Great Western Coffee Shop

I have posted this here as it is confined to this particularly rather than on Barry Doe's FGW Catering thread which is now rather extensive and may have been lost in it somewhere.   There may well be answers on the Forum but I think the situation may have changed further.  It may have been discussed on the Customer Panel but I have not found  anything
The Cardiff to Portsmouth route operates on a hourly frequency 7 days a week and passengers are travelling along the route 7 days a week, so why is At Seat trolley service available only operate a 5 day week.    It used to operate during the mornings on a Saturday but I have noticed an absence of that recently/   Yesterday (Saturday), station announcements were advising of no catering available.   Is it just a matter of profits first and customer second.

Something to take up with Rail Gourmet I think. They provide the catering on Cardiff-Pomey services. The current FGW timetables do not advertise a trolley service on Saturdays from Cardiff, but they do from Portsmouth on the 0723, 0823 and 0923.

However the National Rail Timetable for May 2013 still shows catering on the 0930, 1030, and 1130 ex Cardiff on Saturday mornings.

So according to published timetables there should be catering on a Saturday morning.

To take up with FGW, I should suggest.   Rail Gourmet are merely acting as a Contractor to FGW.

Rail Gourmet may be able to provide a more timely answer if contacted directly. But no harm in contacting FGW also. They're the public face and the Rail Gourmet staff wear FGW uniforms.

But without knowing what's going on it's premature to apportion blame. The fact there were announcements saying 'no catering available' would suggest that it should be available but, for whatever reason, wasn't.

I wonder why FGW think that catering is appropriate on those six services but not on the others. Do people have different needs after lunch time, or are more able to survive a journey of up to 3 hours without the need for refreshment? 

Anything to do with loadings making it worthwhile, or not worthwhile?
Busy loadings making impossible to use a trolley service?

I'm going to guess that the three trolleys go up to Bristol only ... spend just over half an hour there and go back. And pure idle speculation might suggest that in the morning, people are headed out from home and haven't been to the shops / pub / match to buy their supplies, whereas on the way home they'll be better supplied / lubricated.  

A more puzzling question is why a trolley doesn't go on the 07:30 and 08:30 off Cardiff (when they get to Bristol), returning on the 10:23 and 11:23 from Portsmouth Harbour.  Would that involve a special opening of the Trolley Depot in Bristol for just 2 rotas?

It seems that all Portsmouth-Cardiff services have that announcement on Saturdays but I've seen several services with trolleys despite them being advertised as not having one.

Quotes still not working!


I'm sure any removal would most likely be on non-use i.e. few takings. It's a use it or lose it situation. And if pax aren't buying, I suggest they don't need it, contrary to your suggestion.

Rail Gourmet running trolleys on PMH - CDF services on weekends comes as news to me.

In all the years I've been travelling I have never come across a trolley on the weekends. With South West Trains however there is nearly always a trolley on the SWML-WoE routes which will supply a cup of instant Starbucks or PG Tips.

If anyone does use these trains, my advice would be to sit in the composite carriage (The one with First and Standard Class) right at the back, you're much more likely to get a Sandwich if you want one on the train. They only have 3 or 4 on the trolley normally.

On one occasion myself and ladyfriend trout were travelling back to Westbury and the trolley had sold all the sandwiches before it had even left First Class :o

I wasn't hard however, Cheese Ploughmans and a BLT was all they had. Ladyfriend trout is a carnivore. thetrout is a herbivore... ;D

It was a genuine question, not a suggestion.

But I notice if you look at the "On Board" section of FGW's website the only catering described relates to HSS. So other than a vague reference to a trolley service with no indication of what route it might relate to, there's nothing to suggest that there is a catering service on the Cardiff to Portsmouth service. Now I'm no marketing expert, but I suspect if you fail to advertise a service then you can't be surprised when people make alternative arrangements. Which then means the service doesn't get much trade, and, well, you can see where that ends up.

Passenger screens were still showing no catering today and the conductor on the train I caught from Portsmouth made a couple of annoucements apologising for the lack of the trolley.  However he did come through the train every 20 minutes or so handing out bottles of water as the aircon wasn't working.  Full marks to him.