Central trains, the good, the bad and the ugly (Central Trains)

Member Name: racing_gawp

Product:	Central Trains
Date:	22/03/04 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: regular services, bargain tickets

Disadvantages: messy dirty trains, often delayed

Central trains has provided me with a essential link to and from college and to see family and friends as i result i travel most days of the week.

Central trains operate through major stations in the midlands, further North and also East Anglia. So most people will be able to be able to get a direct link to most destinations around the UK.

Quality of transport
Central trains quality differs according to what service, but one thing that is the same in all is the amount of leg room. I am 6ft tall and sometimes feel so uncomfortable sat in those seats. And a word of warning, keep your hands away from the seats, i've seen many people look in disgust as they find a old banana skin down the side of their chair or a nice wet bit of chewing gum. but it is presentable but could do with a better cleaning once in a while.
Disabled facilities are well catered for, but often both toliets are out of order or in a disgusting state. One more little grumble is the amount of carriages, two on a major route through Manchester will not meet demand and would be simply solved by another carriage.

On time??....
Central trains are quite known around these parts for the delays or cancellations at the last moment. Some services are consistently late. Many trains are delayed by at least 30 mins, so if travelling you should keep this in mind just incase you need other connections. This is probably due to the trains travelling for such a long distance across the country

Customer service...
Very much depends on the staff at the time, some can be very helpful, while some can be not interested in any problems you are facing. Though not a part of the central train company their trolley service is not on many of the services and partically in the summer it suffers from melted chocolate and warm coke which is not what many are expecting, especially at the higher price.
One part of central trains is their customer complaints which awards
compensation for a journey that has been delayed by half a hour. You only get 25% of the ticket price back but at least it can be used for future purchases and the response to any complaint is made quickly.
Central trains also provide a excellent online facility to buy train tickets, especially there central value tickets which gives big discounts to all. Such a example is with a young person railcard and a central value 7 day return ticket i can get from norwich to Manchester for £21, not bad!

In summary central trains service is hard to fault as it is doing a hard job reasonably well, though the quality of the trains could be improved in the future and run a more reliable service. But are definetly recommended

Summary: