EMT hire LNER HST

[cactustwirly]

There is no proper catering because the buffet car has different ovens etc that the catering staff haven't had any training to use.

I thought it was just a trolley service anyway?

 

[WesternLancer]

I thought it was just a trolley service anyway?

No - not just trolley - EMT provide full hot meal menu option (that you can pay for) on almost every train - at seat in 1st, very good In fact i often buy 1st Advance knowing that I will be able to get a reasonable meal on my journey. As well as a trolley with drinks and snacks that are free.
eg all day menu
https://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/Documents/Menus/1/First Class Menu - All Day Menu V2.pdf

from bottom of this page
https://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/travelling-with-us/first-class-train-travel/

 

[cactustwirly]

No - not just trolley - EMT provide full hot meal menu option (that you can pay for) on almost every train - at seat in 1st, very good In fact i often buy 1st Advance knowing that I will be able to get a reasonable meal on my journey. As well as a trolley with drinks and snacks that are free.
eg all day menu
https://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/Documents/Menus/1/First Class Menu - All Day Menu V2.pdf

from bottom of this page
https://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/travelling-with-us/first-class-train-travel/

Well I don't travel first class, so I didn't know about this. Mostly because EMT refuse to release 1st advances on cross London journeys.
It's just a standard trolley in pleb class.

 

[WesternLancer]

Only on this forum could there be such a major overreaction to such a minor situation.

Well, it's in the nature of on line discussions isn't it - without the nuance of real conversation - one makes some minor observations about something that are of note, a sort of review type mention (eg I was genuinely surprised that wi-fi incompatible, but not bothered, I don't even have a smart phone myself, and a set swap means reservation tags not used (unsure why actually, since the seating layout is the same as EMT HST apart from the restaurant car)) and there is some assumption that this is a deep criticism of the whole situation!

What - do you mean no toilet paper in coach D - surely ORR should ground the whole fleet and Stagecoach be stripped of the franchise type responses!

Obviously it's a great train, and the more recent interior refurb, and IMHO better colour palette used inside, means it is overall a smarter set than the EMT sets, whose refurb was a while back and whilst still smart are not AS smart inside (tho much better than the meridian interiors, which now look really very frayed)

 

[WesternLancer]

Well I don't travel first class, so I didn't know about this. Mostly because EMT refuse to release 1st advances on cross London journeys.
It's just a standard trolley in pleb class.

Yes, that is an issue. I end up split ticketing to take advantage. EMT release a lot of good value 1st advance fares as they have the capacity and seats to fill. In fact on occasion I have actually seen 1st Advance cheaper than Std Advance - which is odd, but there we are!

 

[DarloRich]

I’m aware that LNER have hired in the past a East Midlands HST set but wasn’t aware of it working the opposite way.

Hence my surprise when a full LNER liveried HST with East Midlands HST Powercars speeds southbound though Luton - how long had this set been working for East Midlands?

Any idea what the set ID is plus does it appear on a set diagram?

Are EMT one or two sets down because of the recent land slide problems? Sensible work to keep the service running in my mind

well, I'm sure you are right, just from joe public point of view looks poor when the start f the journey proceeded by lots of apols about all the things not available as it's a swapped set (hot food/reservations/wi-fi) - makes the railway look fragmented in the eyes of the avg passenger IMHO.

or they could cancel the train. Personally ithink i would rather travel on a train without wifi than not travel!

Only on this forum could there be such a major overreaction to such a minor situation.

Indeed!

 

[WesternLancer]

Are EMT one or two sets down because of the recent land slide problems? Sensible work to keep the service running in my mind



or they could cancel the train. Personally ithink i would rather travel on a train without wifi than not travel!



Indeed!

In order:
Yes
Yes
No further comment...

 

[richa2002]

It really isn't a difficult point to grasp. The point being that if the railways were run under one company such as 'BR' let's say, it's most likely all InterCity services would have the same/similar level of service and any refurbishments to the fleet would happen on a nationwide level, not a route level. As a result, if an HST needs to be grabbed from another route like has happened here, it would be a lot less likely anything would be much different.

See SBB CFF FFS for more.

 

[WesternLancer]

It really isn't a difficult point to grasp. The point being that if the railways were run under one company such as 'BR' let's say, it's most likely all InterCity services would have the same/similar level of service and any refurbishments to the fleet would happen on a nationwide level, not a route level. As a result, if an HST needs to be grabbed from another route like has happened here, it would be a lot less likely anything would be much different.

See SBB CFF FFS for more.

Yes, and it's off topic but it would not have to be nationalised to achieve that and it could have worked if sectorised too at privatisation (eg Intercity as one unit - as I think Chris Green / BR management advocated at the time to the politicians and civil servants)

But that's off topic, so

anyone know if the same set is back on EMT today? I hope so, it's a great set.

 

[AndrewE]

well, I'm sure you are right, just from joe public point of view looks poor when the start f the journey proceeded by lots of apols about all the things not available as it's a swapped set (hot food/reservations/wi-fi) - makes the railway look fragmented in the eyes of the avg passenger IMHO.

Maybe that's because it is... and with all the disadvantages for customers predicted before privatisation. As has been said above, the politicians and and civil servants deliberately chose the option that the professional railwaymen told them was the worst option all-round.

 

[LowLevel]

The Wifi on LNER is also provided by a different supplier to EMT.

 

[WesternLancer]

I thought it was just a trolley service anyway?

I should add that the trolleys, in 1st and standard, were operational.

 

[Qwerty133]

I should add that the trolleys, in 1st and standard, were operational.

In which case they were right to advertise a changed catering service as the standard class trolley being operational is not normal.

 

[Hadders]

It really isn't a difficult point to grasp. The point being that if the railways were run under one company such as 'BR' let's say, it's most likely all InterCity services would have the same/similar level of service and any refurbishments to the fleet would happen on a nationwide level, not a route level. As a result, if an HST needs to be grabbed from another route like has happened here, it would be a lot less likely anything would be much different.

See SBB CFF FFS for more.

It didn’t happen before and I doubt it’d happen in the future.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Quite; I well remember some problem on the West Coast Main Line in BR's later days which had stranded a locomotive-hauled set of Mark IIIs in London. Passengers needing to travel from Glasgow Central were bundled onto a Strathclyde EMU that ran specially to Carlisle where we were turfed out and put on a musty set of InterCity Special Trains Unit Mark Is that had been hastily exhumed from some siding and dragged off to London at reduced maximum speed. No air con, no catering, very late but great improvisation and everybody knew that staff were doing their best. Kudos to all involved. Just as well that there was no fragmentation in those days.

(Oh, and no wi-fi or even on-board payphone either.)