On-train catering to end, Cardiff to Portsmouth, from 1st April

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Circular just received ...

Dear Graham
 
Since the start of the pandemic customer travel patterns have changed, and the way that we do business needs to change too.  Government has heavily invested in rail (£15 billion) to keep the railway operational.  This funding is not sustainable, and it is right that we look to review our services.   
 
As much as possible we want to protect and build on what we have, but we must be mindful that taxpayer support needs to reduce and that does mean making some hard choices.
 
Having looked closely at the Food and Drink offered on our services we have therefore taken the difficult decision to withdraw trolley services from our Oxford to London stopper services, and our Cardiff to Portsmouth Harbour regional services from Friday 1 April.  The change brings these services in line with our other local and regional services.  We will continue to offer Food and Drink on our high speed intercity services. 
 
The majority of customers on these routes are travelling for shorter journeys and take up of our Food and Drink offer is low.  Refreshments can be bought at many of our stations before boarding and can also be brought on board by customers from home or from retailers away from the station.
 
Staff providing the service are employed by Rail Gourmet. Sadly, redundancies notices have been issued, if we can, we will try and find roles within GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) for the individuals displaced.
 
As you know we would normally share changes like this with you well in advance, on this occasion, we felt that we should wait until all the impacted staff had been made aware of the change. I hope you would agree that this was the right thing to do.
 
There will no doubt be further changes as the rail industry works to meet the challenges of reducing subsidy and recovery of rail patronage, alongside the transition to Great British Railways under the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail.
 
We will continue to share and update you as changes happen and if you have any questions or queries about this change, or any aspect of GWR, please do let me know and we will do our best to get you the answers.
 
Best wishes
 
Mark

Mark Hopwood |Managing Director | Great Western Railway

[IndustryInsider]

Yes, I heard about this earlier in the week.  It’s not the ‘stopper’ Oxford to Paddington trains that are affected, but the fast ones that run between Paddington and Oxford/Banbury every hour between the other fast services to and from the North Cotswold Line.

That (deliberate?) wording error aside, sales are very low on that route and the point about outlets at stations serving higher quality products is quite true - Oxford has gained a Costa since the pandemic began.  But it’s still a disappointing decision and another part of the leisure service that’s being axed along with some off-peak trains.  That kind of flies in the face of talk about concentrating on the leisure market more than ever.

I’m not so sure how busy the service on the Cardiff<>Portsmouth route is?

It would be interesting to know how much the contract with RG was costing per year?

[grahame]

I’m not so sure how busy the service on the Cardiff<>Portsmouth route is?

Trains BUSY ... catering far less so. The intermittent nature of when it's available and the inability for it to get through the train (short formed) or because of no through corridor (full length) has made the offering unattractive, and regulars know to purchase at the station before they board to get a reliable drink.   Much like the trains themselves - people need to be able to rely on the catering and it hasn't felt like that.   Almost feels like a bonus when a trolley turns up early enough during a journey on these trains - but by that time you have fed and watered at the station.

If headed from Trowbridge to London via Salisbury, good opportunity to get a coffee and a cake from a far wider range on offer at Salisbury while you "connect" 

[paul7575]

Shortly after the Turbos started I did Portsmouth Hbr to Southampton, and although it wasn’t at all busy the trolley was static, and I don’t think I saw more than 2 or 3 people use it.  I wasn’t convinced the operator was looking for sales at all…

Paul

[JayMac]

What certainly doesn't help is having nowhere to put your food and drink down on at most seats on a Turbo. Horribly laid out commuter trains unsuited to an inter-regional service.

Once again, the excuse, "most people are making shorter journeys" is trotted out for downgrading a service. Perhaps that's because passengers have experienced the crap rolling stock and subsequently decided to travel by alternative means next time. If I lived on the south coast and wanted to travel to South Wales, or vice-versa, then I'd do everything possible to avoid Class 165/166s. I'd rather pay a premium and travel via Reading on Class 80x and Class 220/221.

[broadgage]

This is known as progress. Provide a minimal and unreliable trolley service in order to discourage use, then withdraw it due to lack of use.

[eightonedee]

What certainly doesn't help is having nowhere to put your food and drink down on at most seats on a Turbo. Horribly laid out commuter trains unsuited to an inter-regional service.

Ironically, the small side shelves on 165s and some small seat back fold down shelves were removed years ago during various "refreshes" of these trains and some of the full sized tables from 166s went too.

