Grand Central Rail Reviews 

Train was clean and tidy.
The Staff were nice but were understaffed. No healthy choices on menu only crisps or biscuits which is ok just not me. Journey was good the seats were comfortable. Not a great deal of room to put luggage above your head but plenty of room in the luggage bay for it.

Fantastic journey, great staff, especially Elaine, the only reason they didn't get 5 starts, no WiFi

A perfect Service by train & support staff, employed and as volunteers, given that I am disabled. They went out of their way to make sure my wife and I had a relaxed, trouble free journey

Good price, left on time, more comfortable seats than LNER.

So, I made the mistake of trusting trainline for booking my tickets which would have been a real problem for the return journey. I had booked a return trip from Kings Cross to York Station for a short trip with my autistic son who wanted to train spot at a station in the area while we were there. Our train going out had standard class seat reservations & I foolishly assumed we had the same coming back & didn't realise until the day we returned we didn't. The 10.28AM return train was stopping at York & running right through to Kings Cross with no stops on the way & was absolutely rammed with people & we couldn't barely move from carriage to carriage to try & find a free seat. I was very worried about my son as he has learning difficulties on how he would be able to last a 2-hour journey not being able to sit down. Credit & a lot of Credit to Alex who found us both a seat on the train within 10 minutes of it leaving York. She really helped us out & I did manage to find her thank her again before we arrived back in London. I wanted to express my gratitude on this review. I can't speak for other customers experiences for Grand Central but I can only say that Alex was so helpful for me & my son for this situation.

Huge waste of money, expensive ticket, no WiFi, bad interactions with train crew (from what I saw this bad interaction with crew was shared by my entire carriage). I'm glad our friends in the northeast at least have LNER instead.

Clean comfortable trains that ran on time.

Train 64 minutes late leaving Kings Cross on a blistering hot day. Then NO aircon in the coach which obviously was packed due to the late running. Given one 50p mini sized bottle of tepid water as compensation.

Avoid GC trains if you can !!

First Class tickets from Kings Cross to York.. dreadful experience.
The reserved seats were dirty with crumbs everywhere.. I had to brush the seats myself before we could sit .. empty food packages on the floor. You order the complimentary snacks and drinks to your seat via an app but only ready salted crisps, a pain au chocolate or shortbread biscuit was available … all other items were out of stock.
The nearest toilet was also very unclean and unhygienic.. didn’t appear anyone had checked it or cleaned it.
Kings Cross is a terminal station and it is reasonable expect a far far better experience than this.
My written complaint to customer services fell on pretty much deaf ears and I was sent a patronising box standard email as a reply saying “sometimes it’s like that” and that the train is only cleaned once a day !!
They refused my request for a reimbursement of the difference between Standard and First Class and instead offered me a 20% discount code for my next Grand Central trip.. they’re isn’t going to be one !!

I will begin by saying I'm autistic and I find it difficult when travelling via public transport at the best of times. I found travelling on Grand Central Rail to be very stressful and very unfriendly towards autistic people like myself.

1. The train was delayed by 30 minutes and according to rules governing delay repayments, we should be entitled to compensation after 15 minutes. However, Grand Central Rail only grants this if the delay is more than an hour. That is unacceptable and what I've come to expect from a company run by Arriva. It's lucky we didn't have a connecting train to catch, otherwise we would have been in trouble. We weren't even informed about the delay or the engine troubles until after we passed Stevenage.

2. The train we travelled on lacked proper baggage storage space and was unclean. The toilets were in an appalling state. The trays for our seats were covered in grime and look as if they hadn't been cleaned properly. There should be dedicated and appropriate luggage racks in every carriage. What little space there was only was able to hold a small number of bags and suitcases.

3, We booked through the trainline app and specifically asked for seats together. However, we were seated separately. If it wasn't for a kind gentleman, who moved so we could sit together, I would have found the journey even more unbearable.

4. The air conditioning was either not working or was very poor indeed. I know it was a hot day, but I found the heat inside the carriage to be unbearable. The train from Scarborough to York we travelled on, which is a local commuter train, had working air conditioning.

Arrived on time. Seat reservations spot on.. air-conditioning perfect. Just one very young boy looking after drinks and food. I don’t know how he managed on his own! He was fantastic and did everything with a huge smile on his face

Upgraded to First with Seat Frog (good value at £14). Seats are roomy and comfy with a power outlet available. The at seat catering was welcomed but I would have liked a wider ranger of complimentary offers like your competitors. Tea, coffee and biscuits are ok but a bacon roll would have been very welcome!
The train was on time with a smooth ride. On board staff were efficient and polite with good communications throughout the journy

Not enough luggage space,people putting cases under the table reducing leg space. Buffet facilities very good

Your customer service people at all locations I used on my trip were really very helpful and this includes the train crews. thanks to all.

Takes the worry out of travelling by train. There are always enough staff to help people locate their carriage/seat. Seats are always comfortable and quite spacious too. Throughout the journey there are informative announcements so you're aware of what's happening on the route. Ive never had a problem storing hand luggage, suitcases or a rucksack.
Personally speaking I think the professionalism of the Grand Central staff and the overall excellent experience puts passengers in a much more relaxed frame of mind knowing their journey will be a good one and I have never witnessed any angry exchanges or even physical violence that I've seen on other train operators. That's why I will always travel with GC.

Appalling customer support. My train was delayed by over 2 hours. Black-and-white case of delay/repay. They rejected the evidence multiple times with the completely useless message 'Unfortunately the ticket evidence submitted is unclear/unacceptable'. I submitted the original ticket as delivered to me in both PDF and JPEG format. But they don't tell you what the problem is, just keep sending incompetent automated messages. Trains are horrible too, no leg room whatsoever.

I always prefer travelling to London by Grand Central. I find there's a bit more space for my legs as I'm over 6 foot. Train was a few minutes late, but arrived at London in time.

Travelling 1st class to York and back, both trains were on time clean and tidy, staff on both journeys were available and very respectful and polite.

Train left on time. great bacon rolls.