Grand Central Rail Reviews 

It was so relaxing, comfortable and an excellent service, both ways.

We traveled with grand central on 28 Feb from Sunderland to King’s Cross upon arriving at York we were told to depart the train due to signal failure and had to wait for an LNER train we could only use one of their trains and therefore our journey was delayed by almost 1.5 hours
I have tried to re claim the ticket price but twice grand central have refused to refund

On time , spacious seats good travel experience

Avoid at all costs. LNER runs the same routes and provides a far better service. Trains are old and in need of an urgent upgrade. Buffet car only had crisps available. Toilet on board was held together by gaffer tape. On both journeys the carriages were uncomfortably warm with the staff admitting it's a constant issue

lovely train great price will defo use again for visiting London,

The train was not very clean. There were crumbs on the seats and grubby tables- disappointing given that Sunderland was the starting point for the journey to London. The staff were lovely and especially the train driver whose communications were SUPERB regarding delays on the line. We were constantly kept informed of the delay and I was very impressed. Despite the grubby cabin I knew I was in great hands.

Grand Central offers a basic service that gets you from A to B at minimum cost. On the positive side fares are reasonable , services are reliable and the booking system is convenient. On the negative side the trains are noisy and rattley, not well suited to long distance travel. Luggage storage facility is inadequate. WiFi is erratic. London-York section of most journeys is usually crammed full.

Train was 32mins late! Gran Central does not pay Delay-Repay unless Train 1 Hr late? other Train companies do?

The train was on time, buffet was up and running and very pleasant staff.

Free Palestine!

My train from London to the North East was delayed 1.5 hours. This resulted in my missing my connection. Therefore my total journey delay was 2+ hours. Grand Central claimed my delay was 59 minutes and I was not entitled to a refund. I won't be using them again if at all possible.

Clean carriages and punctual.

Absolute amateurs. Had “ staff shortages since December “

It’s totally basic to hire and have enough staff on duty.

Clean train on time, decent seats with plug sockets. My standard class journey (Doncaster to Halifax on the train from London Kings Cross) was actually better than first class, which was full whilst my standard carriage was virtually empty

Thirsk - Kings Cross
First class. Keep in mind - You are playing extra for better seats that’s all. Not like LNER - with included food and drinks service. You just get a bag of crisps and water and tea if you order with a QR code included in the price and little else available to purchase. However the ticket is usually cheaper than LNER and for me is a more convenient route.

Utterly awful service. Service cancelled. No information on noticeboards or company web site. Station staff couldn't care less. No ticket acceptance in place for alternative rail companies. The train I ended up on was cramped, with no facilities. To add insult to injury, this rail "service" only gives refunds for over 60 minute delays, even though 45 minutes is more than enough to wreck plans. Cannot see why they think twitter is an acceptable customer support channel. Avoid if you possibly can.

Booked return Kings Cross to Sunderland ,forced to stand in corridor of train with luggage red hot next to housing of exhaust of train from King's Cross to Thirsk all because overbooked train,nowhere to store luggage,we had 2 reserved seats that even if we wanted to use them they were already taken by another passengers bag or in my partners case another passenger!Had to stand all the way up to Thirsk when enough people had got off train so we could eventually put the luggage somewhere and sit down.This company is a joke,greedy packing trains with no disregard for passengers comfort.Even using a bidding site to upgrade to first class !!Dreading the return journey on 6th January

Really polite staff

What a disaster of a rail service.

From the seats to the staff, it all feels like non of it wants to be there.

The seats are tiny, uncomfortable and something better suited to a museum. The staff are extremely detached from their roles are simply exist, and refuse to move those that have taken reserved seats.

The WiFi is simply a connection to a router, with nothing coming inbound and thus a deadline.

Grand Central is a great train operator. With all the changes going on with the rail industry my family hope that GC continues to give good service as it always has. Its staff are always helpful and have a habit of smiling a lot which does them great credit !!! A smile doesn't cost anything and it brightens up anyones day !!!