Chilternrailways Avis 

As an independent company for 25 years, led by Adrian Shooter, and backed by private capital from 3i, this was the No.1 rail line in mainland Britain.

Since, the badly-named, Arriva took over it has slumped markedly. Shabby, overcrowded, dirty carriages and lack of investment all evident in 3 trips in April 2024. All the cash has gone into the eco-disaster HS2. The UK government stand idly by….mediocrity is their mantra it seems.

Time for an overhaul. We know how really good Chiltern Rail can be if run properly.

It's great that all the helpful and smiling staff are still employed at the ticket office (High Wycombe). Many people, myself included appreciate their stay of execution and long may it remain.

There was a drunk lady who was drinking a whole bottle of champagne and was swearing so I asked her to lower her voice but she carried on and started threatening me and telling me to fight outside and to leave the train and she was with 2 other boys who where taking the mickey

Absolutely useless, no extra trains to Oxford. Constant misinformation and announcements basically saying you're gonna miss the next train and the wait is around 2 hours. Never again. If CR add a comment, believe me it's not genuine as their CS have no interest in listening to anybody.

I left my bag on the train today.I spoke to the clerk at the station.
I couldn't thank her enough for helping me to get my bag back.
While waiting for news of my bag, she made me a coffee also gave me a bottle of water and some biscuits.
Also contacted me later on to tell me where my bag has been left for me to pick up tomorrow.

When I arrived at Solihull station I found that the 14:54pm train to London Marylebone was cancelled, so I sat on the platform for an hour waiting for the next train. The 15:54pm train got as far as Warwick Parkway, when we were told there was a problem, and it had to crawl to Leamington Spa, I could have walked quicker. We were then told the windscreen wipers were broken, so we were off loaded (by the way it was not even raining). I then had to wait for the third train of the day which was the 16:49pm which was overcrowded, and I had to stand all the way to London, I am 63. I arrived 2.45 hours later at 18:26pm instead of 16:46pm. I put a complaint to Chilternrailways, and requested a refund. Chilternrailways have given me a derisory £12 refund, and do not seem particularly bothered by what happened!

Over hour journey and standing room only. Rubbish for a 30 quid ticket. Put an extra carriage or two on you tight ar5es. Should have took the car like I usually do.

Booked ticket day before travel. Checked Chiltern website showing disruption but hourly trains.
Arrived at Station to travel to find trains cancelled at 10.09pm night before without warning for bus replacement service to Amersham leaving 20 minutes after my train should have and arriving at Amersham 20minutes after my train should have arrived in Marylebone and I paid £42.50 for the privilege as well as the taxi fare to catch a non existent train
This company is becoming a shambles with its last minute changes and cancellations and lack of putting enough carriages on trains to cope with the volume of passengers

After reading these afwul reviews I was reluctant to book a ticket at Chiltern railways, but it was so much cheaper that I took the risk. An adult and a child ticket for 8 pounds from London to Oxford. I was surprised about everything. The train was on time, we had very spacious seats with a table, no overcrowding. It was clean and it went as planned. Thank you Chiltern Railways!

Caught the 09:17 train from Banbury to London Marylebone this morning, and to say the train was overcrowded is a drastic understatement. We stood the entire way - literally packed in like sardines. There was absolutely no air circulating, leading to numerous standing passengers feeling faint (including my daughter) and needing to try and sit on the floor (nigh impossible due to lack of space) to stop from falling over.
Considering it was the first train leaving after the morning rush hour (so cheaper tickets) and being half term holidays, only providing 4 carriages was unbelievably bad planning on Chiltern Railways part.
Do better!

A Disgraceful decline in the train services in UK overall but this company seems to be the worst. Over crowded, late and canceled trains has become the norm and no one seems to care anymore. It’s like a third world country. A depressing reality when compared to the services in the majority of the European countries where trains are far more civilised, modern, fast and far CHEAPER.

It seems Chiltern Railways use the threat of strikes to cancel all their trains on the Aylesbury-Marylebone line. Even when the strike is cancelled they reinstate the trains but don’t have them stopping at most of the stations. It used to be a very well run company but is now pretty terrible with many cancellations and much overcrowding.

First time taking chiltern railway from London to Oxford.
Last minute cheap ticket was convenient but the trains definitely need a good update and hygiene wise enormous improvements to be made !
What are we paying our taxes for ? !!

Price all right considering it was last minute as a result of disruption with a different company

10.02 on the 28th out of Marylebone . Ran with 68010 set AL01 . Great seats . Announcements explaining that towards the front , the toilet is broken . On some other trains that would actually be a problem but these are walk through so for most , simple , just walk through. I looked at the accessible one near the end of the journey (think we'd just left Dorridge , around 100 miles from London) . Was clean and everything .

Note that boarding in Leamington Spa / Warwick was absolute chaos . I think extra dwell time at Leamington Spa is needed , even if this means some calls have to be removed on this departure .

I also found all staff to be polite and friendly

EDIT: This ride ended up being free because another train company cancelled onward trains .(isn't Chiltern's fault!)

I am buying London to High Wycombe tickets for more than 5 years.
No matter what time I choose for the ticket, I was always able to travel before or after that time.
Now, when tried to scan the digital ticket to go to the platform, it did not work. Well, I thought something is wrong with the app or with their scanner.
Nothing wrong with the scanner, but with my bloody ticket. The staff told me my ticket is for 09:30. I said I know that but as mentioned previously, it never mattered the time on the ticket with the time of boarding.
The timetable apparently has changed and can’t travel before 09:30.
Tried to change the time from the app. This was one hour before- 08:15
Could not.
Then I asked another member of staff which told me to go to the ticket office.
I was told I have to pay £5 extra to change the ticket time !!!!!!!! Why ???? Why can’t I change it from the app? That’s why there is an option there.
What’s the point of having a railcard for cheaper tickets if you are asked to pay extra cause of their new timetable???
What on earth is that ?

Plus, I could have wait, no problem, but I was going to see my mum which she is in the hospital- mentioned this twice. Nobody gave a damn.

Never had any issues with Chiltern until today.

Dishonest company that do not want to recognise customers.appears to stem from disengaged and incompetent management.

Assaulted by a member of their staff, who was then allowed back to his position to try it again with me, this time with my little daughter. Vile staff for the most part. They are the worst rail company by far in this country. Avoid at ALL costs.

Their website is not working AGAIN! Unable to book tickets, access my account with them, no up to date information about strike days timetable..... Need I go on? Already commented on ridiculously short trains in previous review, so I have little expectation that they will read this one either. How lovely it would be to have a proper, grown-up, efficient rail service.

If the day ends with a Y, they are probably striking.

Simply appalling WiFi. I have this with no other train operator and yes, I applied all the 'fixes' suggested by the Icomera website. Unacceptable.