National Rail Avis 

The trains are absolutely abysmal. Always delayed/cancelled. Often leaving stranded with very little care by train managers/ ticket staff. Ticket staff are always trying to make you buy another ticket as they get commission for every ticket you buy on their train, not allowing you to use railcard??? What is the point in them then?? This used to be in the form of making you buy tickets for the next train if you were to miss the previous one or if you were to miss buying the ticket on the app by 1 minute even if the train would be delayed. This policy has now changed but they still try and sell as many tickets on the train as possible. Saturday 24/10/2026 Paddington to Newport 15:48 train. The manager tried so many times to make me buy a new ticket despite me having the correct one, along with the correct railcard and paying extra for the anytime month return. He pleaded that I had to buy another ticket and when I refused he threatened to confiscate my ticket, drop me off at Swindon (ages away from my station) and tell all other train staff to refuse to let me on. I had the correct ticket for the correct train. I have photos and screenshots of the ticket and railcard I just cannot upload them here. No matter what I showed him that I had the correct ticket he would just come up with another excuse as to why it was the incorrect one (wrong railcard, wrong ticket, I had my friends ticket despite him also having the correct ticket, my ticket from meridian to Newport was wrong despite that being the train I boarded initially to get to Paddington) he was also unhelpful with the old couple next to me. He was a real piece of work and after 15 minutes of showing him the correct information I lost my temper and swore at him, he then kicked me off. I have had so many situations like this with drivers as they get commission for every ticket they sell it's hard not to lose your temper with them. Awful service over and over again.

Was advised today at Dartford railway station to download the National Rail app by a member of staff who clearly didnt want to help me.

Someone at my time of life has no business trying to purchase tickets and mess around with Q codes.

I would strenuously suggest that you inform these 20 somethings that not everybody wants an app for everything and there's nothing wrong with a paper ticket.

This is precisely why I drive everywhere.

If I pay £70 for train tickets; I expect the barriers not to flag up ‘seek assistance’ at every barrier and also 70% of my trains to be delayed

This is an example of corporate greed and stakeholders wanting dividends and profit more than they want a functioning railway system.

If a service provider is so consistently poor they should receive fines to the company before services are removed from that company and provided elsewhere, those individuals should then be banned from providing public services ever again.

When people living outside of London are encouraged to visit London with special offers on tickets etc then trips are ruined because of delays or disruptions because of protests, emergency road works, signal fails, trespassers, etc then it really is off putting. Weve tried a few attempts for a day out, even brought tickets to places and the day is always ruined,mainly heading home. No one seems to know whats going on or alternative train to take it all seems chaotic. Then because of the reduced services buses trains are rammed so no chance even getting a seat. When youve paid full price ticket and end up standing or walking most of its really unfair and unkind to those with who suffer with mobility. We end up paying extra for taxis which isnt cheap either. 100s of people standing waiting for a bus and not one could help us with directions or best way to get somewhere, not only from different nationalities but because they didn't know either aswell as bus drivers . The world gone mad being allowed to protest about anything anywhere 😡

Journey today from Edenbridge to Alexander Palace. Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern. Journey should take 1hr 29mins. Delays due to speed restrictions, delays and cancellations due to shortage of staff, delays due to signal failure, incident further up the line, emergency stop pulled on previous train, delay due to previous train being delayed, trains terminating at next stop due to staff shortage. Every train I needed for my journey was disrupted or cancelled, and I missed my connection on way home and had to wait an hour. Journey outward took 2.5 hours, journey home took 3 hours! What has happened to our great rail service.

We obtained tickets from Newcastle to Ludlow via Crewe for the 12th of September. The first leg of the journey to Crewe was fine (on time, able to get seats). However, the second leg was quite difficult. The train to Ludlow was not available and it was unclear what the solution would be. The employees were trying very hard to provide information but it was impossible to get the information out. It was unclear which train to take (especially if one is unfamiliar with the area). A train finally arrived and we were squeezed into very packed cars. Not sure what the problem was but it was a very uncomfortable for 68 minute ride.

