London North Eastern Railway (LNER) First Class service

[jon0844]

Unless you see two sets together, you might not be sure which version you're seeing - but I have seen a silver metallic set and it really does reflect the sunlight in a way that some others don't.

In a dull, non-metallic, silver/grey, they're not going to look as good at all.

 

[silentone]

A few pictures of what's on offer,

http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/east-coast-unveils-first-class-food-revamp

 

[DaveNewcastle]

The BBC Radio 4 'consumer' daily "You and Yours" ran a feature on the demise of the Restaurant Car yesterday.
Play-it-Again Link.
More sentimental than factual, but it might entertain a few of the die-hards on here.

Will anyone on here be joining me for 'The Last Supper' dep KGX at 19:00 on May 20th?

 

[OMGitsDAVE]

I actually despise the new East Coast livery, it makes the whole thing look tacky in my eyes. No idea why!

But it's nice to see something INSIDE the trains change for once, and in a somewhat better way.

 

[Railjet]

A few pictures of what's on offer,

http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/east-coast-unveils-first-class-food-revamp

There are some very imaginative dishes there. They're not too complicated, so it shouldn't be too difficult to match the delivery to the presentation.

Hopefully, it will mean that Virgin will have to up its game.

 

[jon0844]

Yes, Virgin are now going to install more windows on their trains...

(Sorry!)

 

[ainsworth74]

No beans with the full english? I mean come on, how can you not have beans with a full english!?

More seriously however it looks good, can't wait to try out this new service.

 

[All Line Rover]

No beans with the full english? I mean come on, how can you not have beans with a full english!?

SHOCKING! :roll:

 

[googolplex]

If you're travelling to a meeting, odds are the others at the meeting would be glad beans aren't part of the breakfast offering

 

[All Line Rover]

If you're travelling to a meeting, odds are the others at the meeting would be glad beans aren't part of the breakfast offering

Perhaps, but what about the oil in/on the eggs and bacon?

 

[38Cto15E]

If travelling from Kings Cross to Inverness on the Highland Chieftain would you get two meal services, say one after leaving London and the other after departing Edinburgh?

 

[silentone]

If travelling from Kings Cross to Inverness on the Highland Chieftain would you get two meal services, say one after leaving London and the other after departing Edinburgh?

If you board that train at London and are going to Inverness you would be offered the full range of complimentary items.

I suspect it will start with All Day (1200), then Afternoon Tea (departing Newcastle), then Evening Meal (after Haymarket). At York it might just be the basic tea/coffee/drinks and biscuit.

No-one will really know until the crews are allocated and given the relevant 'Journey Card' which shows the trains journey and what is to be offered when.

There has been a change of wording on some of the menu's and there could now be Chef prepared meals at Lunchtime.

 

[All Line Rover]

No-one will really know until the crews are allocated and given the relevant 'Journey Card' which shows the trains journey and what is to be offered when.

I don't understand why East Coast can't publish these "Journey Cards" for the general public to see. I would really appreciate it.

Although East Coast have given general times for what you will be served, it still isn't that accurate, particularly if you join at an intermediate station.

 

[silentone]

I don't understand why East Coast can't publish these "Journey Cards" for the general public to see. I would really appreciate it.

Although East Coast have given general times for what you will be served, it still isn't that accurate, particularly if you join at an intermediate station.

The Journey cards are really of no use to the public and I'm sure you will argue with me that they will be of use. All they are are a step-by-step guide to deliver the on-board service, so i.e

Station X.
Hats & Doors, Meet & Greet.
Depart Station X.
Offer Complimentary Newspapers.
Start Tea & Coffee run from Coach M.

For no reason other than to be nosey, there is no need to show them to the public. Really all it is is a printed form of what staff already know and do day in day out.

All this 'intermediate' station stuff is nonsense too and it keeps coming up over and over. I will say it once more. What you are offered in complimentary items on-board depends on the length of your journey.

COMMON SENSE tells you that you are not going to be offered a meal at every-stop if your train stops at say Newcastle, Durham, Darlington, York, Doncaster, Retford, Newark, Grantham & Peterborough. The staff couldn't practically do it and even now the trolley in first class is unlikely to go through after each of these stops but you are likely to be offered a drink if you join at these stops but more likely be offered at the next available opportunity. Take note, AT THE NEXT AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITY.

Next you'll be demanding copies of the new staff handbook so you can bring it on-board and question staff why they haven't done something in the book.

And still some have failed to grasp that if you are First Class you will be offered some form of meal on every train.

 

[All Line Rover]

The Journey cards are really of no use to the public and I'm sure you will argue with me that they will be of use. All they are are a step-by-step guide to deliver the on-board service, so i.e

Station X.
Hats & Doors, Meet & Greet.
Depart Station X.
Offer Complimentary Newspapers.
Start Tea & Coffee run from Coach M.

For no reason other than to be nosey, there is no need to show them to the public. Really all it is is a printed form of what staff already know and do day in day out.

