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Gangways blocked at stations by catering trolley

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Wow! If there is an advance block booking by a group, don't they know to lengthen the train?

A lot of the trains I travel on involve the guard announcements saying the trolley can't get through, shows a lot about my experience of rail travel!

Our services are booked to be a four car unit now (2x 158s), however booked and reality are two different things!

As it’s a 158, the PA handset is in the cabs of the unit so it’s upto the guard to announce these things, although on some trains (none of ours) the catering staff can do announcements.

Pacers ;):lol:

Now that would be a challenge to serve food and drinks on!

We’ve done it before on pacers, both of the 142 and 144 variety!
 
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DanDaDriver

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I’m just surprised given that people will take to twitter to demand a guards sacking for asking them to take their feet off the seats or asking them to please not stand so close to the passing train that it will kill you, that someone would say that sort of thing in that way.

Particularly the bit about “Staff are more important than the customers now...

Having a rethink on this one now to be honest :rolleyes:
 

virgintrain1

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It's a difficult one, as NoOnesFool mentioned, they have a job to do and targets to reach.

Personally, I believe it's up to the TOC for setting reasonable targets for staff, depending on the route and the stops and making sure that there is a good line of communication between all members of train crew, so say the train stops at a short platform and the trolley needs to move, the member of staff can let the guard/manager know to hold the doors open a bit longer. Or the TOC can make sure all members of staff are trained to know the length of time between stops and short platforms, etc, so they have good knowledge of the most efficient/least disruptive way to serve passengers.

NoOnesFool mentioned being assigned to an all stations morning peak, which whilst it probably brings in a lot of revenue, I can defiantly see how conflicts of movement occur, especially in the tight aisles of many British trains!


Think it is important to note the differences between TOC based catering staff and agency staff like Rail Gourmet or similar which NoOnesFool seems to work for. TOC employed catering staff have long training courses which focus heavily on customer service as well as safety training and other responsibilities such as being the competent person in the other half a double set. These staff are paid well and have good Terms and conditions so are likely to have more pride and loyalty to their TOC.

However it seems outsourced on train catering providers likely give minimal training, minimal pay and of course their main focus is to sell and achieve their targets. Now I have seen a lot of agency staff go well beyond and provide excellent customer service for all sorts of situations. But of course there will be some staff that simply don't really care about their role as they possibly feel their employer doesn't care about them.
 

tiptoptaff

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If NoOnesFool was acting like they've described on a train at my TOC, I'd have them off at the next stop, control informed and the incident logged. Then when their manager asks why they didn't make so many passes or meet sales targets, they'd have to say "A manager from the TOC threw me off for being rude to passengers"

Can't see that one going well for them.

Acting the way you say that do/would is not an acceptable attitude towards passengers. There are times that you need to be firm and tell them no, but ultimately, you're a portable hired-in kettle there to serve them refreshments. Finish serving, move over, be done with it. Don't get arsey with them. Telling them they should have known where 1st is, is a less than satisfactory retort.

I'd strongly suggest you have a rethink about how you approach you job.
 

Jonfun

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If NoOnesFool was acting like they've described on a train at my TOC, I'd have them off at the next stop, control informed and the incident logged. Then when their manager asks why they didn't make so many passes or meet sales targets, they'd have to say "A manager from the TOC threw me off for being rude to passengers"

Can't see that one going well for them.

Acting the way you say that do/would is not an acceptable attitude towards passengers. There are times that you need to be firm and tell them no, but ultimately, you're a portable hired-in kettle there to serve them refreshments. Finish serving, move over, be done with it. Don't get arsey with them. Telling them they should have known where 1st is, is a less than satisfactory retort.

I'd strongly suggest you have a rethink about how you approach you job.

I'm genuinely surprised there's TOCs out there which allow - with the greatest of respect - random (and by that I mean, not ones responsible for managing catering) managers to throw catering staff off trains. At my TOC catering staff are a valued part of the on-train team, who are left to operate the catering service in a safety-conscious and professional way.
 

island

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Ultimately the guard controls the train and who does and does not ride on it.
 

LowLevel

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Ultimately the guard controls the train and who does and does not ride on it.

To a degree. Throwing people with a job to do off willy nilly is liable to result in a please explain.

Putting other staff off trains is a serious step to take and it would take serious misconduct for me to even consider it, to the point that I'd be expecting a supervisor or manager to meet them.

The host being stroppy would result in me giving them a talking to and potentially reporting them to the TOC management. They would have to commit a serious safety breach to be removed from the train.
 

reb0118

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was getting on a train at Haymarket and the train was changed platform right at the last moment....... I got on nearest carriage and I had to go past the buffet which had a trolley in the middle of the aisle. I asked the attendant if I could come by, along with a few others who did the same as me, she told me that no, you will have to wait until Waverley and that if I learn to read, I might get on the correct carriage the next time.

Got to Waverley and I asked past and she refused to let me past and told me to get off the train and change carriage and to ask another passenger who can read if I need help. Few people then pushed past the trolley and she then went ballistic saying that now East Coast is in public ownership the staff are the important ones, not the passengers and an empty train was a happy train. People like that should not be working in customer facing roles on the railway.


Would this be more of a class issue? AFAIAA the trolley is parked there to discourage the contamination of first class by wandering standard class plebians.
 

LowLevel

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If NoOnesFool was acting like they've described on a train at my TOC, I'd have them off at the next stop, control informed and the incident logged. Then when their manager asks why they didn't make so many passes or meet sales targets, they'd have to say "A manager from the TOC threw me off for being rude to passengers"

Can't see that one going well for them.

Acting the way you say that do/would is not an acceptable attitude towards passengers. There are times that you need to be firm and tell them no, but ultimately, you're a portable hired-in kettle there to serve them refreshments. Finish serving, move over, be done with it. Don't get arsey with them. Telling them they should have known where 1st is, is a less than satisfactory retort.

