Eastmidlandstrains Reviews 

Morning trains are nearly always cancelled and though they have plenty of time to inform you, they don't till like 30 seconds before the train is supposed to arrive. The trains that do arrive are ALWAYS late, dirty and overcrowded. This is an absolute joke of a train company, train staff do not deserve what they are paid for such a lacking service

Cancelled again! This relates to a branch line as most mainline trains are ok, very over crowded but generally o time. Branch trains are so unreliable. If they run they are always late, but more and more often they are cancelled. Sort it out EMR...and reduce fairs for poor service.

Toilet flushes do not work so the odour lingers along the whole train. Staff super rude. Delays. Never again.

What went wrong…something always goes wrong when travelling with East Midlands rail. Whether it’s inexplicable delays, overcrowding or some other “unforeseen incident”, no journey runs smoothly. I’ve forgotten the last time I had an easy, comfortable journey.
Considering the amount that we spend on ticket prices, East Midlands rail should be ashamed. If I pulled this same level of customer service in my own job, I’d be fired within seconds and blacklisted from the industry. There aren’t words to describe how utterly abysmal they are as a company. Spend far more on marketing an animated cushion than they do on actually delivering the service they’re supposed to deliver.

I travelled Wednesday to Friday with EMR to various locations this week. Only one train was on time, only one seat reservation worked. The prices must be the highest on the English network. Like most fellow travellers I concede the company is utterly unable to run an acceptable, on time, service, but could I suggest that they focus instead on communications? For example, if your customers are left standing at St Pancras for over 20 minutes after the advertised departure time, would it be too much to make a comment, even to acknowledge the late running time? Maybe get the driver to acknowledge the issue when you finally get onboard? Perhaps don’t renew the contract to the company who fit your onboard PA system? Why offer seat reservations if the system rarely works? Could your staff possibly mention the seat reservation system isn’t working to customers who are scrabbling around for their seat? The staff on the platforms are nice people but the management must prioritise reliability, vfm, communications and a sense of pride in service. Currently it is an embarrassing, massively overpriced shambles.

Had to write this review after watching the EMR advert, I use this service three times a week for work in London. The trains are shocking, dirty, toilets don't work, seat booking systems don't work therefore sat in a hallway most of the time, the WIFi is useless and the list goes on, not to mention the costs and the ridiculous push from the enforcement staff on getting more money from those using this service, the advert is ridiculous portraying the service as a quality one.

This is a joke. The ticket was overpriced. The smart card does not function properly. Customer service is inexperienced. The refund process takes excessive time. It's somewhat a scam.

Staff physically stop you boarding trains on the platform. Train doors lock 2 minutes before departure. So the passengers are theatre before departure time and the train is on the platform, but staff stop you getting on the train!

So the trains sit on the platform and still set off late!

The toilet was out of order on my outward journey. My return journey you couldn't wash your hands in the toilet . Both trains failed to leave on time and generally in my opinion were both train were in general absolutely filthy and unfit for use . I will never travel with this company again . Bloody disgrace. You couldn't hear what the gard was saying on the intercom. Worse train journey I've ever had . Never ,never ,never again

I spent £187 on two tickets to London and back. The train got cancelled on the way to London so I never got there, all passengers were told to get a train back to the previous destination. My refund - via trainline.com was £47!
They took £140 of my money when it was their fault the trains were not running.

Money grabbing exploitive company. Conductor on the gate told us we could catch the earlier train no problem - conductor on the train said this wasn’t the case and made us pay an extra £100 for all new tickets but said the original tickets could be refunded - also not true. They do it on purpose think of all the extra money they make by giving conflicting information like this. Witnessed a conductor today being aggressive and intimidating towards other passengers. Previous journeys I’ve paid a lot for a ticket and ending up sitting on the floor in a boiling hot carriage with no air con, toilets are always a state and the trains / seats are absolutely filthy. Journeys are regularly cancelled / delayed. Today’s journey was actual extortion - absolutely awful customer service.

What a poor company to travel with, when you can't get your trains to reach destination( Nottingham to Grantham), make sure to provide a replacement bus or something so people can actually get into work. Easy to get the money but not at delivering the service.

We were returning home from Skegnes to Leeds via Grantham on the 11.15 train to Nottingham as a result of an obstruction incident on tracks between Boston and Skegness which obviously caused severe disruption to Rail Services as thus had been no fault of EMRailways, all the Staff at Skegness were very Proffessional, Courteous and Exceptional in the Constant Communication and Updates in regard to transferring customers to alternative transport and Would like further Commend all Staff for their determination in assisting customers disabled or able bodied passengers went above and beyond to organise alternative travel, 👏 👏👏👏👏👏👏 1000% in supporting all staff during this incident not caused EMR who had no control over this incident. Massive Pat on the Back to all staff with high praises from Mr Mrs Allan and Sharon Walker

what a joke of a website to get delay repay

Liked the tannoy messages which were informative. What was awful was state of the toilets-no soap or water in one. In another bits of the under sink (cables etc) falling out. Really need updating and at least checking once in a while!

