Avanti West Coast Reviews 

Never again. From Manchester to London. No wifi at all. No reception. Wery bad expierance.

I have used the West Coast many times every year for business. Whilst the service is reliable most of the time, the actual onboard experience is inconsistent and poor. Some Examples: power sockets regularly out of service (240v Power, USB & Wireless), Wi-Fi is a joke/Waste Of Time thats if its working in the forst place! The onboard catering shop is a farce too, being regularly closed or without hot water for drnks.
Can’t wsit to see this service Nationalised snd transitioned to GBR.

What was the reason the Avanti train from Crewe to Edinburgh was delayed on 29/05/26.
The original delay was supposed to be half a hour.My daughter's partner arrived home at 7.30 pm.He was over 3 hrs late.He was travelling with their cat.By which time the poor cat,had be in his carrier for over 8 +hrs without food & water!
The last time we had the pleasure of an Avanti journey the 10.10 train was cancelled, we were late for my husband's brother in laws funeral,what an awful experience.
looking at the reviews on truspilot, I am not alone!

My friend and I travelled on the 14.34pm train from Glasgow Central on Friday 15th May 2026, to return home to Morecambe.
We had paid to travel 1st Class.
This was an extremely enjoyable experience, especially with the two very professional, friendly and courteous gentlemen who were working that day. Mark and Andrew.
They couldn't have been any more helpful, always had a smile and we were made to feel that nothing was too much trouble. They are an absolute credit to the company and I will definitely pay again to travel this way.
I just wish we had requested their surnames to ensure their managers etc know exactly who they are.
Once again, thank you so much for a very smooth, relaxing and as I say totally enjoyable experience.
Kind regards,
Elaine Stewart and Orla Cottingham.

The Delay Repay section on their website is nearly impossible to use. I wonder why?
Took me over an hour to claim just over £10 but I was determined.
I consider myself to be reasonably tech savvy.

UPDATE
Give credit where it’s due - payment received within 24hours of submitting claim. Upgraded to 3*

Their admin policy of £20 to change the return portion is a rip off adding that to any difference in cost.
As I have done it was half as much than the admin fee to book a new ticket with Chiltern Railways!

Shout out to Richard the chef and the team on a 13/05/26 at 06.14am train from Piccadilly Manchester to Euston.

Was kind, helpful and went above and beyond for the customer!

Used avanti for long trips several times and the delays are very frequent, exceeding 50% rate. Very incompetent.

As usual, late running - no power to sockets in carriage - boiling like a dirty sauna - rectification promised and never delivered.

Price is obscene for the level of service. Nationalisation needed.

Don't believe I've ever been moved to write anything on trust pilot but this is my second adverse experience with this company. They notified me via email that they had cancelled my train. I asked for a refund via the link sent. I made alternative travel arrangements. The following day they emailed to say they had reinstated the train they had previously cancelled - Now they won't give me my refund (!?) They are asking for pictures of a paper ticket I never had cut up (!?) Unbelievable. I ended up travelling with LNER who were pretty decent. In my opinion I would avoid using Avanti if at all practical and possible.

The worse service, most expensive, always late, no customer service, terrible terrible company … how can they get away with it?

The government should seriously encourage more competition on the London to Manchester route instead of allowing passengers to depend so heavily on what feels like a monopoly operator. When one company dominates such an important route, passengers are left with little choice despite extremely high fares, repeated disruptions, cancellations, and restrictive refund policies.

Yesterday’s disruption showed exactly why competition is needed. Thousands of passengers were left struggling while still paying premium prices for unreliable services. In any competitive market, companies would be forced to improve reliability, customer service, pricing, and compensation policies to retain customers.

At the moment, passengers often feel trapped paying very high prices while receiving a level of service that does not justify the cost. Essential intercity travel should not become a stressful experience where customers are expected to simply tolerate cancellations and poor communication because there are limited alternatives.

More operators and stronger competition on the route would likely:

- Improve reliability and accountability
- Reduce excessive ticket prices
- Improve refund and compensation policies
- Encourage better customer service
- Give passengers meaningful alternatives during disruption

Passengers deserve a rail network that works in their interest, not one where they feel powerless due to lack of competition.

Went to have a nice day out train cancelled. Absolute shambles. 1 star reviews everywhere. Embarrassing

We can't remember when we last had such a smooth train journey; in both directions. The trains ran on time, were extremely clean and comfortable, and the staff kept passengers well informed.

No loos train delays freezing cold. It is an hour to Euston and I am bursting to go to the loo. I have had to walk 6 carriagss to find one with only a queue of 3. What kind of service is this? Cl

Dreadful staff, terrible service, zero positives every single day of my commuting hell life. Muggins here pays 15k plus per annum for a season ticket. To start with the trains are never on time often because the staff haven't turned up for work, the trains are dirty, the staff are about 10% engaged and helpful, most of them, especially the ones at Euston station are particularly useless hanging around doing bear minimum work and not even doing their jobs properly, checking tickets, informing customers of issues. Not only that but staff are rude, on numerous occasions I have witnessed highly unprofessional and inappropriate behaviour towards passengers, clear cultural issues within the organisation. Nobody cares, that's the main issue. Nothing ever improves or gets done, is anyone accountable?

Dreadful. It is rare that I would highlight an individual however I am going to single out the manager or Avanti Train West heading to Euston from Stockport his approach to customers. I arrived early at Stockport and asked one of the staff there if it was ok for me to to take the earlier train. They looked at my any time single and said yes it was fine and so I boarded the 804 instead of the 824. I won’t name the train manager although I will be writing to Avanti West; was just so dismissive and rude. Actually the mistake largely sat with National rail who had advised me to board the train. He was disinterested, lacking in any kind of empathy and charged over £40 to remain on the train. Above all, it was the attitude. I would not recommend Avanti for many reasons - Manners cost nothing at all.

Absolutely awful train company.. our train from Euston was cancelled.. no one had bothered to let us know. Euston to Stockport.. member of staff told us to get on the train before the cancelled one.. we were then met with the most rude and obnoxious train manager.. who told us we had no right to be on the train and proceeded to charge us a £10 admin charge each… she was condescending and arrogant.. complaint has gone in and a request for the ‘ admin’ fee to be returned
Never again would we use this joke of a company.. there are alternatives Avanti.. and we will use them

The seats on Avanti West Coast trains are so uncomfortable it's mind blowing. They have a weird shape and the foam is like sitting on concrete. My arse and spine felt like someone had kicked me off the thing by the time I got past Milton Keynes. My trip from London - Manchester and then back again was horrid because of it. At £150 return, disgraceful. Sort it out. I am honestly never getting on one of them again. Foam don't cost much Avanti. Bad reviews do!