Just to correct any impression, I did MIA - EDB, EDB - MAN this week and received good service and reasonable snacks (hot snacks were a sausage roll on one journey and a chicken balti pitta on the other) plus two services on each journey of hot and cold drinks (including one alcohol offering - after 4pm). I had however prepared and brought my own food and drink - just in case!
The only downside was the catering assistants had to work very hard throughout the journey. A single assistant does the full MIA - EDB journey and then the return EDB-MIA. They also do a standard class trolley service which took between an hour and two hours even through the trains were reasonably quiet. On the return there were just 6 passengers in Coach D south of PNR, on the northbound there could be no trolley service in standard PNR - CAR as at 4pm as it was a school run service and rammed jam full standing, although the 15 or so in the 1st Class vestibule seemed very well behaved. This meant that passengers in 1st Class on even quite long journeys using intermediate stations may miss out on catering, but that obviously didn't apply to Unstoppable's journey.
With regard to compensation, It is worth a try because the service offered is detailed on TPE's website and could be regarded as an "invitation to treat" However if you were on a Club 55 ticket the 1st Class uplift is very modest.
