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

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From Swindon Advertiser:

Rail workers plan protest

Rail union the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) is planning a day of action on Saturday over fears that catering cars will be removed from trains and jobs put at risk.

The union believes new Intercity Express trains being introduced by First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) will not have catering cars.

The demonstration, starting at 9.30am at Bath Spa, Reading and Paddington stations, aims to gain assurance on a list of points ^ including that buffet cars will be kept, there will be no job losses or demotions and that on-board cleaning will be brought in-house.

FGW denies any plans to remove catering services and says any new agreement over trains has yet to be reached.

But RMT general secretary Mick Cash warned industrial action could follow the protest, potentially disrupting services across the South West. ^RMT is far from happy with the vague statements coming out from First Group (the parent company of FGW) over the future of catering services, train crew and engineering jobs as a result of their being gifted a whole fleet of new Intercity trains, courtesy of the taxpayer and the fare-paying public,^ he said.

Graham Ellis, of TransWilts Community Rail Partnership, said FGW was doing more to help standard-class passengers, including shrinking first-class capability from 2.5 to 1.5 carriages on the Chippenham-London Paddington route. He said: ^First Great Western is one of only two companies at the moment that have buffet cars, but they are disappearing from other trains in favour of trolley service. There is a huge amount of uncertainty around the future of rail travel. The rail companies don^t have a great deal of independence; it is like them being given the Titanic and only being able to rearrange the deckchairs.^

A FGW spokesman denied planning to remove catering services and said the new Inter-city trains were yet to be agreed. ^We have no plans to remove buffet services from our existing fleet of high-speed trains; in fact we are working to improve on and extend the range of catering offered,^ he said. ^For example we have recently increased the number of Pullman fine dining services and reintroduced Pullman Dining to South Wales. While we continue talks with the Department for Transport about a five-year direct award franchise, which will see the introduction of a new state of the art Intercity Express fleet from summer of 2017, details have yet to be agreed.^

[ChrisB]

"Yet to be agreed" = "we haven't signed off on this in the Direct Award that we soon to sign with the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)"

[TaplowGreen]

......nice to see that there are still a few dinosaurs walking the Earth!

[Timmer]

"Yet to be agreed" = "we haven't signed off on this in the Direct Award that we soon to sign with the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)"

Exactly. How can FGW^▸ (First Great Western) make announcements about what catering provision will be provided aboard IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) when the contract to run the GW^▸ (Great Western) lines for the next five years hasn't even been signed yet.

[a-driver]

Rumour has it that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) has already decided the layout of the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are far from happy with it which is why talks about an extension are still ongoing. Some are suggesting this is why FGW introduced the Pullman service to South Wales, to strengthen their case and position.  All just rumours and gossip mind!

[trainer]

Sadly this sort of proposed industrial action seems designed to intimidate and bully even before proper thought has been given to a subject. Negotiating with a fist to the opponent's face has always been the mark of a frightened person. Job losses are to be taken seriously by unions (I always belonged to one when I was working), but this isn't even a 'knee-jerk reaction'.  It's kicking the furniture around before the other side has walked into the room to make a lot of noise.

[TeaStew]

I appreciate the Titanic metaphor. Although hopefully it doesn't follow to conclusion.

[TaplowGreen]

Sadly this sort of proposed industrial action seems designed to intimidate and bully even before proper thought has been given to a subject. Negotiating with a fist to the opponent's face has always been the mark of a frightened person. Job losses are to be taken seriously by unions (I always belonged to one when I was working), but this isn't even a 'knee-jerk reaction'.  It's kicking the furniture around before the other side has walked into the room to make a lot of noise.

They do like to rattle the sabres don't they? Couldn't agree more that job losses are to be taken seriously, but equally demanding that there will be no job losses or demotions in a scenario which hasn't even been determined yet is ridiculous.......no-one in any industry can expect those sorts of guarantees.

[Rhydgaled]

While they are at their campaign to keep buffets for standard class passengers, would the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) please also stick up for the passengers on Paddington to south Wales services and most GW^▸ (Great Western) lines which will see IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) but not electrification (particularly the Cotswolds line from London through Oxford to Worcester/Hereford). The DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) think those routes can make do with shorter trains and fewer seats than now (see this topic). My view is that the DfT have got it very wrong and these routes need longer IEPs (9-car) like Bristol will get, or alternative longer rolling stock (retained IC125s or any IC225s that the new East Coast franchise does not retain).

