Does anyone know why the South Eastern Division did away with buffet cars long before the Central Division did so?
I believe that the BEPs disappeared from the South Eastern in about 1980/81 when they were refurbished and converted to CEPs by replacing the buffet car with a former loco-hauled Mark 1 TSO. The Hastings DEMU buffet cars were also withdrawn at about the same time.
AFAIK for the first half of the 1980s the SE had no on-train catering at all, then from about 1986/87 onwards they started having refreshment trolleys.
On the other hand, 4-BIGs remained on the Central Division until shortly after privatisation: I think Connex South Central did away with buffet cars in favour of trolleys in about 1997.
It seems odd that in the 1980s BR still deemed that there was enough demand for buffet cars on the CD but no longer on the SED even though the latter had longer journey times: 1h40 to 2 hours for London to Dover or Ramsgate compared to 1 hour to 1h30 for London to Brighton, Eastbourne, Littlehampton or Bognor Regis, for example.
The SED also had two ports served by boat trains: Dover and Folkestone, whereas the CD only had one: Newhaven. You might think that passengers would expect a buffet car, or at least a trolley service, on boat trains.
Then there was the South Western Division, which retained buffet cars on Waterloo to Portsmouth and Weymouth well into the privatised era although I think South West Trains increasingly replaced them with trolleys.
I also seem to recall that the SED only had buffet facilities on Mondays to Fridays whereas the CD also had them on Saturdays. Does anyone know why this was? Again it seems odd that BR thought that daytrippers and holidaymakers travelling to the Sussex Coast resorts on Saturdays would want buffet facilities but those headed for the likes of Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate would not.
There's a now closed thread on Kent buffet and restaurant cars at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/buffet-and-restaurant-cars-in-kent.143802
I believe that the BEPs disappeared from the South Eastern in about 1980/81 when they were refurbished and converted to CEPs by replacing the buffet car with a former loco-hauled Mark 1 TSO. The Hastings DEMU buffet cars were also withdrawn at about the same time.
AFAIK for the first half of the 1980s the SE had no on-train catering at all, then from about 1986/87 onwards they started having refreshment trolleys.
On the other hand, 4-BIGs remained on the Central Division until shortly after privatisation: I think Connex South Central did away with buffet cars in favour of trolleys in about 1997.
It seems odd that in the 1980s BR still deemed that there was enough demand for buffet cars on the CD but no longer on the SED even though the latter had longer journey times: 1h40 to 2 hours for London to Dover or Ramsgate compared to 1 hour to 1h30 for London to Brighton, Eastbourne, Littlehampton or Bognor Regis, for example.
The SED also had two ports served by boat trains: Dover and Folkestone, whereas the CD only had one: Newhaven. You might think that passengers would expect a buffet car, or at least a trolley service, on boat trains.
Then there was the South Western Division, which retained buffet cars on Waterloo to Portsmouth and Weymouth well into the privatised era although I think South West Trains increasingly replaced them with trolleys.
I also seem to recall that the SED only had buffet facilities on Mondays to Fridays whereas the CD also had them on Saturdays. Does anyone know why this was? Again it seems odd that BR thought that daytrippers and holidaymakers travelling to the Sussex Coast resorts on Saturdays would want buffet facilities but those headed for the likes of Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate would not.
There's a now closed thread on Kent buffet and restaurant cars at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/buffet-and-restaurant-cars-in-kent.143802