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Virgin Trains 1st Class carriage 14 July 2004 |
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virgin trains service (1st class)
morning
traveller "...
 The staff
are different. I am greeted on boarding and directed to my seat, a woman
checks my ticket almost immediately (lest I be an impostor).
The man serving me, the waiter, is courteous and attentive... he makes
a successful foray into the stores to find me a Earl Grey tea bag.
This
is train travel in all its old-fashioned romantic fantasy... [The passengers]
are all in suits [including the woman next to me]... most with newspapers,
since it is complimentary... Breakfast is served, a full fry-up with
toast, pastries... The serving of the fried breakfast, the Grille,
is
done on a silver platter, although the... mushrooms are dropped, eggs
served half off the plate [as the train lurches]... Breakfast has
been serviced twice, at Preston
and Crewe. No one has boarded since then. Now the staff are removing
the pots of honey, the margarine and butter. From Milton Keynes onwards
it's just tea and coffee...The train manager is a broad Yorkshire
man,
who is loud and chatty and sarcastic: "tickets from the last station,
wherever that was."
All around me echoes to the clink of knives and forks, silver against
porcelain... It is quiet here, a few low murmurs...
The air is relaxed, people around me are not working but eating, talking
quietly or reading the newspaper.
In 1st Class I am happy to... leave my bags, even my laptop, open,
on the table [whilst I leave my seat]. [notebook: 14 July 2004 8am]
how will you make this journey?
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