Great Western Railway Reviews 129

Just been told by GWR that after standing for over 3 hours on a train I paid close to £200 for; that I am not entitled to compensation, this was after being separated from my 10 year old daughter and wife and threatened by a fellow passenger . Apparently I should have spoken to the train manager. They were busy hiding as it was absolute carnage and it was physically impossible to move. This country is so bad it's beyond comedy.

My friend and I are travelling from Australia for a 6‑week holiday in the UK and Ireland, followed by an additional 21 days exploring England. One of the experiences we were most looking forward to was travelling on the Night Riviera Sleeper on 24 September 2026. Unfortunately, the booking process with GWR has been extremely disappointing and unnecessarily difficult for international visitors.
We did everything correctly: registered with GWR, downloaded the app, purchased a Two Together Railcard, and spent days researching how and when sleeper bookings open. Instead of clarity, we found a huge amount of conflicting information from GWR and third‑party sites. Some say bookings open 12 weeks ahead, others 24 weeks, and others say they’re already open. None of this is clearly explained.
Every attempt to book online ended with an unexplained payment error. There is no email support, and independent travel sites warn that GWR may not accept Australian credit cards — something GWR does not disclose. After trying multiple booking sites, we phoned GWR directly, only to be told we could not book without a UK bank account and address.
It’s disappointing that international travellers cannot easily book one of GWR’s flagship services. This needs urgent improvement.

Rode on the wrong train. Only realised after conductor told us after the train departed. Told us to change at the next stop and we need to go to the office. Reached the next stop, found the ticket office. Was told we can only get on to the next train by paying again since we took the wrong train. Was concerned yet upset that tourist is taken advantaged this way. Paid a very steep price for a one way ticket to Bath Spa. There should be exceptions to reroute the passenger instead of the easy way out by charging a very high price for an honest mistake considering that almost all the train coaches are not full at all. Hope GWR can improve its customer service for tourist.

Expensive and overcrowded with no seats.

I hate GWR. I take the train home about twice a month and always pay for a ticket. Sometimes I accidentally buy a different ticket like a “weekend” return rather than an open return, and I have to buy another ticket that is already so expensive because I come home on the Sunday rather than a Monday. I wish there was some human decency to not make me pay basically double for an already completely overpriced journey. It makes me so so upset. I truly hate it.

Took a First Class ticket on the way to London…got a seat that was too reclined and uncomfortable to do any work, a cup of coffee and a bag of peanuts for £25 extra. Standard ticket home as first class was £45 extra and once again First GW are unable to put enough trains on for the number of passengers. One hour and 45 mins crushed between somebody’s backpack and a wall for £35. There’s a reason I would rather drive than ever go by this incompetent train company. Their business model is ‘pack ‘em in for an express long distance journey, who cares about service, comfort or value’. Utter disgrace they know their service and value is pitiful and don’t give a damn to quality. Next time I’ll save money and discomfort and go by car. This is the first time I’ve chanced this journey in nearly a year since my last dismal experience, and they’re getting worse

Bought an upgrade on an evening train to Exeter, expecting the hospitality to be much better than it was.
No hot food or snacks, only crisps, peanuts and some cakes ,plus tea and coffee.

I could have bought one of each item on offer and it would have been cheaper than the cost of the upgrade!

Very disappointing especially as the train was also late !

Trying to book a trip from Taunton to Southampton. Because there are scheduled rail works at Salisbury the GWR website gives you a price for a return trip of £85. I usually travel this route for £47!
The website is NOT showing the route via Salisbury but ONLY showing the route via Reading which is historically much more expensive. OK there is a bus service from Salisbury to Southampton BUT if you were unaware you could end up paying almost double for your trip.
Always check what GWR are charging you even at the kiosk ..This rail company is awful on costs and delays ,so far I have 7 delay claims in 10 journeys.