[broadgage]

I think that we can be reasonably certain that the new trains wont have buffets.
The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) and others have asked the question, and received wonderfully evasive answers that do not actually answer the question.
If the new trains ARE to have buffets, surely they would simply so ? rather than talking about generalities.

I appreciate that a kitchen is to be installed, hopefully for Pullman meal service in First only, but that is not a buffet.

I appreciate that the interior layout is intended to be flexible and that a buffet could in theory be added later.

[thetrout]

This begs the question of the following:

Why would FGW^▸ (First Great Western) go to the trouble of marketing an extremely well used Pullman Service to the point of extending it to other services across the network - only to shelve it the moment the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) appears?

Unless FGW plan to use the High Speed Trains (HST^▸ (High Speed Train))s for Pullmans and run Diesel under wires to Swansea / Newbury (for Plymouth / Penzance) which is ludicrous in it's own right.

Not to mention an appalling waste of unnecessary fossil fuel. (Appreciate this happens already on many routes - but mainly for the last mile where electric locomotives cannot be used due to Technical Reasons or Lack of Knitting)

Someone, somewhere, isn't telling us the whole story. Unless the ultimately depressing fact is that the plan is to migrate the Pullmans into a complimentary First Class service as per the likes of ICEC / ICWC^▸ (InterCity West Coast)...

FGW of late in their Express Cafe's have seriously up'd their game. Pasties are provided in proper cardboard boxes as opposed to White Paper Bags. Many complimentary hot drinks in First Class are served with Fresh Milk and a generally good selection is available from the First Class trolley.

My only gripe is that all vegetarian hot food options have cheese and/or tomato. For someone with IBD that at times is considerably less than ideal. But I appreciate I cannot have my cake and eat it. Hence why I do not pass complaint. As a regular Cheese and Mushrooms on Toast Travelling Chef customer... It would be weird to start complaining right now about it!

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

[broadgage]

The new trains are expected to have a kitchen so the Pullman service might continue, though I have my doubts about the future viability of Pullmans if they are first class only, rather than priority for first, with steerage admitted if space permits as at present.

The problem appears to be not first class meal provision, but that catering for steerage is being downgraded to a trolley. I seldom agree with the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) dinosaurs, but over this particular issue I do agree with them.

[JayMac]

A recent addition to the Express Cafe menu is a Steak and Ale pie made in Devon with Otter Head Ale from the Otter Brewery. Currently on a High Speed Train (HST^▸ (High Speed Train)) and was very tempted to try one with a bottle of Proper Job Cornish Ale. But I've not long had lunch so just the drink this time. 

When I do try one of the pies I will of course report back!

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

[ChrisB]

Unless FGW^▸ (First Great Western) plan to use the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) for Pullmans and run Diesel under wires to Swansea / Newbury (for Plymouth / Penzance) which is ludicrous in it's own right.

They'll run High Speed Trains (HST)s to Cornwall under wires, yes. Pax won't expect to change trains, and there currently aren't enough bi-modes to go that route, so they'll be High Speed Trains (HST)s for the foreseeable future. And Pullmans will therefore continue on High Speed Trains (HST)s

First Great Western (FGW) can say nowt until the Direct Award is a) agreed, and b) signed.

This can't happen until the notice in the European Journal expires a year afte publication - that is somewhere close to 16 March. Because of the election, the District Attorney (DA^▸ (District Attorney)) has to be signed before Purdah (30 March) or else not until after the new Government starts business again (likely to be June, which is a tad tight when its due to commence in September.

So somewhere in those two weeks, IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion)

A recent addition to the Express Cafe menu is a Steak and Ale pie made in Devon with Otter Head Ale from the Otter Brewery.

Glad they've ditched those squealer pork pies then - great when first introduced, the meat quality took a big dive in more recent months - I giot one that mainly gristle not that long ago & refuse to buy again

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronyms

[TaplowGreen]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) of late in their Express Cafe's have seriously up'd their game. Pasties are provided in proper cardboard boxes as opposed to White Paper Bags.

..........there is nothing wrong with serving a pasty in a white paper bag, it's what God intended white paper bags were used for!