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SDS
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« Reply #705 on: July 05, 2014, 01:07:49 » |
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Rumours going around the internal forums are that the Travelling Chefs will be regraded to Customer Hosts regardless of any 'consultation'.
05.53 PLY» -PAD» is being made a Pullman as of September.
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I do not work for FGW▸ and posts should not be assumed and do not imply they are statements, unless explicitly stated that they are, from any TOC▸ including First Great Western.
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bobm
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« Reply #706 on: July 05, 2014, 06:15:48 » |
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In that the crews usually, and not unnaturally, run a meal service in both directions I wonder what the team on a 05:53 Plymouth to Paddington would do on a return journey.
Leaving London just after 10 or 11am seems a bit early for a lunch sitting.
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Rhydgaled
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« Reply #707 on: July 05, 2014, 09:12:42 » |
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Rumours going around the internal forums are that the Travelling Chefs will be regraded to Customer Hosts regardless of any 'consultation'. If that is a change of job description, the service might not necessarily change that much. I seem to remember someone posting on RailUK that Wrexham & Shropshire ( WSMR▸ ) did not have a chef and yet offered hot meals. Never used the service myself, but if I remember correctly WSMR was highly regarded for its catering. Losing the chefs on FirstGW might not therefore be the disaster we fear, if a similar level of catering is provided by other, non-chef, staff. I don't hold out much hope though, sadly. In that the crews usually, and not unnaturally, run a meal service in both directions I wonder what the team on a 05:53 Plymouth to Paddington would do on a return journey.
Leaving London just after 10 or 11am seems a bit early for a lunch sitting. Since 05:53 is quite early in the morning, perhaps the staff have a break at London and return a little later. I'm not sure what staff hours regulations are, but could that be an issue? Enjoy the Travelling Chef while you can. I have been told today by a very reliable source that they are to be phased out. No definite date yet, but probably by Christmas.
Pullman Restaurants however will remain. Predictable unfortunately. Many services that at present have a travelling chef are fairly soon due to be downgraded to the new shorter IEP▸ trains. Since these have no catering for steerage, a travelling chef service cant be provided. I must point out that not all the IEP trains will be shorter (although a lot of them will be) and that both the longer IEPs and the shorter ones provide a trolley (and only a trolley) for standard class. My question on the proposed new FirstGW catering offer on the IC125s is what is the point of the static trolley Mondays and Fridays? If the trolley isn't moving, surely you might as well go to the buffet for a wider range of items? |
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Don't DOO▸ it, keep the guard (but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea if the driver unlocked the doors on arrival at calling points).
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Umberleigh
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« Reply #708 on: July 05, 2014, 11:04:28 » |
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Enjoy the Travelling Chef while you can. I have been told today by a very reliable source that they are to be phased out. No definite date yet, but probably by Christmas.
Pullman Restaurants however will remain.
Predictable unfortunately. Many services that at present have a travelling chef are fairly soon due to be downgraded to the new shorter IEP▸ trains. Since these have no catering for steerage, a travelling chef service cant be provided. From the railways point of view, it is therefore desirable to cease travelling chef services in plenty of time. They don't want people saying "we had a travelling chef on the old trains but lost this after the downgrade" Much better by far to be able to say "the new trains have a similar catering offer to that previously offered" Surely there is an argument to keep the TC‡ on services to Penzance, with a journey time almost twice that of London to Swansea? I'm guessing the trolley is maybe due to coaches at the country end now being a coach further away from the buffet, it's already quite a trek |
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thetrout
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« Reply #709 on: July 05, 2014, 20:55:51 » |
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #710 on: July 05, 2014, 21:53:20 » |
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That is a very unhappy trout.  |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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chuffed
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« Reply #711 on: July 06, 2014, 06:27:52 » |
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Trout Pout to end all Trout Pouts !
