ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS got onto the train when it was leaving a couple of minutes early.had no time or service to get a ticket thinking i can just buy one on the train as usual,man sat down and took all of my details printed out a ticket and said i have to pay 56 great british pounds as a fine???? for doing what???!!!????
Oh I used to love travelling on GWR. But it’s deteriorated so much in the last few years. Every single train I’ve travelled on in the last 2 months has been reduced from 9 carriages to 5. Even when I travel First Class, it’s a total fight for a seat. Reservations are non existent and carriages are jammed. And often it’s running late. First Class is no longer a treat. Come on. These tickets are not cheap. The government want us to use our cars less - so invest in our trains. And fine the people running them. Trains in Denmark and Germany are top league.
crew on the 09:38 from Cardiff to Swansea. kind helpful. good service crew on the 11:22 from Swansea to Cardiff. kind helpful service in 1st class
Traveling in first class on 21:02 from Paddington to bath the first class crew and train manager where absolutely brilliant and very welcoming and looked after me very well they deserve praise
I travel with Great Western Railway twice a week for work, spending around 2.5 hours commuting each day, and have done so for the past year.Overall, the service is reliable. The majority of trains run on time and without disruption, and my morning services are usually fairly quiet. Evening trains can be much busier, but I can generally still find a seat. GWR are also good at communicating planned disruptions in advance, which helps with planning.However, peak services can feel significantly overcrowded and occasionally overbooked. Ticket pricing can seem inconsistent, and it’s not always clear on which journeys certain tickets are valid.My main frustration has been with split-save tickets. On a recent journey from Yatton to London Paddington, my ticket was split into three segments automatically to reduce the cost, despite it being the same train throughout. This meant not only juggling multiple tickets, but also being assigned three different reserved seats in different parts of the train, depending on where exactly I was during the journey. On an already overcrowded service, moving through packed aisles to change seats simply wasn’t practical.If split-save tickets apply to one continuous train, the seat reservation should remain the same—or at least be within the same carriage.Overall, GWR provide a generally dependable service, but there are clear operational improvements that would make a noticeable difference.
GWR get bad rep most of the time so I thought I’d give a positive review. I lost my phone on the train from Paddington last night and the staff I spoke to at Paddington and Reading couldn’t have been more helpful, even allowing me to use their own phones to help me out. They found my phone and I was able to pick it up today. I can’t thank them enough for all their friendly help
Just another example of the rubbish we have to put up with as UK citizens and have absolutely no means to getting anything changed. Packed services, nowhere to sit, not even a suggestion of a gesture in respect of them not providing what I paid for which was a seat for a journey. No doubt they're covered with small print to say they never promised to guarantee me a seat, but at the rates they charge, this should be a given. But they get away with it because they can, with no real care for the customers they serve and they do it like this because they can make more money this way, so who cares about the passengers. Bravo to all those who run this business, I'm sure you're happy with yourselves for your financial performanc but you really should feel ashamed, you're a disgrace to this country and an insult to all those who reside in it.
On the 17th November 2025 I booked a ticket from Hereford to Liss using the GWR online booking service. Having paid for the station car park I was informed on the platform that the first leg of the journey to Newport was cancelled. The bus service they were providing wouldn't have got me my connection on time so I had to drive to Liss. My claim for a refund was referred to TFW as they were providing the cancelled first leg of the trip. TFW correctly referred me back to GWR stating that "You are entitled to a full refund of your ticket from the original retailer...". They provided me with the relevant quote and link to 'Conditions 30.1' that states that the company from whom the ticket was purchased was responsible for the refund. Since then GWR have ignored several emails, clearly hoping I will go away. The rail Ombudsman has now taken up the case and I await the response. This is a disgusting and unnecessary way to treat passengers. I eagerly await the GWR customer response to this review...
