Grand Central Rail Reviews 

Excellent service as usual. Trains very clean and app gives you all the information you need with alerts regarding status etc before you board. I always book Grand Central for trips to London as its a non stop service and unlike LNER you won't find the train is full that you have to stand all the way

Our Grand Central Rail train was 116 minutes late, turning a 120-minute trip into a monstrous six-hour journey as I also missed my connection. That's where I discovered they are not part of the Delay-repay scheme. Instead, there is a "Grand Central delay compensation policy," which is much less generous. If your delay is under an hour -- no compensation. You only get 50% back for a 60- to 120-minute delay, and 100% compensation is only applicable if the delay was over 3 hours. Luckily, I have other options to do my usual work commute, and from now on, I will make sure to avoid Grand Central Rail.

Broken toilet broken hot drinks machine and no wi fi for £76 pounds I expect basics on a 3 hour journey 4 bookings since April 2026 only 1 offered me a hot drink and WiFi was working the other 3 no wi fi no hot drinks machine very old train worn seats that looked dated and could do with a vaccum running over the floor and toilet seats fixed just really poorly maintained if the old dated trains were cleaned and spruce up a bit but sadly it all looked quite grim

I had booked assisted travel 🧳. They knew I was coming and prepared a suitable seat.
The lady conductor even got me a sandwich after York.

The Trains are quite old and the first class service is very limited - I paid £29 for an upgrade to 1st and basically got a hot drink some crisps and a chocolate bar for that - as well as bigger seat of course.
My Kings Cross to Doncaster train was just under 40 minutes late but GC Rail aren't part of the delay repay scheme so won't pay any compensation for delays under an hour.

The train was clean and quiet. The staff were excellent, very helpful and kind.

I have travelled many times with Grand Central to visit my family. The service is very good and have very rarely had a problem. The seating is comfortable and the information is given frequently as to where we are and if there are any problems causing delays. All good this time.

Awful service! Appaling attitude to passengers. I was going back from London on Aug. 9th, train to Bradford at 18:03 (trains to Bradford always tell the platform like at the last minute, btw) and from the very start it went all wrong. when I tried to enter a coach (B) from the end with less people, I was told to go to the other end. Fine. My seat was 59 and guess what! On entering and standing in the queue I found that the seats end at number 56! There was a confusing announcement that all passengers with seats 57 on had to move to coach F to take similar seats there.. I went through the whole train, touching upon all sweaty arms etc. - no such seats existed in coach F either! A conductor in the First class ignored me, a conductor making an announcement on my question; "Where is my seat?" said "I THINK, it is seat 2 back in coach B". I believed him. Went back throught the whole train again. In vain. Seat 2 was occupied, of course. So, I was standing in the middle of the train, noone cared. The conductor btw also said: "If you don't like something, you can take another train". Well, no, this one was moving already.. A cherry on top, they were 24 minutes LATE to Wakefield Kirkgate where the connection bus was about to leave at 20:50, while they arrived at 20:56! Some people were literally running out of the train to catch the train to Leeds or that bus! Running! Up the climb! Thank you, the bus driver, you are a good soul, you waited for us. WOW. What a service!

Nice trains. Clean comfortable on time. Free refreshments on weekend 1St class at good prices

Cramped carriages no luggage space the racks over head a so narrow you
Can’t fit anything in them - seats uncomfortable no leg room central aisle very narrrow - both legs of journey delayed and to crown it all the delay repay system they use is different to most other train company’s and won’t settle if delay less than 60mins all in all avoid this company and stick to LNER

Good service from my local station (Hartlepool) to London Kings Cross book ahead in the app and use rail card to get a very good price process is simple tickets delivered to smart phone.

Grand Central staff have always been friendly and helpful they may even be happy in their work.

On this occasion service arrived two minutes late.

Easy to use website, great train. Clean. Friendly staff

3 times I have tried this train company 3 times not arrived on time to London so I missed my connection 3 times. Might be a bit cheaper than LNER but no coffee onnboard in first class broken machine apparently and 100% success rate for being late! Never again.

On time, comfortable and straightforward. Excellent!

Love this service, easy trip to North Yorkshire and London, good value.
Would be 5 stars but since the departure times changed to 9am and 11am it's not quite as convenient for us

The booking process was seamless, the staff were courteous and professional, passengers were informed any development as the journey progresses and the environment was clean coupled with seat numbering and availability of toilet facilities but there is no enough room for boxes though there are lot of spaces for hand luggage. In all, it was a wonderful experience and l have been using it since 2022 till date.

Two trains in 3 days and no WiFi and coffee machine was broken on both journeys.

It’s 2026, get with the times.

Brilliant staff and service from King’s Cross/Sunderland staff was first class and always asking if I was ok from booking to getting here I’ve no complaints at all

Coach: D
Temperature: ~30°C
My journey from Bradford to London King’s Cross with Grand Central has been extremely uncomfortable. Coach D has no working air conditioning, and with temperatures around 30°C, the carriage is unbearably hot. There is no ventilation or airflow, making the environment stuffy and difficult to breathe in. All coaches were completely full, so there was no space available to move to another carriage where the AC was working. This meant passengers had no choice but to remain in the overheated coach for the entire journey. For a long-distance service, proper ventilation and functioning air conditioning are essential. This experience was unnecessarily difficult, and I hope Grand Central addresses these issues urgently.