Sorry BNM that it will be little comfort that you will soon have new more durable and washable charcoal and green upholstery to balance or spill it on.

[infoman]

When I saw it said april 1st,I thought April fool,strange day as April 1st is a friday

[grahame]

When I saw it said april 1st,I thought April fool,strange day as April 1st is a friday

Staff on monthly contracts?   1st April is a popular day in the rail industry - what was the date on which the First group took over Wessex Trains - 1st April 2006? Also I recall it being a that we publicised a real growth opportunity for rail on Severnside.

The catering decision is (IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion)) the removal of an offering which has / had been far less useful than it could or should have been - a business that really didn't look like it had been seriously cared for or nurtured by the people running it, and overtaken by events such as train capacity and type changes, and covid and their effects.

The "most people don't use the facility" or any "most" argument is a flawed one.  You need enough people to use it, not the majority. If you go "majority: you start removing first class, catering, power points, luggage racks. Then you remove stops at wayside stations such as Bradford-on-Avon and Warminster on the gounds that that majority of people stay on the train through that station rather than getting off or on.

[infoman]

fair enough

[Clan Line]

 The change brings these services in line with our other local and regional services. 

Makes it sound as though we are getting something extra !!!!

From the moment the lunatic decision to put 165/166s on this line was announced the catering trolley was doomed. I honestly think that someone in GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) thought that you could couple a 165 and a 166 together and make a "proper" 5 car train..................well, SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) do it with the 158/159 combi don't they ? 

Just as an aside - I checked all the Cardiff/Portsmouth trains one day last week on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website). There was an almost exact one third split of 3 car, 4 car and 5 car trains. How long ago since we were told about all these wonderful 5 car trains we were going to get on this route ?

[broadgage]

As regards train length, we were told that IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) would provide a great increase in capacity, not only on routes thus served, but elsewhere by all the existing stock freed up.
Never mind, catering and perhaps even full length trains might return, after Covid, or after the war.

[Clan Line]

As regards train length, we were told that IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) would provide a great increase in capacity, not only on routes thus served, but elsewhere by all the existing stock freed up.
Never mind, catering and perhaps even full length trains might return, after Covid, or after the war.

..................or after Brexit ?? Just for good measure GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) (and SWR^» (South Western Railway - about)) have both now withdrawn from the Nectar scheme.

[Surrey 455]

What certainly doesn't help is having nowhere to put your food and drink down on at most seats on a Turbo. Horribly laid out commuter trains unsuited to an inter-regional service.

Ironically, the small side shelves on 165s and some small seat back fold down shelves were removed years ago during various "refreshes" of these trains and some of the full sized tables from 166s went too.

Sorry BNM that it will be little comfort that you will soon have new more durable and washable charcoal and green upholstery to balance or spill it on.

Those fold back seat tables were useless. They could just about hold a very small catering cup but nothing much bigger.

[1st fan]

Yes, I heard about this earlier in the week.  It’s not the ‘stopper’ Oxford to Paddington trains that are affected, but the fast ones that run between Paddington and Oxford/Banbury every hour between the other fast services to and from the North Cotswold Line.

That (deliberate?) wording error aside, sales are very low on that route and the point about outlets at stations serving higher quality products is quite true - Oxford has gained a Costa since the pandemic began.  But it’s still a disappointing decision and another part of the leisure service that’s being axed along with some off-peak trains.  That kind of flies in the face of talk about concentrating on the leisure market more than ever.

I’m not so sure how busy the service on the Cardiff<>Portsmouth route is?

It would be interesting to know how much the contract with RG was costing per year?

I sat opposite someone on the last trip I did heading north of Oxford. When the trolley came round she asked if there was any hot food and the host said no. She asked if there were any sandwiches and again the answer was no. She declined anything else from the “meagre” offering (her word not mine) and told him she’d go hungry. Like me she’d arrived at Paddington with just enough time to buy a ticket and race to the train. Unlike her I had dinner waiting for me when I arrived, she didn’t and would be relying on there being a take away restaurant open when she got off. I asked if she was expecting a full Pullman dining experience on a ~2hr journey and she said no. It doesn’t need to be anything that complicated just something that could be shoved into a microwave. She wondered if they could perhaps stock Rustlers burgers for example as they’ve got a three week shelf life. She didn’t look like the type to be eating something like that especially as she decided against the chocolate etc. offerings from the trolley.