I'd strongly suggest you have a rethink about how you approach you job.

If you're working for a DOO TOC fair enough though I don't think many have trolleys.

If you attempted to throw anyone off my train as a manager I can assure you that you would be next out of the door. I think you meant to say that you would raise your concern with the guard respecting that the chain of authority on board does not feature the job title TOC Manager and would support and respect them in their decision making.
 

Bletchleyite

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Would this be more of a class issue? AFAIAA the trolley is parked there to discourage the contamination of first class by wandering standard class plebians.

It is, but that's not to stop someong going into Standard having erroneously boarded in 1st. It's also not the job of a catering host to deal with any matters relating to where a passenger should or should not be on a train based on what tickets they may or may not happen to hold. That's the responsibility of the guard, and any additional ticket inspecting staff/RPIs who may be on board.
 

virgintrain1

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It is, but that's not to stop someong going into Standard having erroneously boarded in 1st. It's also not the job of a catering host to deal with any matters relating to where a passenger should or should not be on a train based on what tickets they may or may not happen to hold. That's the responsibility of the guard, and any additional ticket inspecting staff/RPIs who may be on board.
There's something called teamwork amongst train crew. Asides any member of railway staff can ask to see a passengers ticket.

If you were traveling first class on a double set in the portion without the TM. Would you be happy for first class to be a free for all? Or would you rather the Service Manager does the tickets ?
 

Bletchleyite

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There's something called teamwork amongst train crew. Asides any member of railway staff can ask to see a passengers ticket.

If you were traveling first class on a double set in the portion without the TM. Would you be happy for first class to be a free for all? Or would you rather the Service Manager does the tickets ?

If the guard is happy for them to do so, yes. However, I very much doubt the guard is happy for a passenger to be told they can't pass from First to Standard because they erroneously boarded there.
 

NoOnesFool

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If NoOnesFool was acting like they've described on a train at my TOC, I'd have them off at the next stop, control informed and the incident logged. Then when their manager asks why they didn't make so many passes or meet sales targets, they'd have to say "A manager from the TOC threw me off for being rude to passengers"

Can't see that one going well for them.

Acting the way you say that do/would is not an acceptable attitude towards passengers. There are times that you need to be firm and tell them no, but ultimately, you're a portable hired-in kettle there to serve them refreshments. Finish serving, move over, be done with it. Don't get arsey with them. Telling them they should have known where 1st is, is a less than satisfactory retort.

I'd strongly suggest you have a rethink about how you approach you job.
I'd strongly suggest you read posts before making assumptions. I have not said I told anyone that they should know where first class is. My personal and private opinion is that they should have common sense, but that is my personal opinion and that doesn't mean it effects my working life. You seem to be confusing what people say out of work, when not on duty and representing the company as how they would react in a professional format. Alas, us "portable kettles" aren't smart enough to bite our tongues. We lack the intellect of you superiors.
 

adamello

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I'd strongly suggest you read posts before making assumptions. I have not said I told anyone that they should know where first class is. My personal and private opinion is that they should have common sense, but that is my personal opinion and that doesn't mean it effects my working life. You seem to be confusing what people say out of work, when not on duty and representing the company as how they would react in a professional format. Alas, us "portable kettles" aren't smart enough to bite our tongues. We lack the intellect of you superiors.

I think it was implied here:

...I am a Trolley Host and can't tell you how irritating it is when somebody can clearly see you are busy serving and demands to be let through. Especially those who want to travel in First Class but board at the other end of the train...
 

Facing Back

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Perhaps I've been lucky. I travel a couple of times a week on trains with catering trolleys and I've never experienced that kind of rudeness from a trolley host.

I'll wait until they finish serving the current customer of course then we do the little shuffle for me to get past. Unless the train is stopping and I need to get off, I won't leave my seat knowing that there is a trolley in the way though.

If one refused to let me past at all I would find that completely unacceptable but I simply wouldn't expect it to happen on Virgin WC or Transpennine (or XC as they never seem to have any catering when I'm on them).
 

Waldgrun

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If I recall correctly the use of trolleys,came about in the 1980's when the Scottish Region of British Railway needed to expand replace catering services, as it was felt that MK 1 vehicles where long in the tooth and too expensive to do! Their answer was to rip out the toilet of a B.SO. to provide a serving area, the trolley was not meant to be wheeled through the train, it was a means to quickly stock and de-stock the vehicle, due to a number of robberies. Also, because foodstuffs where prepackaged full staff facilities where not required. However, some members of staff discovered that they could increase their takings! By, wheeling it through the train! So it spread, I recall being trapped by one, when traveling in a declassified MK 2 BFK near Sheffield.
Also, trolleys varied in design, some used at one time on the Waterloo to Exeter route, towered above one when sat, they seemed to be over 6 foot high! Never felt safe when was of those was near me, due to the fact that quite often cans would be held in the top rack!
It is not common knowledge, but I have heard at least one injury was caused by one in the Severn Tunnel crash of Dec 7th 1991, so I have been told the operative ankle was broken by trolley impact!
 

Jozhua

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There's something called teamwork amongst train crew. Asides any member of railway staff can ask to see a passengers ticket.

If you were traveling first class on a double set in the portion without the TM. Would you be happy for first class to be a free for all? Or would you rather the Service Manager does the tickets ?

On some services, such as TPE 185's, one of the two toilets is located the other side of first class, meaning that standard class passengers often have to go through to use the bog, especially when the other isn't working. Obviously standard class passengers shouldn't sit in first class, but there is no problem in letting people walk through all parts of the train, especially when they might end up boarding or needing to alight (short platforms, etc) in a first class area, or to use one of few functional bogs.
 
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