I usually use the Edinburgh - London line of the East Coast services, so my review refers mainly to this route and the website.

The trains are reasonably spacious - certainly better leg room than Virgin Cross Country Trains! They are usually very clean and do not smell funny (some Virgin trains smell awful). However, my favourite feature of the East Coast trains is the free WIFI on board. This allows me to make use of my time on the journey, catching up with emails or work. Again, East Coast beats Virgin as they provide free internet, whereas Virgin charge a disproprotionately large sum for the service.

There are rarely many delays and the fact that you can travel direct from central London to Edinburgh in a few hours without changing, lugging bags or hassle is brilliant. Why on earth would you fly and subject yourself to waiting, lugging bags, airport transfers and hassle?

The East Coast website is good because the ticket prices always seem lower than other train operator websites and sometimes they have special cheap fares on certain trains or have occasional 10% off codes. They offer free first class delivery and you can purchase food/drink vouchers to save money if you will buy refreshments on board the train. You can also request email reminders to book your tickets in advance to save you money.

The problem with the website is that it only allows you to buy one ticket at a time, so it takes more time than necessary to buy several train tickets, which can be rather frustrating.

Overall, I am satisfied with the service. It certainly beats flying or using Virgin trains.