Great Western Coffee Shop

.....if the RMT are to be believed

https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/avanti-to-end-at-seat-catering-in-another-blow-for-passengers/

This is known as progress.
"What downgrades can we get away with"  ?
I seldom agree with the RMT, but this is an exception.

The RMT also moaned when the ‘click and serve’ service they claim is being removed was introduced!  ;)

Isn’t this a similar thing to what GWR have been planning to introduce for ages, with trials going on for a long time now?  Doesn’t bode well.

I’m sure the DfT will be looking at various other quick ways to get the operators to save money in the pseudo public railway we’re now operating under.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see all catering removed on North and South Cotswold Line services as well as perhaps the Bristol’s.

Perhaps the RMT felt that the "click and serve" service was intended as a short term measure to ease the transition between "proper" on board catering and the long term aim of no catering at all. A bit like GWRs various efforts involving travelling chefs, micro buffets, and pullman brasseries, all to ease the transition from proper buffets towards a very poor trolley service, soon to be followed by nothing at all, no doubt.
Looks as though the RMT are nearly as cynical as me !

I was only thinking yesterday, if enough revenue wasn’t being generated to justify providing an at seat trolley service between Bournemouth/Portsmouth/Exeter and Waterloo, what makes it so different between Paddington-Bristol/Swansea/North Coltswolds?

Are GWR providing this service at a loss but can justify it as being able to promote a ‘premium’ rail service to these destinations because it has at seat catering?

Is the trolley service not outsourced by GWR to some other firm? Sort of franchise within a franchise! If it is, then it's probably no worry to them if it's not popular enough (at least till the franchise comes up for renewal).

No, the trolley service is now wholly done by GWR staff.  The DfT pay for it all these days though as part of the management fee they pay GWR to run the trains.