Rail update: Avanti

18 / AVANTI

Rail's new dawn?

Avanti West Coast is a joint venture between First Group and Trenitalia, operating the UK’s west coast intercity service, Roger Williams, examines how it is raising the onboard bar post-pandemic

Avanti West Coast’s customer base shrank dramatically during the pandemic but that hasn’t dampened their enthusiasm for fresh onboard concepts. It has launched service enhancements just as passenger confidence in train travel is increasing, perhaps a sign of a new dawn for rail.

The new Standard Premium class offers roomier seats and a guaranteed tabletop, and all passengers get free wifi access to Avanti media and at-seat ordering. Plus, an overhaul of the premium catering aims to rebuild First Class ticket sales with a more personalised dining service. Hot breakfasts, cooked freshly onboard, new sustainable options from artisan suppliers, and a return to door-side welcomes all help raise the bar.

All are designed to set Avanti apart from its competitors in both air, rail and road, and reflect a successful strategy used on many European intercity routes. Business traveller numbers are low, so the changes are designed to appeal to leisure customers too.

SUSTAINABLE FOCUS

Branded place mat and menu are laid after seating as research showed Avanti passengers prefer the table clear for boarding, and welcome drinks – fresh juice and tea – arrive soon after. A host explains the menu choices with products from along the route shown on a menu map. Full ingredients and allergen data is available online.

To minimise their environmental footprint, the team has focused on sustainable sourcing of products such as Change Please coffee, Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese, cakes and desserts from The Pudding Compartment, plus a range of accompaniments such as West Coast chutney from Rubies in the Rubble and salted butter from Netherend Farm in Gloucestershire.

On my day of travel the popular Great British Breakfast took pride of place, with smoked British bacon, pork and parsley sausage and Lancashire black pudding served with portobello mushroom, roasted tomato, potato scone and a free-range fried egg (or scrambled). All food is served on

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white china. Poached eggs may be added soon.

Alternatively there is Scottish smoked salmon and free-range scrambled eggs, or a vegan breakfast of lightly spiced corn fritter with smashed avocado, roasted tomato and portobello mushroom. Lighter options are the Classic Bacon Sandwich – thick cut smoked British bacon on baked granary bread served with a ketchup; a Superfood Breakfast Bowl - of pear, blueberries, watermelon, pineapple, dried mango, chopped dates, pumpkin seeds, ginger and desiccated coconut; or a fruit plate with melon, papaya, pineapple and strawberry served with lemon verbena syrup.

On later trains, the Rest of the Day menu includes a cheeseboard with wedges of Lancashire, Shropshire Blue and Vintage Cheddar served with a selection of crackers and authentic West Coast apple chutney; gnocchi cooked in a white wine and wild garlic cream with pea puree; a Superfood Nourish Bowl of broccoli, peas, edamame beans and cucumber, served with chickpeas and a Dijon mustard vinaigrette; and an avocado and roasted tomato tartine. Avanti has also championed the return of Afternoon Tea with a choice of Jammie Dodger Loaf Cake and a Salted Caramel Tart topped with chocolate ganache. A classic selection of sandwiches and warm scones with jam and clotted cream are also available.

The operator plans to refresh the menu through the year, whilst maintaining the classics.

SERVICE STYLE

Onboard dining orders are still taken on note pads and there seems some nervousness around digital ordering but perhaps a next step in sustainability will be a progressive move towards pre-ordering via a digital interface with ticket purchases. There is also the potential to digitise the printed menus and offer wider choice at the point of ordering, including special dietary choices.

That is not going to be easy with a non-reserved, walk-on walk-off service, but perhaps now is the time for the intercity industry to change customer behaviour towards more advance reservations for specific trains, similar to the Eurostar model and that used by RENFE in Spain. It would certainly help remove a significant amount of guesswork around product volumes and loadings by train, and the inevitable food waste.

Change is not always simple and it is important to take the people with you so Avanti has undertaken a coaching programme to prepare staff for the new menus and to maintain a consistency of service to complement the quality of the products. Knowing what to expect of any service and trusting you can rely on receiving it are essential as that’s how you build service advocacy among your customers.

In 1879 Britain’s railways first discovered that offering fine food and wines onboard brought a significant increase in First Class customers. By 1910 on-train restaurants were selling over one million meals, rising to over three million a year by the 1930s golden age. In those days, the breakfasts served were compared favourably to that of London’s Ritz! Over 140 years on, it’s great to know the formula still works and Avanti has again raised the bar - the joy of dining on a train is as satisfying today as it ever was – long may it continue! •

Roger Williams, RVM, is Chair of the International Rail Catering Group trade body ircg.info. Contact: roger@thecateringexplorer.com

Clockwise from top

left: A First Class breakfast; service to seat and a classic afternoon tea service