Philip
On Moderation
Do you think Northern should adopt the TfW example with their 197s and fit a 'standard plus' upgrade area into some of their Civity trains, for routes like Calder Valley, Hope Valley, Manchester to Blackpool and Cumbria?
Even though the purpose of Northern is not to provide a full first class offering, they do accomdate a lot of mid-distance commuter and business travellers, as well as tourists towards the Lake District & Peak District, so I think quite a lot of people using Northern for these reasons may appreciate a quiet place to work or relax, as these trains are frequently noisy and overcrowded. A catering provision would also be good both for standard plus and standard itself, as the above routes are well-used and long enough to justify a trolley; Manchester-Blackpool/Cumbria used to have a catering trolley before Northern took over the services.
Even though the purpose of Northern is not to provide a full first class offering, they do accomdate a lot of mid-distance commuter and business travellers, as well as tourists towards the Lake District & Peak District, so I think quite a lot of people using Northern for these reasons may appreciate a quiet place to work or relax, as these trains are frequently noisy and overcrowded. A catering provision would also be good both for standard plus and standard itself, as the above routes are well-used and long enough to justify a trolley; Manchester-Blackpool/Cumbria used to have a catering trolley before Northern took over the services.