SWT 'Buffet'

[Essexman]

On SWT from Waterloo to Andover this morning the guard announced that there was 'a buffet on board serving you at your seats'. I haven't heard this before. Was he being creative with the announcement or is this now a standard way to describe the trolley by SWT?

 

[tsr]

On SWT from Waterloo to Andover this morning the guard announced that there was 'a buffet on board serving you at your seats'. I haven't heard this before. Was he being creative with the announcement or is this now a standard way to describe the trolley by SWT?

On a 444, I hear the buffet section is now sometimes used to store the trolley, so the guard might have been confused about the differences between the two.

 

[Safety365]

'a buffet on board serving you at your seats'. I haven't heard this before. Was he being creative with the announcement or is this now a standard way to describe the trolley by SWT?

Trolley/At seat buffet...

Potato/Potato - Tomato/Tomato - lets call the whole thing off

 

[LexyBoy]

Trolley/At seat buffet...

Potato/Potato - Tomato/Tomato - lets call the whole thing off

Well, I'd expect that I'd be able to get a cup of tea from a "buffet", but know that from a "trolley" get a cup of warm water with a teabag in it .

 

[wintonian]

159's don't have buffets only a vestable to park in, creating the contradiction of a 'static trolley'.

On a 444, I hear the buffet section is now sometimes used to store the trolley, so the guard might have been confused about the differences between the two.

A 444 at Andover - how on earth did it get there?

 

[Drsatan]

159's don't have buffets only a vestable to park in, creating the contradiction of a 'static trolley'.

The trolley becomes an unofficial buffet anyway if the trolley can't be pushed through the train due to standing passengers or luggage in the vestibules, albeit one at an inconvenient location.

I'd be interested to see why SWT decided to replace the buffet on 444s with a trolley service. Maybe Stagecoach couldn't justify the costs of operating a till?

 

[wintonian]

The trolley becomes an unofficial buffet anyway if the trolley can't be pushed through the train due to standing passengers or luggage in the vestibules, albeit one at an inconvenient location.

I'd be interested to see why SWT decided to replace the buffet on 444s with a trolley service. Maybe Stagecoach couldn't justify the costs of operating a till?

Was it even a SWT decision?

I suspect RG decided that they might make more money by using trolleys and at the same time reduce costs by not having to maintain the buffets (cleaning, stock rotation and general maintenance etc.)

Either way I rarely want anything when the trolley passes by but on occasion do when its elsewhere, mind you RG prices are the main reason I try and buy a coffee etc. before boarding.

Don't think I have bought on board on a SWT service for some years now, however I have taken great delight in depriving RG of a free SWT paper cup and its contents of flavoured hot water on occasions.

 

[tsr]

Was it even a SWT decision?

I suspect RG decided that they might make more money by using trolleys and at the same time reduce costs by not having to maintain the buffets (cleaning, stock rotation and general maintenance etc.)

Either way I rarely want anything when the trolley passes by but on occasion do when its elsewhere, mind you RG prices are the main reason I try and buy a coffee etc. before boarding.

Don't think I have bought on board on a SWT service for some years now, however I have taken great delight in depriving RG of a free SWT paper cup and its contents of flavoured hot water on occasions.

Believe it or not, I have only ever once purchased anything from a trolley service in the last five or so years! Buffets, however, are a different matter entirely. I feel more inclined to let RG rip me off if my coffee is going to be even vaguely hot (I don't really care too hugely if it's not of the high taste standards I'm lucky enough to be used to - it's still a nice enough thing to have when I've been on the train for three hours...) and when the serving member of staff doesn't insist on scuffing my hi-vis jacket with an odd plastic-and-metal contraption.

 

[TrainBoy98]

Apart from when on a London-Sheffield 222, I will never buy anything from a trolley, but will always use the buffet if one is availible on any journey, dont know why, just preference I suppose.