Kilmarnock to Girvan - Catering

Scotrail314209 · 26 May 2019

Hey all,

I was looking on ScotRail Journey Check and it is saying that there is a catering service on the 08:01 Kilmarnock to Girvan (arriving 08:55), is this an error or is it a new thing they are trialling.

Would've thought a trolley service would've been more appropriate on the Stranraer services.

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route101 · 27 May 2019

Scotrail314209 said:
Hey all,

I was looking on ScotRail Journey Check and it is saying that there is a catering service on the 08:01 Kilmarnock to Girvan (arriving 08:55), is this an error or is it a new thing they are trialling.

Would've thought a trolley service would've been more appropriate on the Stranraer services.

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They were trialling catering on Glasgow to Carlisle services , though not sure if they still do and its not advertised on the timetables.

Mathew S · 27 May 2019

route101 said:
They were trialling catering on Glasgow to Carlisle services , though not sure if they still do and its not advertised on the timetables.

There was a trolley on the Carlisle - Glasgow ScotRail service I travelled on a few weeks ago. And very lovely and friendly the staff were as well.

route101 · 27 May 2019

Mathew S said:
There was a trolley on the Carlisle - Glasgow ScotRail service I travelled on a few weeks ago. And very lovely and friendly the staff were as well.

Pity they dont put a catering symbol on the timetables.

Mathew S · 27 May 2019

route101 said:
Pity they dont put a catering symbol on the timetables.

Entirely possible, if it's a trial as someone said, that it's not on every service. If it's a limited service they can't guarantee, better not to advertise it. Then, if it does well in spite of that, you can be fairly confident that, introduced permanently with advertising, it would be successful.

380101 · 27 May 2019

route101 said:
They were trialling catering on Glasgow to Carlisle services , though not sure if they still do and its not advertised on the timetables.

It wasn't a trial. It was a franchise commitment to introduce a trolley service on the Carlisle services by April 2017 - a date they missed by almost 8 months!

Scotrail314209 · 27 May 2019

The trolley can be very hit and miss on when it is provided on Carlisle trains, the 8:37 on a Saturday and 19

omething return didn’t have any trolley service.

Although I think we are getting away from the topic as catering has never been provided on any Girvan or Stranraer service, so with it being a 55 minute journey it seems a bit of a waste, wonder if it was just an error.

hexagon789 · 27 May 2019

Scotrail314209 said:
The trolley can be very hit and miss on when it is provided on Carlisle trains, the 8:37 on a Saturday and 19omething return didn’t have any trolley service.

Although I think we are getting away from the topic as catering has never been provided on any Girvan or Stranraer service, so with it being a 55 minute journey it seems a bit of a waste, wonder if it was just an error.

Stranraer trains had trolleys in the recent past. Not sure when they got rid of them.

Scotrail314209 · 27 May 2019

hexagon789 said:
Stranraer trains had trolleys in the recent past. Not sure when they got rid of them.

I've always thought there would be a case for bringing the trolley back on the Stranraer service, as it is really well used. But given the current situation at Ayr, would they be able to have a catering depot there, or would it need to be Kilmarnock?

hexagon789 · 27 May 2019

Scotrail314209 said:
I've always thought there would be a case for bringing the trolley back on the Stranraer service, as it is really well used. But given the current situation at Ayr, would they be able to have a catering depot there, or would it need to be Kilmarnock?

I believe the Glasgow-Kilmarnock-Dumfries-Carlisle catering is based in Glasgow, so you might only be able to have it on through services.

Not sure if another catering base would be on the cards.

route101 · 27 May 2019

hexagon789 said:
I believe the Glasgow-Kilmarnock-Dumfries-Carlisle catering is based in Glasgow, so you might only be able to have it on through services.

Not sure if another catering base would be on the cards.

Glasgow Central im sure . Only Scotrail service t have catering from central so may even be Queens St the stock and trolleys come from

Mathew S · 28 May 2019

route101 said:
Glasgow Central im sure . Only Scotrail service t have catering from central so may even be Queens St the stock and trolleys come from

Logically there must be at least a handful of staff based south of Glasgow, I'm assuming if not Carlisle then Dumfries, to work the early services from Carlisle to Glasgow (which leave Carlisle before anything ScotRail arrives from Glasgow).

Carlisle · 28 May 2019

Mathew S said:
Logically there must be at least a handful of staff based south of Glasgow, I'm assuming if not Carlisle then Dumfries, ).

There’s a few based at Carlisle. not sure about Dumfries.

Scotrail314209 · 29 May 2019

I think for the Glasgow Central base, they use the area where TransPennine keep their catering, (I think it's the lift at Platform 7).

380101 · 29 May 2019

Scotrail314209 said:
I've always thought there would be a case for bringing the trolley back on the Stranraer service, as it is really well used. But given the current situation at Ayr, would they be able to have a catering depot there, or would it need to be Kilmarnock?

There's hardly any space for traincrew at Kilmarnock, let alone a catering crew!

It's a 2 hour journey from Kilmarnock to Stranraer, add another 30 min on if its one of the services that start at Glasgow and it justifies a catering trolley but I doubt we'll see one anytime soon given they've scaled back the Glasgow - Carlisle trolley service in the last few months.

380101 · 29 May 2019

Carlisle said:
There’s a few based at Carlisle. not sure about Dumfries.

None at Dumfries, just Carlisle and Glasgow Central.

Scotrail314209 · 29 May 2019

380101 said:
There's hardly any space for traincrew at Kilmarnock, let alone a catering crew!

It's a 2 hour journey from Kilmarnock to Stranraer, add another 30 min on if its one of the services that start at Glasgow and it justifies a catering trolley but I doubt we'll see one anytime soon given they've scaled back the Glasgow - Carlisle trolley service in the last few months.

Is that the reason why some Saturday services are running without a trolley?

From experience it's the 08:37 from Glasgow and 19:20 off Carlisle.

I was also going to suggest Ayr, but with the ongoing hotel situation there isn't much room for it. Stranraer could also be an option but it would mean that catering staff would have to alight at Kilmarnock.

380101 · 29 May 2019

Scotrail314209 said:
Is that the reason why some Saturday services are running without a trolley?

From experience it's the 08:37 from Glasgow and 19:20 off Carlisle.

I was also going to suggest Ayr, but with the ongoing hotel situation there isn't much room for it. Stranraer could also be an option but it would mean that catering staff would have to alight at Kilmarnock.

No idea on why they've scaled it back, but speaking to some of the catering staff when travelling back pass to Kilmarnock a few months ago they mentioned that they hardly sell anything on some of the later trains so I guess the bosses have decided its not worth having them on those services. All the staff were agency aswell, so they've maybe secured permanent positions elsewhere in the company and the jobs just haven't been filled.

There's no room at Stranraer for a catering depot either. Very little room or facilities as it is for staff there.

Scotrail314209 · 29 May 2019

380101 said:
No idea on why they've scaled it back, but speaking to some of the catering staff when travelling back pass to Kilmarnock a few months ago they mentioned that they hardly sell anything on some of the later trains so I guess the bosses have decided its not worth having them on those services. All the staff were agency aswell, so they've maybe secured permanent positions elsewhere in the company and the jobs just haven't been filled.

There's no room at Stranraer for a catering depot either. Very little room or facilities as it is for staff there.

I have noticed that about the later services, they are normally very empty past Dumfries.

CJSwan · 30 May 2019

A lot of agency staff across the whole of ScotRail hospitality have recently been let go, which has lead to a lot of services without catering lately.

Scotrail314209 · 30 May 2019

CJSwan said:
A lot of agency staff across the whole of ScotRail hospitality have recently been let go, which has lead to a lot of services without catering lately.

That seems like a bad move on ScotRail's part, was it a contract thing or have they genuinely laid them off?

CJSwan · 30 May 2019

The ones that I know of were only given a weeks notice that they were no longer required, and it came as a surprise to all!

I’ve also heard that the existing stewards are not being allowed to do overtime, and on the refurbished HSTs it’s to be one steward on their own, to work: first class, a trolley service, open the buffet counter to offer hot snacks, do a rubbish run, stock take on both trolley and buffet counter, and cash up two separate amounts for the trolley and buffet counter.

It seems that hospitality across the whole company is being scaled back to the bare minimum.

Also there’s rumours of 12 hour shifts being introduced, again with minimum PnB (Personal Needs Break) built into that time.

Although this is hospitality as whole, I’m not sure how the Glasgow-Carlisle line is affected as I’m further north. But this is what I’m seeing/hearing everyday.

sprunt · 30 May 2019

CJSwan said:
I’ve also heard that the existing stewards are not being allowed to do overtime, and on the refurbished HSTs it’s to be one steward on their own, to work: first class, a trolley service, open the buffet counter to offer hot snacks, do a rubbish run, stock take on both trolley and buffet counter, and cash up two separate amounts for the trolley and buffet counter.

It seems that hospitality across the whole company is being scaled back to the bare minimum.

Also there’s rumours of 12 hour shifts being introduced, again with minimum PnB (Personal Needs Break) built into that time.

This sounds appalling. I'm guessing they aren't unionised?

CJSwan · 30 May 2019

sprunt said:
This sounds appalling. I'm guessing they aren't unionised?

They are actually

route101 · 30 May 2019

sprunt said:
This sounds appalling. I'm guessing they aren't unionised?

Do wonder how long the buffets willlast on the HST?

I thought catering with scotrail was in house with no agency involved , though i wondered when i noticed a few had central/eastern european accents .

380101 · 30 May 2019

route101 said:
I thought catering with scotrail was in house with no agency involved , though i wondered when i noticed a few had central/eastern european accents .

Having an accent other than Scottish means hee haw! ScotRail, like most other employers these days promotes equality and your nationality or accent play no part in having a permanent job or an agency one!

Scotrail314209 · 1 Jun 2019

I heard that on the refurb HSTs, there was supposed to be a first class host, someone in the buffet and someone on the trolley.

Are they scaling it back to just a first class host and trolley?

CJSwan · 1 Jun 2019

Scotrail314209 said:
Are they scaling it back to just a first class host and trolley?

Just one steward to do everything!

Scotrail314209 · 1 Jun 2019

CJSwan said:
Just one steward to do everything!

That is abysmal. I can't see there being a trolley service once all the refurbs are done.

Kilmarnock to Girvan - Catering

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