Everyday is a bad day when you travel…
Everyday is a bad day when you travel with cross country trains. Shittest train company ever.
Helen
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C
CrossCountry Trains
1.560 reviews
Last reviewed: Feb 26, 2026www.crosscountrytrains.co.ukMember since Feb 2026
CrossCountry Trains is an online company. Based on 60 reviews on TrustPlane, it has an average rating of 1.5 out of 5 stars. Last reviewed February 26, 2026.
Customer Reviews
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60 reviews
Utterly shite
Utterly shite. They frequently run trains they know have too few carriages and leave them so overfull that everyone is crammed tighter than a mosh pit. They're my only commuting option for my job so I'm stuck using an unsafe service. The UK Rail Ombudsman is useless and the requirements to get them to listen actively protect the rail companies by making it impossible to get in contact. I have no idea what the UK government is doing letting this be the case. Date of experience is 26 Feb 2026, but it's been this bad since at least September 2024 when I started this commute.
Fakename
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If I could give less than 1 star I…
If I could give less than 1 star I would, they’re the worst train service I have ever seen. There booked seats is an absolute joke. It is now twice in one week where I’m on a journey with them and there’s standing room only for trips of over 3 hours, where does health and safety come in. Will never ever use them again
Johanette van Niekerk
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Avoid if you value your time or holiday
Avoid if you value your time or holidayOur CrossCountry service from Aberdeen to Kirkcaldy was completely cancelled. Things happen weather or other disruption is understandable. What is not acceptable is what followed.Because the train was cancelled in full, we were forced to purchase entirely new tickets at significantly higher cost on a London North Eastern Railway service in order to complete our journey. As tourists on a limited holiday schedule, we had no realistic alternative.We have now been pushed into a frustrating three way situation:* LNER says the original ticket refund must come from the retailer.* CROSS COUNTRY says they are not responsible for the additional cost because the new tickets were “used.”* Neither company will accept responsibility for reimbursing the price difference caused directly by the cancellation.As visitors trying to enjoy our holiday, we’ve instead spent valuable time navigating claims processes and being redirected between operators. The system may protect the rail companies, but it leaves passengers especially tourists feeling stranded and abandoned.When a service is cancelled completely, passengers should not be financially penalised for simply trying to reach their destination.Disruption can happen. Accountability should too.
Ron
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What an absolute joke
What an absolute joke. What is the point of booking seats when cancellations cause so much over crowding there is absolutely no way of even getting near your seat never mind trying to move somebody to sit in it. Three train loads of passengers on one train from Cheltenham Spa to Edinburgh. Standing room only. This cannot be safe. There has to be a passenger limit. I felt sorry for the poor staff who were frustrated but really trying to do their best. Perhaps it's about time Cross Country's franchise was reviewed.
Andrew S.
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It’s usually LNER trains when…
It’s usually LNER trains when travelling down south which is always good but for the first time I experienced this train company called Cross Country. It’s like something you would experience in a developing nation. Will make sure I look out for who the carrier is in future and absolutely avoid this company.
Don
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Hopeless
My wife and I (in our mid seventies) travelled from Leicester, using both EMR and CrossCountry to Edinburgh. We set out on 16/02 and returned on 22/02. Our first and possibly last experience of CrossCountry. The train from Chesterfield to Edinburgh was delayed by about half an hour. On our way home it became ‘hellish’. People standing for long periods of time, people sitting in the aisle. Many apologies via the tannoy, but actions speak louder than words. This is no way to run a service or encourage more people to use trains. So many people experienced a stressful travelling environment.
Paul
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This was my first experience of travelling on CrossCountry trains
This was my first experience of travelling on CrossCountry and I hope it will be my last. I was travelling from Leeds to Bristol return and the train in both directions was massively overcrowded. This meant that there was no catering trolley on the way down and it was impossible to find out if there was a buffet car as the corridors were full of people standing or sitting on the floor. I wasn’t able to reserve a seat as they restricted the number of seats that can be pre booked. I wasn’t able to lucky to find a seat but had to keep moving to find a seat not reserved for the next stretch of the journey. I decided to upgrade to 1st class on the way back in the hope of not repeating the experience and that was a complete waste of money. On a 3.5 hour journey there were no catering facilities so couldn’t even gets warm drink. The seat was incredibly lumpy and uncomfortable and again all the corridors were full of people standing or sitting on the floors making using the toilets pretty impossible. The speakers were so poor it was impossible to hear the announcements so arriving at any station was guesswork. Overall a very unfortunate experience
Lynn Binns
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Avoid avoid avoid if you possibly can
For a £75 ticket I had the joys of being on a horrendously and dangerously overcrowded train with passengers packed back to back by the doors and down the aisles. After giving up my seat to an elderly passenger who otherwise would not have been able to sit down, there was barely any space to stand given the giant suitcases unable to fit into the miniscule luggage rack. After getting off at Birmingham, staff told passengers the train was 'full and standing', leaving hundreds of people behind. If you can possibly avoid this shitshow definitely do
Charlotte James
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Full marks to Cross Country Trains
I have made journeys with Cross Country Trains in the past but always booked through ticket agencies and not without problems. This time I booked direct with the company and was surprised that this was the least I have ever paid for a similar journey and also found it the easiest online experience. Full marks to Cross Country would definitely recommend
John McNaughton
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Awful
Awful. I travel infrequently, but the last two times I have encountered issues. They often seem to cancel trains at short notice, leading to overcrowding. Yesterday evening we travelled from Birmingham airport to Derby via Birmingham New Street. One earlier service was cancelled, and only half of the next train was open on the following service (both due to staff shortages). We had reserved seats,but it was impossible to get to them through the volume of people, chaos. Not a pleasant trip stood next to a toilet. It has been like this for years and will not bother using it again. Super cheap, but much easier/less stress to drive, get a taxi or coach. I think a reliable coach service between Birmingham, Derby and Nottingham would do very well. People would love to have reliability and a seat for comfort, instead of this awful offering.