All this 'intermediate' station stuff is nonsense too and it keeps coming up over and over. I will say it once more. What you are offered in complimentary items on-board depends on the length of your journey.

COMMON SENSE tells you that you are not going to be offered a meal at every-stop if your train stops at say Newcastle, Durham, Darlington, York, Doncaster, Retford, Newark, Grantham & Peterborough. The staff couldn't practically do it and even now the trolley in first class is unlikely to go through after each of these stops but you are likely to be offered a drink if you join at these stops but more likely be offered at the next available opportunity. Take note, AT THE NEXT AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITY.

Next you'll be demanding copies of the new staff handbook so you can bring it on-board and question staff why they haven't done something in the book.

And still some have failed to grasp that if you are First Class you will be offered some form of meal on every train.

I'm not asking for a meals to be served after every station - that would be ridiculous! All I want to know is if I join at station x, and leave at station y, what will I get served?

For example, if I join the 14:58 Newcastle to London service, will I get served afternoon tea or the "all day offer"? East Coast say "selected services" get afternoon tea - how hard can it be for them to tell us which services? Or why can't it be all services as a matter of fact?

Also, the last calling point is York (at 15:55) but the train doesn't arrive into London until 17:56. So, will the on board staff serve the "Evening Meal" sometime after 17:00?

These really aren't difficult questions - Virgin make it much easier. They highlight the stations where you will be served "Breakfast" or "Evening Meal." That doesn't mean you'll get served if you make a very short journey - the staff don't dash through trains to Glasgow after Crewe, Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Lancaster AND Oxenholme, but you know that as long as your journey is 45+ minutes, you will get served what's mentioned in the timetable.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

And still some have failed to grasp that if you are First Class you will be offered some form of meal on every train.

Oh dear. Some folks need to be told twice! Horror!

All this 'intermediate' station stuff is nonsense too and it keeps coming up over and over. I will say it once more. What you are offered in complimentary items on-board depends on the length of your journey.

Nonsense?
Simple questions deserve simple answers. (or silence).

Last month it was 60 minutes or more = meal, less than 60 minutes does not.
Well the timetable shows some regular journeys which are more or less than 60min depending on which service the pax catches. In fact, the ECML has a few point-to-point runs that are about an hour apart. This month its a journey plan (pretty much back to where we are at present).

Anyway, please lets have less of the 'nonsense' and 'failing to grasp' and other sarcasm and accusations. On-board catering staff and their passengers both deserve a more civilised and mutually supportive discourse. And its the civility and little courtesies which make the whole experience enjoyable or, at the very least, tolerable. For all concerned.

Now then. Do we have any real news?

 

[YorkshireRider]

It seems reasonable to me to want to know that as well, the whole idea of this new offer is to up first class ticket sales and a lot of customers will want to know this before booking first advance tickets. The whole thing has a bit of last minute.com about it, all sets should have been refurbed by now, these journey cards done and trial runned on every service to see if they work. What i think u will find is a crew will get used to working their train and just do it their way and what works best for that service. First class, just ask on here if u want to know what is offered on a certain train and hopefully someone will be able to answer

 

[bengolding]

Perhaps EC should follow the Virgin example and publish which services offer breakfast, evening meal etc on their website or in the timetables (shaded to signify an enhanced service). The key problem in contrast to Virgin is the shorter stopping pattern with shorter journey possibilities (e.g. Peterborough - Doncaster), in contrast to Virgin who now have longer non-stop journeys from Euston - Stoke/Crewe/Warrington etc.

On my two most recent EC journeys from Kings Cross, I was very diasppointed with the lack of attentive at-seat service in First, paying £300+ for First Anytime tickets, in contrast to what I experience on Virgin. I know there are always good crews and bad crews but I hope this significant improvement in First on EC will improve consistency in service amongst staff.

 

[ainsworth74]

East Coast say "selected services" get afternoon tea - how hard can it be for them to tell us which services?

This ^^^

That's my question really which of the services are the selected services? I get that if I catch the say northbound KGX to INV that the offer will change as to be appropriate for the time of day. What I want to know is what services have be selected to offer afternoon tea or which will be serving the evening meal rather than the all day offer. I understand that there will be food served on all trains and that it will change as the time of day does, but EC have told us that selected services will have certain offers and now I want to know which have been selected for those offers.

 

[All Line Rover]

Although East's Coast food offering is more complex than Virgin's, in my opinion it couldn't be too hard for them to do this:

Stations where alighting/current passengers will be served a full breakfast: DARK BLUE HIGHLIGHT.

Stations where alighting/current passengers will be served a "light" breakfast: LIGHT BLUE HIGHLIGHT.

Stations where alighting/current passengers will be served the "all day/late evening" offer: NO HIGHLIGHT

Stations where alighting/current passengers will be served afternoon tea: LIGHT BLUE HIGHLIGHT

Stations where alighting/current passengers will be served an evening meal: DARK BLUE HIGHLIGHT

How hard could it be!?

