CrossCountry Trains Reviews 

I caught the 4 coached Edinburgh to Penzance train yesterday at 10.56 train from Sheffield. I paid £90 with a senior rail card and stood in the vestibule with about 15 other people all the way to Bristol. Not only was this train hot and overcrowded it was 50 minutes late. I was standing for over 3 and a half hours. No fun. Unfortunately this is not a one off insident. I had a similar overcrowding experience just over a month ago and im still waiting for a response to my complaint about this. Who schedules a 4 coach train going to holiday destinations in the south west on a Friday in the summer holidays?

Truly awful. 6 hour journey with no aircon, no toilet paper, rubbish strewn all over the floors and seats. The water temperature in the toilet seemed to be ~80C, which really adds to the sauna feel. And it’s not a cheap service.

Easily the worst trains company going.

Honestly worst train company in the uk. They only had a four carriage train from Plymouth to Leeds during the most busiest rush hours and they think it’s everyone’s fault for travelling. They need to increase the carriages on all there trains how do you expect almost 80 people to fit on a 4 carriage rush hour train with one carriage dedicated to first class it’s sh*t. They don’t care about tge customers of there trains they only fair about the profit they gain, I mean they are still using diesel trains for journeys going from one end of the country to the the other end it’s bullsh*t.

I can’t remember the last time I had a decent experience on a CrossCountry train. The route from Plymouth to Edinburgh is routinely overcrowded. Seat reservations frequently double booked (how are you possibly allowing that to happen?). Passengers completely unable to get on packed trains and having to wait an hour for the next one which will also be overcrowded. People standing in the aisles and by the toilets. Carriages cut off mid-way through the journey and half the passengers told without warning that they must get off the train at the next station and reembark at the other end of the train where they obviously won’t get a seat.

It’s been like this for at least 3 years. I refuse to use crosscountry anymore. I would rather take a significantly longer journey on any other train provider than use XC again.

XC clearly know this is happening and choose to let it continue, putting profits over passenger welfare and safety.

Never use this train company if you have a choice. I have had one of the most bizarre experiences of my adult life today. The staff need to be tested for alcohol and drugs in my opinion and the operator is ultimately culpable for the staff they employ. I genuinely believe the staff operating the train from Bristol to Plymouth today at 13:45 leaving Bristol have serious issues. My lawyers will be dealing with the matter on Monday next but I really think people need to be aware of the dangers.

Terrible service , train cancelled and still waiting nearly 2 months for a refund !! 😡

What is the point of passenger assistance phone line when you are on hold for over a hour tgen you get disconnected.
This is only train company I have come across where there is such a wait for passenger assistance, seems that crosscountry don't care about disabled people or their obligations under the passenger charter.

Travelled from Plymouth to Bristol and back with CrossCountry, and both journeys were a disaster. The trains were short of carriages and seats in both directions.

The return journey was the worst experience I have ever had on a UK train. On a blisteringly hot day, there was no working ventilation on board. To make matters worse, our service was even more packed due to a previous cancellation. Passengers were forced to sit on the floor in the aisles, and I literally had to climb over people just to queue for the toilet.

When I finally got to the loo, there was no running water to wash my hands. I had to rub the soap off with dry toilet paper, which left a nasty red rash on my forearms—made even worse by the oppressive heat inside the carriage.

If farm animals were transported in these conditions, there would be a huge outcry from animal rights campaigners. The fact that CrossCountry treats paying human passengers worse than livestock is absolutely disgraceful. Sort out your carriage capacity and basic facilities.

I am writing to make a formal complaint about our recent journey with CrossCountry.

The train was extremely overcrowded, with passengers struggling to find even standing space, let alone a seat. The situation was particularly difficult in the unreserved carriage.

I was travelling with my aged mother and a toddler and it was extremely difficult and uncomfortable having to stand in such an overcrowded train. This was particularly concerning given that elderly passengers and young children should reasonably be afforded consideration in such circumstances.

To make matters worse, the seat reservations appeared to be repeatedly changed at different stops. Passengers who had managed to sit down were continuously being asked to vacate seats because other passengers had reservations for the same seats. This created unnecessary confusion, frustration and distress.

We paid for standard tickets and expected a reasonable level of service. What we experienced was chaotic, uncomfortable and unacceptable and raises serious concerns about how the train's capacity and seat reservations were being managed.

Please investigate this matter and explain why the service was operated in this manner and what steps CrossCountry will take to prevent passengers from experiencing this again.

