Trains in Britain

You don't get dining cars as such. There is usually a buffet car that sells sandwiches, snacks and drinks. I don't know what the quality is like. I always buy something at the station. I travel regularly between London and the West Country and the buffet car is occasionally closed because of staff shortages etc.

Laura is right (and she lives there too).

Thank you! I was also told to buy/reserve train tickets on line before getting to the station as on most trains there is only one car for non-reserved tickets....

Bonnie- hope you enjoy Cornwall, we always do, and have been back many times. We like to visit the tiny village of Mousehole (bus from Penzance), just for the name. Sorry cant comment on need for reservations

Hi Brian, I can't wait. :-) We are staying at a B&B/retreat center called Bosweddon House in St. Just..side trips planned to St. Ives, St. Michaels Mount, Tintagel Castle...

Re: reservations. I travel a lot on First Great Western which may be the company you will be using. I have never known them to organise reservations by car in the way you describe. Usually you just have to walk through the cars looking for the unreserved seats. There are usually some around. The main reason to book ahead is that buying your ticket at the station can be very expensive thanks to the stupid pricing system on our trains.

Food on trains: If the route is long enough, most of the trains I've been on have had some sort of restaurant car between first class and the standard fare coaches. Also, if there is any time at all, an airline-style cart will be pushed up and down the aisle, selling sandwiches, tea, coffee, etc.

Reservations: Advance reservations certainly are cheaper. However... it's been my experience that almost every seat on a train can be reserved, for at least one portion of its route. Since you save money by making reservations in advance, there is little reason not to book a seat while you're at it. If you book well in advance and seat reservations are not offered, try later or call the ticket seller after you get to the UK. I did that earlier this month, booking seats a day ahead of time on three separate reservations made several weeks ago with Trainline, and it worked fine.

Reserved seats are usually indicated by papers stubs [INVALID]ed into slots in the seat back. So, if you reserve seat E36A, look on Coach E for seat 36 in the A slot (probably the aisle). I have been on some trains that use LED signs instead. Those sometimes seem to display old information when you get on the trains and only update after the train departs. Don't sweat it. If you are confused about what seats are reserved and what seats aren't, you won't be alone.

We love to use the trains in the UK. We never made reservations. In more than 20 years of travel (2x a year most years with multiple train trips on each)we only had to stand for a 15 min. leg of 1 trip. However, we used BritRail 1st class passes. If you are purchasing a ticket in advance, I'd go on and make reservations at that time if you can.

As JC said most longer routes have a buffet car and on all but the shortest routes, there is a "refreshment" trolley that is wheeled through the train (usually several times) selling coffee, tea, water, soda, snacks and sometimes alcohol and sandwiches. Most stations have one or more places to purchase food to take on the train, also. These range from franchise fast food places like BK to locally owned sandwich shops to small restruants. Many of the larger stations also have a WhistleStop grocery or a Marks & Spencer just foods or similar where you can purchase items.

Hi Bonnie - if you have not watched Doc Martin yet be sure to see some episodes before you get to Cornwall. Portwenn is actually Port Isaac which is close to where you will be. We loved St Ives, Mousehole, St Michaels Mount and the Minack Theatre. Have a wonderful trip!

Bonnie, I will join with those encouraging you to buy something in the station. Waverly Station in Edinburgh has a Marks and Spencer with lots of food choices. My friends and I bought feast for our trip north. You may not find this in the actual train station in Bath or Cornwall, but it would be worth looking for an M&S.

Pam

Even if they have a dining car it will be nothing like 30 years ago or something your parents or I might have memories of .

This is so helpful. Thank you everyone :-D

Perhaps it was an anomaly, but I was just on London-Edinburgh, Edinburgh-York, and York-London trains and passengers without reservations were having trouble finding seats. Making matters worse, the train out of Waverly used electronic reservation indicators instead of the traditional little paper slips, but continued to display the info from the run into Waverly until well after it left station.

However, that's the only time I've seen that happen. I used to ride often from Reading to and from Paddington and never saw anyone have trouble finding a seat, even in prime commuting hours.

Still, it makes sense to get seat reservations when you can. If nothing else, you'll ensure you're on the side of the coach you like and can avoid the "looking backwards" seats. (BTW, anyone going up the east coast from London to Edinburgh, sit on the right so you can get a good look at the North Sea coast.)