Great Western Railway Reviews 

On 18/08/2026 (11:35–11:45 AM), my valid GWR Advance ticket failed at Plymouth Station’s barriers. When I asked staff for help, I was completely ignored, leaving me in extreme distress and ultimately forcing me to buy a duplicate £14 ticket just to catch the next train and make it to my appointment. CCTV can confirm exactly what happened.

As an autistic passenger, this was deeply distressing, especially after being so happy to finally have my Disabled Persons Railcard. GWR’s de facto monopoly on mainline rail in Cornwall makes this treatment even more unacceptable.

Three days later, I still have received no response from Customer Service.

This matter will now be escalated to the Rail Ombudsman.

Utter scoundrels (to avoid stronger language), having no concern about the welfare of their customers, ridiculously high fees for the ridiculously low service, ridiculously low compensations for severe delays and cancellations, trains regularly offering insufficient space, selling tickets while knowing there’s no room in the carriages, should be outlawed and imprisoned but no - they carry on as a legitimate company. Worse than highwaymen. And don’t lose a ticket - for they will charge you thrice without considering any evidence of purchase. The related disreputable pirates, Independent Transport Associates Ltd trading as ‘independent’ ‘Appeal Service’ would only accept the original ticket and nothing else to satisfy the appeal and cancel a penalty. Legalised robbery, both of these. It’s a pity we have to use GWR! It’s a pity they are even using that name giving it utter discredit. Scandalous! Can’t wait to see it collapse. Won’t hold my breath to see it punished.

Always late always cancelled never ever reliable better of driving than dealing with this shit

The Hereford to London Paddington line is absolutely atrocious. I've had to cancel so many essential journeys because of cancellations

Direct services to London have been cut and cut and now the public have to rely on a split service with the equally dire West Midlands Railway service meaning that an excessive wait of 100 minutes has been in effect for a number of years. The journey for me should take 2.5 hours not 3.5 hours!

When you are left waiting on a platform on this line due to cancellations or problems, expect the minimum of support and assistance from Great Western staff Not only are they incapable of providing accurate information, many seem to be annoyed you are even asking them.

Alas compare the cartoon advert to the actual reality. Hardly surprising GWR chose to advertise by cartoon rather than actual people.

The trains are always cramped, uncomfortable and full way before rush hour. UK train prices are the highest in Europe for the worst level of service.

This company I don't think realise the difficulty in which they put vulnerable groups when using this service.

Great Western needs to lose its franchise and be replaced with a company who actually care about its passengers. 4 weeks for a complaint response shows how little they care.

Neither do GWR understand the contractual requirements. When a person buys a ticket, they will have checked the schedule so as to arrive at the right time. The purchase of a ticket is made on that information. Sadly 15 minute delays are the minimum delay cut-off before one can claim a partial refund.

The service operated by GWR is the worst I have ever had to experience in UK travel

About to be stranded in Banbury for 45 mins because the stopping train from Oxford via King Sutton - which always waits for the connection from London - didn’t wait for 2 minutes. The attitude from the GWR staff on the platform seemed to be tough, that’s not how our trains work. Infuriatingly I am going to miss said stopping train going back in the opposite direction by - guess what - about 2 mins. I am cross and tired and did not need this.

An absolute embarrassment of a company. In the last 5 days of using this service, only one day has passed without any cancellations. For a service running into London this is a complete joke. For a capital city having these clowns providing a train service in is utterly mind blowing.

I I left my phone on the train but thankfully it was handed in at the Oxford train station. I went to the station and spoke to the customer service manager her name is Nicky Sutton. She was able to take me to the room where it was safely kept, my bankcard was also recovered. My phone was intact. Everything was great. I would like to thank GWR, Oxford train station and Nicky Sutton.

Expensive and not punctual:-
Paddington to Plymouth - left Paddington on time but speed reduced at 20mph most of the way and hence delayed.

Always delayed, customer service is awful.

Was left on a train at reading station no information then asked to detrain. No explanation noone available on the platform. Then when I did find someone he blatantly lied and walked away. Left queuing for a tiny full train with no possibility of get a connection for another hour. Terrible staff and genuine contempt for customers trying to get home..

GWR is the pits. It’s a national disgrace. I have lived in Cornwall for over 3 years now and I dread to think of the amount of money and people we have lost through the incompetence of this service. The M5 is packed because everyone drives here. But the train and hire car is just a no go because of the appalling service. A complete and utter shambles. Roll on December 13…it can’t get any worse than this shit show. Which begs the question…when did we start to put up with this disgrace..?

Decided to travel first class as a treat.
Worn-out, incredibly uncomfortable seats and the most stained carpets I’ve ever seen.
The only bonus was that the instant coffee came to your seat and that we had a seat, unlike many in standard class.
Would have liked to share a photo here but no option to do this

The company randomly decided to cancel a train and said that it’s because of a safety inspection 5 mins before the train is supposed to come. The safety inspectors did not arrive out of thin air. They knew they existed still decided to dupe their customers.

The next train they promised was full and standing only. Not a very good experience for extremely expensive tickets. Horrible.

No aircon in this hot weather. Absolutely appalling!

I feel incredibly dissapointed that great western railways thought it was alright to have only two coaches on a very busy day. It’s unacceptable especially during the Summer.

Every time I get a train from Bristol to Southampton only two carriages and always packed

As a disabled person I'm offen forced to stand on this service which causes me pain

Can't wait till GWR is gone

After landing from a 14-hour flight to see my MIL, I hoped on an earlier train than my original booked train. I knew it was an advanced ticket (booked it as such that I was not sure how long it was going to clear customs), I jumped on the earlier train preparing to pay for the extra cost and a kind man was understanable to the situation and was kind enought to let me off with a warning instead of making me pay for the premium cost.

Not only was this such a kind geture but I appreciate that he was so empthatic to my situation.

I would like to thank him for his kindess, something you no longer see in todays world.

As I am writing this review, I got a notification that my original train was cancelled.
Not only do I get to see my MIL and be with her, someones elses kind heart and empathay allowed me to be less stress in an already stressful situation. I wil not forget his kind gesture.

His name was Mr. Bilal and it was the 6.52am train to Charlbury from Paddington on 14 Aug.

As usual the most appalling service train was late getting in and out both days I have travelled. The ticket cost was the same as a two way flight to Rome. Then it’s a bus replacement to finally get home. In total the whole time. Have been travelling since December 20th 2025 three times a week and the train has been within three minutes of its expected arrival time on two occasions. The delay repay system they operate is not fit for purpose as they query everything and you have to spend 15 minutes filling in in a web app and almost every morning train is so busy you have to stand and pay £72 for the privilege. I have also been stranded in reading, didcot and Swindon when they have cancelled trains and they refuse to compensate for your onward journey.

My £107.49 off peak return train ticket from Keynsham to London Paddington: after I contacted my millionaire father to loan me the money for the train fare, my chosen trains there and back were both cancelled.

This is standard service naturally, but I like to take the time on the secondary, slow moving train that gets me home 3 hours later than expected to pen a review.

I actually like to think that, due to approximately 50% of GWR train journeys being cancelled / delayed, resulting in a full refund, the pro-rata cost of their train tickets is only extremely expensive, rather than laughably expensive.

The good news on this occasion is that, once I have my full refund, I can pay my wealthy father back immediately, as opposed to being saddled with the debt over a long-term period.

Hopefully he'll be kind enough to use the money to take the entire family out for a steak dinner (with wine pairings).