East Midlands Trains - any opinions?

[whole diary]

[James Vertigan]

Hi all,

Subject to me being able to book the time off from work tomorrow, I shall be spending a week with my parents on holiday in the Peak District in the middle of next month.

I'm going to be travelling up by train on the Friday night from St Pancras after work, I just wondered if anyone had any opinions on East Midlands Trains as I've not used them before (although I have travelled from Derby before, but that was when it was Midland Mainline!)

I'm going to try and get on one of their Meridian services, and, as usual, I've thought about going First Class - which looks fairly swanky according to this pic http://paulbigland.fotopic.net/p59649392.html - no leather seats though! And I think the leg of my journey from Derby to Matlock might come as a bit of a shock after the swankiness of the Meridian!

So, just wanted to know if anyone had had any experience of travelling on EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about), particularly on a Meridian... is it comparable to the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Adelante?

[laird]

Meridian comfort is certainly comparable to the Adelante, the first class seat is probably a bit better as their standard of interior upkeep is better.

On board service varies somewhat but is not much different from the current FGW^▸ (First Great Western) offering.

With the Virgin trains service lacking at seat audio (and the free first class wifi also not working if today is anything to go by), the general deterioration of the East Coast Mainline offering East Midlands mainline services are now perhaps the best option to the peak district.

[Worcester_Passenger]

My experience is mostly on their Leicester - Bedford (semi-fast) services.
The ride quality on the Meridians is much better than Adelantes. Adelantes had a curious yawing motion which is noticeably absent from the Meridians.
Time-keeping generally superior to my experiences with FGW^▸ (First Great Western).
The one odd thing that they do end up with is when they have two short Meridians coupled together. They have to do a lot of announcements to get all of the Loughborough passengers herded into the half of the train that will stop at Loughborough (the other half won't!).
And the First Class service can be different in the two halves : one of my colleagues had a maximum fare, breakfast included, ticket and found (after he'd stowed all his luggage and got the laptop out) that he'd been booked into the no-breakfast half of the train. Shall we say that EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about) didn't deal with that very well.

[Timmer]

EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about) are a pretty good TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company). I always try and use one of their few HST^▸ (High Speed Train) services where possible. Still smarting over them taking HSTs off the London-Sheffield line which is their longest IC^▸ (Inter City) route.

[James Vertigan]

Well I'm all booked in, picked up my tickets today at Paddington - I'm going on the 17:00 Meridian train on 16th October, which goes through Bedford and Wellingborough before splitting at Kettering (which could be interesting!) and going on to Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Long Eaton and then Derby (where I change for the train to Matlock).

I'm booked into coach G in First Class on the Meridian - not sure where this'll be on the train and not sure whether it's a normal coach or a quiet one - can't seem to find a seating plan for EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about), so don't know whether the layout is similar to FGW^▸ (First Great Western).

[Btline]

I expect the split at Kettering is to allow for the Corby coaches to detach.

[inspector_blakey]

The Meridians are nice trains, don't be put off by the Voyager bodyshell, the interior spec is vastly superior. I'd quite happily sit on one of those even in standard class for a long journey (went on a trip from St Pancras up to Loughborough with a group of friends including an ex-BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) man some time ago, and he was convinced we had sat in first class rather than standard by mistake until we showed him the stickers!

[Chris from Nailsea]

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

A ^10m programme to refurbish 25 East Midlands trains has been completed.
The East Midlands Trains carriages now have more seats, improved air conditioning and CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision).
The train firm provides rail services linking Norwich to Liverpool, via Peterborough, Nottingham and Sheffield, and services from London to Derby.
The refurbishment programme which has been carried out by DeltaRail in Derby, took 20 months to complete and aims to improve passenger safety and comfort.
A spokesman for East Midlands Trains said the new carriages would be a marked improvement on the Liverpool and Norwich route.
Internally, the new look trains feature an improved seating layout with more than 10% more seats and new toilet facilities.
David Horne, commercial and customer service director of East Midlands Trains, said they had received "some great feedback" about the newly refurbished trains.
John Saunders, chair of the Peterborough-Ely-Norwich Rail User Group, said: "This refurbishment has given passengers a brighter decor, cleaner toilets and above all more seats, which were particularly needed on the Liverpool to Norwich route."
David Thornhill, chair of Nottinghamshire Campaign for Better Transport, added: "We know the rail industry won't be immune from the spending cuts announced recently. However, what we've seen with this refurbishment is what marvellous results can be achieved with relatively little money being spent."
In total, East Midlands Trains is investing almost ^30m to improve its fleet, the company said.
The company's 11 High Speed Trains are also currently being refurbished.

[Timmer]

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.

[Chris from Nailsea]

On the other hand, East Midlands Trains are to offer internet access on their trains. From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Passengers travelling from the East Midlands to London will soon be able to access the internet.

East Midlands Trains, which runs services from Nottingham, Derby and Leicester to London St Pancras, has begun to install wifi on its trains.

The service will be free to first class passengers but those in second class will have to pay a fee by debit or credit card.

It is expected to be installed in all trains by the end of the year.

[brompton rail]

BUT, East Coast has both meals in First Class and for Standard class if room ( on some trains and lighter hot food in First on many more) and a Buffet Counter serving a wider range of hot and cold snacks / meals as well as drinks etc, plus a trolley service service in both First and Standard.

I suspect some, more discerning customers from EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about) stations will either drive or train to Doncaster, Retford and Grantham for a faster and more comfortable (no Voyager derived trains on EC) journey to London.

[inspector_blakey]

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.

[Super Guard]

Managers insisted all customers would enjoy an improved experience being served in their seats.

And how many times while on XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) do you hear the announcement "Trolley can't come through due to health & safety/luggage/people in the way"? 

[JayMac]

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.

[Btline]

Plus East Coast's WiFi is free for all passengers. Something that NX didn't try and screw us for!