You can reserve a bicycle spot, but it makes no difference, if their 4 (four!) spots for their busy service are full you will be told to wait for the next train. Trains are consistently packed (standing room only) with no increase in either number of carriages or frequency, and their bike storage is extremely narrow with wildly limited space for a train service that goes between two cycling cities.

Appalling customer service! On the return leg of my journey, the train was delayed, and so I tried to make a claim for compensation. However, the claim form does not work on an iPad. I can fill out one form but it will not let me proceed further. I explained this to their customer services, and was sent a different way to claim - which I did. I have since had an email telling me I have to claim the original way - i.e. the one that doesn't work! Their customer service is simply abysmal! I shall know to drive next time!

Absolutely awful company, paid ridiculous prices for a seat and even made a reservation due to travelling with my autistic son and elderly mother plus booked 3 months before to make sure we had a table seat then on the day of travel they cancelled all reservations, worse company there is

Today i went to weymouth,to dorchester west i have seen mixed reviews but for me it was really good! When i went on the train everywhere was clean and not even a spec of dust! the service was good they were all being really polite! it may only be 2 stops but it was amazing thanks Western railways you were amazing to go on!

Terrible customer experience! Contacted customer service when one of my tickets did not print and I had to buy a replacement to travel that day. They took 3 weeks to basically tell me There were no problems with the ticket machine that day!! So what - I just made it up and bought more tickets for fun. Really disappointed and angry

I regularly commute Westbury / BTM. Every day I dread. Inadequate amount of coaches. Leaking ceiling when raining but even yesterday when no rain. Broken windows that do not open. Broken AC. I comment purely on the trains as the chaos at BTM would take too many words. Overcrowding to the point where a lady collapsed whilst standing. This evening the carriages were so hot and stifling I cannot believe no one was unwell. No open windows. No AC. Everyone’s clothing was saturated in sweat. I realize you can argue these are first world issues. I agree…. If we were not paying increasing fares, if money was not spent on marketing to encourage travel with the promise of an efficient service, and if the ‘Great’ could please be removed. It is a railway in the West, nothing more.

Today I got a wonderful service in reading station from a young man called Jay , He approached me and offered to carry my luggage all the way from platform 6 to 8 as I am a older person and found difficult to do it, Thanks

Over the last year Gwr seems to have become more reliable. I commute weekly so say this from experience. The staff are always friendly and the toilets and carriages are clean.

Train was on time only positive I can give. Got on train someone in my seats with same seat number so had to sit anywhere despite paying for this. Considering coach A not 1 ticket person till 2hrs into the journey...but food cart passes 4 times 🤔 when ask this young blonde lady at 13.00hrs about the seat and if I'm safe in this seat as have been made to move 3 time she rudely and extra loudly like I was putting her out and asking her to tie my shoes or something
..your job is to advise customers no 🤔 embarrassing me totally for asking a question. Retrain your staff ASAP. Felt was because don't look like her.

I was booked on May 29th for a journey from Kemble to West Drayton which was severely delayed after the connecting train in Slough was cancelled. I applied for a refund but it was impossible to process the refund via GWR's automated service so I complained to operator. I got a reply last week asking for my ticket rather than my receipt. Unfortunately, my ticket was updated on the Trainline app after I made my complaint for travel on June 5th rather than May 29th. I made no booking on June 5th so it was unauthorized update which I complained to Trainline about. In the meantime, I have heard nothing from GWR. By contrast, Southwestern Railway, which I travel on quite frequently, would have processed my refund by now.

I travel on GWR long distance trains 8 or 9 times a year.
The announcements drive me crazy.
What is needed is someone relaying information in a flat, neutral tone - not behaving like an over-excited presenter in an immersive podcast or sounding as if in the 'When Harry met Sally' restaurant scene, just because we are arriving at Swindon.

The train is cancelled by GWR so I request a refund, they take £5 admin fee. No, it’s you that cancelled the train so you cover any admin fees associated with your issue not the customer