National Express East Coast

I travel frequently on East Coast and I think they do well generally. The staff are generally polite if you are and do a good job sometimes under difficult circumstances.
I do think their refreshments are for the rich only. £2.30 for a cup of coffee made from water and one sachet of instant coffee isn’t reasonable and I have seen a lot of horrified faces when people enquire.
I get the impression train maintenance budgets are being squeezed a little too much as things that need fixing remain decidedly unfixed literally for months. I’ve witnessed staff apologise for the same stuck open door (making the whole of the carriage cold) many times but it doesn’t get fixed.
On my last trip, I thought I would text the Customer Service Text number about the above door along with the stated unique three letter code to identify the carriage and explained that the stuck door keeps the carriage cold. After a few hours I got a text reply that thanked me for reporting that the heating wasn’t high enough. Well, that just tells me they are either using a computer to respond to these highly valued customer texts or they cant be bothered to read them properly. Ho Hum.
A small tip for you also. When I book, I get a seat reservation and always found myself in a packed carriage that was full up, every seat taken. Well you dont have to sit in your booked seat and I would suggest you dont because the not so intelligent way that East Coast fills the seats is a simplistic front to back method that means the train is packed at the front with booked passengers and pretty empty towards the back of the train. Shame East Coast aren’t wise enough to spread booked passengers throughout the train.

If I could leave negative stars I would. The ticket machine I used to collect my prepaid tickets didn’t print them properly and they accused me of lying and said my only option was to buy new tickets for over £200. They then said I could travel anyway on my partially printed tickets and proof of purchase, but of course I was fined by the ticket inspector. Never have I had to deal with such incompetent and rude staff — this is probably the worst company in the UK, and because they’re government funded they couldn’t care less. Don’t bother paying for wifi either, it doesn’t work. Oh — they’re supposed to refund you if your train is late too but they won’t — «our records indicate it was actually on time»… Go with Virgin if you have the option — for your own sanity!

We took this train to Edinburgh, Scotland. The clientele on 2^nd class were loud and obnoxious. And, the train was dirty. Like really dirty. The bathrooms were disgusting.

As an American, my view of the trains in the UK is extremely favourable! Even when they are late, even when the wind does something to the signals, even when there is snow on the tracks, even when it is standing room only… you have a train system that goes to almost every part of the UK!
Because I lived just outside of Grantham, the East Coast line was my main line. While I have had some bad experiences, they are just a handful in the huge number of times I have traveled on East Coast. For example, when the wind was gusting so bad one winter that the signaling kept failing… a journey from London that is normally an hour and ten minutes took over three hours and that was after I had to wait a couple of hours because they kept canceling service… AND I was traveling back from the U.S. and had just come off a flight from Chicago and spent 45 minutes on the Piccadilly Line. I’m exhausted just remembering it.
However, I have had great customer service when I book group tickets for the students. They always find me the cheapest tickets and get us on the train we need. When my students, or even myself have questions or any problems, the East Coast Train staff are usually very helpful and friendly. In fact, the one incident that stands out in my mind is when I booked a specific train time from Kings Cross to Grantham after flying into Gatwick. I would have made it with time to spare, except some dodo bird decided to throw himself on the track at Croydon so all service to central London was suspended… indefinitely. Eventually I made it into central London and when I got to Kings Cross, I explained to the staff member what happened and handed him my tickets, basically begging him to not make me pay full price for another ticket. He said he was aware of the situation, wrote a note and stamped it, stapled it to my ticket and asked if I could make the next train in five minutes. I said I’d try and he said, «If you cannot, come back to me and I will print you a new ticket for the next train.» As I said thank you a million times, I ran for the train and managed to catch it. I had a guardian angel that day… and he worked for East Coast Trains :)
Reasons for only four stars:
Some of the trains are a little manky… especially the smaller ones, for example the line between Grantham and Nottingham. Sometimes you get a nice, newer, clean train, sometimes you get the one that has been running since Queen Elizabeth II first started her reign… and hasn’t been cleaned since then either. The one between Newark and Lincoln… eek. I wish that they would have two luggage racks at each end of the car. I think First Great Western has that feature, but it would help with those of us that have actual luggage. Yes, I am calling those out that use the luggage rack for a purse or a laptop bag that could easily go in the overhead rack. Even my rolling weekend suitcase fits in the overhead rack… and it is one of those oversized American ones! Not being able to book online because I do not have a card that is issued in the UK is a load of bollocks! I either had to purchase from
or go into town and purchase at the station. Even though the staff are being friendly, they always ask me and my students the same thing, «Why don’t you just book online?» Every. Single. Semester. It also means that you cannot accrue points for your journeys because you have to book on the website to get those points.
Something that I know a lot of people complain about, but doesn’t really bother me, but should mention it… 15 minutes free WiFi. A little cruel when that’s how long it takes to load a page.
My overall experience has been pretty good, which is why I gave it four stars, even though I know many would disagree with me. And my advice is to book in advance, best way to save money, even without a railcard. I booked way in advance for a train to London and back… 9 quid and normally if you buy on the day, it could be anywhere from £20 to £40. If there are more than 10 of you, call East Coast and do a group booking, yes you will be subject to a specific train and there are no refunds or changes that can be made to the tickets, but it will save lots of money.

