed a pizza delivery driver handing over a huge stack of pizzas for the kid's tea. Only then did we proceed on our way

There was a story that on the Crane Bank section of the Piccadilly Line (the short open section between Hounslow West and Hatton Cross), a burger van traded right next to the railway. Apparently certain drivers would stop on the way to Heathrow to place an order, then stop on the way back to collect it. Wouldn’t be surprised there is some truth to this.

 

[Bill57p9]

Something for the Real Food Cafe at Tyndrum to offer. And two stations to cater for!

I have effectively done that: phoned in an order as I was approaching Upper Tyndrum, walked down to collect and then on to Tyndrum Lower to pick up my train to Oban!

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Before the Knottingley to Wakefield service was extended to Leeds we used to stand at Wakefield Kirkgate for over half an hour on one of the evening trips.
It was usual practice when departing Knottingley for the guard to phone the takeaway near Kirkgate station and request a delivery to platform 3 at the appropriate time for themselves and/or the driver.
A steaming hot curry would then be awaiting on arrival at Kirkgate!
For a time the phone number was written on the diagram, although many crews carried a menu with them.

It almost went catastrophically wrong one day when the delivery driver couldn't find the entrance to the subway and just jumped down from the platform and began walking over the track.
The conversation went:

(Train driver) "No, no!!"
(Delivery driver) "You haven't ordered food??"
(Train driver) "I have, but get off the f@£#&;g track!"

The buffet at Crianlarich used to do advance orders which would be handed over during your stop. Obviously most trains join or split there, giving enough time for the transaction!

And very nice they were too!

 

[parkender102]

We travelled up the coast of Queensland from Brisbane to Cairns many years ago stopping at various points for a few days on the way. We stopped in Townsville 1 day and we were hungry but weren't getting off. However the announcement of a 20 min break before the service continued allowed me to head to the nearest Supermarket and get a Hot Rotisserie Chicken and some Side Salads to eat on the train. The same train also had a Bar / Disco car on it - shaded Blinds to keep out the sun and a Dance Floor whilst travelling up the Coast.

 

[Bald Rick]

I have effectively done that: phoned in an order as I was approaching Upper Tyndrum, walked down to collect and then on to Tyndrum Lower to pick up my train to Oban!

Cap doffed!


A related example: I’m aware that back in the early 90s the late turn signallers at Peterborough box would occasionally place their order from the chippy by using the CSR Radio into the usual train from the south that one of their night turn colleagues was travelling in, so that he would get them on the way to the box. Quite what passengers made of the announcement “special announcement for x, 2 cod and chios, saveloy and chips, a pickled egg and three cans of Tango” …

 

[Taunton]

There was a fascinating story in a magazine around 1960 of the independent refreshment room at Gainsborough Central, who on summer Sundays used to employ a team of ice cream selling young ladies. A sequence of day excursions from Nottinghamshire mining districts, etc, to Cleethorpes used to stop there for the B1 loco to take water. Driver and fireman at the front, and guard at the back, were given a free one to start, and told they would get another in a few minutes, then the team set off selling through the droplights of the non-corridor stock. Everyone satisfied, on they went and the next excursion followed in. The volume was such that the owner installed their own ice cream making plant behind the refreshment room.