GWR 1st catering now weekdays (& before 7:30pm) only, and not for Paddington Oxford customers

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I noticed on Great Western Railway’s website, on the First Class section, it now says

“On high speed services, long-distance, during the week” catering may be available in First Class. Click on this, and you get taken to the First Class catering page, which says:

Our host will be able to offer you a range of drinks and snacks at your seat*, including:

• tea and coffee
• juices, sodas, and water
• biscuits and cakes
• crisps

*We aim to offer a complimentary First Class at-seat trolley on high-speed services starting their journey 06:00-19:30 during the week, but this is not guaranteed.

No First Class catering is offered on the following routes: Penzance – Cardiff/Gloucester, Paddington – Newbury/Bedwyn, or Paddington – Oxford, Reading – Gatwick.

Obviously, catering is not available on North Downs services nor Regional services recently taken over from Castle HSTs, but we all know that and that’s not what I’m flagging up. Nor am I flagging up the fact they no longer offer sandwiches, porridge, pastries as they did until recently, as most of us on here know that too.

What I am flagging up is it now seems you won’t get anything on a weekend, or if you travel after 7:30pm… or if you travel on a Cotswolds service from Paddington you have to be going beyond Oxford, regardless of the time.

I just thought it seemed a rather subtle way of further running down the service. GWR First Class is well patronised.

 

[Towers]

Paddington - Oxford of course refers only to services starting/terminating at OXF, Cotswolds services should still have catering provided.

 

[Brissle Girl]

Gosh, that is a pretty paltry offering. I suppose the only advantage is that you should see a trolley (assuming one is present), whereas in standard you can go the whole length of a journey without it reaching you (or it does 10 mins before you are due to get off).

 

[Benjwri]

Gosh, that is a pretty paltry offering. I suppose the only advantage is that you should see a trolley (assuming one is present), whereas in standard you can go the whole length of a journey without it reaching you (or it does 10 mins before you are due to get off).

Or as I learnt today, travel on a peak train and it’ll come past 4 times between Didcot and Bath!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Paddington - Oxford of course refers only to services starting/terminating at OXF, Cotswolds services should still have catering provided.

Well you say “of course,” but other train companies have been known to restrict offerings depending on how far you are travelling, so they could indeed ask where you’re going on Cotswolds bound services and deny anyone alighting before Hanborough, or indeed on London bound trains could not serve after Oxford.

 

[Goldfish62]

Catering on GWR is a complete joke.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Catering on GWR is a complete joke.

Certainly the trolley-only approach doesn't work. For a long time I had a zero success rate of a cup of tea, it's now I think twice ever, but that's still poor.

 

[Goldfish62]

Certainly the trolley-only approach doesn't work. For a long time I had a zero success rate of a cup of tea, it's now I think twice ever, but that's still poor.

Plus what's actually on offer on the trolley is a very poor selection. Even poor old Cross Country manages better.

 

[trebor79]

Certainly the trolley-only approach doesn't work. For a long time I had a zero success rate of a cup of tea, it's now I think twice ever, but that's still poor.

Tea from a trolley is always horrid anyway because the water isn't hot enough.

 

[fgwrich]

Plus what's actually on offer on the trolley is a very poor selection. Even poor old Cross Country manages better.

Ah, but it’s what the customers wanted… is what we kept getting told. Cross Country’s FC offering is marginally better, LNERs is far far better. GWRs catering really has declined considerably since the loss of the HSTs.

 

[HORNIMANS]

Ah, but it’s what the customers wanted… is what we kept getting told. Cross Country’s FC offering is marginally better, LNERs is far far better. GWRs catering really has declined considerably since the loss of the HSTs.

I always get my goods for the journey before I get on the train, and preferably not at the statino.

 

[Goldfish62]

I always get my goods for the journey before I get on the train, and preferably not at the statino.

I don't blame you, but it is exactly what they want you to do of course so they can make a case for withdrawing catering altogether.

 

[northernbelle]

Catering has largely been on the decline for decades now - partly because of the increase in the number and quality of station outlets. I love the idea of getting food on the train, but I invariably prefer a picnic with products that are exactly what I wanted.

The need for on-board catering is really on journeys of a particular length where people may want a second cup of something or something to tide them over between meals - this is why the Anglo-Scottish express services still have a more substantial offer.

The fact that some TOCs have withdrawn catering altogether - GWR's friendly rival from Exeter to Waterloo has nothing at all - does show where the mood music is with this.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Generally the only thing I want on board is a hot drink on a journey longer than about 2 hours given that I'll take one on with me. It may well be more economic just to put out flasks of hot water and a load of sachets and paper cups and let people take them for free than to pay someone to serve them.

This isn't as ridiculous as it sounds - in the former Soviet Union and China it's normal for trains (even Chinese high speed ones) to have a samovar at the end of each coach providing free boiling water for your coffee, pot noodle or whatever.

 

[Flying Snail]

Generally the only thing I want on board is a hot drink on a journey longer than about 2 hours given that I'll take one on with me. It may well be more economic just to put out flasks of hot water and a load of sachets and paper cups and let people take them for free than to pay someone to serve them.

This isn't as ridiculous as it sounds - in the former Soviet Union and China it's normal for trains (even Chinese high speed ones) to have a samovar at the end of each coach providing free boiling water for your coffee, pot noodle or whatever.

Allow people to pour their own boiling water on H&S obsessed British railways, not going to happen.

 

[Towers]

Well you say “of course,” but other train companies have been known to restrict offerings depending on how far you are travelling, so they could indeed ask where you’re going on Cotswolds bound services and deny anyone alighting before Hanborough, or indeed on London bound trains could not serve after Oxford.

