Chiltern Railways Reviews

I can’t relate to most of these reviews. I travelled up yesterday on the horribly cramped and uncomfortable avanti service with faulty air con Euston to Birmingham new street and the overcrowded new st platforms. Contrast today came back from Birmingham moor st to london Marylebone with chiltern railways . Comfortable refurbished air conditioned carriages, beautiful relaxed airy stations, friendly staff and yes we were just a few minutes late into London but worth it to avoid new street and the awful avanti trains. 5*s :-)

I don’t normally write reviews online but I’ve seen several reviews about staff being rude or racist and I think there is a high likelihood that we had met the same person.

Their staff did not let me finish my words and was not apologetic about the allegations they made earlier when in the end they found that I actually had the valid ticket. I emailed them and apparently they showed no willingness to improve how they communicate with customers. The staff scanned my ticket and told me to get a refund, saying “see? I helped you.” While the fact is you cannot get a refund if it has been scanned. I emailed them to make a suggestion that their staff might need to know this so that they won’t mislead other passengers. But they don’t think this suggestion is necessary…bc they simply said “he did not guarantee you can get a refund”. They don’t care about customers at all.

Worst commuter service into London. Get a job in London, buy a house on the Chiltern Aylesbury via Amersham line, and you’ll see what I mean. No more needs to be said, go see for yourself. It’s beyond a joke.
Fancy going into London for the weekend? No chance haha unless you’re very lucky trains are running.

I commute from Birmingham to London quite often. I swear wifi on train works once every 15 years. And when it does, it disconnects all the time. It's 2022 guys.

There is one day without issue plus we pay a monthly of 530,00 pound which no very affordable and when t he train is on time we are litterally squished like sardines in a jar…..shame

Shocking. I have travelled every day this week and no seats from Haddenham - standing room only. Rarely a seat home as well. Customer Services the most ignorant pedants. They have a monopoly and are exploiting us. If only there were competition on the railways, incompetent profiteers like Chiltern would get their dues and go bust.

Another day, another requirement to apply for a refund. Please government take this operator out of service and do what you did to the East Coast and operate in house. 30yr old trains. Complete joke. Monopoly operation taking advantage of passengers. Makes me want to move home. The day CR are out of service the better.

Reasonable local train company. Generally OK trains, though quite a few are old without usb chargers. Prices ok with Railcard, but extortionate otherwise. Service generally reliable but some trains too busy. App not bad.

Yet again more problems with this company! 3 train journeys with them this year and had issues every single time!! Tried booking tickets from Stourbridge to London this week but it kept saying there was a problem with payment. Tried various debit cards and eventually payment went through. It turns out they had actually charged me twice - 2 x £58. There is always some problem with this company!! Surely there should be a regulator monitoring companies like this. Have you read their reviews? What an embarrassment. If possible stay clear of them otherwise you will end up with problems like so many other people.
In addition, Wi-Fi rarely works on their trains.

Expensive, packed trains and WiFi that doesn't work.

Avoid.

Trains run on time, but unless your on at the departure station, your standing the whole way, never enough carriages

Train cancelled on the 17th of Feb.
Paid for a full day travelcard.
Asked for a refund in the station and I was refused. Completed a form and gave it to the staff who said it is ok. Checked with the staff at the station who said they are working on it and I will get my refund after 28 days.

2 months later and no refund.
Reached out to Customer Servoce twice in the last month and they said that the claim was supposed to reach them 28th days after the incident latest. CS said that the company did not get the claim until 41 days after the incident. As a result they will not give me a refund.

AVOID because this is not the first time they do things like this.

Excellent Rails

They seem to have sold all of their stock. Ticket prices go up and there is consistently standing room only. And limited standing room at that. How the mighty have fallen. Once great, now dreadful

The worst railway service I’ve used in the UK. Very frequent delays and cancellations. Unheated carriages, making the journey unbearable in winter months. Putting only two carriages from Oxford to Marylbone during rush hour, leaving no space for everyone to sit- let alone wheelchair users or cyclists. Insanely expensive for the service they’re offering.