Changes to FGW complimentary service?

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

Well I certainly use the 18-03 instead of other services because it still has a restaurant, and I believe that others do.
I even made a booking recently, though this seems to be discouraged.

I grant that to withdraw the remaining up restaurants would seem illogical, but I understand that that is the intention.
Does anyone know for certain ?

The remaining two up services are indeed listed on the pullman dining page of the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website, however on the main timetable page, no mention is made of restaurant provision, nor is it in the timetables at stations.
A cynic like me would suspect that this is to minimise patronage and justify withdrawal.

[JayMac]

I'm also a fan of the Travelling Chef instead of Pullman. Still able to get a substantial freshly prepared hot meal at a much more reasonable price than the full silver-service Pullman. 37 weekday services provide Travelling Chef, with 8 of those (replacing previous Pullmans) offering an enhanced Travelling Chef Select.
I received a very detailed reply from James Burt (FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Customer Service Director) when I enquired about the removal of the 8 Pullmans from the May-Dec 2009 timetable. These services were making heavy unsustainable losses, far beyond what FGW could justify. I'm was informed that even Travelling Chef and some Buffets are loss making, however FGW take the view that freshly prepared hot food provision is a service that should be provided on key long distance services. The decision was therefore taken to replace these 8 Pullmans with 'Travelling Chef Select'. The remaining two up Pullmans from Plymouth were also due to be axed but it made operational sense for FGW to keep them as the staff for the 1803 and 1903 down Pullmans are based in Plymouth. Unfortunately it appears that the decision to retain the up 1200 and 1255 Pullmans was taken after the timetables were produced, with them mistakenly showing as Travelling Chef services. However, as willc points out, they are listed as Pullman services on the 'Food and Drink' pages of firstgreatwestern.co.uk.
I'm still not happy about the removal of the fizzy pop though! That was a cut to far

[Mookiemoo]

how come there are no evening TC^‡(resolve) services?

I for one would love to order something right now rather than sitting here in the knowledge that its a nuked burger or wait until I get home at 2230 tonight!

They all seem to be morning services - never seen one of an afternoon

[Btline]

Firstly, I've travelled First a couple once with each of XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) and VT^▸ (Virgin Trains - former franchises).

With XC - it was cheaper than Second.

With VT it was because of their EXCELLENT and FREE food, drink (inc. Alc). Not to mention their brilliant Euston lounge: with a fridge where you can help yourself to cans of Virgin Coke, Lemonade and Tonic Water, a proper bar for free alcohol, cakes and crisps on the table etc etc.

Why should FGW^▸ (First Great Western) First passengers pay for food when VT passengers on much shorter (in journey time, not mileage!) journeys get what they do.

If I were a regular FGW First traveller a la Fallen Angel, I would be miffed about the loss of the wine, coke (although I like tea too) and various snacks.

The recent VT cutbacks were due to shorter turnarounds at Euston - and even then they still offer a proper "First" service.

[devon_metro]

On the 2hr30 mins journey from Brighton - Bedford, if you get a brand new 377, you sit in 2+2 seating and get no food/drink AT ALL.

How many FGW^▸ (First Great Western) routes are longer than that!!

[vacman]

On the 2hr30 mins journey from Brighton - Bedford, if you get a brand new 377, you sit in 2+2 seating and get no food/drink AT ALL.

How many FGW^▸ (First Great Western) routes are longer than that!!

Sorry D_M I do agree with you but there are plenty of West services in excess of 3 hours with no catering at all, i.e. the morning Bristol-Newquay and Bristol-Penzance, nearly 5 hours with not so much as a bag of crisps and bottle of water!
The TC^‡(resolve) service is far superior though, is open to all FC^‡(resolve) and SC customers and offers decent nosh thais pretty reasonably priced and better than a nuked burger!

