Grand Central Rail Avis 

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.

train was on time maybe a little too warm and for some reason i feel your permanently slightly reclined seats are not the most comfortable But these are small niggles

I had a very quite ride to London Kings Cross and back,coach was packed but every one was enjoying the ride.

Staff are always nice and Friendly and always ready to help where they can

We generally use Grand Central though our loyalty is waning unfortunately the train developed a fault this is the third time in 8 journeys not a good statistic.
The carriages are more comfy than the competition, staff are friendly and buffet service fairly decent.
The value is good.

I liked the fact that the train was on time . The seats are comfortable ( better than LNER ) The journey out of Sunderland to York is mostly run on diesel because the Line isnt electrified until you get to Thirsk. What annoys me is the constant pointless announcements, "Dont forget this and dont forget that" And the one I hate " Review the Information in the information saloon ". The worst part of Grand Central is unfortunately the Staff are so miserable . Almost all go through the motions of doing the job with a miserable face.. Prices are very reasonable though and the York to Sunderland line is very underused so you can always get a seat .

I booked with grandcentral by mistake. Having done so I looked at reviews which were mainly very negative. So I stood on York platform with some misgivings. Totally misguided. Bang on time. Clean. Friendly helpful staff and the seats were more comfortable than Azuma. I'll book direct with Grand Central in future.

Reserved our seats to London fir the weekend so all good happy with our service and getting to London for the nfl weekender

The first class cabin was nice and the at seat service of a hot drink and snacks was great. The service was also on time. The only drawbacks was the expense of the ticket compared to travelling by LNER and the fact that the trains are now looking old and shabby inside. The toilets in particular are horrible with almost no running water to wash your hands with.

I bought a day return to West Yorkshire from London with Grand Central. When I bought the ticked I was advised that the return needed to be taken between 3pm and 6pm. The outgoing train arrived around 15 minutes late at 13.52. When I lifted the helpline to find the last train back, I was told it was leaving at 15.12, not around 18.00 as I was informed when I bought the ticket. This left only about 1 hour 20 minutes. I was advised the ticket was only valid on Grand Central and if I took any other train back I would have to buy another ticket. As the ticket cost over £100 I was reluctant to do this. I was unable to complete my business in West Yorkshire in the time available, and to compound matters the return train arrived over half an hour late back in London. I complained to Grand Central the next day, who replied they don't provide compensation for late running trains unless the delay is more than an hour, and didn't address the wrong information I was given. I was advised I could escalate the complaint which I did. When I heard nothing back, I contacted them 8 weeks after the original complaint for an update. Again I didn't receive a response. I contacted them a week later and again didn't receive a response.

I travelled first class
It’s very dated and run down

Friendly staff

Snacks delivered to seat

It’s fine but it’s not first class

Train punctual, clean and we arrived on time

No delays, comfortable journey.

Easy to book and train was comfortable. Have travelled on Grand Central a few times and have no problem at all. Will be booking with Grand Central again in the future.

Tiny snack menu, only coffee or water as complementary, poor air-conditioning in first class carriage. Honestly I'm going to avoid and just use LNER in future..

Grand Central once again provided excellent value for money on our recent trip from Doncaster to London Kings Cross. If Grand Central can do it, why can’t the rest ?

Excellent service from start to finish.

Aside from the fact that the trains are almost always late, there are never enough seats for tickets sold (so even if you reserve a seat you are faced with packed aisles and having to decide whether to give up your seat to someone who needs it), toilets are filthy. The insult to injusry is that when your train runs 56 minutes late (and you completely miss the purpose of your trip) you don't get a penny towards a refund. Because it's 4 minutes short of the hour they allow themselves to be late on each trip. LNER pay compensation after 30 minutes. The fact that Grand Central will refund nothing until exactly an hour has passed tells you how often they are likey to run anywhere up to 59 minutes late. Never again.