TransPennine Express (TPE) has launched a new menu for customers travelling in First-Class on its services between North-West England and Scotland.
Named West Coast Kitchen, the new catering service provides tasty dishes and snacks on services between Manchester/Liverpool, Lancashire, Cumbria and Scotland.
Alongside the new menu, which was developed in partnership with Rail Gourmet UK, TransPennine Express has recruited an additional 30 staff for its catering teams who have been trained by Celebrity Service Training led by the renowned Geoff Ramm.
We are really excited to bring this new menu to our customers.
Kathryn O'Brien, TransPennine Express Customer Experience & Transformation Director
The extra staff has enabled TransPennine Express to double the number of hosts onboard its West Coast Anglo-Scottish services to 80, with a dedicated host for the First-Class carriage and another for Standard Class.
Meals and snacks from West Coast Kitchen are included in the cost of First-Class tickets. Drinks and snacks are available for purchase from the onboard Express Café menu for Standard-Class customers.
There is something for everyone to enjoy among the items on the new menu, including:
- A Scottish Highland breakfast feast with Lorne sausage and The Farmer's Son black pudding.
- Braised beef stew
- Macaroni cheese made with Belhaven smoked cheddar.
Lighter options are also available for anyone still hungry, including sausage and vegan sausage rolls baked by Pie Demand in Carlisle.
For those fancying a tipple, alcoholic drinks available after 11 am include Faith Hazy Pale Ale from Leeds brewery Northern Monk, a selection of delicious wines, and tasty delights from Edinburgh Gin. Soft drink favourites include traditional Scottish Irn-Bru and Farrer's tea and coffee from the Lake District.
On Sundays a traditional full roast is served complete with pork stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, and gravy.
The company's sustainability ethos extends to serving food in bamboo bowls with wooden cutlery and hot drinks in plastic-free cups. Last year TransPennine Express installed new recycling bins specifically for single-use coffee cups at three of its stations.
The menu will change each week, meaning regular travellers will be able to enjoy a variety of food.
Further information about the new West Coast Kitchen can be found by clicking here.
We are really excited to bring this new menu to our customers.
Our commitment to the communities we serve along our routes is shown in the provenance of the products we have introduced, and we are thrilled to have partnered with so many fantastic suppliers to bring this new menu to life.
We have worked hard to improve our catering, particularly in First Class, to bring our customers an experience in line with what they expect and deserve when travelling on a premium service.
Kathryn O'Brien, TransPennine Express Customer Experience & Transformation Director
Hot food was first served on TransPennine Express trains in 2022 when many morning services offered a choice of bacon and sausage ciabatta sandwiches, sausage rolls, and hot porridge.
A shame that GWR on their Pad to Penzance service have not renegotiated the Catering Staff contracts after “they” effectively sacked them, leaving minimal service
I see on the new timetable that GWR have again not reinstated their 10.00 or 10:15 Pullman service from Penzance
Be aware that TPE’s First Class food offerings are ” complementary” and that you cannot always rely on them being there.There is a vague wording about this on their website. My wife and I were caught out.We had experienced the First Class service on a trip to Manchester and thought it good.We were due to go to Liverpool, from Lancaster, for a theatre/ hotel stay.We opted for the 06.43 TPE service from Lancaster to Liverpool, because it is a through service ( no changing at Preston) and because we thought we would get the First Class food ( breakfast).It does not specifically say on timetables that there is no First Class food offering.So we were very disappointed and fed up when we found that there wasn’t.
ISo don’t necessarily rely on this food “service”.