Avanti West Coast Pendolinos position of the shop coach.

[38Cto15E]

I wonder if AWC missed a trick on the recent 390 refurb. Could the shop coach (C)? have been moved one or two places nearer to the centre of the consist?
I am of a certain age and have limited mobility,and it is a long walk on a 11 car high speed tilting train, but it is my era who are more likely to pay for the extra comforts of Standard Premier.
Additionally there is no facility to use a QR code.
A couple of weeks ago I was on the 1230 Euston to Glasgow Central and it is a long journey without refreshments, there is also no water kept in the SP fridge.
The good news is that I didn't starve or die of thirst, my hard earned benefitting M&S and not AWC.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I wonder if AWC missed a trick on the recent 390 refurb. Could the shop coach (C)? have been moved one or two places nearer to the centre of the consist?
I am of a certain age and have limited mobility,and it is a long walk on a 11 car high speed tilting train, but it is my era who are more likely to pay for the extra comforts of Standard Premier.
Additionally there is no facility to use a QR code.
A couple of weeks ago I was on the 1230 Euston to Glasgow Central and it is a long journey without refreshments, there is also no water kept in the SP fridge.
The good news is that I didn't starve or die of thirst, my hard earned benefitting M&S and not AWC.

I also sat wondering this last night as in coach A I had a short walk to the shop, but someone in Standard Premium in J would have had a much longer one despite paying more. C is a pantograph vehicle, which could complicate matters particularly given that they didn't want to change the seating layout and move seat reservation displays around other than in the 1st to Standard conversion of G on the 11 cars. Otherwise moving the shop unit (as it was being fully refitted) may have been easier than swapping the coaches around!

 

[HJP350]

I have always been of the belief that a shop/bar coach should sit between the standard and first class sections of a train. I had this same problem in SP on Avanti (unrefurbished 9 coach but still the same problem). Lack of food is of course the main disadvantage of SP, but I didn't even have a trolley service and no at seat delivery option like on LNER. For a class with "premium" in its name, there should be better service. I personally think they should have it so they serve the first class menu but charge for it.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I wonder if AWC missed a trick on the recent 390 refurb. Could the shop coach (C)? have been moved one or two places nearer to the centre of the consist?
I am of a certain age and have limited mobility,and it is a long walk on a 11 car high speed tilting train, but it is my era who are more likely to pay for the extra comforts of Standard Premier.
Additionally there is no facility to use a QR code.
A couple of weeks ago I was on the 1230 Euston to Glasgow Central and it is a long journey without refreshments, there is also no water kept in the SP fridge.
The good news is that I didn't starve or die of thirst, my hard earned benefitting M&S and not AWC.

I always thought they should arrange a deal with M&S and rebrand the original shop (with its supermarket style help yourself cabinets) as M&S Simply Food selling M&S sandwiches and all the items the shop sold but the M&S variant On-board M&S shop, very modern and convenient!

 

[JonathanH]

I have always been of the belief that a shop/bar coach should sit between the standard and first class sections of a train.

That made sense when there was a kitchen in the bar coach, but with that at the front, and first class passengers served at seat, moving it into the middle of standard class makes some sense.

 

[RobShipway]

Personally in an ideal world, you would have a shop in the middle of standard class and at your seat service in first class with a kitchen in both areas so that hot food can served.

 

[HJP350]

That made sense when there was a kitchen in the bar coach, but with that at the front, and first class passengers served at seat, moving it into the middle of standard class makes some sense.

This really highlights my main issue with Standard Premium; its location on the train. You pay extra, but in a way, get even less service than you do in Standard, as you're further from the shop yet don't get any of the first class service. You're in the middle and miss out on both ends.

 

[sprinterguy]

The Shop was much closer to the middle of the train when the first 34 trains were delivered as 8-car sets - the location has diminished in convenience as the trains have grown to lengths more appropriate to the amount of standard class custom they carry, with extra carriages inserted centrally.

For the record I am also a BR traditionalist in the "stick the buffet between first and standard" camp, though I could see the benefit in locating it in the centre of standard class.

 

[ScottGallagher]

I always thought they should arrange a deal with M&S and rebrand the original shop (with its supermarket style help yourself cabinets) as M&S Simply Food selling M&S sandwiches and all the items the shop sold but the M&S variant On-board M&S shop, very modern and convenient!

I've often wondered why this hasn't been trialled but British Airways went down this M and S road for their short haul which didnt last long, so i guess the economics don't suit either party.

 

[Clansman]

I always thought they should arrange a deal with M&S and rebrand the original shop (with its supermarket style help yourself cabinets) as M&S Simply Food selling M&S sandwiches and all the items the shop sold but the M&S variant On-board M&S shop, very modern and convenient!

Personally I've always liked the idea of ScotRail doing this but with Greggs! What better way to economise the buffet car by adding their own mark-up to sausage rolls and scotch pies, and raking it in without major supplier overheads.