Arriva Trains Wales Reviews 

Awful service for ebbw vale to cardiff line they cant put enough carriages on for demand .left early sat morning to go to cardiff with 4 carriages on with only handful of people as the day went on and got busier carriages became less you can't make it up and surely on a safety issue ramming the trains full of people can't be safe wheres the risk assessment?

I get the train every morning from Caerphilly to Cardiff and then home again. The trains are packed even before they get to the station. I don’t understand how you are allowed to have so many people rammed on the trains. This week an older gentleman nearly fell off the train and literally a man in a wheelchair was asked to get up from one of the chairs so as to allow more people to get on. What is going on??? This is an accident waiting to happen. I had put a star but they don’t deserve any. Something has to be done before it’s too late.

Bought a ticket from Shrewsbury, heading to Birmingham. Bare in mind this is Black Friday, and there are only two carriages with barely enough seats for everyone. I cannot understand why Arriva wouldn’t have preempt greater amounts of passengers, especially on a day like this.

Arriva Trains Wales, now Transport for Wales, is the epitome of awfulness when it comes to public transport. The trains are old, smell bad, and are quite dirty in some places. I don’t ever dare to go near the toilets to be honest. The trains are also overcrowded, with an unsuitable amount of carriages often chosen for the time of day. On Sundays, they decide to use 2x3 carriage trains in some cases, don’t know what that is all about but I wish they could do this during rush hour. Something I don’t understand is that the oldest trains they use usually are the cleanest and don’t smell, however they are quite noisy. The seats inside the standard ex. Arriva Trains Wales carriages are extremely uncomfortable and hurt my back. The arrival times to the station are often inconsistent, including the 8:15am train from Ludlow to Cardiff Central. Luckily, I do not take this train, but feel sorry for those who do due to the fact that it is consistently 15 minutes late each day. All of this horrific service for an expensive price, I wonder what we are really paying for.

To sum it up, they basically need new trains. Easier said than done however.

Trains are comfortably warm in the winter but get very hot in the summer and also the Toilets are absolutely disgusting. Hoping the new company does something about these trains, by far the worst train service in the UK

How can a 20 minute service from Chester to Crewe be 12 minutes late so you miss your connection, is it really possible to fail by over 50% when you leave on time, this isn’t a business, if we all behaved like that in our work we would be unemployed VERY quickly, and then when trying to find out your next connection the Virgin trains office is in darkness........at least they have lost their franchise through poor service ( Nice Virgin chap on the Platform helped though)

I’ve been paying £220 a month for my travels and for the past 2 weeks the train service to Telford central has been appalling always late Arriva trains wales get ur finger out your buthole

What a night! A broken down carriage up in clunderwen so we were stuck in Clarbeston road, however I was given coffee and peanuts by a lovely train conductor by the name off Ian Phillips, it was the 20:53 train to Carmarthen from Milford haven.

The worst train service on the planet. I have never ever had a good trip with Arriva Trains Wales. If the train isn't cancelled at the very last minute, then you'll be crammed into disgusting and overpacked trains. How the hell is it a good idea to only send a two carriaged train to Chester during rush hour?!?! Surely they must know the demand? Appalling customer service, ever delayed or cancelled trains, overall just dreadful. They have to be the worst train service on the planet. If possible, avoid at all costs.

Stinking carriages, often not on time and you get the privilege of showing your ticket about 3 or more times during your travel.

Just travelled back from London to Abergavenny, first part with GWR was a pleasure, then for the final journey from Newport, with TFW, sheer hell, 16:35 cancelled, 17:04 a two car train, couldn’t get on as was full and rammed like cattle! How can one train operator be so good and TFW so so bad, TFW slogan “the journey starts here” please please change this to “TFW your journey to hell”

Travelled from London to Swansea which was fab. Then got on the packed service to Carmarthan....my god what a difference!! Even elderly people were standing on this dirty overpacked cattle truck. 2 carriages for so many people does not encourage tourists to visit regularly, but perhaps thats the point. I'm surprised the fare-paying regular commuters are not up in arms. The staff and fellow travellers were fab and in good spirits despite desperate conditions. I'll drive next time though. 1 star too much for this company.

Awful awful awful awful awful. Made an account just to make this review! During a five-day holiday to Wales in which we took three journeys on these trains, every single one was delayed massively. Also no air con in the hot summer, crap WiFi, boxy, disorganised, rubbish communication and a five-hour journey home from Llanbedr took almost 7 hours. Missed ALL our connections and as a result, our seat reservations despite booking tickets months in advance.

Shocking experience. The lack of capacity on all services is unacceptable. I had to stand for almost an hour from Shrewsbury to Chester. If you would like to be able to sit down, don't bother with Transport for Wales. Dirty trains and a massive lack of carriages, ALWAYS!

If I could put 0 star I would have. Comming from France I thought our regional train system was bad but this is another level.

I've been commuting every day for work on the Bidston - Wrexham line and just in the last week I had 4 trains cancelled. Twice because a car hit a bridge, once for flooding after 10min of proper rain and last time for unknown reasons. The worse part is not even the cancels, it is how they deal with it. You know the train is cancelled just as it is suppose to arrive even though it is the same problem as the day before or you get in and have to get out at the next station without prior warrants. You end up somewhere you don't know, nobody cares about how you are suppose to get home so what do you do ? You call the line that is not even aware you train is cancelled and ask for help. The poor guy tries to help you: "M. there is a bus comming for replacement, should be there anytime". You think you're saved, finally able to go home. What a mistake you've made you fool. The bus never ever came. Waited twice for this supposed bus for more than an hour and it never came.

