Cross Country Trains Reviews

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Cross Country Trains
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Latest Reviews

“A total disgrace who treat passengers with contempt”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Rockguy on 04/11/2023

Cross Country trains had late delays from Coventry to Leamington spa at 4:26 for 3 consecutive days in a row on 1, 2 and 3 November and deliberately lied to the public. On 1 November, the excuse was Storm Cairan. The West Midlands was NOT affected by the storm as only the south coast was mostly affected. The excuse on Thursday was a disturbance on the train. I chatted to some passengers on the delayed train who had travelled for 2hrs or more and they confirmed that no such disturbance occurred. Friday's excuse was that there was a collision on the line. When I finally reached home, I spent some time researching accidents on that line and none were reported. On each announcement for those days, the excuses changed and were inconsistent, so Cross Country were obviously lying about the causes of the delays. In addition, passengers were forced into overcrowded unhygienic cramped conditions, reinforced by the atrocious design of Cross Country trains as opposed to normal trains, i.e. Avanti, Chilterns etc. On Cross Country trains, passengers are forced to stand on aisles and outside smelly toilets, constantly assaulted by automatic doors. It is obvious that these awful trains were designed to be uncomfortable. When I applied for a refund, Cross Country added insult to injury by offering only a fraction of the cost of my ticket in compensation. I would strongly urge passengers to `always' claim compensation from Cross Country trains until they are finally sued or put out of business. Cross Country trains are a total and utter disgrace and treat passengers with contempt.

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“Awful First Class”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Leor338 on 28/11/2022

Cross Country should be ashamed to try to call the service they offer as First Class. IF you get any service, it is in a paper cup with sachets of long life milk and maybe, if you are very lucky, you get a sliver of cake or a miniature can of fizzy drink. The staff are inattentive, scruffy and talk loudly at the rear of the carriage about their personnel life. The toilets are stained, dirty and smell so much. Gone is the excuse of limited service due to Covid. I would suggest that they take a ride on Avanti West Coast. China dishes, freshly prepared food, lots of drinks throughout the journey, clean carriages, bliss. That is what I pay for, not the appalling service or carriages that Cross Country provide. If I was able, i would chose a different company, unfortunately given the route I regularly travel, i have little choice.

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“My Journey to Birmingham”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Shil1 on 22/11/2022

Yeaserday I went to Birmingham NEC on Cross Country Trains, I got to Derby station 9.00am for the 9.10 train only to frin it's been cancelled and the next train 9.30ish also cancelled so had to wait for the 10.31 train sat around for over an hour only to find that it's been delayed by 20 minutes. When it eventually arived there were so many people we were cramed on the train like a tin of sardines with through ways packed with suit cases wheel chair, if there was an accident or fire on the train it woud have been devastating. I lost nearly 2 hours of my time at the Motor cycle Show. I hope I will never have to use CCT ever again!

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“Severely overcrowded ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Charley-Jane on 25/02/2022

Severally overcrowded at all times of the day. Never a seat let alone social distancing, you feel like your packed in like sardines. I’ve travelled due to work commitments through the entire pandemic and never felt they were adhering to social distancing guidelines imposed by the government let alone taken COVID seriously. No measures were put in place. The carriages are unclean and uncomfortable. I dread my weekly commute with this train provider. Overall unsanitary, unreliable, overcrowded constantly and terrible. I only wish they would improve their services even slightly, it would be most appreciated

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“Passenger assistance”

★★★★★

written by VinMurphy on 18/07/2021

Contacted passenger assistance with a late request for passenger assistance on a Southampton bound trainand was dealt with by an extremely pleasant young lady who dealt really well with our problem. Thank you

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“Rubbish! Can’t get to booked seats, over crammed ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Shives on 01/12/2019

Seems to be the same they are happy to take the money but don’t provide the spaces! Yet again breach of heath and safety

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“No problems”

★★★★☆

written by Alduin on 16/07/2019

I travelled yesterday on the 11.30 from Birmingham New Street to Doncaster.I can only way I found everything fine.The train was on time and the staff were helpful and very courteous.I will definitely use them again. My only slight complaint there was a strange odour in the carriage!

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“First Class - dismal!”

★☆☆☆☆

written by cleaverp on 30/06/2019

We paid extra to travel First Class on Cross-Country from Exeter to Leeds. The only drinks available were luke-warm tea or coffee. Not enough food was loaded so there were no sandwiches by the time the cart got to us, so we had an awful cold pasta salad. That was the only food available from the surly server. What an awful train company!

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“Poor service”

★★☆☆☆

written by Hartwoodman on 06/03/2019

I travelled from Alnmouth to Birmingham on the 12.12 on Wednesday 6th March. The 'catering' trolley had no food and the person pushing it was very unpleasant. The train ran on time, but that should be a given. I had other travel options and would not have chosen rail if I had known there would be only alcoholic drinks and tea and coffee available for a four hour+ journey.