Matthew Barker
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Awful
Time to take them into public ownership, I've yet to ever ride on one that hasn't been massively delayed and dirty carriages. Shameful.
funkygibbons
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Use a calendar not a clock to wait for…
Use a calendar not a clock to wait for your train to arrive . Quicker walking
Mark Barlow
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Today I sat on the floor of a lugagge…
Today I sat on the floor of a lugagge rack for 2 hours on yet another rough trip with Crosscountry, I was far from the only one, even the elderly had to sit in there as there were no seats and they couldn't stand up. One elderly woman opposite me said she really struggled with crowds and was really nervous throughout. That train cost me £53. Tell me how that's acceptable.
Tom
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Do the minimum & take the money
09.42 Birmingham to Plymouth. No surprises, overcrowded as always. Not enough carriages. Their motto should be ‘Do the absolute minimum and keep taking the money’. Greedy thieves. Is there no-one who can bring them to book. The ‘Improvement plan’ promised more seats & better trains. Fat chance.
Vincent Nadin
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Awful in every way…
Unfortunately have to use cross country trains a lot as it’s the only option.. where do I start? They are awful and pretty much what most others have said but to list it out: -Very expensive and overpriced -Old dirty carriages - Always about 1000 degrees inside the carriages , surely they have heard of a/c?- Over crowded due to trains being about 1/3 of the length they should be (and compared to most other trains that aren’t for ‘cross country’ - no chance of actually getting a reserved seat if you have luggage it’s even harder - hardly any luggage storage, especially near where your sitting which makes for an anxiety induced journey- Zero refreshments offered, normally because it’s impossible to move through the train- what’s the point in the WiFi stickers? - Seats are bolt upright and very uncomfortable for anything over 45 mins- Trains are pretty consistently late- DID I SAY EXPENSIVE!? ( you can literally get a return ticket to Spain for less money by flying if you wanted) There’s probably more but those are the main bits, I don’t understand why they can’t sort it out when clearly so many people are using and paying a lot for their services. Don’t use unless you’re really desperate! Or fly to Spain instead :)
Charlie Brewis
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I can't stress how bad the service is.
I can't stress how bad the service is. Always overbooked people sitting in ailes and standing room only.... I used to spend circa £1,000 a month.NEVER AGAIN. Id rather drive and get a hotel to break the journey cheaper, more reliable and more comfortable.
Anthony Hall
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Appalling service
Appalling service. Southampton Parkway to Derby. 8.03 on Tuesday. Insufficient carriages resulting in the 4 places booked with a view to my granddaughter who gets very ill when travelling backwards would always be facing forward were unavailable. We just managed to get seats scattered about so as a 7 year old wouldn't sit alone and neither should she ( Safeguarding) so my daughter had to stand with her. Also, no buffet car with no warning.Similar experience on the way back ( possibly worse) in the evening of the 18th.Rang Customer Service today. Dreadful response. Totally couldn't care less and kept reminding me we had no grounds for compensation!! I wasn't asking for this So arrogant and as a company clearly don't care a toss about good customer service, only profit.
Pauline Pearce
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Pleasant Journey
I was really worried about the journey after reading the reviews but I needn't have been. I travelled from Edinburgh to Derby in February 2026. The train was clean and comfortable and staff were friendly and helpful and we were able to sit in our reserved seats for the full journey. There was an initial issue with the train computer screens but an announcement was made to explain the issues that had occurred and it caused a very slight delay. We arrived into Derby 4 minutes behind schedule which wasn't an issue for us at all. I appreciate others may have connections to make but I wouldn't normally plan such a short connection so not a problem for us at all. Overall it was a very pleasant journey and I would travel again.
Eclipse_gacha
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1st Class ticket rip off
I travelled thankfully a short journey from Chesterfield to Birmingham return. I am elderly and disabled and decided to treat myself to 1st class tickets. The journey was such a disappointment as I managed to get a bottle of water in one direction and nothing on the return. People were standing everywhere and I couldn’t even get to a toilet. Don’t ever bother paying for 1st class as it’s certainly no better than the rest of the dirty overcrowded trains.
Graham Thompson
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Cite this page
According to TrustPlane, CrossCountry Trains has a 1.5/5 rating based on 60 verified reviews as of February 2026. Source: trustplane.app/company/www-crosscountrytrains-co-uk