First of New UK Railtours series of all dining trips

Just had an email about this. Interesting that they think they can fill the whole train with dining....

Certainly keen competition for Steam Dreams dining.



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THE SALISBURY CHRISTMAS DINER

Monday 23 December 2013


JOIN US AS WE LAUNCH A NEW PROGRAMME OF MAIN LINE STEAM TOURS AIMED AT THE DISCERNING RAILWAY DINER.
This is the first in what we expect to be a series of main line steam tours, promoted by Locomotive Services Limited in partnership with UK Railtours and Creative Rail Dining Ltd. Locomotive Services Ltd are proud operators of three champions of main line steam, 60019 'Bittern', 70000 'Britannia' and the recently relaunched 34046 'Braunton' and it is the latter locomotive that is rostered to haul the train throughout.
The aim is to concentrate on quality rather than quantity, probably with no more than one tour per month, with the emphasis very much on locally sourced produce and regional menus.
The first trip is the ideal way to start off your Christmas, taking full advantage of the way the days fall this year. Monday 23 December is for many a kind of 'spare day', falling between the weekend and Christmas Eve, an ideal opportunity to get out and about before the long round of indoor festivities.
A civilised starting time and an early evening finish make this an easy trip to reach, and we take a break in one of Britain's finest Cathedral cities, Salisbury.
The train departs from London Waterloo, running direct via Surbiton and Basingstoke to reach Salisbury just before mid-day. From the station it is a level walk to the city centre where you will find no end of interesting local shops seasonally decorated and offering no shortage of inspiration for a last-minute Christmas gift or two.
Without doubt Salisbury's crowning glory is its magnificent cathedral, notable as having the tallest church spire in Britain, towering to 404 feet! Its beautifully decorated Christmas tree enhances the magical atmosphere.
Departing mid-afternoon we enjoy a splendid five-course late lunch, specially created by our head chef Graham Osborne. Darkness falls as we travel via Southampton, Winchester, Basingstoke, Byfleet and Virginia Water, to allow for a leisurely meal service before arrival at London Victoria early evening.

Timetable

All timings are provisional and are intended only as a guide.
Station Depart Arrive
London Waterloo 09.50 n/a
London Victoria n/a 19.05

To Book​

First Class Dining​

THE SALISBURY CHRISTMAS DINER

(First Class Dining)

Includes the Great British Breakfast and a five course late lunch.
NUMBER EACH FARES
Per Person 012345678
Party of Four 012345678
Total Passengers:
OPTION: Guaranteed Table for Two (per seat) 012345678
Total Fares:

 

They've run all-dining steam tours before, and they usually sell out. 35028 from Victoria to Canterbury and back on 10th December 2011 for example. Nice simple pricing structure too - £195 per person. All coaches are FOs too, rather a mixture of SOs, FOs and Pullmans.

 

Should be a fast run... no strolling around Hounslow Waterloo to Salisbury as it should be.

 

So will UK Railtours still be using DBS?

 

Good question, since their boss was one of the first to speak out about the problems DBS were causing his business, both steam and diesel. UKsteam.info says it will be DBS.

 

It may be that because Salisbury is a regular VSOE steam route DBS do have the required crew for this type of trip? Also, I could be wrong on this,but I don't think UKR have ever run with West Coast,although they are using GBRF more on non-steam trips.

 

As per the UK Railtours text 'promoted by Locomotive Services Limited in partnership with UK Railtours and Creative Rail Dining Ltd' it would appear to be a joint venture by all three and not just UKRT.

 

The meals don't make money for the promoter, only for the catering company. As you say, the difference between standard and dining is around £100. Say on a tour standard costs £75 and dining costs £175. 64 seats at £75 is £4800. 42 seats at £175 is £7350. So assuming £4800 is the cost per coach on that tour, £7350-4800 is £2550. Split that between 42 people gives a figure of around £60 per person for the catering.

Obviously that's a pretty simplistic way of looking at it. You have to factor in that most tours run with at least two non-passenger carrying vehicles in the brake and the kitchen car, possibly two kitchen cars, and the hiring of those vehicles needs to be paid for.

 

I don't think its a hint. It has always been pretty plain to see that this is where the money is made - in the same way as airlines make their money from business and first class.

 

But its more than a tenner a seat, (and I would question the tenner a seat on food) there is the profit on all the drinks they sell. If it wasn't more profitable, it wouldn't be pushed so much by the tour companies.

 

It's not pushed so much by tour companies because of massive profits, but because sometimes the gimmick of dining is the only way to entice certain passengers on to the train. Lets say you live in York, and you could pay to go to London for £80 return, but your meals you have to organise and pay for yourself. Just sounds like your run of the mill day that could be done anywhere, why make that effort?

Now, how about you pay £100 for the same trip. But your meals are organised for you, to be served hot during your journey, so that you can sit back and relax without wondering where the nearest Franky and Benny's will be. It doesn't sound like much, but it's sometimes that little bit of extra relaxation for the customer along with the nice meal that can guarantee them to board your railtour instead of heading to the local shopping centre for the day....

 

Except its not £80 v £100 its £80 v £180.

You are right though that on a lot of trains there isn't the demand from the window-hangers to fill a train. So the comparison of 42 diners v 64 window-hangers is not valid as the coach would be empty if it was not full of diners.

 

Interesting to know how much cooking actually goes on onthe train, i would guess very little and its very much cooked and kept hot Airline style.... even so for say 4 coaches of punters a ' kitchen' car and a generator car would be needed to accomodate all the food/drinks/ staff. for 6 coaches of punters perhaps another vehicle would be required. On this model thats a nine coach train or 10 with a support coach , only half of which is paying...

 

At least in the case of Creative Rail Dining, and probably most of the others, all the cooking is done on the train using gas cookers and ovens. Usually two chefs, an assistant or two, and up to a dozen waiters and waitresses. It's an impressive operation, cooking for up to 168 passengers (4 FOs worth). Not only do you have all the food to store (there's a couple of fridges and a few cool boxes full of ice in the non-kitchen part), but enough crockery and cutlery for 168 five course meals. Plus cases of beer, wine and soft drinks.

Cooking breakfast starts about two-three hours before the train departs. Once breakfast has been served and the washing up done a start can be made on preparing lunch or morning coffee and pastries. Dinner will be started at lunchtime! All that meat takes a while to cook and slice up. Vegetables have been peeled and chopped the night before.

You think how difficult cooking a three course meal is at home, logistically, getting everything out on time and hot. Then imagine doing that in a space only about two feet wide, with someone else there, travelling at up to 100mph, with very little ventilation, in temperatures upwards of 40 degrees C. They will have started loading the food and setting the tables the day before, so will have been on the train for anything up to 36 hours by the time they get off. I used to do buffet work a lot when I was at uni, and it always amazed me how much stamina they had to keep going, running backwards and forwards serving food or cooking in unbearable conditions. Being in the buffet was difficult enough, being on your feet for 16 hours on some tours, but that was nothing compared to the rest of the catering crew.

 

If there was any sense they would have on the road support to restock and take away the dirties.