Your favourite and least favourite UK rail operators?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. Here in the UK, the railway network is often a source of a good moan from Brits. Whether it’s delays, cancellations or general rail-related grievances, people are often not very happy with our railway network, to say the least. However, I’ve noticed that some operators tend to draw more ire from people than others. So as I stand on Cardiff Central’s platform this evening waiting for the next train home after my prior one was cancelled, I’d be keen to know; which are your favourite and least favourite of the UK’s various rail operators? Which railway operator generally delivers the best service, in your view, and which one is to be avoided?

Personally, I’ve travelled on 4 different operators’ trains, to my memory.

My favourite is probably Great Western Railway. They have really nice trains, they normally have a good amount of carriages running, and I haven’t had any terrible cancellation or delay experiences with them either.

My least favourite is probably CrossCountry. I travel with them relatively often, and they often seem to run very few carriages relative to the number of people on the train, resulting in a very cramped train. They also seem to be the operator who seem most prone to random cancellations or long delays, in my experience (albeit admittedly not as bad as a couple of years ago), and I think their trains could maybe do with updating to spruce them up add newer features like plug sockets (the trains that run on the Cardiff-Nottingham route, anyway).

In terms of the other two I’ve travelled with:

• Transport for Wales is my other most frequent operator, and I find them a bit of a mixed bag. Their new trains are very nice, but it seems to be a bit of a lottery as to whether you get one of these or a screechy train from the 1980s. They generally run on time and rarely seem to randomly cancel, but I do find that like CrossCountry, they occasionally don’t run enough coaches for the amount of people on the train (not quite as habitually, but they still only ran 2 coaches to Cheltenham during Cheltenham Festival, for example, which was bedlam!).
• I also travelled on South Western Railway on a trip I did last year, and I didn’t have anything bad to say about them. Their trains were quite nice and smart and very well stocked in terms of coaches, and everything ran on time, so I can’t complain, really!

I haven’t been on any others. I’ve heard bad things about Avanti West Coast and Northern up in the North (I don’t know if any Northerners on here can corroborate this), but I haven’t personally travelled on them.

But I’d be interested to know; which UK rail operators are your favourites and least favourites?

 

[James F]

Northern Rail seems to strike almost every other month at this point. I remember the nightmare commute of getting to and from uni in Salford, often made worse due to cancellations and delays relating to strikes. I will say that the trains themselves have gotten better. My train home from Manchester Piccadilly was an old pacer train which ran all the way to 2019 - not pleasant, basically a bus on rails, which originally were lined with asbestos.

Avanti West Coast is bad for cancellations, especially with trains travelling through Preston, however I will say I have always been lucky with the train I get from Wigan North Western to Edinburgh Waverley, so personally I can't complain about them that much.

My favourite in the UK is ScottRail. I have never had an issue with them and I can actually access the WiFi unlike most services.

Trainspennie Express is iffy. Sometimes their alright. But more often than not their trains are too short and are often overcrowded, but at least they have made some effort updating the interiors.

To be honest, the UK’s national rail services are complete turd in comparison to other countries. Even though it's a low budget carrier, France's OuiGo is my favourite. TGV high speed trains which are on time, spacious, comfortable and cheap. What's not to like?