London North Eastern Railway (LNER) First Class service

[Chrism20]

Does anyone know when meals/snack are served on the Highland Chieftain northbound?

Cheers!

It is about a year ago since I went up to Inverness on the chieftain but from memory there is drinks after Edinburgh then the food is after Stirling with the Perth passengers being served separate. Alcohol was Edinburgh, Stirling and somewhere after Perth.

Anyone boarding after Perth only got drinks from what I remember.

Before Edinburgh id imagine it will be the usual big stations - York and Newcastle plus Darlo.
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Yep, crew did three breakfast order rounds, after York, Darlington and Newcastle.

At least 5 staff covering first class I'm sat in coach L, 3 did most of work then another member of staff passed through from each direction.
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Nope, was very nice as always though.
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All going to pot now!

Afternoon Tea offer instead of All Day so no hot food

Apologies from the Crew leader for "circumstances beyond crew control" leading to change in offer.

Looks like they might have sorted out the supply on the breakfast section of the run which is good. Getting breakfast leaving Newcastle at times is challenging on that service.

Not so good about the afternoon tea though. Me suspects that they haven't loaded the all day stuff and you may actually be getting served what was loaded for the southbound return (which has happened before) as the 14:52 is a scone express

 

[FQ]

It is about a year ago since I went up to Inverness on the chieftain but from memory there is drinks after Edinburgh then the food is after Stirling with the Perth passengers being served separate. Alcohol was Edinburgh, Stirling and somewhere after Perth.

Anyone boarding after Perth only got drinks from what I remember.

Before Edinburgh id imagine it will be the usual big stations - York and Newcastle plus Darlo.

Thanks for the gen!

I am on from the Cross so it should be a great 8 hour trip!

 

[nix]

Hi everyone

I'm travelling on the following trains:

2nd of April
Departs: London Euston at 10:43
Train Operator: Virgin Trains
Arrives: Edinburgh at 16:22

7th of April
Departs: Edinburgh at 14:30
Train Operator: East Coast
Arrives: London Kings Cross at 18:51

Can anyone confirm what meals will be served on these services?

Thanks!
Nix

 

[Darandio]

2nd of April
Departs: London Euston at 10:43
Train Operator: Virgin Trains
Arrives: Edinburgh at 16:22

Hot snacks.

7th of April
Departs: Edinburgh at 14:30
Train Operator: East Coast
Arrives: London Kings Cross at 18:51

Afternoon tea.

I believe that is the case anyway.

 

[Marton]

Definitely afternoon tea on the 1430 last week.

 

[Chrism20]

The 10:43 might possibly be one of the brunch services as they are usually around until about midday. These are similar to the EC mid morning gigs and include a hot bacon or sausage baguette, fruit salad etc.
The lunch offering will start probably from Birmingham and served again at Preston (you should get both on that journey no problem and usually without asking). The only time Ive had the hot offering on VTWC it was a pasty, I can't even remember what the others were off the top of my head sorry. There is usually sandwiches, wrap and salad boxes as well as the hot item.

The 14:30 is the scone express and will be the ham & chutney or the mixed bean sandwiches

 

[westv]

17:19 Hull Executive 1st Class Food

Anybody know if the "evening meal" option I had last Friday was a one off or whether it'll be a regular option from now on. Just wondering so I can decide what to get for lunch in a moment.

 

[Chrism20]

Anybody know if the "evening meal" option I had last Friday was a one off or whether it'll be a regular option from now on. Just wondering so I can decide what to get for lunch in a moment.

It's down as allday in the printed timetable and also the one on the VTEC website. I had a quick look and couldn't see anything stating that it had been changed.

Might be worth tweeting them or PMing on Facebook to ask if it is a permanent change.

 

[westv]

It's down as allday in the printed timetable and also the one on the VTEC website. I had a quick look and couldn't see anything stating that it had been changed.

Might be worth tweeting them or PMing on Facebook to ask if it is a permanent change.

It had changed last Friday so I guess I'll find out this evening. Need some benefits for putting up with the EMT set!

 

[Failed Unit]

It had changed last Friday so I guess I'll find out this evening. Need some benefits for putting up with the EMT set!

Some people prefer the EMT set, they like the seats better. I have managed to dodge the both so far.

 

[Adam0984]

They seem to only do the evening menu on electric sets possibly to do with the kitchen prep area and the EMT set has an enhanced kitchen

 

[Failed Unit]

They seem to only do the evening menu on electric sets possibly to do with the kitchen prep area and the EMT set has an enhanced kitchen

1700 and 1800 are both HSTs with full meals.

 

[ainsworth74]

1700 and 1800 are both HSTs with full meals.

Indeed! Full time VTEC sets are all capable of producing the full range of catering offered by VTEC. Indeed those same sets are more than capable of providing the old style full restaurant service if required as they did so for a while at the beginning of 2011 before the restaurant was abolished but after the kitchen refurbishment had begun.

 

[Chrism20]

Could it be something as simple as wrong carts sent to the wrong train and there wasn't enough time to fix it and they have just went with the evening meal rather than bin.

It would be nice if it had been upgraded though. Tbh all services between 1700 & 1900 should be full evening meal.

 

[westv]

It's the evening meal. Oh yes!!!

 

[Chrism20]

It's the evening meal. Oh yes!!!

Good stuff. If you get a chance ask the staff if this is now a regular thing.

 

[westv]

Right, I spoke to one of the train crew and they said they have the EMT set for 4 months. After that it's back to the previous "all day menu". They did suggest writing in and asking for the evening menu to be kept but I'm not sure if that would make any difference.

