London North Eastern Railway (LNER) First Class service

[Butts]

and going a little off topic, note that this train has a habbit of being delayed northwards meaning passengers for the Northlink ferry to shetland are often in danger of missing there saling. for the departures at 17:00 from Aberdeen this train doesnt connect at all. if you have got enough time however fill up on the train as ferry restaurant aint cheep

Indeed on this journey I would fly without question - unless you have a week to spare..... and a strong stomach for the sea part of the journey

It's a great landing at LSI - unless it's changed in the last few years

 

[leightonbd]

Fabulous thread full of useful info.

May I ask for advice? I have a London trip coming up and will be taking EC back from Kings Cross to Edinburgh on a Thursday evening. I have a choice, broadly, of trains from KGX as follows:

1700
1800
1830
1900

I should be able to flex my day to take any of these trains.

The question is: which train may be best/worst in terms of crowding, service, etc? I will probably have to do some work, so want sufficient space, but also want a decent crack at the catering, which I appreciate from reading this thread can be a lottery.

Last time I did this trip northbound was a Friday in Jan, probably the 1400 out of KGX, and two small bottles and a couple of snacks from m&s to supplement the onboard made the journey just about right.

Very tired of the LHR experience so I'm looking to use the train a bit more, and hence any advice would be very welcome.

 

[yorkie]

1700
1800
1830
1900

http://static.eastcoastcdn.co.uk/cd...les/may2013/mondays-to-fridays-northbound.pdf

• All but the 1900 offer the "evening meal" option.
• The 1830 calls at extra stations so may have more commuters.
• If you know in advance which train you can get, you can reserve an individual seat, which means there will be no-one sat next to you (you can do this by booking on the East Coast site, once an initial seat is allocated, click 'view my seat' and you can select an alternative seat if required).

I couldn't say how busy each of these trains are, but it may depend on what day you are travelling?

 

[ModernRailways]

Fabulous thread full of useful info.

May I ask for advice? I have a London trip coming up and will be taking EC back from Kings Cross to Edinburgh on a Thursday evening. I have a choice, broadly, of trains from KGX as follows:

1700
1800
1830
1900

I should be able to flex my day to take any of these trains.

The question is: which train may be best/worst in terms of crowding, service, etc? I will probably have to do some work, so want sufficient space, but also want a decent crack at the catering, which I appreciate from reading this thread can be a lottery.

Last time I did this trip northbound was a Friday in Jan, probably the 1400 out of KGX, and two small bottles and a couple of snacks from m&s to supplement the onboard made the journey just about right.

Very tired of the LHR experience so I'm looking to use the train a bit more, and hence any advice would be very welcome.

The 1700 can be rammed all the way to York, but as long as you are one of the first to board or get a seat reservation in the Quiet Coach then you should be fine in getting a meal.

The 1800 tends to be quieter but it can depend on other services/disruptions. You should be fine for getting a meal of your choice by sitting in the quiet coach.

The 1830 is similar to the 1700 but those passengers tend to get off earlier at Peterbrough.

The 1900 doesn't do the evening meal.

There is a 2000 service (if you can get that), and that does have evening meal and is also relatively quiet from experience - I've always managed to get a table to myself, although sometimes they don't have enough full meals so you may want to be as close to the buffet as possible.

 

[YorkshireRider]

The 2000 terminates at Newcastle so would be no good. Thursday night is the busiest evening out of KX in first class so I would also advise reserving a seat. All those services empty out at York a bit so maybe enjoy your meal and then work after York. I would advise 1800 in coach K or L.

 

[voyagerdude220]

I always assumed that the timetable had the 20:00 Evening Meal shading in error, as I thought it was unusual to have the gap between the penultimate service and the final service to offer the evening meal.

Can anyone confirm it is indeed correct please?

Thanks.

 

[leightonbd]

Thanks to each of you for your comments. It sounds like the 1800 is the one to go for and I do actually have a reservation on that, albeit in M (made through corporate travel). I can always forage for an un reserved seat further forward.

It is a Thursday journey so I will make a point of being prompt. Whenever I've been at KGX before boarding has been held over until pretty close to departure; is that still the way?

Also: am I right in having picked up that the 1st class lounge has had a makeover (compared to, say, late. 2011/ early 2012)?

 

[Bungle73]

Thanks to each of you for your comments. It sounds like the 1800 is the one to go for and I do actually have a reservation on that, albeit in M (made through corporate travel). I can always forage for an un reserved seat further forward.

