Qn.3 for Mark Hopwood: Trolley service on IETs

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

When it was announced that the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) would not have buffets, a greatly improved trolley service was promised, see below for details.
NONE of these improvements have been realised.

Improved trolleys that keep things hot or cold. NOT DELIVERED the trolleys are like those used on other regional or secondary routes.

Hot food from the trolley, sunk without trace.

Two trolleys on 5+5 trains, seldom achieved. Often only one and sometimes none.

If the trolley is even on board, it is often static or hidden in first class.

Is it therefore time to admit that downgrading from a buffet to a trolley was a failed experiment, and that buffets should be added.
IETs used by other operators DO have buffets after all.

(Link to a previous meet the manager session in which various improvements were promised:  http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15945.0 )

[MarkHopwood]

I just don’t accept the premise of this question. We are now selling more food and drink than we were when we had HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) with buffets. I accept the transition has been tougher than we would have liked but progress is being made to solve the issues we face and our new terms and conditions for catering staff is making it easier to cover shifts, especially at weekends. Removing hard won seats for an old fashioned buffet in an environment where fewer and fewer customers wish to leave their seats is not sensible and the cost would £Ms which would never be recovered - and that’s before we even think of how long each train would be out of service for. The numbers don’t add up!

Our move to an all at seat service is not and never was an 'experiment' It was a well planned and thought through change which despite being logistically challenging is starting to prove beyond doubt that it is the right strategy on these very long trains and will prove to be highly successful. We do understand that it is not perfect. We recognise that with a trolley service the customers are not in control of when the trolley arrives at their seat. We are working very hard to deliver the service.

Regarding hot food, we continue research into ways to improve our catering offer and that includes hot food. We are developing a trolley that can deliver hot food products.

[broadgage]

In my view, by far the worst feature of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) is the ban on buffets.
Providing a buffet is part of running an inter-city train service. Other TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) have buffets even on new trains.

A trolley, more often than not  hiding in first class, static or otherwise unavailable is a very poor substitute. This is not just my view. Look on trip advisor ! "not even a buffet" is a frequent complaint.

[MarkHopwood]

At the end of the day I accept there will be a small set of customers who prefer a buffet but the current options allows us to offer more seats and provide customers a service of refreshments to their seat. That is one of the reasons we are now seeing growth in catering sales year on year after years of decline and a 3% increase in customer satisfaction with on board services in last NRPS^▸ (Numerical Rating Pain Score (patient discomfort scale)) survey by Transport Focus.

[MarkHopwood]

I would also add our own research shows greater customer satisfaction with the at seat service as opposed to the buffet service amongst customers with varying journey times.

While I accept we had complaints from customers about lack of catering during IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) introduction these have fallen substantially since introducing the trains.

[MarkHopwood]

Having noted the reference to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) on Trip Advisor I would note that our Pullman catering operation scores 4.5/5 and is ranked in Top 1000 restaurants in London out of c20,000.

Also worth noting that over half of catering complaints in recent weeks have been from first class customers rather than standard where the trolley service remains in first.

[broadgage]

I agree that the Pullman service is excellent and well deserving of the many positive reviews on trip advisor, two of which are from me.
I greatly enjoy the Pullman.

However I do not feel that the excellent Pullman service justifies the removal of the buffet, and in practice the removal of all catering  on those services with no available trolley.

On a recent trip in first class I was not able to buy any wine or beer from the trolley which was hiding in first class "because the card machine is broken"  I offered cash, but the trolley operator was "unable" to accept that either.

I am not convinced that having to search for the often static trolley is better than a proper buffet.

[MarkHopwood]

I don’t think I am suggesting the Pullman should be delivered at the expense of other aspects of catering delivery.

There are still too many occasions when the delivery of catering at seat is not as good as it should be. We can see from our reports this is getting better but there is more work to do and we are focused on getting this addressed and recruiting more colleagues.

[broadgage]

Whilst I am reassured that steps are being taken to improve the trolley service, why were suitable staff not recruited initially ? The downgrade to trolley catering was known about in plenty of time to recruit staff.
We have had nearly two years of no trolley/static trolley/trolley in other half of the train/trolley hiding in first.

Why not get it right from the beginning?

[ChrisB]

I think Mark hinted at the reason(s) earlier in the thread

I accept the transition has been tougher than we would have liked but progress is being made to solve the issues we face and our new terms and conditions for catering staff is making it easier to cover shifts, especially at weekends.

[IndustryInsider]

Good to see the question made it to the shortlist - I can only imagine the conspiracy theory accusations that would have been levelled otherwise.

Anyway, no chance of the return of a buffet, and trolley service provision promised to improve in both content and availability.  Bacon rolls and filter coffee were being provided from the trolley on my last IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) trip.

Let’s keep a watching brief on the trolley situation, but move on from buffet discussions!

[PhilWakely]

Took my wife and daughter up to London yesterday (and hence missed the 'live event') for just their second IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) experience.  Up on the Golden Hind from Exeter and back on the 19:03.

Their first experience (in both directions) was in a 2x5-car which had a trolley 'in the other unit'.  Yesterday, both services were 9-car units and within 10 minutes of joining the train, the rather apologetic call of 'anyone for refreshments' was heard in our carriage. Sadly, neither trolley had hot water available and the selection of food was restricted to packets of crisps and biscuits.

It was extremely good planning to visit Pumpkins before boarding!

[broadgage]

Despite the assurances offered by Mark Hopwood, I am very doubtful indeed about the trolley service being significantly and consistently improved. And then provided reliably in both portions of a train, even on Sundays.
They had a couple of years to recruit staff and make the trolley service work properly, and failed miserably.
We have heard very similar re-assurances before, from a previous meet the manager session on these forums.

Whilst GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have said in effect "no way" regarding buffets, the next operator might be better in this respect.

[Celestial]

Whilst GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have said in effect "no way" regarding buffets, the next operator might be better in this respect.

Unlikely given the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) hand in all of this. But maybe I detect an agreement with IndustryInsider that we move on from the comparison with buffets until such a time as a new franchise is on the cards, else the subject risks being staler than a 1970s BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) ham sandwich.

[fintan_stack]

It was a well planned and thought through change which despite being logistically challenging is starting to prove beyond doubt that it is the right strategy on these very long trains and will prove to be highly successful.

Well it is very strange then that on other web fora it has been admitted by well known insiders that the market research carried out that returned preference for trollies rather than buffets was carried out after the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) signed off the trains.