Grand Central Rail Reviews 

Literally the worst rail operator in the UK. Rough, old battered trains. Overhead luggage space rubbish. Staff rude and miserable. Unreliable service regularly late or cancelled.

On 13 December took 10:48 Grand Central Train outward from Kings Cross to Bradford: smooth journey, arrived on time. Different experience for the return leg on Monday 15 December - 10:39 departure cancelled 'due to fault on train'. Not impressed! Thanks to prompt action of Interchange Station staff used (at no extra cost) a Northern Service to Leeds & changed for onwards to Kings Cross, arriving some minutes ahead of original schedule.

We went from Sunderland to rork and return 1st class. The sears were as stated. The buffet car wow only opened during the last 40 minutes of our outward trip. The return the buffet car didn't open. We did get a bottle of water. The staff were ok at best. WOW if this is Grand Centrals idea of 1st class... useless

Where do I start...I've taken many a journey with Grand Central and the majority have some sort of disruption, usually significant.

They have a habit of cancelling trains last minute but for some reason don't issue updates via app or text message, unlike any other transport provider in 2025.

So you arrive at the station to discover its cancelled.

The cancellation reason is usually "lack of staff" or some issue with the trains (they tend to use older trains and maintenance is an issue).

Given the frequency of these last minute cancellations I would strongly suggest its to consolidate passengers onto one train to try and save some money, which of course comes at the expense of passengers schedules.

They also do not permit you to take a train with another train operator, which is standard practice across most UK train companies, instead saying you can travel on their next service which is usually a few hours later, thus ruining your whole schedule.

Then of course when you board this later train you can't get a seat as they're already reserved for the passengers actually booked on that train, which is now filled with passengers from the cancelled train.

Onboard you'll find minimal luggage space (the overhead racks dont fit anything larger than a backpack). Old seats, small tables, lack of bins so rubbish ends up on the floor.

First Class is a joke - you can choose between water or instant coffee / tea and packets of crisps and nuts. You must order these via a QR code on your phone which seldom works.

Wifi is woeful. Good luck trying to conduct any sort of business!

In summary: you get what you pay for. Expect little to no support when things are disrupted or cancelled, which is frequent and last minute.

Reliable journey which left and arrived on time. Toilets stayed clean and usable for whole of journey

Excellent service all round.

I experienced significant disruption on 1st November when my 19:57 service from King's Cross to Doncaster was abandoned at St Neots due to an incident at Huntingdon. The train manager instructed all passengers to leave the train and find accommodation for the night.

I contacted Grand Central's customer support the following morning and they were incredibly helpful throughout the process. They clearly explained what I needed to do and guided me through claiming back my hotel costs, taxi fares, and replacement train ticket.

Kimberley and Kasey from their Customer Relations team were particularly excellent - they processed my claim efficiently and kept me well informed. When my ticket retailer (TrainSplit) refused to refund the unused portion of my original ticket, Grand Central stepped in and submitted it to their Charter Compensation system without any fuss.

Within a few weeks, I received full compensation for my additional expenses, plus a refund for the ticket. The whole process was straightforward and stress-free.

Their telephone support was also very helpful when I needed guidance on how to proceed the morning after the disruption.

It's reassuring to know that when things go wrong (through no fault of the operator), Grand Central takes responsibility and looks after their passengers properly. Highly recommended - this is how customer service should be done!

I will definitely be using Grand Central in the future :)

5 of us have just travelled First Class from Kings Cross, and found the food and complimentary options very lacking.
The complimentary options were a choice of crisps, shortbread, a cakes and a couple of oats bars.
Worse though was that with 2 children all of the sandwich (hot and cold) options were unavailable 5 minutes on to the journey.

In comparison to rival train services, Grand Central first class is just not worth it.

Grand central first class is not worth the money. You get far more on LNER

Left London on time. Comfortable journey. Full train, but no overcrowding. We were kept informed and had our tickets inspected. Only small flaw was that the arrival delay of 5 mins was not announced.

Completely rubbish, book a forward facing seat you don't get it, book a2 seats not on a table for 4 you don't get it. Book the quite coach they don't exist.
Won't ever book with them again, old trains, poor customer service, poor company.

Absolutely garbage.
Train broke down forcing us to get on an lner train using the same ticket. We got home 2 hr later than we should have but somehow it's not their fault we were delayed.
Train is old and slightly disheveled. I said when we got on this is poor then only got worse. Wish I'd just booked lner

The quality of your service is consistently outstanding, and it exceeded my expectations.
It's a pleasure to travel with Grand Central.

Both my trains were on time, comfortable,quiet and staff were helpful. But on return journey 3 toilets were out of service which seems to be a recurring problem on Grand Central - otherwise I would have given 5 stars

This is for a journey from King's Cross to Eaglescliffe in October 2025.

The positives: it's a train and it got us to where it said it would. The staff do a great job.

The negatives: the trains are old, the carriages are cramped and I found legroom was an issue. The fabric of my seat was ripped. The luggage racks are ludicrously tight - you couldn't guarantee a rucksack would fit in them, let alone a case. Then there's inadequate luggage provision at the end of the carriages. The carriage was very warm and noisy from the engines. The ride seemed quite jolty.

So, it's not like it's terrible. I just think the standard we expect on intercity trains today is higher than this. It wasn't especially cheaper than LNER, so I think next time I'd just book that instead.

the train was late, stole 20 min of my time, but the company refused to bear responsibility saying the company ONLY provides compensation IF a train is 60 MINUTES LATE. O_o IMHO, 60 min late shall never happen, and yes, the prices are very high

Love the Grand Central train staff are amazing. Wi-fi can be dodgy but the staff make up for it big time!

Train from Sunderland Oct 29, 2025was crowded, insufficient room for luggage, too hot and had a very rough and rocky ride
It did arrive only slightly late in London

The table was covered with empty bottles , cans, crisp bags etc. when I boarded at York which was where train started . It was c.30mins before it was cleared. Dirty and no room to put anything for the 4 of us at the table

Never had a good experience with this company. Always delayed or cancelled. Definitely avoid if you’re going further up north than York.