Source: BBC News
It is one of the great romantic images of modern travel.
Sitting by the window on a speeding train, eating a meal served by stewards in crisp white uniforms.
In the age of the train you knew you had arrived if you could afford a meal in the dining car. Or you were on expenses.
However, East Coast trains, which runs mainline services between London and Scotland, has become the latest rail operator to withdraw the dining car.
At the moment several trains a day have a first-class coach with tables laid up for breakfast or dinner. From Monday they will be no more.
First-class passengers will get a meal at their seat as part of the ticket price. But there will no longer be a dining car on any service between London and Scotland on the east or west coast mainlines.
Standard-class passengers will see the end of one the satisfying loopholes of inter-city travel. Because up until now they could board a dining service, and for the price of a meal, go and eat in first-class surroundings.
Elaine Holt, the chairwoman of East Coast, said such passengers should consider upgrading to a first-class ticket.
She told the BBC: “We respect the heritage of the railways and that dining cars were popular many years ago but the world has moved on.
“We’ve talked to our customers and they’ve told us they want a meal included in the cost of their first-class ticket. It’s about adding value.
“It actually wasn’t a very hard decision because we talked to so many of our customers and indeed people who don’t travel with us.
Catering loss
“We asked them what would make them travel on the train and they told us this was the right thing to do. So when the customer says that, it becomes a really easy decision.”
It was also a decision aided by the claim by East Coast that the current catering operation is losing £20m a year.
And as this is a railway company currently owned by the government, it is taxpayers’ money which is being lost.
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