Fair point; I suppose it could be that a single member of catering staff might operate an initial Standard Class service on leaving London, given that loadings are much higher as far as Oxford than they are beyond, and then turn to the First offering once the train quietens down.

 

[yorkie]

This isn't as ridiculous as it sounds - in the former Soviet Union and China it's normal for trains (even Chinese high speed ones) to have a samovar at the end of each coach providing free boiling water for your coffee, pot noodle or whatever.

No need for such exotic comparisons; I've seen this in Switzerland, Norway, Sweden.

Allow people to pour their own boiling water on H&S obsessed British railways, not going to happen.

Agreed.

 

[dk1]

Plus what's actually on offer on the trolley is a very poor selection. Even poor old Cross Country manages better.

I’m usually quite impressed with XCs catering offer in standard.

 

[800001]

No need for such exotic comparisons; I've seen this in Switzerland, Norway, Sweden.

Agreed.

Put coffee machines on trains like they do on Swiss Stadler units, let customers pay and make there own.

But again HSS the manner of how British look after things would make it a no go.

 

[northernbelle]

Put coffee machines on trains like they do on Swiss Stadler units, let customers pay and make there own.

But again HSS the manner of how British look after things would make it a no go.

When the IEP design options were first being examined, Hitachi did actually offer vending facilities. In my view better for the customer than a trolley as it can provide the same product but more consistently.

The challenge would be around staff and what would happen to the jobs of the existing catering staff.

 

[irish_rail]

Catering has largely been on the decline for decades now - partly because of the increase in the number and quality of station outlets. I love the idea of getting food on the train, but I invariably prefer a picnic with products that are exactly what I wanted.

The need for on-board catering is really on journeys of a particular length where people may want a second cup of something or something to tide them over between meals - this is why the Anglo-Scottish express services still have a more substantial offer.

The fact that some TOCs have withdrawn catering altogether - GWR's friendly rival from Exeter to Waterloo has nothing at all - does show where the mood music is with this.

If Anglo Scottish expresses can have a decent offering, then why not the longer journeyed Anglo Cornish expresses? Also, catering at stations is generally more widely available at stations in London and the North, whereas the south west is very poorly served by food outlets on platforms. In an ideal world you would put a buffet on the Anglo Cornish trains I suppose and I guess this is the drawback of GWR being such a large varied operator.

 

[Snow1964]

I use GWR a lot but it's 3+ hour Portsmouth-Cardiff (serving 7 cities), which is my local route doesn't get any catering.

Last time I travelled on a GWR route that did, in First, offered a tea or coffee and given small pack of biscuits and cake. Rather odd choice for early breakfast at 6:30am

On return journey (in standard class) which was a busy Paddington-Taunton via Bristol, a static trolley was announced, no at seat service.

If I could rely on it, I would buy something, but just too patchy currently.

 

[Carlisle]

I’m usually quite impressed with XCs catering offer in standard.

They’ve only got 4 or 5 car Voyagers to get the trolley through whereas IEPs are up to 9 aren’t they ?

 

[800001]

When the IEP design options were first being examined, Hitachi did actually offer vending facilities. In my view better for the customer than a trolley as it can provide the same product but more consistently.

The challenge would be around staff and what would happen to the jobs of the existing catering staff.

Yep, that’s the downside. Staff losses. And also how the British public would behave with said machine.

I’ve been on the Swiss trains, and it’s a proper bean to cup coffee machine like they have in the buffet on LNER, a really nice hot cuppa.

 

[dk1]

They’ve only got 4 or 5 car Voyagers to get the trolley through whereas IEPs are up to 9 aren’t they ?

Sometimes only 5

 

[RailWonderer]

Allow people to pour their own boiling water on H&S obsessed British railways, not going to happen.

Having a coffee machine where you can press for hot water with a tea bag inside already seems more likely, which is widespread on German and Swiss trains.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I noticed on Great Western Railway’s website, on the First Class section, it now says

“On high speed services, long-distance, during the week” catering may be available in First Class. Click on this, and you get taken to the First Class catering page, which says:



Obviously, catering is not available on North Downs services nor Regional services recently taken over from Castle HSTs, but we all know that and that’s not what I’m flagging up. Nor am I flagging up the fact they no longer offer sandwiches, porridge, pastries as they did until recently, as most of us on here know that too.

What I am flagging up is it now seems you won’t get anything on a weekend, or if you travel after 7:30pm… or if you travel on a Cotswolds service from Paddington you have to be going beyond Oxford, regardless of the time.

I just thought it seemed a rather subtle way of further running down the service. GWR First Class is well patronised.

GWR FC offering always been poor relation compared to Avanti and LNER

 

[D1537]

GWR FC offering always been poor relation compared to Avanti and LNER

Especially LNER, which is excellent. I have no problem forking out the extra for FC on LNER ... as for the others, not so much, as it's simply not as reliable.

 

[Master29]

Another point many of us made a few years back when the IET's first entered service was the lack of a decent buffet selection in both standard and first. It was met with such ridiculous comments like "it would take away 16 seats from standard. This considering the huge kitchens that take up almost half a unit in a five car train but were, and indeed still are unused most of the time. It seems to have been justified parrot fashion at times. Now it seems it's deteriorated further. It was always pure madness to put a trolley on a 9 car train with almost 600 standard seats.

 

[Flying Snail]

GWR FC offering always been poor relation compared to Avanti and LNER

And MML/EMT, not sure about EMR.