THE company taking over the East Coast franchise when returns to the private sector has blasted as "complete rubbish" claims that the buffet car would be scrapped for standard class passengers.
Inter City Rail (ICR), the name for the Virgin/Stagecoach consortium which will take over the running of the bulk of trains on the London-Scotland route from March this year, insisted that had no plans to axe the catering service.
Trade union RMT claimed that passengers were facing an "Upstairs-Downstairs" service with only first-class passengers continuing to have access to hot meals, while standard class passengers would have to make do with a trolley service under the new franchise.
The union cited a tweet by Hitachi, which is manufacturing 65 new intercity express trains for ICR which will be rolled out on East Coast Main Line from 2018.
Hitachi Rail Europe tweeted a picture of some of its 800 pre-series trains being loaded for shipment and, when asked if there was a buffet car, replied: "At present standard class just have cart provision".
There has been speculation for months that the new East Coast trains would lose the buffet car in standard class and RMT seized on the tweet, with General Secretary Mike Cash claiming it would "condemn the vast majority to pay through the nose to travel in rammed-out carriages where the catering trolley is jammed at one end while the elite glide through the country like extras from Downton Abbey".
However, Hitachi subsequently backtracked and said there was "scope to introduce buffet facilities if new franchisee wants to offer this to passengers" and that the base design for its intercity model included "fixed kitchens and trolley facilities".
A spokeswoman for ICR said it was "complete rubbish" that they planned to axe the buffet car in standard class to make way for extra seating.
She added: "We made our position on this issue very clear some time ago and there has been no change. It is our clear intention to have a buffet car on the new trains being used for the new Virgin Trains East Coast franchise and we are already in discussion with Hitachi regarding the internal configuration and specification required to deliver the buffet car. That position has not changed."
However, a spokesman for RMT demanded a "cast iron guarantee" from ICR.
He said: "They've not given us that assurance in writing or told us categorically that there will be one. Exactly what they mean by a 'buffet car' isn't clear either, so we wouldn't welcome their comment until we have a cast iron guarantee about what it means and we get something in writing. We haven't had that yet."
RMT has opposed the decision by the UK Government to return the East Coast franchise to the private sector. It has been in public ownership since 2009 when previous operator, National Express, ran into financial difficulties.
John McCormick, chairman of the Scottish Association for Public Transport, said scrapping the buffet car would turn the Edinburgh-London service into a "Ryanair-style operation" and welcomed assurances that it would be retained.
He said: "The whole point of having the Virgin on the ticket was because they have a good reputation for customer service, so this would have seen them coming out with a second class service. I'm glad to hear [they're keeping the buffet car] - that's good news."
ICR is 90 per cent owned by Stagecoach, but the trains will be branded 'Virgin Trains East Coast'.
Its plans for the franchise include 23 new services to and from London, and 3,100 extra seats for the morning peak time by 2020.
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