Do you love paying boatloads of cash for spotty, questionably-​usable wi-​fi?
How about getting kicked off your train mid-​journey, forced to play at being a lemming and herding onto another train due to the failure of a completely unrelated vehicle?
And who revels in being surrounded by loud, drunk, pink feather boa-​bedecked middled-​aged ladies who’ve tried the wroooong shade of spray-​on tan en route to a hen do (or perhaps a birthday bash)? Oh… whilst sitting in the (ostensibly labelled) ‘quiet coach’?
If you responded ‘Yes’ to any or all of the above, congratulations! East Coast Trains is the mode of transport for you! You’ve just won yourself an expensive ticket to Perdition!
… but at least the views out the east-​facing windows are quite pretty on the London-​Edinburgh route. I mean, if you’re going to ride through hell, you might as well take the scenic route, right?

Where once there was free wifi for the entirety of one’s journey (at least, I’m sure I remember it used to be) now the piddly little piss-​take of a fifteen minute browse is more insult than it is useful. What in the world can I possibly use that miniscule amount of time to do? Well. Today I used it to write a review, which was promptly lost completely, due to the time-​out function. (And it was so nicely written as well.) Thank goodness for small (and also, mostly useless) dongles.
Add to that the crazy small luggage compartment and I’m already cursing East Coast. In fact, that fifteen minutes bull has gotten me angry enough as it is. Really? Fifteen minutes? Ffs. And those internet-​barons block Youtube. Bah!
Of course, I am being massively grumpy, but anyone being tight with the wifi really gets my goat. What ever that phrase means. (I don’t actually have goats, and I’m a bit delirious what with a 5am wake up call.) Other than that my journies he been reasonably pleasant with these chaps. The toilets are usually grim, the seats are pretty claustraphobic (as with all trains) and the food is expensive. The ticket dude was, however, pretty dandy.
And, having used my quotient of parentheses for the day, I’ll leave it there. (At least I’m going somewhere. Ba-​dum!)

Having had some awful experiences at the hands of First Great Western while commuting for a while from Oxford to London, I was very pleasantly surprised with East Coast. First I went from Edinburgh to York in standard class, which was comfortable and went without a hitch. They also get points for having mains sockets for laptops or mobiles UNDER the tables rather than above the tables. A small point, but important, as on First Great Western trains the sockets are so close to the tables that it’s impossible to plug in moulded mains adapters as the fixed, downward-​running cable is obstructed by the surface of the table.
The next day I went from Leeds to London in first class. I don’t usually travel in first class but still, consider the £20 extra I paid to be worth it. More space, comfier seats (at least, no side head rests that obstruct my back and force me to lean forward in an uncomfortable position), seemingly unlimited sandwiches, crisps, drinks (I only saw soft drinks, but didn’t check the position on alcohol) and flapjacks from the trolley that shuttled up and down first class. I also thought the service was friendly and helpful. Maybe a little hurried at times, but good enough.
The only problem I had was that I couldn’t connect properly to the onboard wifi. I wasn’t overly surprised by that though, as I have yet to find a wifi setup on a train or coach that has worked.
I’d also highly recommend booking tickets in advance as the price between ‘Advance’ tickets (booked onto a specific train) and ‘Anytime’ tickets is huge. For example, I paid £60 for a first class Advance from Leeds to London (standard class was £40). A standard class Anytime over the same distance was a scarcely believable £124. So book in advance — even a day in advance can sometimes yield significant savings.

