East Midlands Trains - any opinions?

[whole diary]

[smithy]

I've never quite understood how it is 'an improved experience' to be offered refreshments at the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) convenience rather than when you want them.

Walking to the end of Coach F on a Voyager and asking for a coffee and having to wait while an impromptu staff meeting is conducted is not my idea of 'an improved experience'.

EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about) should tell it like it is - it's a cost cutting exercise and nothing to do with improving the experience for customers.

Trolleys are fine on regional services on dmus/emus, but Inter-City operations should have a buffet.

not just a walk to coach f and find staff meeting dont forget cash only aswell,w-s-m to new street other morning never saw trolley once despite all the announcements.shocking service since the shops went.

[smithy]

In fairness to EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about), the Meridians are poles apart in terms of internal spec from the Voyagers despite being constructed in the same bodyshell, and actually pretty pleasant to travel on.

very true they looked at how bad the voyagers were and worked with bombardier to provide something better than a mobile toilet,in comparison they are a very comfortable set.
since getting the meridiens they have looked after them better aswell especially since arriva took on Xcountry.

[Mookiemoo]

1642 new street to Bristol


Accepted cards

New development?

[JayMac]

Could be.

I take it the Customer Host had a chip 'n pin jobbie?

Paging readytostart.... who maybe able to tell us whether the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) Retail Services Managers have now got the facility to take card payments.

[Timmer]

In fairness to EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about), the Meridians are poles apart in terms of internal spec from the Voyagers despite being constructed in the same bodyshell, and actually pretty pleasant to travel on.

I agree they are better than Voyagers and I recently travelled on one from London to Sheffield but spent most of the journey wishing EMT were still operating HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) between LON-SHF as they are poles apart. I guess I just don't think underfloor engined trains should be operating IC^▸ (Inter City) long distance services.

[readytostart]

Could be.

I take it the Customer Host had a chip 'n pin jobbie?

Paging readytostart.... who maybe able to tell us whether the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) Retail Services Managers have now got the facility to take card payments.

Apologies, was in Edinburgh on a jolly, Voyager all the way (albeit with an overnight stay in both directions in Birmingham!)!

Reading depot trialled new chip and pin devices on the trollies (same device that issues receipts) trial was successful and now all depots (as of last Monday) should be accepting cards when systems are working. Most credit and debit cards are accepted with the exception of Diners, JCB, Solo, Electron and pre-paid cards.

For the casual reader please note this is in XC land and not FGW^▸ (First Great Western).

[JayMac]

Thanks for that, readytostart.

A welcome improvement, but I'd still rather there was a shop/buffet.

Now I wonder when or if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will upgrade their ancient British Airways cast off credit/debit machines. A recent card transaction at a FGW buffet took 11 days to be debited from my account. Would've been quicker if I'd paid by cheque!

[woody]

Unlikely we will see this on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) after they have spent money on converting a number of standard class coaches with mini buffet counters but another IC^▸ (Inter City) TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) has scrapped buffet cars resorting to a trolley service from the end of this month:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-10939358

Buffet car services are to be scrapped on East Midlands Trains and replaced with a trolley service. The firm, which run trains from Sheffield to London, said standard class passengers could still choose hot and cold drinks, and hot baguettes. First class will have more catering staff, in a bid to reverse a 30% decline in premium passengers. Managers insisted all customers would enjoy an improved experience being served in their seats.

EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about) are about to begin a refurb program of their meridian fleet. Wonder if they will do a XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) and have their serving areas removed. I doubt it.

Quoting from the same article "David Horne, commercial director at East Midlands Trains, said: "This will be better for passengers as we will be bringing the refreshments to them instead of them having to walk through a moving train to get to the buffet car."I would like to see them try that on one of FGWs Penzance services with coach ends and vestibules often piled high with of large luggage cases.

[paul7575]

The linked BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) report on this does say that the buffet counters would be still used when trains were full.

Same routine as SWT^▸ (South West Trains) operate reasonably succesfully if that's the case - on full 444s they serve from the minibuffet counter, and on a packed 450 with a trolleys they usually set up in the cycle area.

Paul

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

East Midlands Trains has saved 800,000 litres of fuel by using energy saving technology in the past year, the company says.

The firm is using a new fuel additive which has resulted in a 4.4% improvement in fuel economy.

East Midlands Trains also uses an energy-saving engine standby mode to reduce carbon emissions.

Any train which stands still in a station for more than seven minutes virtually shut downs its engines.

New recycling collections are also being introduced at all stations and offices which will increase the amount of waste that the company recycles.

Managing director Tim Shoveller said the firm, owned by the Stagecoach Group, has also refurbished waiting rooms and bathrooms at stations fitting them with motion-sensitive lighting and energy efficient hand-dryers.

Stagecoach Group is investing ^11m in a bid to reduce buildings CO2 emissions by 8% and cut annual fleet transport CO2 emissions by 3% by April 2014.

The firm is aiming to reduce its CO2 emissions by 40,000 tonnes annually by April 2014.

[IndustryInsider]

I've recently noticed that Voyagers seem to now be fitted with this eco-mode where all bar one of the engines shuts down after a few minutes.  About time too, as watching them sit in platform 7 for 35 minutes every hour when turning around at Reading must have wasted so much fuel over the years.  Can anyone confirm they've been fitted with an energy saving mode as per EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about)'s Meridians in the article?

[inspector_blakey]

Aren't FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s HST^▸ (High Speed Train) powercars fitted with something similar whereby after a few minutes of idling the engine switches off one bank of cylinders and fires only on the other?

From observation though it also seems that FGW drivers tend to shut down power cars rather than leave them idling for long periods (I'm thinking at Temple Meads for example, where an HST set will often spend some time sitting in the platform before departure).

[Chris from Nailsea]

With an apology on my part for resurrecting this rather ancient topic ( ) - from The Star:

East Midlands Trains backed by customers

Staff at East Midlands Trains are celebrating after being named as the best rail operator in a recent customer survey.

The report by the Institute of Customer Services examined passenger attitudes to 25 different transport companies who provide rail, coach, air and ferry services.

East Midlands Trains finished seventh overall in the survey, the best-performing rail operator. It was placed ahead of rivals Virgin Trains, East Coast and First Great Western.

Other rail companies included in the survey were First Scotrail, Northern Rail, First Great Western, London Midland, Transpennine Express, South West Trains, First Capital Connect and South Eastern.

Neil Micklethwaite, customer service and commercial director for East Midlands Trains, said: ^This is a great achievement and is testament to the hard work and effort of our employees in delivering significantly improved customer service. Whilst it^s always great to be rated against other train operators, our real objective is to be ranked as one of the best customer service organisations in the country and these latest Customer Service Satisfaction Index scores mark a significant step towards that goal. I am delighted with the progress we have made so far and we will continue to focus on delivering the best possible service for our customers.^

The UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Customer Satisfaction Index is published twice a year, with the most recent results published in July. It is based on feedback from almost 10,000 people and is carried out through an online survey of actual consumers.

For more information, visit www.instituteofcustomerservice.com