1 March 2023
RMT Press Office:
Disgraced train operator Avanti will scrap at seat service catering from May 2023, the RMT can reveal.
The cost cutting move will mean standard class passengers will not have the option of an at seat service, serving sandwiches, snacks and drinks.
Instead, they will have to use online "click and collect" from the shop, penalising lone travellers and those with mobility issues.
The company will also reduce catering services for first class passengers by removing the full breakfast option at weekends.
Avanti was granted a temporary 6-month extension to its franchise following high levels of cancellations and multiple industrial disputes with its staff.
The short-term extension will see Avanti continue to run services on West Coast mainline until 1 April 2023.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Avanti has once again shown it is unfit to run a rail franchise with this needless cost cutting exercise.
"Passengers should have the option of an at seat service on trains but rail companies like Avanti merely want to run a barebones service that takes all the pleasure out of rail travel.
"On board catering staff do an important job, and this is a blow for them.
"Avanti should be stripped of their franchise at the earliest opportunity and the railways as a whole need to be brought back into public ownership."
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