I’m not one to complain when I know that options aren’t plentiful, but I must say that I have not been impressed with my recent journeys on East Coast trains.
Punctuality is sketchy, at best. The «free-​wifi» they zestfully advertise is only free for 15 minutes and with enough power to pull up a basic version of email, open one message, and reply to another before time’s up. Or you could pay for internet… which I did, only to have it completely stop working about 30 minutes into my journey. Awesome.
And now onto ticketing. I’m fine printing my ticket at the station. No bother at all. But offering a ticket that you can only print out (don’t dare try to pick it up at the station or you’ll have to buy another) seems exceptionally shady. I fail to understand how this makes any rational business sense, and it is certainly quite harmful to the customer.
In complete fairness, I also fail to understand how the Salt ‘n’ vinegar, Cheeses ‘n’ Onion or Prawn Cocktail crisps offered onboard make any rational sense, they are also quite harmful to the consumer, and yet that doesn’t stop them from selling out every time… I’d avoid the whole lot if I could, but unfortunately I’ll continue to ride East Coast and writhe as my seatmates crunch through packs of the most vile smelling «snacks» on the planet.

Great line between London to Edinburgh. Free Wi-​Fi greatly appreciated.

So that was the outbound. The return was not quite as good. I found the ride to be a whole lot bumpier and a number of passengers had some trouble staying upright around a few of the turns, the wi-​fi worked maybe 50% of the time and the loo («toilet» in American) was a sty («mess»). Sure, the concessions cart was wheeled through the cabins between each of the stops and while I didn’t want anything, the guy was through and done in a flash. You’d think he had somewhere else to be.
Still for £18 round trip, London to Edinburgh (a 5 hour trip each way), I shouldn’t really complain.

Despite having lots of love for the left coast, I’m an East Coast girl born and bred. So I was happy to find that East Coast trains are representing with not only free Wi-​Fi but power outlets at the tables. Yes! FREE! Take that, Virgin! Comfy seats (although I wish they reclined). On-​time train. Friendly people who bring me tea. Me likey.
I will admit, the number of buttons in the loo through me for a loop, but I blame that more on my inability to function when confronted with a vast array of flashy buttons and complex instructions than any fault of East Coast. Good thing I’m not an astronaut or piloting hundred of passengers in a pressurized tube over the Atlantic.
(a brief recap of me frantically punching buttons and looking increasingly bewildered: Open! No, close! Wait, open! Close? Open! Dammit! Lock! Locked? Open? Close! Wait for flashy light to stop… Lock! Okay! Flush! Now open! Wait, close? Open! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!)
Next time you hop an East Coast train, if there is pounding coming from an inexplicably locked and flashing toilet, it’s probably me. Still in there. Unable to figure out the buttons.
Please come rescue me.

We took the National Express train several times from Inverness during June 2008. Did a whisky tour in Forres (
), had an overnight stay in Edinburgh (
), and our last train ride was to Glasgow – to see Radiohead (
).
I love trains – always have and always will. I’m so envious of other countries when I see how much better their mass transit options are. They put us to shame. It’s so easy to book a trip, it’s relatively cheap, and it’s a great way to see the country and meet people.
Now we managed to miss one of our trains during the Forres trips, but it allowed us to have a great breakfast in Inverness. Each of our train rides & trips were so memorable. I can’t wait to get back to Scotland!
Love those Sco’ish accents!

Look. Train lines will never get five star reviews. They just won’t. But I was fully expecting at least four stars after paying top dollar (er, pound) for first class seats to Edinburgh. NopeSorry.
While the first class cabin is certainly more comfortable than standard (wider seats, more legroom, quieter — except for those 4 idiots on their way to a stag do in Newcastle), the extras left a little to be desired. I appreciated the free water, but I don’t drink coffee or tea, so that wasn’t helpful. The tiny shortbread cookie that accompanied our tables was cute, but just not enough. The food was terrible. However, the prices weren’t exorbitant.
BUT.
An hour and a half delay in the middle of the Scottish countryside because of a signal failure during probably the busiest time to travel to London on a Sunday evening? Come on.
The every-​10-​minutes updates from the guard were unnecessary as they mostly consisted of: «We have no further information at this time».
Also, fix the bathroom door, jesus. It was squeaking, nay SQUAWKING uncontrollably every time it was opened/​closed (one of those disabled train bathrooms that has an automatic round door — looks futuristic, acts ancient).
The good news out of this whole thing is that we get a full refund on our ticket home since the delay was so long. That money will not be spent on another first class ticket on National Express though.

National Express East Coast took over the east coast rail franchise from GNER a few years ago. I read in the papers recently that the government were having to take over the running of this line back into public ownership.
I took the train up to Durham this weekend and I have to say that i had a pleasant journey. The trains left and arrived on time. Although it was quite a full service, everyone got a seat. The trains were spacious and modern with huge toilets and power points by the seats for laptops and mobiles.
There were frequent announcements, announcing approaching stations etc.
It was a good service for me this weekend.