Services which ought to have a refreshment trolley

[Bertiethebobby]

This service might already have been mentioned.
Euston to Birmingham via Northampton.
It does stop at Northampton for about 15 minutes and the guard usually announces that you have time to go and get some grub and a drink!

 

[underbank]

That's another good point. Many rural stations have no facilities. Some stations may have no facilities early morning either, when leisure travellers will be travelling to make the most of their day.

I don't pretend you could run them on any service, but I am convinced there are more profitable opportunities than current realised.

The Cumbria Coast and Settle/Carlisle lines would be obvious choices for a potentially viable on-board catering trolley service. The journeys are long and station facilities at the rural stations are mostly non existent.

 

[JetStream]

A menu like this would give a good profit margin.
Tea £2.40
Coffe £2.60
Latte £2.90
Crisps £1.40
Popcorn £1.50
Sandwiches £4.50
Lager £4.50

Etc...Enough to cover staffing/facilities costs

Go on Arriva, you'd be ecstatic at their prices (you'd be the only one who was mind - they're all 10-50p less than what you suggest.

 

[theironroad]

The Cumbria Coast and Settle/Carlisle lines would be obvious choices for a potentially viable on-board catering trolley service. The journeys are long and station facilities at the rural stations are mostly non existent.

The s&c does have a trolley between settle and Carlisle run by a offshoot of the friends of the s&c.

 

[Eric]

Leeds to Morecambe.

 

[backontrack]

But London to Norwich is certainly far enough to finish ones drink and feel thirsty again half way through. That distance is definitely long enough for catering.

Hence the buffet.

 

[matt_world2004]

They should have cold drinks on the central line

 

[exile]

How about vending machines on some of these services? I've seen them on some trains in France.

 

[yorksrob]

Hence the buffet.

Exactly. You need a buffet to get that vital second (or third) cup of tea !!

The old "buy elsewhere and take on the train" argument just doesn't work.

 

[backontrack]

Exactly. You need a buffet to get that vital second (or third) cup of tea !!

They also had reasonably-priced pre-packaged cake slices last time I used them too. Mmm, carrot cake...

 

[yorksrob]

They also had reasonably-priced pre-packaged cake slices last time I used them too. Mmm, carrot cake...

One of your five a day !

 

[backontrack]

One of your five a day !

I should jolly well hope so!

 

[Scotrail314209]

I'd say Glasgow/Kilmarnock/Ayr - Stranraer could do with it, it's a journey of roughly 2 hrs 40 from Glasgow, 2 hours from Kilmarnock and 90 minutes from Ayr, it also gets very busy between Ayr & Stranraer. Carlisle gets it so maybe Stranraer should also. I can imagine it would pick up a bit of a trade.

 

[route101]

I'd say Glasgow/Kilmarnock/Ayr - Stranraer could do with it, it's a journey of roughly 2 hrs 40 from Glasgow, 2 hours from Kilmarnock and 90 minutes from Ayr, it also gets very busy between Ayr & Stranraer. Carlisle gets it so maybe Stranraer should also. I can imagine it would pick up a bit of a trade.

Might be one for a trial /

Id be interested to know how the trolley on the Carlisle services is doing !

 

[Parallel]

I may have mentioned this before, but Bristol Temple Meads - Weymouth (in summer at least) and the Cornish Mainline on the regional DMUs would surely be a hit too.

Other potentials would be Exeter to Barnstaple (A lot of end to end travel with journey time of just over an hour, also seems to have the 'right type' of passenger likely to purchase something) and possibly even the Newquay branch in summer, as I believe there are a lot of long distance passengers using that service (the locals probably use the bus) and the facilities at Par are lacking.

I can't really think of any more on GWR. Major flows on Cardiff to Taunton are Cardiff - Bristol - Weston - Taunton and don't really require catering. I also probably wouldn't bother on the Golden Valley locals.

The catering offering is substantial on the TfW (ATW) network, I think catering is more or less on every service except the locals/West Wales, Machynlleth-Pwllheli and The Valleys.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Catering would be very welcome on Leeds to Nottingham, as was mentioned at the start of this thread... would be even more welcome on SNCF's sleeper to the Pyrenees, I'd have sold my soul for a coffee as I watched the sun rise. Rather surprised there was none at all... come to think of it, the run down the other side to Barcelona would do decent business I think, plenty of walkers/climbers/snowboarders on there depending on the time of year.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Might be one for a trial /

Id be interested to know how the trolley on the Carlisle services is doing !

The trolley service actually does really well past Kilmarnock, especially when going north. Since Stranraer is medium distance, they may aswell try it.

 

[Journeyman]

How about vending machines on some of these services? I've seen them on some trains in France.

BR tried this in the fifties and sixties, fitting "Auto-Buffet" machines in Mark 1 coaches. I've not seen much about it, but the experiment didn't last long, presumably because the reliability wasn't good. You could probably make it work quite well now, but you'd have the issue of space, as vending machines can be quite large.

 

[Doomotron]

Southeastern used to have a trolley service on the Ramsgate to Charing Cross service. I remember getting some crisps on it. Probably not the most important but still I quite miss it.

 

[yorksrob]

Southeastern used to have a trolley service on the Ramsgate to Charing Cross service. I remember getting some crisps on it. Probably not the most important but still I quite miss it.

Or a bottle of Spitfire.

 

[Doomotron]

Or a bottle of Spitfire.

Well I was too young but maybe when I'm older...

 

[Ianno87]

Having done Cambridge-Birmingham on XC repeatedly of late, the absence of a trolley for most of the day (it is only an occasioanl appearance on a few off-peak services right in the middle of the day) is pretty frustrating when you run to jump on a train at the last minute. It's a long way in need of a cup of coffee!

Though attempting to get it down the train on some peak services on the Birmingham-Leicester section would be.... interesting to say the least!

 

[Panupreset]

Romford - Upminster

 

[urbophile]

Metropolitan Line to Amersham and Chesham. Not as good as the prewar Pullman Car service but would probably be appreciated.

 

[Bald Rick]

I wonder if there is scope for guerilla catering.

Someone with a deliveroo box full of bacon rolls would make a killing on many morning peak trains, particularly on a Friday.

 

[Eric]

Leeds - Morecambe again.

 

[Wolfie]

If they charge a high enough price, then they can make a profit.

Rubbish. If they charge too high a price there will be no sales and hence no profit.

 

[Lockwood]

Could they put a trolley on the Ryde-Shanklin services?
Stourbridge Town services?

 

[Ken H]

lancaster - Morecambe?
Bidston - Wrexham?

 

[tsr]

Could they put a trolley on the Ryde-Shanklin services?
Stourbridge Town services?

This is actually not such a stupid idea. Having reasonable facilities on branch services could be a profitable way for TOCs to eat into the market share of the chains which feature on the "barriered side" of the station at many large interchanges.

Stourbridge Town would be a bit extreme, but on a longer "feeder" branch into a mainline route, you could well offer something like an upmarket version of a Costa machine and a vending machine which is stocked with breakfast type food at the start of the morning peak. This would mean that the long, overcrowded mainline trains could have all their space used for passengers during the peak, and everyone boarding from outlying stations (often at small villages with few facilities) would already have purchased their food and drinks onboard their previous service.