What are the best train companies for Standard Class food and drink?

We’re going to base this on how consistently you can get food and drink, and how convenient it is to order. We know that Transport for Wales have their Premier dining service, and Great Western Railway have their Pullman, but these are on a very limited number of trains. They’re great, but you can’t jump on board and get them every single time! So, who can you rely on?

LNER

It doesn’t get much more convenient than LNER when it comes to Standard Class food. All you need to do is scan the QR codes on the back of every seat:

From there, you can access the Let’s Eat at Your Seat menu. You can order hot and cold sandwiches, snacks and drinks. If you do fancy a stroll, then you can also visit the café bar on the train. From our experience, this will be available on every train for most of the journey.

Avanti West Coast

Avanti West Coast has a similarly extensive Standard Class food menu to LNER. However, you can’t have it delivered to your seat. Previously, this option was trialled, but it was often not available. You can click and collect instead now, but we don’t know how reliable this is. The good news is that you can just pop to the shop:

This would probably win the award for best buffet on a train, as you can actually see what’s on offer. The only negative is how far down the train you need to trek to reach it. The good news? It’s advertised on all services.

Grand Central

Grand Central will also allow you to choose from their menu, and then click and collect from the buffet. The menu isn’t huge (and you won’t know the sandwich fillings in advance) but you’ll find it on every train. Of course, you can just pop to the buffet as well.

Lumo

The LumoEats service is worth mentioning, as it’s a pretty interesting concept. It’s available on every train, but with a few caveats.

Basically, you can pre-order your food from a number of different station outlets, and they’ll bring it to your seat. The price isn’t very different to going to the shop yourself, and it can be a big time saver. The only issue is that you need to be getting on the train in either Edinburgh or London. You’ll need to do it in advance, as well. That said, you can do it up to two hours before you travel.

Once you’re on the train, a trolley will also come through regularly with smaller snacks and drinks.

TransPennine Express

Finally, we have TransPennine Express. They don’t offer food and drink on every train all of the time, but they cover the bulk of the time period that you’d expect to be able to order it.

It’s advertised between 07:00 and 18:30 on weekdays, and 09:00 and 18:30 on weekends. You’ll find it between York/Leeds and Manchester on the Hull, Saltburn and Scarborough services, and Sheffield and Manchester on the Cleethorpes services. It’s available on the entire Newcastle to Edinburgh and Newcastle to Liverpool routes.

On trains between Edinburgh/Glasgow and Manchester Airport, you can get it on the entire route, all day long. As for the menu, it’s pretty much what you’d expect. You can choose from sandwiches, snacks and drinks. Just keep an eye out for the trolley!

Is there anything else I should know?

Feeling peckish? Looking to book a ticket and have a trip with some great Standard Class food? No problem. You can do it all with SmartSplit. We don’t charge any extra fees either, even if you just change your mind about your trip.

_{^{All information quoted is correct as of August 2023, is subject to change, and is issued without liability. SmartSplit is not responsible for any disappointment or loss incurred as a result of the information provided.}}

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How do we work out the best train from Leeds to Manchester?

There are a few factors that we need to look at when we’re deciding on the best train from Leeds to Manchester:

• The cost – is it good value for money?
• Speed – will it get us there quickly?
• Comfort – what are the trains like?
• Reliability – will the train actually turn up?

We have two operators to choose from: TransPennine Express and Northern. TransPennine Express are usually the most popular option. After all, their trains tend to be faster. Meanwhile, Northern are the ‘cheap’ option. Let’s see what both companies are like.

TransPennine Express

On a typical weekday, when there aren’t any engineering works, you’ll usually find three trains per hour between Leeds and Manchester:

• One per hour goes to Manchester Victoria, stopping at Dewsbury, Huddersfield and Stalybridge
• One per hour goes to Manchester Piccadilly, stopping at all stations to Huddersfield, then non-stop to Manchester
• One per hour serves Manchester Victoria, Manchester Oxford Road and Manchester Piccadilly, stopping at Dewsbury and Huddersfield.

The fastest trains take around 50 minutes to reach Manchester Victoria, while the peak trains to Manchester take up to 70 minutes. More services run during peak hours. 

The cost

Let’s take a look at how much you can typically expect to pay for a one-way journey a week in advance. For this, we’ll look at the cost of trains to Manchester Piccadilly:

So, you can expect to pay between 16 and 18 pounds. That’s a little steep, but these are fairly popular trains. A day return (valid after 09:29 weekdays) is £27.20, while one that’s valid at any time (and to return within a month) is £41.00.

