London North Eastern Railway (LNER) First Class service

Nice to see a bit of progress.

A diary were the event although no change on the trolley is maybe a little off-putting to the majority of customers

Took the 1625 NCL-KGX today, 3 drinks, hot food, chipper staff. Exactly as it should be, no complaints!

The cynic in me says that they will now improve slightly because they are getting out of the franchise early so want to leave some kind of good reputation

The new Virgin Trains East Coast first class menu goes live next week and as nothing has yet been published on their website about it (if you look on their catering pages it still lists the old menu for next week).

You can see it here

I would also like to highlight (scroll to the Christmas section) that 2nd Jan (working day in England, holiday in Scotland) is only offering a weekend service so no hot food or alcohol. I can see people being annoyed that the first working day of the new year they can't get a cooked breakfast on board. Last time they did this they used the holiday in Scotland as an excuse even though they normally follow English holidays when England and Scotland differ.

So, assuming the staffing issues get fixed and catering becomes more reliable, this is a generally good menu. I'm looking forward to trying the evening meal services.

EDIT: forgot to add first class to the title, can a moderator update it? There's no changes to the standard class Foodbar menu.

I believe the Breakfast on the 2nd issue is to do with lack of suppliers. To have fresh food for breakfast on 2nd, requires suppliers to be available on 1st January. This might be a possibility in England, less so in Scotland. As the 2nd is also a Bank Holiday in Scotland this makes it even less likely.

To have Breakfast on Northbound trains only, starts getting messy. Easier to have no breakfast on the 2nd

@SaveECRewards

Click 'Thread Tools' top right under the red Reply to Thread box and you can then edit the title

I can’t say I’m particularly enamoured with the new choice of sandwiches (which is, let’s face it, all that will be on offer most of the time). It’s unfortunate that they’ve limited the choice on the first rotation of a sandwich with either cream cheese or cheddar cheese ...

The Lentil Chilli sounds good. I can't understand how a sandwich can be classed as an evening meal. The sandwiches do sound good though, I've never heard of Kromberg mayonnaise before I looked at the old VTEC menu.

Fuzzytop said:

I can’t say I’m particularly enamoured with the new choice of sandwiches (which is, let’s face it, all that will be on offer most of the time). It’s unfortunate that they’ve limited the choice on the first rotation of a sandwich with either cream cheese or cheddar cheese ...

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I take it you are vegan? I think if you ask your First Class Host, they could serve you the Lentil Chilli, without sour cream. It might be all mixed in already though, it depends how it's made.

My continuing complaint is the lack of a decent portion of hot food, preferably with vegetables, on southbound evening trains.

MG11 said:

I take it you are vegan? I think if you ask your First Class Host, they could serve you the Lentil Chilli, without sour cream. It might be all mixed in already though, it depends how it's made.

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Carnivore and proud - just not a fan of the heavy and sickly sandwiches with lots of cheese. At present there’s a fairly uncontroversial wrap on each rotation which is a good fallback if you’re on a train with cold food only. That first rotation now has two cheese sandwiches - one with mayo and the other with a few wisps of salmon - which doesn’t provide much choice.

Not been in 1st class for a few months until this evening. Is it my imagination or have they become even meaner with the wine?

Well credit where it is due. Ten journeys on VTEC this week and the full service provided on them all.

Here’s hoping it’s not a one off.

New menu looks good

Blindtraveler said:

The cynic in me says that they will now improve slightly because they are getting out of the franchise early so want to leave some kind of good reputation

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Well we do know they are undoing some of the 'customer centred revolution' (David Horne's words) and have hired 50 more staff to replace some of those who took voluntary redundancy. We'll see soon enough whether this is enough to get the service back up to a reliable standard. I hope they do turn things around, they need to get the public on their side so if they do bid in 2020 we'd actually be happy to see them win!

Deafdoggie said:

I believe the Breakfast on the 2nd issue is to do with lack of suppliers. To have fresh food for breakfast on 2nd, requires suppliers to be available on 1st January. This might be a possibility in England, less so in Scotland. As the 2nd is also a Bank Holiday in Scotland this makes it even less likely.

To have Breakfast on Northbound trains only, starts getting messy. Easier to have no breakfast on the 2nd

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I'm sure last time this happened other providers such as VTWC and GWR managed their breakfast offerings. I know GWR is entirely in England, but VTWC covers Glasgow and Edinburgh too. If they're not offering breakfast on the 2nd it needs to be clearly stated on the website, not relying on a 3rd party to reveal this info.

However, since I've posted this ^MS on the social media team assures me it'll be a full service that day. Although we know they can be wrong I've adjusted the article based on that info.

westv said:

Not been in 1st class for a few months until this evening. Is it my imagination or have they become even meaner with the wine?

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The glasses changed to a smaller size late in 2016, although the old glasses may have lived on a little longer on certain trains. The official reason for using the new glasses was that they were stackable.

