Eyup guys i'm at Crewe station this morning it is the end of april 2021
and i'm taking the avanti west coast service up to penrith north lakes in first class and
the reason why is i want to see how it stacks up at the moment in terms of food and drink service
against the cost of the ticket so why don't you come with me on this trip
we'll check it out and go and have a look see what's on offer and i'll see you on the train
And here she is the Avanti West Coast class 390 pendolino service from London Euston to Glasgow
Central, calling at Crewe at 10:51 and reaching Penrith at 12:29 it's a journey time of 1 hour 38 minutes.
the first class ticket for today's journey up to penrith was an advanced single
and it cost me £25.70. I walked up the platform a bit as the first
class coaches travelling north on the west coast mainline are normally at the rear of the train.
after boarding i found a single seat on the right hand side of the train facing forward
Before I’d even sat down, I was met by a very pleasant member of
the train crew who offered me a choice of hot drinks, juice, water and a breakfast box.
This was a great first impression and it arrived at my table within 5 minutes of ordering.
So, let’s have a look at what we got. Well, first of all, a fat free yoghurt which was
followed by a generous helping of two individually wrapped plain croissants
which would go down very nicely with the coffee
There then followed a carton of juice, apple juice in this case which looked good
and it tasted even better. I also got this plastic ‘spreading device’ which I
could use for the cheese and jam which were the final two items out of the box
now i was really pleased with this it was more than i was expecting and really importantly it
also meant that i didn't have to trek all the way to the shop with my first class ticket
okay it's not quite there yet as i remember in the not too distant past
hot food being offered and the tea and coffee would also be served in proper cups
it's effectively a continental style breakfast in my opinion which is absolutely fine for me
it's a good effort from avanti and it's good to see things are starting to get back to normal
so i sat back enjoying the views for a while and whilst it looks
quiet from this footage believe me the first class coaches were quite busy today
i couldn't find any issues at all with the seating area the table on the single
seated side is perfectly large enough for two people and the legroom is ample
the power socket works although i would have liked to have seen actual usb sockets provided as well
there is a lever to recline the seat slightly and the whole area was clean
even down the side of the seat where incidentally i found a five pound note
so i don't know how regularly they're checked but somebody may have got off earlier i don't know
the old in train entertainment panel is still here although it's long since stopped working
the usual light fitting was present which also worked fine now obviously it wasn't needed
at the time of my journey but i do find the first class coaches quite dim with their
smaller windows compared to say the likes of transpennine express but i like both types of
carriages for different reasons i guess and i think the pendolinos can feel more
relaxing especially at night there is in any case a reading light right above your head
I tried out the onboard wifi
which was sufficient for minor tasks such as email and a quick scroll through some social media
but it's not really suitable for trying to watch videos though for example content from one of my
favorite youtubers here you should check him out by the way as i hear he's very underrated
and talking of wifi if you listen carefully you will notice avanti announcing their new at seat
food and drink service which you can order through your phone
and as is traditional with these kind of videos i went and tried out the toilet area
which still has a lot of the old virgin trains imagery in it apart from the speaking toilet i
should add now everything worked and i couldn't fault this area at all it was very clean and tidy
so after leaving lancaster much to my surprise an additional trolley
service appeared which was kind of an afternoon tea and snacks affair
well i was served another coffee along with a packet of crisps
a scone jam and butter some pate with bread and last but not least the famous
uglies biscuit i think i'll save that one for later
i have to say this extra service was really appreciated and it certainly kept me going
the weather outside was looking a bit cloudy but the views were improving
so why don't you enjoy them with me as we head towards my final destination of
penrith
well guys i've just got off at penrith north lakes and i've got to say that was really impressive
avanti west coast have nailed it in terms of getting things back on track we had a food
service as soon as i got on the train a breakfast box some coffee which was great and then about
half an hour ago another member of the train crew came down the first class coaches
with a trolley service which was kind of like an afternoon tea thing although it's only lunch time
and another coffee so absolutely brilliant the train itself was spotless from what i saw
it cost me 25.70 from crewe up to here which is about an hour and a half's worth of journey time
and it's probably about eight pounds more expensive than i would have paid in standard
and i think that's worth it so this train's about to go now so let's watch it leave
and until the next time guys thank you very much for watching this please leave me a like
or subscribe that would be really great and i'll see you next time cheers for now