Dining cars

[Thomas]

Good Day,

The question I would like to ask "Is there a sit down dedicated dining car on any of the railway routes today". I remembered way back (when Adam was a boy) one could get breakfast on the Dublin to Cork line early in the morning, served with silver cutlery and the food was excellent.

Regards

Thomas 

[Ironroad]

Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end.  Catering services were suspended as part of the Covid19 restrictions and it seems there has been difficulty negotiating a contract for a resumption with service providers.

However, it seems there will be some limited resumption on the Dublin Cork route in the course of this month. From the IE website; -

Intercity Routes (excluding Belfast)

Catering services will resume from early April 2023 on the Cork to Dublin route on a phased basis. For further information please see our Catering News story.

Belfast Services

On-board catering is available on the Dublin - Belfast Enterprise services. See below for the menus available on Enterprise services.

Enterprise - Full Service Menu 

Enterprise - Trolley Service

Edited April 3, 2023 by Ironroad

[jhb171achill]

On 3/4/2023 at 8:07 PM, Ironroad said:

On 3/4/2023 at 7:49 PM, Thomas said:

Good Day,

The question I would like to ask "Is there a sit down dedicated dining car on any of the railway routes today". I remembered way back (when Adam was a boy) one could get breakfast on the Dublin to Cork line early in the morning, served with silver cutlery and the food was excellent.

Regards

Thomas 

Sadly not, Thomas!

You’re thinking of the old 24XX series dining cars or the one on the 1970 “Enterpriae”.

Long gone, along with ALL train catering, even trollies, on all services bar the Dublin - Belfast line. On this, there’s a trolley in standard class and table service in 1st, with a limited but adequate microwave menu.

 

 

 

 

[DERAILED]

On 3/4/2023 at 7:49 PM, Thomas said:

Good Day,

The question I would like to ask "Is there a sit down dedicated dining car on any of the railway routes today". I remembered way back (when Adam was a boy) one could get breakfast on the Dublin to Cork line early in the morning, served with silver cutlery and the food was excellent.

Regards

Thomas 

Silver LOL....you must have been travelling in Great Southern & Western days....CIE never aspired to anything more than stainless steel - I still have a teaspoon!

[jhb171achill]

26 minutes ago, DERAILED said:

Silver LOL....you must have been travelling in Great Southern & Western days....CIE never aspired to anything more than stainless steel - I still have a teaspoon!

No, no, no - it was when Adam was a boy! That's long before the GSWR.............  they had silver spoons then, and the dining car bogies were made of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

[Branchline121]

15 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

No, no, no - it was when Adam was a boy! That's long before the GSWR.............  they had silver spoons then, and the dining car bogies were made of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The railways of Eden sound great!

[jhb171achill]

2 hours ago, Branchline121 said:

The railways of Eden sound great!

All steam.......

[Broithe]

 

[Bob229]

A welcome return of the trolley 

[DERAILED]

In fairness the trolley was and probably still will be a joke. I rarely if ever bought anything from it as it is only for the little people - I yearn for proper snack/dining facilities but I won't hold my breath. In recent times I always stocked up at the shop in the subway beneath the suburban platforms at Connolly when I had the kids with me in preference to the trolley. God help us, even in the pre-Mk.II. days one could get a proper drink on the Rosslare. Even the grotty bar in a corner of a Park Royal offered a bit of crack to us regulars on the evening run home to Bray. There was an old accommodation crossing just north of Shankill that used to be a source of entertainment - a bad joint or whatever there used to give the train a right jolt and the regulars used to brace themselves for impact whereas an unfortunate newcomer would often have their drink all over themselves. 

[seagoebox]

The latest Mark 3 dining car... 1st February 1985, note the "Ronald McDonald" plastic seats, you could'nt stay sat in them unless you had velcro on your trousers! A far cry fr

Edited April 16, 2023 by seagoebox

[Rob]

Great pic- never saw those seats in a Mark III diner before

[Bob229]

Terrible seats

[seagoebox]

The thinking was that they were to be wipe clean, and were hard, therefore discouraging passengers from sitting in the diner as regular seats,  but they had a glossy finish and were very uncomfortable to sit in. They got the "Ronald McDonald" nickname because of similar seating in the kids area of McDonalds! They were eventually with conventional Mk3 seats covered in fabric which became plastered with spilt food and were not at all pleasant to look at never mind risk your life by sitting on them !

[Noel]

On 11/4/2023 at 2:39 PM, Bob229 said:

A welcome return of the trolley 

No trolly nor food today on the Cork-Dublin train, nothing, not even in 5h1ty Gold. Not as much as a packet of crisps, never mind a cooked breakfast. 

[Bob229]

1 hour ago, Noel said:

No trolly nor food today on the Cork-Dublin train, nothing, not even in 5h1ty Gold. Not as much as a packet of crisps, never mind a cooked breakfast. 

A limited trolley service is due to return in the coming weeks as for a cooked breakfast probably won't return them were the days

[Broithe]

 

[DERAILED]

Aren't Irish Rail great after all - next week reinventing the wheel.

Edited April 23, 2023 by DERAILED