They also reduced the size of the Coke cans, but this week we were back to 330ml cans. However the staff booklet I got the new menus from still lists the coke as 250ml cans, so was it a supply issue with the smaller cans I don't know yet.

Chrism20 said:

Well credit where it is due. Ten journeys on VTEC this week and the full service provided on them all.

Here’s hoping it’s not a one off.

New menu looks good

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Same here, excellent 4 journeys last week (2 evening meal trains northbound, 2 rest of day southbound) and they were excellent. This week I thought my luck was running out, a late arriving train meant that the chef warned it was highly unlikely they'd get the food loaded, but it did arrive at the last minute. The train was then diverted due to someone being hit by a train, but as the service was so good (it took an hour to get to Stevenage so the passengers going there had the rare opportunity to sample the evening meal) and the reasons were beyond VTECs control everybody had something good to say. Someone said near me "it's sad that yet another person has taken their life but full marks to the train crew for looking after us in these difficult circumstances"

Encouraging that it looks like it might be getting a bit better again.

I went out of my way to make a journey via the west coast the other day because I knew that VTEC would get on my nerves with their half cocked service. So I must return soon - I can't wait to experience the latest stage of the customer centred revolution...

47271 said:

Encouraging that it looks like it might be getting a bit better again.

I went out of my way to make a journey via the west coast the other day because I knew that VTEC would get on my nerves with their half cocked service. So I must return soon - I can't wait to experience the latest stage of the customer centred revolution...

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Let’s see how things go. I’ll be watching the feedback on Twitter and I’ll also be travelling on Monday to experience the new menu (so I won’t be happy if I lose the catering lottery. I guess there might still be a risk of not getting the advertised service for a short while but hopefully they’ve hired enough people to make things more reliable.


They had a vision of using technology to make the journey experience seamless. When in reality they’re now in a worse situation technology wise than they were before they launched the new website. Something needs to happen, this year through cutbacks both standard and first class suffered.

I’ve noticed it winds up David Horne if I say they plan to close York ticket office. I think that’s a fair comment because a ‘customer zone’ with more machines and no desks (just staff roaming the floor) is not a ticket office. I think eventually a traditional ticket office may become obsolete, but even if the new ticket machines had been excellent and the website had no issues I think it’s still premature to get rid of them.

I occasionally get First Class: breakfast time southbound, evening northbound.

It’s less than 50% likely you’ll get a dessert in the evening (latest excuse was a late arrival meant they didn’t have enough cutlery!). Drink provision especially Hop On Board is rationed, normally to 1. Hot food provision remains hit and miss and half the time they don’t even bother handing out a menu for fear of disappointment.

Good riddance to Stagecoach. Just don’t give them a bailout for breach of contract.

Since my booking of a trip on a Pendolino everyone keeps saying “The food is better on VTEC!”

Well, that maybe true, but would you really want to eat food that’s been in this kitchen?!

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/virgin-trains-kitchen-pictured-covered-in-rat-droppings-as-union-warns-of-rodent-infestation-a3714151.html?amp

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Enjoy your meal

TT-ONR-NRN said:

Since my booking of a trip on a Pendolino everyone keeps saying “The food is better on VTEC!”

Well, that maybe true, but would you really want to eat food that’s been in this kitchen?!



Enjoy your meal

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Newsflash: Kitchens all over the place get rodents.

Ah, well.

GW43125 said:

Newsflash: Kitchens all over the place get rodents.

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In theory it should never be a problem with good hygiene, building maintenance and correct storage of food and waste.

Some personal thoughts, for what they're worth, from yesterday's down Chieftain.

Boarded at Newcastle. Coaches J and L very cold; Coach M was warmer.

Coach J filthy. Carpets covered in accumulated grit and dirt, understandably brought on board given the prevailing inclement conditions, but perhaps no tools to deal with en route. Looked very poor, however. Seats in our bay covered in food debris, two in particular.

Inverness crew prepared service very quickly and pro-actively (and repeatedly) suggested moving to Coach M, but we preferred to stay in the Quiet Coach and keep coats on. Food orders taken straight away, and cold and hot drink trolleys followed straight after.

Cold drinks were nicely chilled, although this could well have been ambient from pre-loading storage.

I had the chicken and potatoes. A few pieces of good quality chicken, with a few lumps of onion and mushroom, in a gelatinous gloop. Tasty, in an MSG sort of way. Some halved baby potatoes. Tiny overall. Companions had the sausage roll; no review of that required, save to refer back to the state of the seats on boarding and being able to identify the cause. Reminiscent of when some airlines started using 'Dairystix' milk sachets, which have a tendency to squirt on upholstery on opening. The flakiness of the pastry is totally unsuited to the environment - looking down the sides of the seats was revealing. No rats noted looking back, thankfully.

Observed also that the red 'flashes' in the seat leather, especially on the seat base, are becoming blackened with wear. Whether its 'bleed' from the surrounding dye, or just grime, wasn't obvious.