Would put 0 if I could, national rail and no better than useless every time. Most trains are cancelled or delayed, train tickets are extortionate with no flexibility on changing or getting refunds. High admin fees the list never ends.

This is a truly abysmal service. Twice in the last three weeks we have been left stranded in London as the line to Reading and beyond has been closed. Whilst the closures are not necessarily the fault of the train companies and operators the resilience of the rail network is clearly zero. Staff, if you can find them, are obviously not briefed at all and are left floundering. The provision of rail replacement busses either does not happen or is woefully inadequate and information on any number of train-related websites is inconsistent and usually wrong (giving false hope in some cases).
I suspect that this 'service' best serves unions and investors and opposed to passengers.
When everything works it's expensive and crowded and the operators are happy to sell you a ticket regardless of whether there is space on a train or not.
If you are going long-distance you are usually cheaper to hire a car. Getting a train is an expensive gamble.

Ticket prices are way too expensive, condition of trains are filthy, rail services are unpredictable but generally poor, it's cheaper to run a car, insuring, taxing and fueling a car doesn't cost £320 a month as this is the price of a monthly rail card absolutely disgraceful if I could mark a zero I would, privatisation needs to end and stop running circles round customers

As anyone else who uses national rail completely shocked at the whole system. This day and age it’s completely unacceptable. Efficiency, cost, organisation, customer satisfaction, infrastructure, cleanliness the list goes on as to the many failing areas. Not fit for purpose.

Fraudulently claiming that train fares are "frozen until March 2027". If this is true, why have they scrapped the off peak return to Shrewsbury (£13.50), leaving only the £15 return ticket option? Just another way of making life more difficult than it already is for rural commuters. Also, I have noticed trains being cancelled/severely delayed a lot more in recent weeks, so paying more for much worse services. Disgusting company.

Even though my train was cancelled a member of your staff made me feel at ease on how I would get home with my kids and was a credit to you the staff members name is Kane and if I could give more stars I would

Old, tired, uncomfortable train for a very long journey. No toilets working, the one i found i got locked in, couldn't get the doors open.
For the amount you pay for the journey I am disgusted with this service. Won't be using your company again!!!

Shocking by all accounts. Delayed on my previous journey the day before by 3 hours. Then the following day, hundreds of people in every coach therefore missed my platform and found myself delayed by a further 30 minutes. This shouldn't be a paid service

There has been a train derailment in Sussex so I phoned about alternative routes I could take to London. The operative in India told me I had to use my single advance ticket on original route as she utterly clueless about the train lying on its side. Seriously? I had to say no, there are no trains on original route as a train is derailed, 3 carriages in a field, track damaged, and no trains running that way for quite a while yet!
Whether a call centre is based in the uk or India, this is quite a major incident! Still couldn’t advise me by end of call of what alternative routes I could use.

Incompetents and analphabets.

Look at this : "This service has been delayed because of train crew being delayed by service disruption"

Stuck in Huddersfield yesterday. Ticket office closed down told by rail staff to get a bus! To Manchester. Where?

Rubbish services. Rude staff. Expensive cost.old and uncomfortable trains.that is Rubbish. Number one national rail or even underground services from the end.Middle Eastern countries doing a better services. I advise them to close down all the train companies at least people will find an easier and more reliable way to do.there is not any manager to check or see what is going on.
Avoid to use england Trains and underground. It's my everyday experience

Wow I travled from Leicester to Chelmsford in Essex and was not sure if the journey would go smoothly. Well thanks to a lot of staff at 2 stations and the underground also it could not have went smoother. Thanks guys

I regularly travel from Liverpool to Manchester for work, and trains are delayed by more than 15 minutes far too often. These delays make it difficult to get to work on time.

What’s even more frustrating is that claiming compensation through Trainline is often unavailable for delayed trains, while it’s much easier to claim when a train is cancelled. This isn’t just on the Liverpool–Manchester route—it seems to be a common problem across many train services.