written by Scarletc283 on 14/08/2018
Travelled to NEC (Birmingham International) return from Manchester last week. First Class.
Outward from Manchester Virgin (at just £4 extra for First Class) Salmon and scrambled eggs, 3 cups of coffee and could have had more, croissants and toast freely available. Lovely journey.
Return journey Cross Country (also First Class) - no comparison.
Had been on train 80 mins before staff finally visible and l queried the First Class refreshments. Seemed a little perturbed l had asked. I requested the tuna melt. It arrived barely warm, so much so that the cheese hadn't even melted. I mentioned this and she said she would see what she could do!!
In the end l was rushing to finsh eating as we pulled into Manchester but other First Class passengers were not even as lucky. One was offered a can of orange to take off the train as she was approaching her stop as refreshment host finally arrived and another was given just a bag of crisps as they had run out of sandwiches - she asked if she could have biscuits too but was told she would have to pay for one of the items!!
This CrossCountry "First class" cost £8 above the standard and, compared with the level of service and quality of food with Virgin earlier in the day, there was no comparison.
I had selected this journey as it was the direct train but in future would prefer to have to split my journey for the opportunity to choose Virgin - a no brainer.
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Cleaverp's Comment
Written on: 30/06/2019
Yes, sounds like our experience. It's not First Class on this awful train line.