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

[whole diary]

[John R]

I wonder if they will start laying a couple of tables in G as is done on the evening services ?

Presumably you then have to eat your meal in silence?




Edit note: Quote marks amended, for clarity. CfN.

[broadgage]

Normal conversation seems to be accepted, but I would not use a mobile phone or other noise maker.
Lest the taking of food orders and serving of same be considered unduly noisy, IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) the quiet coach should no longer be G but should be the end coach H.
After all, the standard class quite coach is A, the end one and it seems sensible to designate the end coaches thus as they have no through traffic.

I have previously speculated as to why G is the quiet coach, and a respected member said it was because the end coach, H was formerly for smokers. This is no doubt so, but now that smoking has been banned for years it might be time to review this.

[bobm]

I wonder if they will start laying a couple of tables in G as is done on the evening services ?

The problem is all the food has to be loaded at the Plymouth end and I understand the fridge space is limited. While it is possible for the crew on the 19:03 to get more supplies sent up on the 15:00 if they have a run on something, it might be problematic carring sufficient food to provide more meals in the up direction on a regular basis.

[broadgage]

You mean that if the up restaurants become too busy, that there might be no fillet steak left FOR ME on the corresponding down service !

[bobm]

The last couple of trips I have had there has been no gurnard and it has been replaced by a very nice piece of grilled plaice.  I'm a confirmed steak eater, but it tempted me to try it and I was not disappointed.

[broadgage]

I took dinner on the 18-03 last Friday (23/08/2013)
The food was of the usual excellent qaulity, the service was a bit rushed because of a last minute set swap.
The set booked for this service was found to have no water available in the kitchen, and therefore an alternative train was used thereby limiting the time that the Pullman crew had to prepare.

I was however not impressed with the alternative train used. This had at least 2 defective seats in coach F.
2F and 2R both defaulted to the fully reclined position, no matter what adjustment was attempted. OK perhaps for lying back and sleeping, but not suitable for sitting upright.
The restaurant was full, so I could not take an alternative seat, another customer was similarly inconvienienced.

I am almost certain that the same 2 seats were broken on an up service recently.

[sprinterguard]

IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) the seat manufacturer for the 1st class seats went out of business, making procuring spare parts for the seats difficult. Not sure what's happened since with that regard. 

[thetrout]

IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) the quiet coach should no longer be G but should be the end coach H.
After all, the standard class quite coach is A, the end one and it seems sensible to designate the end coaches thus as they have no through traffic.

I have previously speculated as to why G is the quiet coach, and a respected member said it was because the end coach, H was formerly for smokers. This is no doubt so, but now that smoking has been banned for years it might be time to review this.

Broadgage I agree completely. I've raised this point on the forum before a couple of times. I believe member: super tm said it was because H used to be the smoking carriage.

It would make sense to make H the quiet carriage as you say to prevent through traffic. The toilet on the power car side is no more, so it makes more sense.

No too long ago I was on an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) set where there were no working toilets in First (Well not strictly true but the less said the better on that one ). Leaving the nearest in Coach F (Micro Buffet). A few quiet coach occupants were less than pleased at the folks traipsing through G to get to the Buffet Car and the toilets.

If the quiet coach had been in H then this wouldn't have been an issue as you wouldn't need to walk to the power car end for the bog.

I think laying up a few tables for the Pullman in Coach G is acceptable and the chances are you wouldn't want to take a call mid meal (Sssssh pedants...!) However I think conversation at a normal tone should be allowed.

On weekends especially I've seen numerous passengers get very hostile with passengers walking through. Especially with young children walking up and down and looking for interesting things to do on the 3+ hour journey from London Paddington - Plymouth.

Of course when you have 2 Coach G's in the consist with one labelled up as an H, then things start to get interesting... Unfortunately that does happen

[trainer]

the chances are you wouldn't want to take a call mid meal

Unless you want to be mealy-mouthed about it. 

[John R]

As a daily user of coach G I have never had any problem with through traffic from H. It doesn't bother me at all. With the trolley service it's fairly limited anyway.

[broadgage]

Took lunch yesterday on the earlier of the 2 up trains, cant fault the restaurant, but again at least 2 broken seats that are stuck in the fully reclined position, or that if placed in the upright position then unexpectedly recline.

Not such a big deal as the restaurant was not full and other seats available.

Also no water for handwashing in the nearest 2 toilets, presumably the tap was defective as water was available to flush the WC^▸ (Wiltshire Council (Unitary Authority)).

[Super Guard]

Took lunch yesterday on the earlier of the 2 up trains, cant fault the restaurant, but again at least 2 broken seats that are stuck in the fully reclined position, or that if placed in the upright position then unexpectedly recline.

Not such a big deal as the restaurant was not full and other seats available.

Also no water for handwashing in the nearest 2 toilets, presumably the tap was defective as water was available to flush the WC^▸ (Wiltshire Council (Unitary Authority)).

Please report the faults to the TM^‡(resolve) where possible, because if we don't put them in the fault book and notify Maintenance of the faults, then they just won't ever get fixed.

[broadgage]

Took lunch yesterday on the earlier of the 2 up trains, cant fault the restaurant, but again at least 2 broken seats that are stuck in the fully reclined position, or that if placed in the upright position then unexpectedly recline.

Not such a big deal as the restaurant was not full and other seats available.

Also no water for handwashing in the nearest 2 toilets, presumably the tap was defective as water was available to flush the WC^▸ (Wiltshire Council (Unitary Authority)).

Please report the faults to the TM^‡(resolve) where possible, because if we don't put them in the fault book and notify Maintenance of the faults, then they just won't ever get fixed.

I do ! but I have my doubts as to what is done.
It often seems that the same seats are still/again broken on subsequent journeys, I cant be certain of course as I dont record which sets are used.
However both 2R and 2F in coach F are either broken on several trains, or are broken on the one that I get.
On the set that is regularly used on the earlier up Pullman, 1F is broken.

[JayMac]

Competition running until 2359 11th September 2013 to win a 3 course lunch (incl. wine) for two on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Pullman lunch services.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/eNewsletter/Competitions/2013/September/win-a-three-course-meal-for-two

[Rhydgaled]

What is the difference between Traveling Chef and Pullman apart from the menu. Is the Traveling Chef a 'go to the buffet and collect your meal and take it back to your seat in standard' while Pullman is 'sit in the resturant car, even if you only have a standard class ticket, and we'll bring food to you'?

Oh well, maybe after IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.)... guess I should go look at that thread now.

The draft IEP seating layouts on the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) website suggest that cooked meals will be reduced to first class passengers only. The only kitchen/buffet is tucked away in the 1st class driving vehicle, standard class is left with just a parking place for a trolley.