I'm a regular traveler Newcastle to Plymouth and vice versa and pay for first class seats.
Yesterday, Sunday 9th August 2026 the usual complimentary sandwiches, fresh coffee, biscuits, sparkling water. Are now changed to a small snack box of bread sticks/tomato brusheta and instant coffee. Why pay over £300, oh yes for a quite comfortable seat... unfortunately the same train before this one was cancelled so it was absolute carnage with seat reservations totally ignored and staff hiding in their carriage.
I used to travel by Flybe and Loganair, think I'll renew my acquaintance with Loganair

Had the misfortune of using cross country which I will never repeat. Shody service provided by a shoddy company because:
1. Train was easily over sold 3 times over. Resulting in people being crammed in so bad it was getting dangerously close to a "crush". Cattle get better protections.
2. No aircon on one train at all and on the return it was marginally cooler but broke down or was switched off because....⬇️
3. Poorly maintained rolling stock. Engine broke down but restarted again and limped on the rest of the way after they let it "cool down"(!?) and it wasn't even as hot as it has been recently! And the staff's "oh well this always happens" attitude doesn't fill you with confidence at all that it's even safe and suggested even they were tired of having to apologise for the habitual awful service.
4. Aggressive staff on the platform at one stop were really disgusting. Before any customers had even said anything they were immediately combative and barraking like we were all convicts. No compasion for us all rammed onto train like animals and seemed to actually be trying to provoke a fight, is this how crosscountry deal with their over crowded trains to make more space?
5. "Value" for money. All the above considered, its Awful. Lesson learned and I will now never travel via cross country ever again.

We spent £120 on tickets five weeks in advance to ensure we had seats together as we have a 9 year old child. The seats were not together when the train arrived which is unacceptable and a safeguarding issue my child had to sit alone next to a stranger, my partner was on her own next to a stranger as was I for a 3 hour train journey, we had to ask passengers to move so that our child could be next to one of us.
The train back two days later was cancelled due to driver shortage so we were recommend a later train, this made our seat reservations exempt and getting on the train was near impossible as the train was packed.
My child had to sit on the floor outside the toilet in the vestibule and it just kept on getting worse the more stations we stopped at the more people got on with no room at all.
It looked more like a scene from the evacuation of Kyiv than £120 comfortable train journey we had booked.
Cross Country is the worst train operator by far in the UK and I do not understand why when the tickets are so expensive, it sould be luxurious for the amount of profit they make.

Good evening.
Cross country trains are quite happy to double book your seats .
Make you stand in Apaling conditions , hot sweaty and no air conditioning , outdated trains , the luggage space is non - existent.
The amount of time they take to even reply to any contact with them outrageous.
And all they gave me after 6 weeks of trying to complain and get in touch with them .
Is a £ 15 goodwill voucher , which at first they didn't want to give out anything.
And I have to do this all again in September on an even longer journey from Bristol parkway to berwick - upon - tweed.
They won't respond to this review they never do because they don't have any care or time for the customers at all .
And know wonder they were quite , rightly voted there worst train company in Britain.

Many thanks ! .

Craig Thatcher.

My girlfriend was supposed to travel from Sheffield to Exeter St Davids on the 16:56 train, only for the service to be cancelled. This left her having to spend £90 on another ticket for the 14:57 train just to try and get to Exeter.

To make matters even worse, she hasn’t had a seat for the entire journey. The carriages have been completely full, with people left standing for large parts of the journey.

How can CrossCountry think this is an acceptable service? People are paying ridiculous amounts of money for tickets and are then expected to deal with cancellations, overcrowding and having nowhere to sit.

£90 for a ticket and not even being able to get a seat is absolutely shocking. CrossCountry seriously needs to sort its service out and start treating paying customers with some respect.

Absolute rubbish, untrustworthy rail line. Train cancelled at last minute due to shortage of drivers!!!!!!
No communication, ! Do yourself a favour and avoid travelling on Cross Country!

I was travelling from Weymouth to Birmingham.
The train got to Maiden Newton station on time. However, an oncoming train had run over some sheep causing delay.
The train manager advised get onto another train to get home from Bristol. If there was no train, they should provide alternative transport to get me home like taxi.
The train eventually left at 16:56 and arrived in Bristol at 18:48.
I then got on the delayed Leeds train to get to Birmingham.
This train departed from Bristol at 19:21 and arrived in Birmingham 20:50. The actual arrival time should have been 19:21.
So, I made a claim for a refund because of the delay. Their response was that I am not entitled to a refund.
Absolutely ridiculous. Their response train manager had informed travellers to claim. In addition, others, travelling further, were provided with taxis to get them to the station they were going to.

Awful. Over crowded trains; delays; announcers who sound as fed up as the squashed, delayed passengers. What an experience!

Truly appalling refund process and customer service. Slowest and poorest I’ve ever experienced.

I want to send a 5* review for a Customer Services personnel officer who went by the name of Kirk. He went out of his way to not only research the issue of my lost luggage but to find a solution to the problem, I am now in possession of the lost (bright yellow, soft shell cabin bag) bag which was picked up at Brockenhurst station. I am now returning to Thailand so this was solved with little time to spare. I would like to thank him profusely as the online CC Lost Property process was confusing and unhelpful. Please pass on my sincere gratitude to Kirk. Because of his support, he has convinced me that I will continue to use the CC train service for any trips I make back to the UK in the near future. Sincere regards, Mr. Ashley Taylor

What a shambles! On the train to Penzance from wakefield. Thank god I'm only going to Birmingham. This train is massively overcrowded. Anyone woth seats actually booked is unlikely to get their seat as the seat signs showing where someone is sitting is not working. I feel for the poor people having to potentially stand for hours having paid a lot of money for a train ride. Considering tbe expense of train travel you should reasonably expect a seat especially when you could be travelling for hours. Our train companies need to ve held accountable for over booking but not providing enough carriages for people. Disgusting