At this point you might think I've been unlucky but it happens all the time. My coworkers have the same experience with the service. And to top it all it is expensive. Seriously do something because right now it is just an adverstisment to get a car.

I am a rare reviewer. Only review excellence or extreme incompetence. Guess which one applies in this case ... As for many reviewers of arriva trains, one star is far too many.

Boarded 11.50 cross country from taunton to derby this morning. Station announcement was for 8 coach train with at seat buffet service. Reality is as follows:

Only front 4 coaches of train open with no advance warning; so people waiting to board down length of platform;
Had to run small child and elderly parent down platform to force us thru door already crammed with overflow customers and luggage;
Spoke briefly to train departer on platform who said he knew nothing about half train being shut and I would have to speak to train manager (see below for evidence of his existence);
People crammed in corridors outside stinking toilets because no seating management on train;
Only 3 carriages standard class, reducing seating even further;
Finally managed to find seat with help of fellow passenger - still no train staff to be seen;
No announcement from train manager about travelling circumstances although he was happy to make lengthy station announcements. In the end I pointed the few spare seats that were scattered about out to people including elderly passengers struggling to balance in passageways;
No at seat service - in fact no evidence of a buffet car at all, although I wouldn't have got to it anyway due to previously mentioned corridor crowding;
No ticket checking so no one to complain to. Suspect train "manager" hiding
No reservations. Seating was a free-for-all, with some people claiming reservations and others quietly accepting their grim, expensive fate.
Free wifi didn't work;
Finally got an announcement at Birmingham about overcrowding- blamed on "planned engineering work". What does that have to do with a train running at half capacity??
To top it all, there was a banner across my window reminding me that arriva wants everyone to have a great journey so asking passengers to please be considerate to each other. If only they cared enough to see the irony ...

Located train "manager" (owen) when I got off train at derby. On requesting apology I got the stock "I'm sorry YOU feel that way, madam" at which I had to explain it was nothing to do with how I FEEL. It was about my experience. No apology for that of course...

I will be pursuing this. Every aspect of this shambles is totally and utterly inexcusable. I paid over £100 to watch this farce unfold. Never again ...

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A company who doesn't care if you get home safely or even at all. Closed queen st station so missed my train.

Literally a shambles, one star is to much. One of the busiest days of the summer and they run a reduced service, no trains home replacement busses who have no idea what's going on. Cannot believe how poor this service is you pay through the nose for absolutely pathetic customer service it's no wonder no-one uses public transport in Cardiff if this is the best they have to offer 100% avoid.

Transport for Wales (formally Arriva) is by far the worst rail company in the world! What exactly are the increases in train fares going towards? The roof is broken at Newport and leaks water all over the passengers, the stations are archaic, and Transport for Wales trains are uncomfortable sheds from the 80s, most without luggage racks, and female train managers with a misplaced sense of “girl power” who bark at you for your suitcase being in the way because there’s no luggage rack! - Maybe remove the bloody food trolly from the small trains, instead, and tell the cyclists to cycle instead of bringing their bikes on board a tiny two carriage train at rush hour!

Some of the trains have dangerous doors like those on old buses, which can be opened easily by hand whilst travelling, putting passengers at risk of being thrown out of a moving train by a violent passenger on board. I’ve seen better trains in poorer parts of Eastern Europe, and Britain is meant to be the 5th wealthiest nation in the world?! What a joke! Re-nationalise British Rail, and sack the rude, ignorant staff currently working on the trains and stations.

Then there’s the station guard at Port Talbot, who is one of the biggest a-holes I’ve met at a Transport for Wales train station, and that’s saying something! His train whistle would be better placed where the sun doesn’t shine. I was victim to a train diversion, and had to get off at a small-town station, then hitch a lift to Port Talbort Parkway to try and catch my train as it passed through. I just made it! I hurriedly hurled my heavy luggage up the stairs, across the bridge, and down to the platform as I didn’t have time to wait for the lift - The train had just pulled in. I literally made it to the train doors as they were closing, in the middle of an asthma attack after rushing with my case. I was standing there desperately pressing the train door’s button, to try and open them.

The aforementioned guard yelled at me to stand back, whilst I pleaded at him between gasps to please let me on the train. He kept yelling at me. I collapsed on the platform. No assistance was given. He just walked off and left me there, sitting on the cold stone ground, gasping for breath, like I was nothing. I was left alone there for an entire hour waiting for the next train, with no water, no cafe - nothing(!), until the next London train came along.

If this is an example of “Welsh hospitality”, I’ll do without, thanks. Thank God I left Wales. I’ve already sent and official complaint to Transport for Wales and GWR, but Transport for Wales never responded! - Surprise, surprise!

Why oh why on a lovely day like today would you put a two carriage train to Barry island,knowing that it is the first week of the school summer holidays,lots of families stood on platform waiting and train whizzes by as it is full,come on arriva more carriages please