Maybe it’s because of the other trains that I regularly use or the fact that I watch a fair bit of Michaels Palin and Portillo on their train borne travels but I feel the need to leave my own travel journal entry for the ‘EMR experience’.
My intercity (not sure if that’s still a train thing?) journey was not expected to resemble that of the Orient Express or the Lakes of Italy tour but I have to say I was more than a ‘little disappointed’ with the 2 carriage train (whose doors I so Britishly queued until 8 minutes prior to departure being allowed on) that presented itself for my journey across Englands green and pleasant land.
Having said that when I boarded, there was a certain nostalgia of yester-year as I became aware that the carriages I was to be conveyed in were probably as old as those traversing the Orient line, ‘magic’ regained.
On the first of my cross-country jaunts (between Norwich and Manchester) I ‘settled’ into my 1990s style seat with warmth and WiFi, so began the work I had planned for my 5 hour plus journey, so as not to doom scroll into oblivion for the entire journey.
As we pulled out of the station, I peacefully glanced at the passing Victorian architecture before returning my attention to the work at hand.
It turns out I must have been borrowing a Greater Anglia Abelio train’s WIFi because alas, there was now none!
The non-emotional answer by the ticket inspector to my WiFi question can only make me think they had heard this multiple choice puzzler a few times!
Not to be outdone by a ‘first world
problem’ I persevered through the English country side, tethered to my mobile phone, regularly being paused in connection, unceremoniously dumped from Team calls and disconnected from voice calls at technology’s whim. The lack of underinvestment in infrastructure along arterial commuter routes was not I will add, going unnoticed by me!
It transpired that the initial warmth I felt soon became somewhat ‘unregulated’ and I would be gripped by a strong desire of fresh air or woolly jumpers at irregular intervals over the next 3 hours or so!
To calm my sweated demeanour, feeling a little peckish, I thought a saunter to the cafe bar might allow my eyeballs a bit of respite from the heat and maybe regain their blink reflex? However upon stretching my legs, excusing myself into the aisle and setting my bearings (not too difficult in a 2 carriage train) the realisation dawned on me that I hadn’t passed a cafe car nor had I heard of a refreshments trolley in the muffled announcements!
Depute my stiff upper lip holding I’m fairly sure the canine population of Grantham could hear my internal cry of anguish as I crumpled back into my seat, a semi-dried out husk of my former self.
The rest of the journey is somewhat of a blur and quite hazy.
However, what I do remember is that with steadfast resolve I persevered and in between my thirst induced delirium, staving off of ‘any other tickets please’ travel documents having already been presented and the arrival of angelic figure offering victuals to my hollowed out (if in f at it wasn’t a dream?!?) I finally arrived at my destination, the northern power house city of Manchester.
The return journey was much of a muchness, few rogue timber wolves trailing the train, a suspicious death in the dining cart and a strange Belgium gentleman decrying the general state of affairs, whilst admitting he had never been faced by such a conundrum of who was to blame in his entire investigative career!

All Joking apart, charged almost £200 for a return journey on which EMR delivers a shocking service. Genuinely no WiFi at all and not a sniff of a buffet service for over 3 hours on a nearly 5 hour journey, in 2024, for that sort of price?!?
Highlights everything that is wrong with attitude towards customers whilst having a strangle hold on the market. Having said that the staff were actually very nice and considering they must face a great deal of customer frustration if the rest of the general reviews are to be believed, were pleasant friendly and really did turn up with the refreshment trolley in Nottingham.

They will never arrive at your destination on time, even if the journey is plain sailing. They make the refund policy near impossible. For the quality you get, it's still massively overpriced even if you book ahead and find the cheapest possible tickets. The toilets are a health hazard
The free WiFi is a lie. Joke company making money purely because they are a service we rely upon. I take the coach more often than not now.

Utter trash.

The most terrible service I've ever seen. Not only in all tue hundreds of times I ise them there all always been delayed or cancelled. The service staff are rude or ignorant. But yet they charge for overpriced tickets. From now on I'll be sticking with national express

thief. been trying to claim my delay repay for 40m. they are making as impossible as they can jsut so you give up. useless stack of sh!ts

They make you wait by the train in Norwich until just before departure. Train is overcrowded regularly, no space for baggage, even overhead racks are smaller than on Greater Anglia. Regular delays and faults like today when train not fit to go further than Nottingham so we all have to change