The trains

Two different types of train run on the route from Leeds to Manchester. The first one is the Class 185:

These trains have three carriages and will often run in a six-car formation. You can expect to see them on the Hull to Manchester and Saltburn to Manchester Airport routes.

On the Newcastle to Liverpool services, you’ll find the Nova 1:

They’re relatively new trains and have five carriages. Certainly, they’re very modern-looking and pretty striking and are probably the best train from Leeds to Manchester if you’re basing it on looks.

The seat experience

On the Class 185, you’ll find a fair few seats around tables, and the seat comfort is fairly good:

You’ll find a power socket at every window, including a USB port. All of the seats are in a 2+2 layout, while it’s a 2+1 layout in First.

The Nova 1 interior is a little more densely packed, but Standard Class seats are still in a 2+2 formation:

Under each pair of seats, you’ll find two power sockets and a USB port. In First Class, all of the seats are in a 2+1 formation.

Storing your luggage

As you can see in the photos above, both types of train have reasonably-sized overhead luggage racks. You’ll easily store a cabin-sized bag in them. As for larger cases, each carriage on the Class 185 has at least one bigger rack, while there’s at least two per carriage in the Nova 1.

Put simply, it shouldn’t be a problem! TransPennine Express is probably the best train from Leeds to Manchester if you have a lot of luggage.

Upgrading to First Class

If you upgrade to First Class on TransPennine Express, you’ll get a bigger seat that reclines. On most trains, you’ll also get complimentary catering on part of the trip. You can take a look at the First Class menu here.

Here’s what the Class 185 trains look like in First Class:

In terms of power outlets, provision is pretty much the same as in Standard Class. You’ll still want a window seat if you need a power socket on the Class 185 trains.

Northern

Next, let’s take a look at Northern. You’ll usually find three trains per hour on a weekday between Leeds and Manchester Victoria:

• Two per hour stopping at Bramley, New Pudsey, Bradford Interchange, Low Moor (one per hour), Halifax, Sowerby Bridge (one per hour), Mytholmroyd (one per hour) Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale
• One per hour stopping at Morley, Batley, Dewsbury, Mirfield, Brighouse, Sowerby Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Walsden, Littleborough, Smithy Bridge and Rochdale.

On Sundays, there are two trains per hour, and they both go via Bradford Interchange.

The fastest trains take around 75 minutes, while the slowest train via Dewsbury and Brighouse takes around 90.

The cost

This is what sets the Northern service apart and what arguably makes it the best train from Leeds to Manchester. It’s actually quite cheap! Let’s take a look at one-way fares a week in advance to Manchester Victoria:

A single fare of £6.80 is less than half the cost of the TransPennine Express fare.

The trains

The fastest Northern services on this route are operated by Class 195 trains. They have either two or three carriages, but can run in formations of up to six carriages:

They’re relatively new trains, though they’re very much designed for commuters and they’re fairly ‘lightweight’, so expect a couple of bumps in the track along the way.

The seat experience

All of the seats on these trains are in a 2+2 formation. They’re pretty thin and firm, but this means that legroom in the ‘airline’ style seats is fairly generous:

There are quite a few tables as well, and every pair of seats has access to a power socket under the seat. They’re not quite as luxurious as TransPennine Express trains, but they’re fine for a journey of an hour and a half.

Storing your luggage

The overhead racks on these trains are reasonable and will store a cabin-sized bag. You won’t find any bigger luggage stacks, but there are areas with tip-up seats and the areas around the doors have a fair amount of space.

That said, we wouldn’t recommend travelling on these trains with everything but the kitchen sink. They’re commuter trains, after all.

Upgrading to First Class

You won’t find First Class on any Northern service. You’ll need to travel with TransPennine Express if you want a little more luxury!

Verdict: What’s the best train from Leeds to Manchester?

All things considered, the best train from Leeds to Manchester at the moment has to be Northern on the basis that it’s a lot more predictable! It’s cheaper, too. Unless you want to go First Class or you have a lot of luggage, it’s simply the smarter option.

There are a couple of things that you can do to make your journey even smarter:

• At busier times, such as in the rush hour, aim for the trains that start at Manchester Victoria if you’re travelling east. They leave at around 57 minutes past the hour (54 on Sundays) and have around 20 minutes turnaround time in Manchester. This gives you a good chance to turn up and get a seat
• The trains via Bradford will swap direction there, so you’ll need to switch seats if you don’t want to travel backwards. Alternatively, take the train that goes via Brighouse and Dewsbury
• All trains start and terminate at Leeds. Just make sure you get there around 10 minutes before departure to guarantee a seat on busier trains

Is there anything else I should know?