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bobm
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« Reply #712 on: July 06, 2014, 08:55:47 » |
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I have been a semi-regular user of the Travelling Chef. When it has been available it has been generally very good - in particular the full breakfast - but all too often it has been unavailable due to crew or set probems. Perhaps by concentrating resources on a total of eight Pullman services they can improve the reliability and provide the advertised service.  |
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #713 on: July 06, 2014, 09:24:46 » |
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I suspect it's also a commercial decision, would be interesting to know if the Travelling Chef was profitable?
There can only be a certain number of people prepared to pay ^4.50 for beans on toast, or ^2.25 for two slices of toast......
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broadgage
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« Reply #714 on: July 06, 2014, 09:33:00 » |
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I suspect it's also a commercial decision, would be interesting to know if the Travelling Chef was profitable?
There can only be a certain number of people prepared to pay ^4.50 for beans on toast, or ^2.25 for two slices of toast......
IMHO▸ , these prices are reasonable if it is served on a plate at ones first class seat, arguably a bit steep though for queuing up for a cardboard box |
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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▸ is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
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broadgage
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« Reply #715 on: July 06, 2014, 16:25:24 » |
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Broadgage was already aware, but did not like to comment until this was confirmed publicly. Although I seldom used the travelling chef service, preferring the Pullman, the withdrawal of the travelling chef is still most regrettable, unless it is replaced by something better, which seems unlikely. A cynic like me would suspect that this to prepare us for the inevitable catering downgrade that the new trains will bring. |
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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▸ is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
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IndustryInsider
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« Reply #716 on: July 06, 2014, 16:52:07 » |
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It would be a shame to see the end of the Travelling Chef as it's a little different to anything else on offer from the other long distance operators. It would be interesting to see what kind of profit/loss it made. I enjoyed what I had on the odd occasion I used it, though the cost was high and it would not have been something I would want to rely on for a meal given the number of times the advertised service wasn't actually provided.
Good to hear that the Pullman service will hopefully be expanded to include a South Wales service as I was hoping for in a post a few weeks back - nobody else seems to have commented on that though, which surprises me a little.
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To view my GWML▸ Electrification cab video 'before and after' video comparison, as well as other videos of the new layout at Reading and 'before and after' comparisons of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/ |
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Umberleigh
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« Reply #717 on: July 06, 2014, 17:18:02 » |
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Re South Wales Pullman, when are the High Speed Trains (HST▸ )s being withdrawn on this route?
Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym
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« Last Edit: May 01, 2021, 21:42:16 by VickiS »
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IndustryInsider
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« Reply #718 on: July 06, 2014, 17:33:18 » |
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Cardiff is due to be wired by 2017, so I guess they will start to be phased out then, though I suspect it will be quite a slow phasing out with plenty of High Speed Train (HST▸ )s still covering diagrams until Swansea has been completed
Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym
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« Last Edit: May 01, 2021, 21:43:04 by VickiS »
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To view my GWML▸ Electrification cab video 'before and after' video comparison, as well as other videos of the new layout at Reading and 'before and after' comparisons of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/ |
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #719 on: July 07, 2014, 05:58:06 » |
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It would be a shame to see the end of the Travelling Chef as it's a little different to anything else on offer from the other long distance operators. It would be interesting to see what kind of profit/loss it made. I enjoyed what I had on the odd occasion I used it, though the cost was high and it would not have been something I would want to rely on for a meal given the number of times the advertised service wasn't actually provided.
Good to hear that the Pullman service will hopefully be expanded to include a South Wales service as I was hoping for in a post a few weeks back - nobody else seems to have commented on that though, which surprises me a little.
If they weren't making a profit at those very high prices the costs of running the service must have been huge and/or maintaining the service was outweighing the commercial benefits to FGW▸ , evidenced by the unreliability/erratic nature of its provision as alluded to above.......no business is going to stop doing something that makes a healthy profit without a very good reason- I suspect demand for the service had dropped off and with it income, despite the best efforts of those devotees in this chatroom!  |
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