East Coast could pick any colour they like. They wouldn't need to change the colour for morning/evening offerings, as there will be a big, obvious gap in between.

"Current" passengers are those already on the train.

Obviously, customers aren't stupid, and know that they won't be served a meal if they make a 30 minute journey between highlighted stations. I still think that East Coast should serve meals on 45+ minute journeys, as this would make Peterborough to London commuters happy, and Virgin already serve meals to customers travelling between Stafford and Liverpool, which is a 47 minute journey.

Now I'll give an example of how the "highlighting" would work for the 15:00 London Kings Cross to Edinburgh 19:19 service:

• 15:00 London Kings Cross (No highlight - "all day" offering)
• 16:50 York (No highlight - "all day" offering)
• 17:19 Darlington (Dark blue highlight - evening meal)
• 17:49 Newcastle (Dark blue highlight - evening meal)
• Berwick-upon-Tweed (no highlight - "all day" offering)

Although it's before 7pm for customers joining at Berwick-upon-Tweed, the journey length is too short to serve an Evening Meal.

Now for an example of a service with afternoon tea (the 16:00 London Kings Cross to Edinburgh 20:22 - I'm guessing it has afternoon tea!)

• 16:00 London Kings Cross (Light blue highlight - afternoon tea)
• 17:52 York (Dark blue highlight - evening meal)
• 18:22 Darlington (Dark blue highlight - evening meal)
• 18:52 Newcastle (Dark blue highlight - evening meal)
• 19:39 Berwick-upon-Tweed (No highlight - "late evening" offering)

See - simple!

I'm going to e-mail East Coast about this. They could always put a highlighted timetable on their website.

 

[Blindtraveler]

and as an addition, trains with a sheff could have a wee white hat on the blue highlight. As said before, i look forward to trying this and sure once started the grumblers wil stop doing so

 

[Railjet]

Interesting article about this in the Guardian.

 

[Blindtraveler]

interesting

 

[silentone]

I'm not asking for a meals to be served after every station - that would be ridiculous! All I want to know is if I join at station x, and leave at station y, what will I get served?

For example, if I join the 14:58 Newcastle to London service, will I get served afternoon tea or the "all day offer"? East Coast say "selected services" get afternoon tea - how hard can it be for them to tell us which services? Or why can't it be all services as a matter of fact?

Also, the last calling point is York (at 15:55) but the train doesn't arrive into London until 17:56. So, will the on board staff serve the "Evening Meal" sometime after 17:00?

These really aren't difficult questions - Virgin make it much easier. They highlight the stations where you will be served "Breakfast" or "Evening Meal." That doesn't mean you'll get served if you make a very short journey - the staff don't dash through trains to Glasgow after Crewe, Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Lancaster AND Oxenholme, but you know that as long as your journey is 45+ minutes, you will get served what's mentioned in the timetable.

It depends what station X is and what station Y is. If the point to point difference is 60 minutes+ you would be offered from the full menu.

 

[Sapphire Blue]

Well, I've got an ALR booked for the end of June and I am planning on getting the 05.05 from Leeds south, then just going up and down EC for the entire week.

How many meals will I get.

(And can we have an ambulance standing by)

(I hope your irony detector is working too, Silentone!)

 

[Blindtraveler]

i'm also booked for early June, cannot wate, oh and yay to fresh coffee! Think i'm the only one that understands after explaination whats actually going on, and I like it!!

 

[Joseph Cullen]

I have 'done' the East Coast since 1999 between London and Leeds and I sometimes worry for my mental health. The standard and style of English used for every before and after 'station stop' and also about on-board catering has become increasingly idiosyncratic and, in the main, severely flawed. That's many thousands of annoying announcements.

Am I the only passenger to suffer by having to listen to incoherent English?

To pick on one invention, possibly reading from the official script, which is the exclusive domain of those working on the railways, it is the misuse of 'myself'.

If myself, or any other member of the crew, can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to ask myself...

It should read: If I, or any other member of the crew, can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to ask me. Myself is either a reflective pronoun or a disjunctive pronoun and the above is not a legitimate use. Neither does it make the announcement sound any 'posher' or clearer.

Even better would be: If you need any assistance, please ask any member of the crew.

Now, I have offered, by various means, a complete make-over of the East Coast stock announcements but to no avail. Does anyone know of a way of offering a version in plain English? I work in language and communication, in the musical world.

I would also like to persuade the company to simply give up on any announcements after midnight. Nobody wants or needs them in the small hours and it's a form of torture.

Joseph Cullen

 

[YorkshireRider]

Would agree, and i work for them! I hate it when my fellow crew do announcements that list everything on the buffet tariff. Shock, horror, the buffet sells food and drink! We need much shorter announcements all times of the day, and yes non after a certain time of evening.

 

[jon0844]

I think you need to continue to advise when the train is approaching the next stop (and what stop it is), but I am sure many announcements can be dropped.

 

[andylloyd]

Also if you book by the May 9th you get another 20% off of first class advance fares.
http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/Welcome-to-East-Coast/A-First-Class-welcome/