The final thing we’d recommend is using the SmartSplit website to book your next journey. We’re completely independent, so we’re happy to ‘tell you like it is’ when it comes to rail fares. Not only that, but we’ll show you the slower, but cheaper options that some websites won’t.

Don’t forget that we don’t charge any fees, either. That includes if you change your mind and want to travel on a different day. If your ticket is refundable, we’ll refund it fee-free, too!

_{^{All fares stated on this page are for ONE adult with no Railcard discount and were correct at 15:00 11/09/24. Advance fares quoted are from March 2023. Timetable info is correct to December 2024. They’re subject to change at any time and SmartSplit are not responsible for any loss or disappointment incurred as a result of the information provided.}}

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This page was originally written in March 2023 and was updated with new data in August 2023.

How do we work out how reliable trains are?

A great question! We measure reliability by what’s known as ‘PPM’ or ‘Public Performance Measure’. Every time a train runs (or doesn’t!) it’s separated into one of three categories:

• On-time – If it arrives less than five minutes late (10 for long-distance trains)
• Late – If it arrives between five (or 10) and 30 minutes late at its destination
• Very late/cancelled – If the train arrives more than 30 minutes late or is cancelled.

If your train is cancelled part-way through the trip or skips stops to make up time, it’ll also ‘fail’ PPM.

So what’s the least reliable train operator?

For June and July, the least-reliable train operator award goes to Grand Central. But why? Let’s go through some of the reasons:

• They’re a small company that only runs a few services each day. If even one service is cancelled, that has a big impact on their statistics
• Services run on a busy section of railway. The East Coast Mainline is prone to issues and their services interact with lots of others
• Their trains aren’t reliable. The fleet of Adelante trains are prone to breaking down, put simply! They’re remedying this though. Extra trains are being introduced so that there are more spares to fall back on.

Can we trust these statistics?

For some companies, you might be wondering how the statistics look quite reasonable, despite the fact that their trains seem to be so unreliable. For example, at the time of writing (16th August 2023), Northern’s JourneyCheck page looks disastrous:

Okay, so 103 of those cancellations are actually for the following day, but that seems like a lot more than 6% of trains being cancelled, which is what the official stats say. So, what actually happens here?

Put simply, if it’s cancelled before 10pm the previous day, it doesn’t count as a cancellation. This is known as ‘P-coding’ and means that it won’t be reflected in the performance statistics. Most frustratingly for passengers, the reason given is ‘a short notice change to the timetable’. This reason doesn’t tell you anything!

The latest report by the Office of Rail and Road from January to March 2023 shows just how this works. At the time that it was written, TransPennine Express were using P-coding extensively. Since then though, they’ve managed to improve industrial relations, and the statistics below are a far better reflection of reality.

So, is Grand Central the least reliable train operator? Officially, yes. Unofficially, perhaps not.

Who’s the most reliable train operator?

Now we’ve covered who the least reliable train operator is, it’s only right to cover who the most reliable one is.

If we focus purely on trains that are on-time, that’d be Caledonian Sleeper. They managed to run 96.8% of their trains on time.

The operator with the lowest rate of cancellations was c2c, with just 1.1%. Chiltern Railways isn’t far behind with 1.3%.

What do these operators all have in common? For one, a relatively common fleet of trains. Chiltern has three types of train and c2c is running just one type of train. Meanwhile, Caledonian Sleeper has just one fleet of carriages, and a few types of locomotive. Their trains run overnight, and have large allowances in the timetable in case of engineering works.

c2c and Merseyrail are also fairly self-contained networks. It’s unlikely that another company’s trains will cause them to be delayed, and they’re pretty small networks, as well.

What are the full statistics?

Want to know how your local operator did? Here’s the full statistics for June and July. We weren’t able to get monthly statistics for Hull Trains.

_{*Includes Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express.}

What can we take from this data? As you’d expect, companies that have smaller networks and don’t have to interact with too many operators tend to fare better. Those that travel over longer distances and interact with each other more are more vulnerable to delays.

Operators like Grand Central are also more vulnerable to poorer statistics, as they only run a handful of trains per day. If even just one train is delayed, that’ll cause a much bigger knock than on LNER or Avanti, for example.

What can I do when there’s a delay?

When you book with SmartSplit, we’ll let you know if there’s any planned changes to your train, if we’re given enough notice. If you choose to change your plans, we’ve got you covered, too.

You’re also entitled to claim compensation in the event of a delay. You can find out more with our guide on what to do when there’s disruption.

_{All punctuality data on this page is courtesy of trains.im. You can visit their site, check how your operator is doing and can also make a donation to help with upkeep.}

_{The data is also issued without liability, and is correct at the time of writing (16th August 2023).}

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