Probably used this service over a 100 times (definitely not out of choice but for lack of another option) and never have a good experience. Like the hunger games to actually get on the train, most likely delayed or cancelled with little information. One time it even took me 9 hours to get from London to oxford so I probably could have walked it quicker. They want to get as much money out of you as possible with as little possible in return. If you have a car, use it instead. What a scam
Why are they called 'Great'. They couldn't organise a ....-up in a brewery!We use the 'service' from Paddington to Malvern frequently, at least twice a month, to visit my elderly mother-in-law. On nearly every journey there is a problem. Trains are often cancelled making it extremely difficult to get on the next train. At times we have had to abandon our journey completely, not being able to get on an overcrowded train.Yesterday was a point in question. Having cancelled the 10.50 train, the 11.50 appeared with 5 coaches so 18 carriages worth of people trying to get on 5 coaches. Why? Where do the coaches disappear to? Of course we got to Malvern and were told the train wasn't going any further! We were told by GWR staff this is a common occurrence. I have to say the staff are very patient and long suffering having to deal with such poor organisation on a daily basis.Why is the company and shareholders making over £24 million and providing such awful service?Perhaps GWR would like to give me an explanation on this plztform.
My uncle was travelling from America without a phone, so he had no way to contact the person he was meeting. David kindly offered to use his mobile to call me, which meant my uncle was able to be picked up safely from Bath train station. Thank you so much for your kindness and help.
Absolutely embarrassing company; in the last 3 years alone I have made complaints about, some of which went to the ombudsman due to a lack of response:- Cancelled services last minute (at one stage 2 of the local stations have had the highest rate of cancellations)- promised replacement buses timetable factually incorrect, which the poor staff have to deal with that mess- no spaces on trains, frequently running 2 coaches on the exmouth-dawlish line at peak times where the seats are outnumbered 3-1- staff who would much rather talk to someone on their phone than help someone who fell out the train.- just today, a staff member tried to get me to pay for a completely new ticket despite mine being valid. Backed down very quickly when I advised them how the most common peak tickets work....I still have 1 complaint not responded to in 4 weeks now, sneaking suspicion that this will be going to the ombudsman too.Roll on nationalisation, even the current government would run this rail better.
Extremely grateful to your team, Deidre Mead and Tom, who supported me at Reading station on Sunday evening. I was very unwell when I met them on the platform. They supported me to get to my final destination which goes far beyond expectations! Thank you so much for the kindness you showed me.
Currently on a cramped train to Newport from Bristol Temple meads getting into Newport at 1227hrs on the 15/02/2026. Not only are there no seats to sit on and people stood up everywhere but also there's not 1 single window open on the train! People coffing, bad breath - breathing and.... farting! So a cramped smelly germ infested hot Box. A bit of common sense to the guard on board and GWR surely you would open a couple of windows.The last time I use a train. £15.70 for this hell!On approaching the Gaurd "Lee" when arriving at Newport and complaining-he stated the reason there were loads of people stood up (Health and safety) and all the windows closed was because the air conditioning was on? I can tell you after spending 30 minutes on the train stood up that there was no air conditioning on at all.
Delayed trains first thing on a Sunday morning meaning I missed my connecting train at the next station. “Use public transport” they say. Experiences like this remind me why I don’t and will keep to my own cars/transport in future. Poor and disappointing service GWR. Feel very let down.
Was riding on the train from Ealing Broadway to Greenford and the staff on that train were lovely. On the way back, I wasn't quite sure where I was but a lovely member of staff told me what train to get on. Full credit to her and will definitely use GWR again.
It's now beyond rare I catch a train because literally every single time they are delayed.
Today I took a GWR train from Exeter to Reading, departing at 15:42 from Exeter, I was seated in 1st class, I would like to say thank you to the refreshments lady who served me today on my journey, very professional very polite, she delivered more than a 1st class service, best service I've experienced on a train journey ever, and I use trains a lot so that's a massive compliment, well done to the refreshments lady and well done gwr
Fantastic friendly service from Michael , travelling from Penzance to Paddington London, thank you.
I recently was at Worcester Shrub Hill station due to head to Droitwich when I received some upsetting news and was confused when a very smart railwayman called Guy (on his name badge) in a green uniform approached me and asked if I was ok and did I need help. I explained that I had to travel to Wick at short notice due to a family issue and had no idea how to start or plan the journey. He was amazing and went thro train times with me and to my amazement even printed the route with connection times and he explained it was a very long journey. So with that in mind thought it best to pop home first to pack a few things. He was so caring and made sure I was ok to get home before he left to catch a train himself. In this day and age and being a senior citizen you very rarely receive help like this and he is a real ambassador for GWR ( I asked later while travelling which company had green uniforms) Please thank him for his kindness and help.