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Cleaverp's Response to Hartwoodman's Review

Written on: 30/06/2019

Sounds like our journey! We went from Exeter to Leeds. There was no food in First Class except for lukewarm tea and coffee. "It's the weekend" was the explanation. The server was surly and we eventually got a pot of cold, inedible pasta. What a company!

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“Overcrowding due to lack of carriages on cross country”

★☆☆☆☆

written by BookwormSomerset on 04/02/2019

Due to my travelling circumstances I have no choice but to travel by Cross Country the trains usually have four carriages and one of these is first class so effectively is three coaches for 99% of the people on the train whilst the first class carriage is virtually empty. Standard passengers Mostly standing on the train and less than effective luggage accommodation. A deplorable situation especially when I see the GWR trains using my station having at least 8 carriages and usually 16 carriages.It's about time cross country thought of the passengers using these cramped trains.

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“1st Class - no not at all far from it”

★★☆☆☆

written by Daveando on 21/09/2018

I don't often travel by train (now I know why) when I have its been Darlington - London 1st class - great service - lovely food, free alcohol, can't do enough for you. I had a meeting in Central Birmingham, didn't fancy the drive and booked from Darlington - 1st class over £300 return! Other than a very nice quiet carriage almost to myself and a guaranteed seat there was very little else. Going out I was offered tea/coffee and biscuits, for a three hour journey I was expecting either a sandwich or something hot - no nothing. The return was a bit of a farce due to bad weather, initially at the station I was told it was cancelled and to come back next day or refund only when I checked the website did I find it was on time but terminating at York, ok good to go. We were told there should be coaches laid on but it was chaos and on advice I arranged for a lift to pick me up from Teesside at York. Only when we pulled into York did they say the service was now going to Darlington so a wasted journey by my son, I got off and went by car, the guard said "oh its always like this." Still no food other than cakes and biscuits this isn't what you want to eat at tea time. So sorry Cross Country but your 1st class experience is no where near what it should be, fly or go by Virgin and see how far away you are for value for money. Back to the car for me.

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“Excellent customer service”

★★★★★

written by TanithPanic on 21/08/2018

I was really looked after by the Travel Assistance team on both my outward and return journeys from Sheffield to London. They made sure I was safely in my seat before they left me and they were also friendly and cheerful which means a lot. The two days I travelled were busy ones for the staff as there were more passengers between Sheffield and London because of Euston Station being closed. The Travel Assistance Team still did an excellent job despite this.

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“First Class? What a joke - certainly won't use again”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Scarletc283 on 14/08/2018

Travelled to NEC (Birmingham International) return from Manchester last week. First Class. Outward from Manchester Virgin (at just £4 extra for First Class) Salmon and scrambled eggs, 3 cups of coffee and could have had more, croissants and toast freely available. Lovely journey. Return journey Cross Country (also First Class) - no comparison. Had been on train 80 mins before staff finally visible and l queried the First Class refreshments. Seemed a little perturbed l had asked. I requested the tuna melt. It arrived barely warm, so much so that the cheese hadn't even melted. I mentioned this and she said she would see what she could do!! In the end l was rushing to finsh eating as we pulled into Manchester but other First Class passengers were not even as lucky. One was offered a can of orange to take off the train as she was approaching her stop as refreshment host finally arrived and another was given just a bag of crisps as they had run out of sandwiches - she asked if she could have biscuits too but was told she would have to pay for one of the items!! This CrossCountry "First class" cost £8 above the standard and, compared with the level of service and quality of food with Virgin earlier in the day, there was no comparison. I had selected this journey as it was the direct train but in future would prefer to have to split my journey for the opportunity to choose Virgin - a no brainer.

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Cleaverp's Comment

Written on: 30/06/2019

Yes, sounds like our experience. It's not First Class on this awful train line.

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“First CLass - dirty old train”

★☆☆☆☆

written by dcBowen45 on 09/07/2018

travelled from Newcastle to York as a treat for my mum for her birthday, first class was no way first class by any means, we were on the train 25 minutes before we got offered a refreshment, which was only tea, coffee, water, fruit juice, & snacks such as crisps, biscuit, she was more interested in the standard carriages as they had to pay for there drinks and snacks, WOW NO WAY was this first class service the train was old, more like a cattle truck. Never again will I travel FIRST CLASS with CROSS COUNTRY TRAINS. Sorry but its a thumbs down

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“Cattle truck with no air conditioning ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Iresome on 20/05/2018

Outward journey to Manchester - couldn’t access reserved seating due to overcrowding in the aisles. This trip DID have air conditioning, a SMASHED WINDOW with the blind pulled down and tape across the seats to stop passengers sitting there. Return journey - we did find our seats this time, however as it was a very warm and sunny day and the carriage quickly filled, the lack of air conditioning meant passengers were broiled in their seats! If we are going to be treated like cattle I would expect ticket prices to reflect that - NOT TO BE REPEATED, next time we’ll fly!