One further drinks run to Edinburgh, and menus swapped prior to arrival, along with a thorough table clean using a 'Flash Wipe' type of cloth. Notably, they also gave vacant seats a wipe over, as the inbound crew from London hadn't done/been able to do prior to Newcastle.

On departure from Edinburgh, food orders taken once again. Cold drinks trolley only, and advice to newly-boarded (and therefore cold) passengers that hot drinks would not be offered until food service was complete. I chose from the sandwich selection, noted above to fundamentally be cheese or cheese. I had the cheese with salmon version, which for a cheese with salmon sandwich was very, very good, I thought. Looked fairly paltry in its little box, but not at all bad for a packet butty.

For this service, the (rather sickly, but possibly thankfully mouthful-sized) orange muffin was dished out at the same time as the cutlery, presented once the order had been taken. Companions had (another) sausage roll, and the Truffle Mac 'n' Cheese. The previous incarnation of the latter was, I found, appalling, and this new version is exactly the same, with some salty grit on top. Still tastes like supermarket own-brand tinned macaroni cheese. Even the version now sold by Greggs is leagues ahead.

Temperature rose very slightly in the carriage as time went on, though with regular icy blasts and apologies and suggestions to move from the crew.

Hot drink run followed, and then two more cold drink runs, the latter still nicely chilled, so perhaps the icy blasts had a useful side-effect.

Crew did not stop until well past Aviemore; they worked like absolute trojans and were friendly, professional and very considerate. I couldn't praise them more. The only comparable crew service I've experienced recently was in GWR Pullman Dining. Truly First Class.

I might also mention that I thought that the new uniforms for the serving staff looked terrific on board. Oddly, the use of dark navy with red stripe accents looked, to me, exactly what a GNER uniform might have looked like. The long aprons suited the scheme well. No idea whether they're comfortable or practical, but I liked them a lot. Slightly surprised by this, as the overcoat they're also wearing off-train (in particular), and the new garb sported by station staff and Train Managers, makes them appear to be members of The Tufty Club's 2017 Noddy-Themed Christmas Party to my eyes. The ties also look like share price graphs (perhaps the lowest point of the V-stripe is when the franchise was renegotiated the other week).

Overall, then, the corporately-mandated part of the experience was, we thought, generally shoddy.

The crew service, by contrast, was exactly what it should be and more, and perhaps that highlighted the generally crap nature of nearly everything else particularly acutely.

As I said at the outset, all of the above totally, subjectively, personal; as is the choice to pay extra for First Class and its advertised benefits.

There was a picture of the chicken on Twitter yesterday (possibly a RT by @SaveECRewards) and it looked exactly as you described - a gelatinous gloop

Initially impressed to see a vegan main back on the menu. However you've got to choose the right week, so for my trips next week it'll be apple and crisps.

Vegan? Uuuuurgh!!

westv said:

Vegan? Uuuuurgh!!

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Haha. Indeed, I’m not a massive fan of Vegan dishes either!

Only a rest of the day menu on the train back this evening, advertised as full evening menu. The crew said it was because there was no chef, as if it was all planned. Taking the mickey for a four hour plus journey with barely any food and only the nastiest drink left (already). Couldn’t they at least be honest with passengers and give up the pretence that there’s a food offer?

Help me out here please.

Man sitting across the aisle gets on at York. They come round and take orders. “I’ll just have the toast and jam” he says.

So along they come and serve him two slices of toast, a croissant, yoghurt and a little pot of jam.

Man says “I don’t think this is mine, I only ordered toast and jam”.

The response.

“You can’t have toast and jam on its own, you have to have the light breakfast”

The man just looks on in disbelief.

Surely this cannot be right.

Chrism20 said:

Help me out here please.

Man sitting across the aisle gets on at York. They come round and take orders. “I’ll just have the toast and jam” he says.

So along they come and serve him two slices of toast, a croissant, yoghurt and a little pot of jam.

Man says “I don’t think this is mine, I only ordered toast and jam”.

The response.

“You can’t have toast and jam on its own, you have to have the light breakfast”

The man just looks on in disbelief.

Surely this cannot be right.

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No it can't be right!

VTEC crew are great in the adversity dealt to them by their employers but you do very occasionally get ones who are a bit odd. My favourite was in East Coast days, so not one to pin on VTEC to be fair.

I was travelling from Edinburgh to York on a late morning train. As we left Newcastle they came round taking lunch orders (those were the days when lunch existed reliably on the route) and I politely asked that if I ordered now would it come round in time for me to finish it to get it off at York.

This brought an outraged response. 'East Coast has a policy of only serving meals to passengers making a journey of over 70 minutes!'.

'But I got on at Edinburgh?'

This made things worse. 'I didn't know that you got on at Edinburgh!'

I ignored the attitude and gave my lunch order, which did arrive.

I felt like saying 'And I didn't know that I was going to be served by an officious little twerp.' But I didn't, I probably had the same look on my face as the man with the light breakfast.