 

[Marton]

1700 and 1800 are both HSTs with full meals.

Indeed so. I had the evening meal last night on 1700.

Prefer the 1730 though.

 

[Starmill]

A recent weekday journey from Aberdeen to Leeds on the 1818 was highly mixed. Excellent service Aberdeen to Edinburgh, with snacks and drinks hot and cold aplenty. I had the Veggie Indian Snack selection, which was delicious and came with a nice crisp salad. Unfortunately things did go downhill a bit. After Edinburgh, a top up of drink, plus a hot drink and sandwiches in a packet plus a slice of cake were offered. But after Alnmouth, the crew were hardly to be seen, except for clearing all the crockery away before Newcastle. One passenger joined at Newcastle, and he walked through from Standard and got a cider, but wasn't offered anything else despite travelling more than 70 minutes to York. There were people in First getting on to make southbound journeys between Edinburgh and Newcastle too, but the hosts didn't seem to recognise them. By the time we were stood in the platform at York at after midnight , it had been 3 hours since I'd been offered even a water. I went down to coach K said "Good morning" and asked if it might be possible to trouble them for a bottle of water. They were just sat their chatting on their phones. I got a bottle of water, can of coke and a couple of packets of crisps. I wonder if I should wrote to Virgin EC and see if they know that First Class is "self service" on that train!

 

[SamS]

That sounds very different to my experience of that train last year!
ABD - EDB was the same, but there was a crew change at Edinburgh and Newcastle, each crew constantly offering more drinks, but not more food as they said the Aberdeen - Edinburgh crew hadn't ordered more food to be put on, so by the time they got to us at the far end of coach M there was nothing left.
The Leeds crew even stopped and chatted with us for a while as there weren't many left in First.

I don't think I've ever drank so many cans of Diet Coke or cups of tea as I did on that train!

I would write in, as you had a very different experience to me.

 

[Chrism20]

It's not the first time what starmill has described has happened on this service unfortunately. At the back end of last year I got off the train at Edinburgh as someone else on here got on and the service was night and day. They got no food although on the way down through Fife the Crew Leader who got off in Edinburgh had asked one of the other staff on board to tray up all the food that was left as the new crew would use it.

The morning Leeds to Aberdeen is not much better at times tbh.

 

[Starmill]

Oh, and I had a through ticket from Inverness to Leeds, so valid on both ScotRail and East Coast services, and cost around £50 - for some reason, despite there having been only 1 person in there I wasn't allowed in the Aberdeen lounge! Hopefully Abellio will apply a little common sense...

 

[OLJR]

I had the toad in the hole on the 1025 from Newcastle to King's Cross today and it was excellent. There was a large Yorkshire pudding, two fat sausages and plenty of gravy.

However the meal was only a toad in the hole and unless you count crisps(!) there was no vegetable item to accompany it.

 

[yorkie]

It's very variable at the moment!

Some crews offer great service, but sometimes the service is almost non-existent.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I have too experienced this inconsistancy

 

[Marton]

I had the toad in the hole on the 1025 from Newcastle to King's Cross today and it was excellent. There was a large Yorkshire pudding, two fat sausages and plenty of gravy.



However the meal was only a toad in the hole and unless you count crisps(!) there was no vegetable item to accompany it.

Agree. This is particularly irritating heading south after a full day at work.

 

[me123]

It's very variable at the moment!

Some crews offer great service, but sometimes the service is almost non-existent.

I wonder if there's a role for mystery shoppers to assess consistency of the service offered? I'll grudgingly volunteer my time to travel up and down to London getting free food and drink.

 

[westv]

I had the toad in the hole on the 1025 from Newcastle to King's Cross today and it was excellent. There was a large Yorkshire pudding, two fat sausages and plenty of gravy.

However the meal was only a toad in the hole and unless you count crisps(!) there was no vegetable item to accompany it.

I've had the toad too. Nice but could do with some mash or other veg.

 

[Starmill]

Yesterday morning, 0855 York to Edinburgh. This train was very very busy! There were hardly any free seats in it at all. I wanted breakfast, whixh is shown in the timetablw for this train, but the mid-morning menu was being served :/ The crew said Breakfast is only for passengers who joined this service before York. Had the french toast, nice but not quite up to the rave reviews methinks. The toast and pasty trolley was only offering people things when they had just boarded.so I had my croissant before Darlington, then my french toast arrived. The pastry trolley came back after Newcastle, in addition to orders for more mid-morning items, but only for passengers fron Newcastle and Darlington. If I'd wanted a slice of toast I wasn't allowed one! Tea and coffee flowed better, but there were no cold drinks on the drinks trolley. Orange and apple juice were on the pastry trolley, which meant that despite them apparently being fairly abundant hardly any was being given out because people were being asked 'any joined us at Darlington or Newcastle?'. Good but not the best.

For reference, I had a West Coast dinner the same evening out of Glasgow Central, served 11 minutes after departure! That said the only thing I got after Carlisle on that train was 1 cold drink, then the hosts did a vanishing act and I alighted at Preston. I really wonder what you'd get if you stayed on that train to London (1840 from GLC).

 

[Blindtraveler]

I can answer that, based on several previous trips - a new crew and often fresh supplies at Preston, a bottomless glas of your chosen beveradge and if any food left after pax from Car and Pre plus points south are served its offered. Its I think light bites for anyone from CAR onwards with dinners only offered to pax X Glasgow