I was travelling by train London-Leeds today and noticed the morale of the crew seemed low like in the days of National Express running the line. Turns out the crew have been cut back on most services and due to kitchen problems there was no hot food in first class either. The service of sandwiches took longer due to the reduced crew levels. Apparently this change started today.

This is highly disappointing by Virgin but not surprising considering the poor performance of Stagecoach Group which owns 90%. History shows National Express couldn't cut their way to profitability. The government owned East Coast managed to bring the service back into profitability and restore some of the goodwill lost by National Express.

If VTEC make the same mistake I can see them making it a hat-trick of East Coast private operators that ended up having to pull out of the franchise.

Let's hope when the crew get settled in to the new rotas with reduced staff they will make the new service work.

It does look at the moment VTEC are on a cost cutting drive while trying to claim to the customer they're making things better. With enhancements in both rail and air I wonder when the pleasure of domestic travel will disappear completely. At one time (about 5 years ago) I could dine in a restaurant on an East Coast train enjoying a 3 course meal and a selection of wines, now are we approachimg the time when the less inspiring 1st class menu will be cut back further to be able to deliver the service with a smaller crew.