Services which ought to have a refreshment trolley

[vlad]

Stourbridge Town services?

You don't need a trolley on the Stourbridge shuttle - just stick a samovar in one of the corners and give the guard a bag containing chocolate and tea bags.

 

[takno]

You don't need a trolley on the Stourbridge shuttle - just stick a samovar in one of the corners and give the guard a bag containing chocolate and tea bags.

Do we really want to go about giving people hot liquids on the Parry People Shaker?

 

[BigCj34]

Peterborough-Ipswich/Colchester

 

[dk1]

Peterborough-Ipswich/Colchester

Crikey. They are often less than busy every other hour so goodness knows how long it will take to make a decent return when they go hourly.

 

[ijmad]

I think the Victoria Line at rush hour would benefit from hot and cold drinks.

 

[Lockwood]

I think the Victoria Line at rush hour would benefit from hot and cold drinks.

I remember trying to have a go on simsig a while ago, I was doing the Waterloo and City line. I had a scripted event occur, with one train notifying me of a delay as the catering staff had brought the wrong type of trolley.
Picturing that in real life made me laugh a bit

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

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.

​

The prime daytime inter-city service between Rome and Sicily, a journey of 5+ hours, does not have any catering.
Except that a mobile coffee-seller (tank strapped to his back) wandered through the train during the extended stop/reversal at Naples.
I think he might have had a selection of cakes too.
Everybody brings their own lunch, wine included!

Many DB long-distance inter-city services are devoid of catering.
Catering is expensive to provide and a bit of a luxury really.

 

[Ianno87]

Crikey. They are often less than busy every other hour so goodness knows how long it will take to make a decent return when they go hourly.

The mid-morning trip from Ipswich (that gets to Peterborough at 1140 or so) always has a good load (albeit for a 2-car). A trolley on that train might do some trade. But yes, the rest of the day would struggle somewhat...

I think the Victoria Line at rush hour would benefit from hot and cold drinks.

Nah, on a hot day just spray a hosepipe down the carriage...

 

[BigCj34]

Crikey. They are often less than busy every other hour so goodness knows how long it will take to make a decent return when they go hourly.

Might attract punters wanting to connect the the ECML, which is quicker than going via London. Hard to do so when there aren't many of them.

 

[dk1]

Might attract punters wanting to connect the the ECML, which is quicker than going via London. Hard to do so when there aren't many of them.

Don't forget that Anglia catering staff are not permitted to take a trolley through the class 170 vestibule connections on H&S grounds & it is debatable whether they will be able to pass through the class 755 power pack so again would be a static service. Add to this all staff & stores are based at Norwich so would make the idea even more unviable nice as it would be to have it onboard.

 

[Class385]

Might be one for a trial /

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

Hasn't been doing too well. Some shifts the total sales are under £10. However the trolleys are beginning to be trialled on the Glc - Edb via Shotts express services.

 

[Gems]

Leeds - Morecambe again.

Can't be done at the moment due to the traction. Perhaps in the future though if some 156's could be sourced after being misplaced by the new stock. I know the S&C partnership who operate the trolleys on the S&C have expressed interest in the past.

 

[route101]

Hasn't been doing too well. Some shifts the total sales are under £10. However the trolleys are beginning to be trialled on the Glc - Edb via Shotts express services.

Interesting , was wondering about the Shotts . Notice a few end to enders ,i directed a french family who insisted they needed to go to Glasgow Central .

 

[yorksrob]

Can't be done at the moment due to the traction. Perhaps in the future though if some 156's could be sourced after being misplaced by the new stock. I know the S&C partnership who operate the trolleys on the S&C have expressed interest in the past.

Well, they do an excellent job on the S&C. I'd certainly utilise them if they operated on the Little North Western.

 

[Gems]

Well, they do an excellent job on the S&C. I'd certainly utilise them if they operated on the Little North Western.

Yes they do. I work the S&C, and we have a very good relationship with them.

 

[NoOnesFool]

Don't forget that Anglia catering staff are not permitted to take a trolley through the class 170 vestibule connections on H&S grounds & it is debatable whether they will be able to pass through the class 755 power pack so again would be a static service. Add to this all staff & stores are based at Norwich so would make the idea even more unviable nice as it would be to have it onboard.