[moonrakerz]

Sorry D_M I do agree with you but there are plenty of West services in excess of 3 hours with no catering at all, i.e. the morning Bristol-Newquay and Bristol-Penzance, nearly 5 hours with not so much as a bag of crisps and bottle of water!

Gt Malvern to Brighton - 5hrs 23 mins - and in a 158 !

[Timmer]

Gt Malvern to Brighton - 5hrs 23 mins - and in a 158 !

Every now and then a 150 makes a guest appearance on this service. Nice.

[moonrakerz]

Gt Malvern to Brighton - 5hrs 23 mins - and in a 158 !

Every now and then a 150 makes a guest appearance on this service. Nice.

Ouch !

[vacman]

It's a 150 EVERY DAY on the Penzance!

[Mookiemoo]

Sorry D_M I do agree with you but there are plenty of West services in excess of 3 hours with no catering at all, i.e. the morning Bristol-Newquay and Bristol-Penzance, nearly 5 hours with not so much as a bag of crisps and bottle of water!

Gt Malvern to Brighton - 5hrs 23 mins - and in a 158 !

Should I ever do that journey - thank god I just ordered a new laptop with 7 hours battery life!

[Btline]

New Macbook Pro is it?

Look - a bet NOONE goes from Great Malvern to Brighton on that train. It is only used by locals for part of the route. (Why, IMO^▸ (in my opinion), it should be split into a regular hourly service pattern instead of varying destinations and gaps in the service!)

I'm actually going to Brighton soon. I'm going LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) to Birmingham, VT^▸ (Virgin Trains - former franchises) to Euston, LU to Victoria and SN to Brighton. All for just ^6 and decent trains - with a 150 for 40 mins not 5 hours!

[willc]

New Macbook Pro is it?

Look - a bet NOONE goes from Great Malvern to Brighton on that train. It is only used by locals for part of the route. (Why, IMO^▸ (in my opinion), it should be split into a regular hourly service pattern instead of varying destinations and gaps in the service!)

I'm actually going to Brighton soon. I'm going LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) to Birmingham, VT^▸ (Virgin Trains - former franchises) to Euston, LU to Victoria and SN to Brighton. All for just ^6 and decent trains - with a 150 for 40 mins not 5 hours!

Well that's fine and dandy for you, but for some people, the ability to do the journey in one go, without changing at New Street (or Bristol TM^‡(resolve) and many other big stations) and crossing London and spending ages tinkering with online booking systems is just what they want - there was a reason people were angry with XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) stopping running from the South West to points north of Crewe.

Some friends of mine were trying to work out how to get granny, who fits into the New Street-phobic category I describe, from the North West to Cornwall for a summer holiday with the family the other week. In the end - and after ringing me up for advice - they settled on taking a detour off the M4 into Reading to meet her off an XC service there, whereas a couple of years ago she could have gone the whole way to Plymouth, or beyond, on one train.

[Mookiemoo]

New Macbook Pro is it?

yeah - 17 inch anti glare, 500GB hard drive, 3.06 processor

On non power adapted train journeys ill boot in low video mode to get maximum life but then switch to full when have power!  I dont expect the full seven since ive gone for capacity over innovation - and i dont trust solid state drives yet.  But i'd get close to the 5.5 hours journey time!

This was not an easy decision - but my current one has fried its mother board after being drop kicked in munich 18 months ago. (NEver assume a shiny street is just rain - it could be unbroken sheet ice). Screen was replaced at the time but there was irreversible internal damage to the gubbins - the fact its lived 18 months is a miracle.  The fact its dying and im still able to use it here in a hotel in windsor and have 2.5 hours battery life say a lot about macs.



Two days..................

[Btline]

I fail to see the problem with New Street. There are lifts and plenty of screens, with Phil announcements to guide you.

You can often change elsewhere. e.g. I could change at Smethwick Galton Bridge and Sandwell & Dudley to avoid New Street. I could avoid the LU by changing at Watford Junction and East Croydon.