Great Western Railway: on-board catering, buffets, Travelling Chef, Pullman - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[bobm]

Two Pullman Chefs are going to be at the Cornwall Food & Drink Festival at the end of September.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Destinations/Festivals/Cornwall-Food-and-Drink-Festival-2012

[bobm]

....and if you tweet a picture of them and their dishes to @FGW^▸ (First Great Western) you could win a trip with a Pullamn meal thrown in....  (shame I can't get there!!)

[EBrown]

I think you'll actually want to tweet @cornwallfood.

[bobm]

Looks like another change to the miniatures in the buffets. Gordon's Gin seems to have been replaced by Beefeater. The only snag - at first glance they look like the Smirnoff vodka bottles. On two occasions today the steward has picked the wrong one by mistake. (Not sure if that says more about him or about my drinking habits! )

[broadgage]

I recently travelled in the dining portion of a charter train, and the service whilst acceptable, fell far short of that offered by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) on their few remaining pullmans.

On the Golden Hind, orders for drinks are invariably taken within a few minutes of boarding and served promptly.
Offers of futhur refreshment are made with each course, or before if glasses are seen to be empty.

On the charter train, it was far from easy to attract the attention of the staff in the event that more drink was desired, and when the order was eventually placed it took ages to arrive. I fancied another by then !

It is not my intention to name the charter operator, since I do not want to cause ill feeling, nor tedious debate as to which charter firm is better or worse than the others.
It does however show FGW in a very favourable light. (we cant really compare  them to restaurants run by other TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company), as there arnt any)

To certain extent of course you get you pay for, and the first class charter fare, including 2 meals was less than half the price per mile of first class travel on FGW, on which of course meals would be extra.
On the other hand though, drink was not included, and the profit on the extra sales would probably have paid for an extra waiter.

[bobm]

Oft reported but never happened, it seems the possible expansion of Pullman Services is on hold again, possibly as a result of the delay in the franchise process for the GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about).

I gather from the staff it has gone quiet again, but the existing four services do remain in the draft timetable I have seen from December.

[broadgage]

A cynic might suspect that the often rumoured re-instatment of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) pullmans was due to the rapidly approaching franchise renewal on the Great western route and the West coast.
Now that the west coast fiasco has delayed this, there is no point in re-instating any Pullmans just yet.

I predict a short term re-instatement when the franchise renewal process restarts.

Officialy the franchise for the west coast will be granted on facts and figures and not on public opinion, nor on the catering offer on another franchise run by the same company. In practice though I expect that public opinion, or the subjective impressions of those making the decision may play a part.

[ellendune]

A cynic might suspect that the often rumoured re-instatment of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) pullmans was due to the rapidly approaching franchise renewal on the Great western route and the West coast.
Now that the west coast fiasco has delayed this, there is no point in re-instating any Pullmans just yet.

I predict a short term re-instatement when the franchise renewal process restarts.

Officialy the franchise for the west coast will be granted on facts and figures and not on public opinion, nor on the catering offer on another franchise run by the same company. In practice though I expect that public opinion, or the subjective impressions of those making the decision may play a part.

That is why I objected to Mr Branson's publicity campaign that falsly criticised First's bid saying they would cut this that and the other, unecessarily worrying thie own staff.  I am sure many people in WC^▸ (Wiltshire Council (Unitary Authority)) land believe that First is the rail equivelant of the devil incarnate. They are not perfect but this is not a view supported by my experience of FGW.

Branson seeking a judicial review that has to be based on evidence was fine. 

[broadgage]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) certainly have their faults but are not IMHO^▸ ('in my humble opinion') that bad.
I feel that a lot of the anti-first group publicity is from people whose main experience of First group is say First capital connect, still commonly called Thameslink.
Anyone regulary subjected to FCC^▸ (First Capital Connect) would probably be appalled at the thought of giving another franchise to that lot.

And of course a few probably think that 4 car class 319s will be used between Euston and Scotland!

[broadgage]

Just back in London after visiting friends in the West.
The restaurant on on the 18-03 last week was of the usuall high standard, and the return today on the 12-05 from Plymouth was as good.
I was especialy pleased to note that on todays train, that only 1 or 2 seats remained in the restaurant, with about 16 customers taking lunch.
Hopefully the service will ccontinue and perhaps be increased.

[bobm]

Just missed you!  I was on the 12:55 today.

Certainly the number taking lunch does seem to have increased in recent months.  Let's hope it continues!

[JayMac]

I'm booked to take lunch on the 1255 ex Plymouth on 14th December. It's been a while since I've sampled the excellent fare on the Pullman and on this forthcoming occasion I shall be dining with the girlfriend. Trains hold little appeal for her, but when I explained the food and service that was on offer she was more than happy to head south-west before doubling back to our ultimate destination in Berkshire.

[broadgage]

I was not aware that one could book in the up Pullmans ?
I thought that booking was only possible on the 18-03 and 19-03 from Paddington, until recently there was no need for bookings on up services, as space was virtualy allways available.
With the recent increase in numbers dining on up services, there might be a need for a booking service, or has this been introduced, unoticed by myself?

[bobm]

You can't book the actual seats but you can book an advance ticket for the train which is what I tend to do.

If joining at Plymouth if you have a quiet word with the staff while they are waiting on the platform they will usually reserve you a seat in the restaurant.  I tend to go for the single one - Seat 7 - if I'm on my own.

[JayMac]

Sorry broadgage, what I meant to say in my post was that I was booked to travel on the 1255 on 14th December. Got a couple of bargain Advance Purchase fares from Totnes to Reading.