It is a Thursday journey so I will make a point of being prompt. Whenever I've been at KGX before boarding has been held over until pretty close to departure; is that still the way?

Also: am I right in having picked up that the 1st class lounge has had a makeover (compared to, say, late. 2011/ early 2012)?

It's a completely different FC Lounge.

 

[YorkshireRider]

Can anyone confirm it is indeed correct please?

Thanks.

Yes it is correct
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Also: am I right in having picked up that the 1st class lounge has had a makeover (compared to, say, late. 2011/ early 2012)?

Yep, its completely new, as part of the Kings Cross development.

 

[voyagerdude220]

Thanks for the confirmation, Yorkshire Rider.

 

[ainsworth74]

Yes it is correct

Do you know why they have one so late and an hour after the rest of them?

 

[YorkshireRider]

Due to passenger feedback was the claim, although I don't think the passengers feeding this back meant take it off the 1900 to give to the 2000 :roll:

 

[ainsworth74]

I'm quite sure they didn't!

Thanks

 

[ModernRailways]

I'm quite sure they didn't!

Thanks

I believe it was for those who wanted to work later, and get a quieter meal. All the earlier trains tend to be extremely busy whereas the 2000 tends to be a more relaxed, and quiet journey.

 

[Butts]

Due to passenger feedback was the claim, although I don't think the passengers feeding this back meant take it off the 1900 to give to the 2000 :roll:

The same feedback that results in no meals on Evening Southbound Services from Edinburgh :roll:

 

[collysbubble]

looking forward to a trip firstclass in the new year blackburn via york to inverness i should hope to get a meal after all it does take six and a half hours from york lol i might risk it and skip the packed lunch

 

[Tetchytyke]

Last time I caught the 1700 Kings Cross to Newcastle it was the "all day menu", not the evening meal, which did suck a bit. The wine was as tasty and as free as always, though the crew on the 1730 are always that little bit more generous with the topups!

 

[thetangoman]

Hi, I have noticed from the EastCoast website that the menu rotations end on the 27/10. After this date will it be a "winter menu" or will they justy rejig the current rotations

Cheers
Russell

 

[Butts]

Hi, I have noticed from the EastCoast website that the menu rotations end on the 27/10. After this date will it be a "winter menu" or will they justy rejig the current rotations

Cheers
Russell

Well I hope they get rid of the Chicken,leek and ham pie I had on the 1330ex Edinburgh today.

The pastry was ok but inside was a white glutinous mess with scant if any chicken or ham present. It was like the sort of item offered in chip shops- in fact Pukka Pies have more meat in :cry:

Having sampled much better "East Coast Pies" in the past I was most disappointed. The sooner they get rid of the miniscule "mixed leaf salad" it comes with the better.

Returned on the 2000 ex Morpeth where at least I was served promptly despite being the only 1st Class passenger to board.

Had sandwiches, crisps and cake - the pies had run out :cry: and I resisted the Asparagus Fritter - at least it was offered

 

[YorkshireRider]

Yes a new menu will start on the 28th, I haven't seen it yet though. That crappy salad has been an ever present for the last couple of years so I would not hold much hope of it going Butts. I've had one of them pies with loads of meat in and one with bugger all in, seems to be a consistency problem.

 

[Marton]

The 1700 can be rammed all the way to York, but as long as you are one of the first to board or get a seat reservation in the Quiet Coach then you should be fine in getting a meal.

The 1800 tends to be quieter but it can depend on other services/disruptions. You should be fine for getting a meal of your choice by sitting in the quiet coach.

The 1830 is similar to the 1700 but those passengers tend to get off earlier at Peterbrough.

The 1900 doesn't do the evening meal.

There is a 2000 service (if you can get that), and that does have evening meal and is also relatively quiet from experience - I've always managed to get a table to myself, although sometimes they don't have enough full meals so you may want to be as close to the buffet as possible.

The busiest is [according to the crew] the 1730 as it has to do Peterborough and Newark leavers, but that is just to Newcastle. The 1700 is booked for HST, and I think the 1800 is often swapped for an HST. I find them noisy and terrible for using a computer as every passing train means a series of mouse jumps!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The same feedback that results in no meals on Evening Southbound Services from Edinburgh :roll:

This is still my main complaint as an evening traveller South from Darlington/York.

 

[ModernRailways]

The busiest is [according to the crew] the 1730 as it has to do Peterborough and Newark leavers, but that is just to Newcastle.

