Greater Anglia: No buffet car on some intercity services?

WesternLancer said:

question starts to come to my mind as to whether some of the TOCs will ever re-instate catering on trains after the present virus situation. They often don't seem massively keen on it...
I think EMR and GA are both Abellio - but the GA offer is much poorer than EMRs (who have so far generally stuck to the EMT offer) - I wonder if in due course this will be 'leveled down' across the Abellio group?

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GA specc'd and paid money for the buffets, I doubt they will abandon them just yet.

The bigger picture is it doesn't need a buffet. It's a 2 hour journey max, most don't do the full length. There are much better quality options around the stations called at. An espresso machine might have looked amazing in the 80's but now everywhere has them and makes awful coffee with them just like the buffet, and there's decent speciality coffee shops near most stations with a much better product.

D365 said:

Surely the Class 755s are busy operating diesel services.

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Will operate to / from Liverpool Street for Lowestoft services don't forget - you don't want only one of those turning up south of Ipswich.

Will the trolley operators typically be on zero hours contracts?

chubs said:

GA specc'd and paid money for the buffets, I doubt they will abandon them just yet.

The bigger picture is it doesn't need a buffet. It's a 2 hour journey max, most don't do the full length. There are much better quality options around the stations called at. An espresso machine might have looked amazing in the 80's but now everywhere has them and makes awful coffee with them just like the buffet, and there's decent speciality coffee shops near most stations with a much better product.

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personally I disagree (tho many others obv do not I appreciate) - I don't want to carry my luggage, balance a hot drink, put ticket through a barrier get on train, settle down then an hour later have drunk that drink and no other option. I want to get on, wander to buffet or be served at seat with freshly made decent stuff when I am settled down and maybe mid way through journey. And in my case not usually coffee but that's not the point.

And if at my workplace you had to wait 2 hours for your next brew I suspect you'd have a lot of annoyed staff...

HowardGWR said:

Will the trolley operators typically be on zero hours contracts?

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Not usually those that work for TOCs & none on GA. Apart from agency staff in certain areas, the railway doesn't really do zero hour contracts.

WesternLancer said:

personally I disagree (tho many others obv do not I appreciate) - I don't want to carry my luggage, balance a hot drink, put ticket through a barrier get on train, settle down then an hour later have drunk that drink and no other option. I want to get on, wander to buffet or be served at seat with freshly made decent stuff when I am settled down and maybe mid way through journey. And in my case not usually coffee but that's not the point.

And if at my workplace you had to wait 2 hours for your next brew I suspect you'd have a lot of annoyed staff...

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I agree, I also enjoy walking to the buffet car, stretching my legs and enjoying something fresh on a train. There is a certain magic to it!

darasafvatnia said:

I agree, I also enjoy walking to the buffet car, stretching my legs and enjoying something fresh on a train. There is a certain magic to it!

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Me too. Always make at least one trip to the buffet and usually purchase from a trolley.

On one late-night Mk.3 journey I made recently, I followed the signs to the buffet through the universal toilet car, only to find that the RMB had been replaced with ... another universal toilet car (one might call that a FOUL - First Open with Universal Lavatory). There was a stationary service trolley selling £3 egg & cress sandwiches, & as I was not going to get home in time for dinner, I bought one.
On my next late-night Mk.3 journey, the RMB was still in the consist, but was due to be withdrawn (possibly that day/week) because its heating had broken.
Given how basic the AGA RMBs are, I have no idea how they are so much less reliable than the other carriages in the train, which seem to be in tip-top maintenance condition (I have never seen a set break down because of a fault with any member other than the RMB). Maybe they used to have actual kitchens (as shown in the 2009 GBTT) & whoever removed them did a shoddy job of it.

I am a vocal opponent of trolley service, because having Asperger's syndrome I find them very hard to use. They go past too fast for me to make my mind up. If it's a small train like the Settle–Carlisle I can sometimes get the trolley to stop for a bit as with only two carriages they're not pushed for time, but if I'm travelling on XC & I really want something, I'll follow the trolley to the end of the train to make my purchase.
If trolley service demonstrates anything, it is that British society is progressively getting less responsible. My peers do not believe me when I tell them that a coat on a chair meant that the occupant had gone to the buffet or to the toilet.

ccityplanner12 said:

am a vocal opponent of trolley service, because having Asperger's syndrome I find them very hard to use. They go past too fast for me to make my mind up. If it's a small train like the Settle–Carlisle I can sometimes get the trolley to stop for a bit as with only two carriages they're not pushed for time, but if I'm travelling on XC & I really want something, I'll follow the trolley to the end of the train to make my purchase.

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This is something I've noticed recently on at least three operators (TPE, XC and LNER). The trolley zips down the carriage so fast that by the time you clock that it's coming it's already disappearing from view! Moving at that speed it's a wonder they sell anything at all!

ccityplanner12 said:

If trolley service demonstrates anything, it is that British society is progressively getting less responsible. My peers do not believe me when I tell them that a coat on a chair meant that the occupant had gone to the buffet or to the toilet.

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If travelling on my own I usually time my visits to buffet (and toilet where possible!) for when there's a decent gap between stations as that way some chancer has no way of getting off were they to lift my coat off my seat.

Out of curiosity what do your peers think a coat on a seat means?...

With TPE the poor catering staff member working alone is under a lot of time pressure to prepare the galley, serve 1st, prepare the trolley, serve standard, stock check and cash up, before they change crew at York or Newcastle. With the 802s catering equipment not fully operational yet and staff still undergoing training that’s a lot of time used to then not get much service time. If XC catering crews struggle to serve a 5 car voyager with 2 staff, TPE crews have 5 car of 802 to serve with just one. It simply isn’t enough and from my perspective the service is suffering. Changes are in process however, apparently....

PG said:

Out of curiosity what do your peers think a coat on a seat means?...

Lost property?
Or are they texting 61016 (BTP) as they think it's suspicious?​

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If unkempt, 61016.
If smartly-dressed, the owner is a billionaire who can afford to cancel the rest of their day & go straight to Savile Row on a moment's notice.

dk1 said:

the railway doesn't really do zero hour contracts.

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Interestingly my first employer (a former TOC) had me on a zero-hour contract and I was directly employed by them.
Indeed up until recently a lot of their catering at the weekend was by staff on zero hour contracts.
However they are in their minority in the industry.
Sam