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“i was on a train from Scotland to derby and I had a...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Tannerl66 on 03/03/2018

i was on a train from Scotland to derby and I had a tomato and basil pannini and I got food poisoning DO NOT EAT THE SANDWICHES

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“Usual dirty train”

★★☆☆☆

written by on 04/02/2018

Caught the birmingham to stansted Train as usual on Friday . Cramped, dirty and old considering what the ticket costs and how over full this service is you’d think the franchise could afford to at least keep their trains clean. Also no drinks service & loo out of order just gets better.....

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“Poor service”

★☆☆☆☆

written by STEVE2304 on 24/12/2017

Was delayed yesterday at Tamworth Station for 2 hours and 15 minutes which was understandable due to the train strike but what was not acceptable in any standard was that the ticket office and hall was closed at 17: 15, no member of staff was then available to help any customers out, there was no refreshments available, no toilet facilities available and no buses put on to ferry passengers to other stations Burton or Derby. A VERY POOR SERVICE FROM CROSS COUNTRY TRAINS. I thought it was the train drivers that were on strike not the station staff. it was not just the passengers that suffered but the senior people, disable people, parents with children, people trying to get home to love ones or family. I WILL AVOID USING CROSS COUNTRY TRAINS IN THE FUTURE AND GO BY COACH INSTEAD AT LEAST I GET A SEAT AND A BETTER SERVICE

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“Aisles grid locked!!!”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 03/12/2017

Booked 4 seats from Edinburgh to Durham cross country train and due to the number of passengers (far too many for safety) we were jam packed in the Aisles unable to sit for the whole 2 1/2hr journey. Absolute disgrace. The passengers in our booked seats had also booked them. This is totally unsafe, passengers were jam packed around the toilets and doorways too. The conductor did put a message over the tannoy stating he would not be serving snacks or drinks etc, most likely he was stuck somewhere on the train. Therefore no one asked to see our tickets, you couldn't literally move (felt like we were on a 3rd world train!!) Absolutely livid that this company had taken nearly £200 from us to travel in what we believe would be at least a seat!!! Never again , please don't use this train service we certainly wont. Surely staff should be counting tickets sold to the number of available seats to each carriage before boarding.

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Betterthanclarkson's Comment

Written on: 05/12/2017

I am doing everything I can to warn people to avoid using this train company. In my opinion they are downright dangerous. I find it very difficult to believe there can be no legislate to limit how many people are allowed to board an inter-city train.

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Ginardi's Comment

Written on: 07/05/2023

Totally agree. I had a similar experience from Newcastle to Edinburgh . No-one could move down the aisles. They were full of luggage. Seats were double booked. No reps present to sort out things. Downright unsafe!!! They should be shut down. I wrote an official complaint which got a standard reply which essentially meant they would do nothing

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“Mis selling 1st class tickets ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 03/12/2017

We were sold first class tickets for a service cross country knowingly don't provide. 1st class carriages from Glasgow to Edinburgh are routinely down graded and it's a free for all to all passengers. Only 4 carriages are used for the journey, which is insufficient for the number of passengers they allow on. Journey is unsafe and distressing and to make matters worse you've paid more for the pleasure than those around you. We had to wait over 2 hrs just to be offered a cup of tea due to the number of people clogging up the aisles. This unsafe train is a tragedy waiting to happen. AVOID AT ALL COSTS! !!

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Asked by Lassedinburgh on 27th June 2016 Report this content
Is there a catering service on these trains in first class on a Sunday?

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Asked by sheilawallace on 15th April 2014 Report this content
My husband are coming to cornwall in June and are considering travelling by rail instead of car, but have been put off by the terrible reviews that your company have been given. Perhaps you can assure me that these derogatory comments are not as bad as they sound and that I and my husband would have comfortable journey with you. We will be travelling from Warrington Cheshire and my husband is disabled and we cannot afford to encounter any problems.

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Answers (2)
Report this content JayneWil Written on: 15/04/2014
My mother is disabled and I did book journeys for her on Cross Country and also arranged for assistance at the stations as she had to change at York. In my experience arranging the assistance is very good. You need to remember to ask for help getting luggage on board too as well as the wheelchair and travellers. My parents experience of actually travelling by train is that the process works but is highly dependent upon the staff at the stations where you need assistance. It is also dependent on your train not being cancelled because the station staff have to call ahead to change your travel assistance details and sometimes the messages don't get through. For example, Doncaster is terrible, but York is excellent. Newcastle is great, but Hull wasn't good either. No-one was on the platform in Hull as arranged so some helpful students offered to assist my parents instead! In Doncaster the disabled lift was out of order so they had to walk under a disused tunnel with a slippery floor at speed. Then the person helping them forgot them and they would have missed their train were it not for those helpful students. In summary, if the train is on time and the station staff are good, you are OK. Hope this helps.
Report this content NIgelGresley Written on: 15/04/2014
Go by car, at least you will have a seat and somewhere to store your luggage! Trains are usually too short for the number of passengers wishing to use them and, should the train be delayed, there is a possibility that it will be terminated at an earlier station and you will be asked to de-train and catch the following one. Good Luck!
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