It may be busiest in terms of having to serve meals quicker but in my experience the 1700 has always had the majority of seats taken up with people sharing tables.

 

[Butts]

Just had a strange experience on the 1152 ex Newcastle bound for Edinburgh stopping only at Berwick upon Tweed.

For the first time ever I was not offered a tea or coffee for the entire length of the journey - normally the carriages are swilling in the stuff !!!

However this was compensated for by a "double double" from the Drinks Trolley - ie Scotch on the way out and back proffered and duly accepted

I also had the vegetable lasagne with mixed leaf salad and gazooks a tomato (must have been left over from breakfast) appeared with it. However the advertised roll was missing. The lasagne wasn't bad (meat would have been better )

However all was not lost on the coffee front as I got one on the Scotrail leg of my journey (with a bit of shortbread) back to Falkirk.

Not bad for £11

 

[HST Power]

Not bad for £11

I thought your Railcard days were over? Are you resorting to proper physical robbery now?

On the East Coast website, it states that from Monday 3rd December, a 'Christmas Menu' is set to operate on 'selected' evening services. But do we have any idea which services? Is it likely to be for the whole network, or just on trains out of KGX?

I'm contemplating a Christmas trip.

 

[Butts]

I thought your Railcard days were over? Are you resorting to proper physical robbery now?

On the East Coast website, it states that from Monday 3rd December, a 'Christmas Menu' is set to operate on 'selected' evening services. But do we have any idea which services? Is it likely to be for the whole network, or just on trains out of KGX?

I'm contemplating a Christmas trip.

No an East Coast 50% off code sent to me by e-mail

 

[SGS]

I'll be making a couple of Newcastle-York morning journies soon. This is a journey of about 60 minutes, so under the 70 limit. In practice, however, how likely is it that I'll be offered any food? I was wondering whether I would need to bring my own (OK, I know you usually have to anyway...).

Just an update on this, I was offered the full food/drink service on both of my Newcastle-York journies. I didn't sit in my booked seat, and I wasn't asked about my destination. The weekend breakfast offering is pretty feeble, but I was pleased to get anything on a short journey like that.

 

[Red Dragon]

I travelled on the 0710 Lds to Abd on Tuesday when there was no cooked breakfast due to staff shortages and cooker problems. I had a trip over to Thurso yesterday and I'm on the Chieftain this morning from Inverness and all they can serve is porridge (or is it gruel) and toast.The passengers getting on at Aviemore were not amused - appears this is a regular feature.
Is this symptomatic of the servicing of the 125s, the age of the 125s, East Coast attitude to customer service or have I just been unlucky ?

 

[John @ home]

For the first time ever I was not offered a tea or coffee ...

However this was compensated ... by ... the Drinks Trolley

Are you sure?

My experience is that tea/coffee service and drinks trolley are often combined when First Class is not busy. But this relies on the passenger noticing the tea and coffee pots on the bottom level of the trolley! I failed to notice on the first occasion it happened to me.

 

[Butts]

Are you sure?

My experience is that tea/coffee service and drinks trolley are often combined when First Class is not busy. But this relies on the passenger noticing the tea and coffee pots on the bottom level of the trolley! I failed to notice on the first occasion it happened to me.

John that was two double whiskies I had - not 20 - there was definitely no "gutwash" to accompany them.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I travelled on the 0710 Lds to Abd on Tuesday when there was no cooked breakfast due to staff shortages and cooker problems. I had a trip over to Thurso yesterday and I'm on the Chieftain this morning from Inverness and all they can serve is porridge (or is it gruel) and toast.The passengers getting on at Aviemore were not amused - appears this is a regular feature.
Is this symptomatic of the servicing of the 125s, the age of the 125s, East Coast attitude to customer service or have I just been unlucky ?

Well I travelled on the 0800 from Edinburgh to Alnmouth this morning (58 min scheduled journey time) and got my breakfast just.....

Served at 0845 but I managed to gobble it down in 10 mins with my toast and orange juice. I nearly opted for the bacon roll as they are served first but held my nerve and was rewarded.

I have had an "equipment failure" on The Chieftain southbound from Inverness in the past - see about 2000 posts ago . At least you got porridge and toast, all I got offered was biscuits !!

 

[HST Power]

Served at 0845 but I managed to gobble it down in 10 mins with my toast and orange juice. I nearly opted for the bacon roll as they are served first but held my nerve and was rewarded.

A full breakfast in ten minutes? That definitely tops my four sandwhiches, coke, crips and tea on the twenty minuter from KGX to Stevenage!