Why are they not allowed to take a trolley through the connectors? On 158s and HSTs we just lift the trolley over the joint.

 

[dk1]

Why are they not allowed to take a trolley through the connectors? On 158s and HSTs we just lift the trolley over the joint.

There was an issue with the trolley tipping years ago & it's been in ever since. On the very few occasions they have been put on Cambridge services during engineering on the main line they remain static outside 1st class. Ironically enough for the first two years of the Norwich-Cambridge service there was a through train trolley. To be fair the connections are very different on a 170 & staff do not lift catering trolleys at anytime.

They used to also remain static on 321s if standing in for LHCS but also have to have two members of staff as nowhere to store/secure it should the host need the toilet so it was withdrawn from these too.

 

[yorksrob]

TPE services to Hull should have them IMO.

 

[jopsuk]

I was at a meeting with Jonathan Denby of Greater Anglia (on cycle issues) last week; in an aside he mentioned that the reason the Norwich-Cambridge trolley was withdrawn was that it massively lost money. He'd been involved with the (re-) launch of the through service and was disappointed at the failure of the catering service. His experience is that catering really is only profitable on proper IC services- but wishes this wasn't the case.

 

[NoOnesFool]

TPE services to Hull should have them IMO.

IIRC, they do technically have them, albeit only as far north as Leeds.

 

[yorksrob]

I think a lot depends on what price

IIRC, they do technically have them, albeit only as far north as Leeds.

Yes, from Leeds its a fair old way without a cuppa until Hull !

 

[Scotrail314209]

Don't forget that Anglia catering staff are not permitted to take a trolley through the class 170 vestibule connections on H&S grounds & it is debatable whether they will be able to pass through the class 755 power pack so again would be a static service. Add to this all staff & stores are based at Norwich so would make the idea even more unviable nice as it would be to have it onboard.

I don't see how taking it through a 170 really is a risk, ScotRail catering do it just fine.

 

[dk1]

I don't see how taking it through a 170 really is a risk, ScotRail catering do it just fine.

Maybe it's the type used. It's not permitted on GA or NXEA before them.

 

[NoOnesFool]

Maybe it's the type used. It's not permitted on GA or NXEA before them.

Is it the silver trolleys that were/are used on the London services that tipped or was it a three tiered top trolley?

 

[NoOnesFool]

I don't see how taking it through a 170 really is a risk, ScotRail catering do it just fine.

It's ages since I've been on a Class 170, but don't they dip in the connector gangway? If it requires force to get it back up the slope and the wheel twists, that could throw it off balance.

 

[dk1]

It's ages since I've been on a Class 170, but don't they dip in the connector gangway? If it requires force to get it back up the slope and the wheel twists, that could throw it off balance.

Yes they certainly do. They are a very strange design & not trolley friendly at all. Why some operators allow it & not others is not clear apart from maybe the particular style of the mobile catering contraption.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Yes they certainly do. They are a very strange design & not trolley friendly at all. Why some operators allow it & not others is not clear apart from maybe the particular style of the mobile catering contraption.

It does look like a struggle on the highland mainline where it is extremely bumpy, 170s really aren't catering friendly

 

[NoOnesFool]

It does look like a struggle on the highland mainline where it is extremely bumpy, 170s really aren't catering friendly

I wonder if it's to do with the fact that the first 170s introduced on the Midland Mainline had buffets, so trolleys weren't considered. In contrast, the 22X DEMUs are very trolley friendly, for vehicles of a similar age.

 

[philthetube]

Maybe micro franchises should be offered to people wanting to provide catering on certain services, I could imagine medium sized bakers being interested in experimenting in their own areas.

 

[NoOnesFool]

Maybe micro franchises should be offered to people wanting to provide catering on certain services, I could imagine medium sized bakers being interested in experimenting in their own areas.

Would bakers be willing to branch out to non bakery items though? I'm talking alcohol, crisps & chocolate, Haribo, Noodles, tapas snack boxes. These are all things that the customer expects of on train catering, I can imagine a bakery wanting to sell bacon rolls and tea and that be it, but having that service could actually increase complaints from people like vegans and gluten free people, whereas specialist catering companies i.e. FISCO are very good at meeting the needs of all passengers and at all times of day. Perhaps if Greggs got a liquor licence it could work, but the average cob shop chain wouldn't have the supplier connections to expand their range.