Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 20:15 28 Mar 2024
* Easter getaways hit by travel disruption
- Where Baltimore bridge investigation goes now
- How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
- Passengers pleaded with knifeman during attack
- Family anger at sentence on fatal crash driver, 19
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
28th Mar (1992)
MOD Kineton tour, branch line society (*)

Train RunningCancelled
18:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
18:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
19:23 Reading to Gatwick Airport
19:33 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill
19:35 Exeter St Davids to London Paddington
19:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading
20:13 Swindon to Westbury
20:16 Frome to Westbury
20:20 Reading to Shalford
20:49 Newbury to Bedwyn
20:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport
20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington
21:16 Bedwyn to Newbury
21:16 Westbury to Swindon
21:30 Shalford to Reading
21:53 Newbury to Bedwyn
22:25 Bedwyn to Newbury
22:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading
22:30 Swindon to Westbury
22:47 Newbury to Bedwyn
Short Run
16:03 London Paddington to Penzance
16:19 Carmarthen to London Paddington
16:35 London Paddington to Plymouth
16:50 Plymouth to London Paddington
17:03 London Paddington to Penzance
17:30 London Paddington to Taunton
17:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
18:03 London Paddington to Penzance
18:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport
18:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading
19:04 Paignton to London Paddington
19:13 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
19:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading
20:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
20:11 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
20:42 Bedwyn to London Paddington
21:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
Delayed
16:15 Penzance to London Paddington
Additional 17:17 Exeter St Davids to Penzance
Additional 17:26 Castle Cary to Penzance
19:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
An additional train service has been planned to operate as shown 19:40 Redhill to Reading
19:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport
23:04 Reading to Bedwyn
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 28, 2024, 20:27:21 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[118] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[116] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[89] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[46] Return of the BRUTE?
[38] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[28] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: Eurostar goes almost dry  (Read 1611 times)
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« on: June 24, 2019, 19:57:54 »

From The BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Quote
Eurostar has defended limiting the amount of alcohol passengers can carry on its trains as necessary to "maintain a pleasant environment".

The train operator explained its position after customers complained on social media about changes to the policy.
It allows one bottle of wine or four cans of beer and no spirits.

Previously, there were restrictions on ski resort routes and temporary ones for sporting events.

Although Eurostar says it made the changes last year, passengers appear to have only just started to notice.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
infoman
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1286


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2019, 05:18:31 »

I think Australia banned the selling of alcohol on their trains some time ago.
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2019, 08:48:34 »

I think Australia banned the selling of alcohol on their trains some time ago.

As I read it, you can still buy alcohol (including spirits) on Eurostar ... and you can pay their shippers £30 a piece to send your luggage ahead off you / behind you rather than accompanying it.  I wonder how much the ban is because of antisocial behaviour and attempts to limit it, and how much might be intended to help generate income for luggage handling and on train sales of booze.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Phantom
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 484



View Profile
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2019, 10:28:18 »

I think Australia banned the selling of alcohol on their trains some time ago.

Let's be honest with the new IET (Intercity Express Train) trains with their "mobile" buffets, GWR (Great Western Railway) are basically operating a dry train already
Three Saturdays on the trot recently I travelled from Weston to Paddington, out of those six journeys I only saw the trolley once
Logged
broadgage
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 5398



View Profile
« Reply #4 on: June 25, 2019, 11:27:57 »

Another small but regrettable step towards making rail travel less attractive and more hassle, if compared to air or road transport.
Alcoholic drink may be carried in a car on a cross channel ferry, or in an aircraft, with the volume limited only by customs regulations, or by limits on size or weight of luggage.

To carry a bottle of spirits as a gift on Eurostar will cost an extra £30 as checked luggage, but by air or road/ferry there is no extra charge. That will help increase air transport and carbon emissions.
Logged

A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
ellendune
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4452


View Profile
« Reply #5 on: June 25, 2019, 23:22:53 »

To carry a bottle of spirits as a gift on Eurostar will cost an extra £30 as checked luggage, but by air or road/ferry there is no extra charge. That will help increase air transport and carbon emissions.

Wouldn't fancy my chances getting it through security at Heathrow in hand baggage! Checked baggage on planes is now extra too. 
Logged
mjray
Full Member
***
Posts: 31


View Profile
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2019, 11:46:25 »

Wouldn't fancy my chances getting it through security at Heathrow in hand baggage! Checked baggage on planes is now extra too. 
At least checked baggage on planes is available on all routes where it's required. Eurostar's checked baggage is only available between London and Paris/Lille/Brussels.

You also have to drop it off 90 minutes before departure, eroding another key selling point of Eurostar - remember, their front page promotes "Two-bag travel allowance and no extra fees" and "Save time and money" as two of their features and this change has weakened both of those - hope the profit from selling more checked baggage is worth it for them!
Logged
Celestial
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 674


View Profile
« Reply #7 on: June 26, 2019, 16:10:53 »

It looks as though Eurostar has backed down/clarified its position (you choose) to only relate to alcohol consumed on board. So you can still bring back booze for consumption later. 


Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page