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CrossCountry's catering provider (First Service) goes into liquidation

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TopsyCrets

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There are now only two possible contractors who could take over if it doesn't go in house, Elior and Rail Gourmet. Rail Gourmet taking over would be quite handy, as there are service centres at Derby and Nottingham and I think* Newport for Transport For Wales, but that may have been relocated since At Seat Catering (the previous contractor wound up).

Catering is still provided. The manager of the last outfit has taken over with his own company and has taken over where "First Service" left off.
 
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Qwerty133

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There are now only two possible contractors who could take over if it doesn't go in house, Elior and Rail Gourmet. Rail Gourmet taking over would be quite handy, as there are service centres at Derby and Nottingham and I think* Newport for Transport For Wales, but that may have been relocated since At Seat Catering (the previous contractor wound up).
Why would anyone enter into a new contract with the consistently unreliable rail gourmet?
While XC can get away with a subcontracted service offering a more limited range on their turbostar services moving to rail gourmet who provide a significantly worse service than previous contractors would damage their catering reputation more generally and is best avoided.
 

TopsyCrets

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I can't see XC making Retail Service Managers being asked to work Turbostars. Rail catering staff tend to work fixed routes on circuits which start and end at their home service centre. It would simply be a case of using the existing staff on the existing route.
After speaking with one of the caterers on my journey to Cardiff this week he told me the 170s are the "Ugly Ducklings" of the brand and that 170 staff actually dream of XC taking it all in house so that they can earn a decent wage and at least have free travel. What he didn't understand is how the current XC catering and the 170 based catering are already in the same building on the same platform within 30 cm distance of each other. The XC caterers are out from 06 am till no later than 9 pm which all start and end at Birmingham New Street. All equipment used is the same all uniforms all trolleys. it would be just a case of paying them the same as the voyager lot who do the exact same.
 

Jonfun

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After speaking with one of the caterers on my journey to Cardiff this week he told me the 170s are the "Ugly Ducklings" of the brand and that 170 staff actually dream of XC taking it all in house so that they can earn a decent wage and at least have free travel. What he didn't understand is how the current XC catering and the 170 based catering are already in the same building on the same platform within 30 cm distance of each other. The XC caterers are out from 06 am till no later than 9 pm which all start and end at Birmingham New Street. All equipment used is the same all uniforms all trolleys. it would be just a case of paying them the same as the voyager lot who do the exact same.

Whilst I dont disagree with the spirit of what's said, I would add XC catering hours are a little more varied than 'out from 0600 and in by 2100' as it'll depend on route and individual diagramming. Additionally, the trolleys used on the 170 fleet are different to those used on Voyagers and HSTs; they also stock a slightly different range of products.
 

dk1

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Whilst I dont disagree with the spirit of what's said, I would add XC catering hours are a little more varied than 'out from 0600 and in by 2100' as it'll depend on route and individual diagramming. Additionally, the trolleys used on the 170 fleet are different to those used on Voyagers and HSTs; they also stock a slightly different range of products.
That's what I thought in relation to trolley/products but didn't feel qualified enough to say incase something had changed.
 

mallard

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Hopefully this is a chance the scrap the unnecessary and disruptive snack trolley on most of the 170 services. On a busy 2-car 170, there's literally nowhere for the trolley to go that isn't blocking a door or gangway. When I used to commute on such services, the trolley was often trying to force its way through the crowd of standees, often bumping into people and running over feet/toes.

The sales on such services must be pitiful too. There might be a case for keeping them on some of the longer distance services; Nottingham-Cardiff, potentially some of the Stansted-Birmingham "fasts", but at the very least they need to go from peak-time stopping services. It's a shame for the staff, nonetheless.
 
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elliotjelliot

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Hopefully this is a chance the scrap the unnecessary and disruptive snack trolley on most of the 170 services. On a busy 2-car 170, there's literally nowhere for the trolley to go that isn't blocking a door or gangway. When I used to commute on such services, the trolley was often trying to force its way through the crowd of standees, often bumping into people and running over feet/toes.

The sales on such services must be pitiful too. There might be a case for keeping them on some of the longer distance services; Nottingham-Cardiff, potentially some of the Stansted-Birmingham "fasts", but at the very least they need to go from peak-time stopping services. It's a shame for the staff, nonetheless.

I quite agree that until rolling stock with greater capacity is procured, a trolley service on a rammed class 170 is not very feasible. However, if I am a travelling the 2hr35/40mins journey from Cambridge to Birmingham I would expect some form of catering offering to be available.

Either additional class 170's are needed to lengthen services or more appropriately designed rolling stock is needed to not only meet the commuter needs of these regional routes but also the long distance traveller's needs i.e catering provision.

With regards to sales, I feel that Cross Country's inability to provide consistent catering provision across all day-time services for the full journey reduces a passenger's trust that they will be able to get anything, causing them to buy before they board.
 

mallard

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With regards to sales, I feel that Cross Country's inability to provide consistent catering provision across all day-time services for the full journey reduces a passenger's trust that they will be able to get anything, causing them to buy before they board.

Well, that and the fact that all on-train catering is outrageously expensive. Why anybody would pay 3x as much for a much more limited selection of poorly-kept (keeping the right things cold/hot is certainly not a strength of the snack trolley) food items when most stations of any significance have a reasonably priced shop right outside (assuming you can negotiate access through the barriers if it's an intermediate stop; far from guaranteed even on tickets that explicitly allow BoJ) I'll never understand.

Seems TOCs are stuck in a vicious cycle of "catering is unprofitable; so we raise prices; so sales fall; so catering is unprofitable"...
 

NoOnesFool

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Well, that and the fact that all on-train catering is outrageously expensive. Why anybody would pay 3x as much for a much more limited selection of poorly-kept (keeping the right things cold/hot is certainly not a strength of the snack trolley) food items when most stations of any significance have a reasonably priced shop right outside (assuming you can negotiate access through the barriers if it's an intermediate stop; far from guaranteed even on tickets that explicitly allow BoJ) I'll never understand.

Seems TOCs are stuck in a vicious cycle of "catering is unprofitable; so we raise prices; so sales fall; so catering is unprofitable"...
I don't consider First Service catering to be expensive.i bought a sandwich from one of their Hosts around 18 months ago and it was only £3.20. Considering High Street chains like Costa charge £3.50 for a toasted sandwich, it's quite reasonable, considering the added convenience of having something delivered to your seat whilst en route.

Train catering is profitable an contrary to popular opinion on here. I work or a train catering company and knowing our wholesale costs, staffing costs etc, I make a very decent amount of profit for my company on most shifts.
 
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