Buckle in, I have a lot to say about this journey and little of it is positive. Before I cover the main topic of this post, I have included some background to this journey for those of you who were not aware of what happened (you can also read it here).
Background to this post.
If you have been reading my website for a long time you may remember the post I published last year about my journey with London North Eastern Railways. As promised in that post I decided to try LNER again to see if I was just unlucky on my journey.
So, when I found myself needing to get from Edinburgh to London I decided to book a ticket with LNER and see what the journey would be like this time. Even though I had a bad experience previously I wanted to give them a second chance.
My Planned Journey Details
Here are the journey dates and service information that I had booked for my journey.
- Departure Date/Time – 5th September 2022 (1000 train)
- Origin – Edinburgh Waverley
- Destination – London Kings Cross
- Price – £44.20
However, my journey plans were changed whilst I was making my way to the station and the 1000 train was cancelled. Therefore, I changed my ticket and seat reservation to the 1100 service.
My Actual Journey Details
- Departure Date/Time – 5th September 2022 (1100 train)
- Origin – Edinburgh Waverley
- Destination – London Kings Cross
Now that the journey details are explained, let me explain what happened next.
Boarding at Edinburgh Waverley
My train was departing from platform five and arrived at the station at 1030. When it arrived LNER cleaners boarded the train to tidy it and spray it with a disinfectant fog.
In order to do this passengers must wait on the platform, however, no LNER staff were present on the platform to inform passengers of this so people boarded the train only to be kicked off by the cleaners. As you can tell, this is not a good first impression for passengers.
As previously mentioned the 1000 service was cancelled, apparently due to “a last-minute change to the timetable”. This meant that all passengers tried to board the 1030 service, which filled to capacity leaving people behind. The 1100 service absorbed the rest of the delayed passengers.
Finding my Seat
I was seated in carriage J seat number 3. This is the first set of seats on the right-hand side of the train (in direction of travel) and is in the airline seat style.
I placed my bag under the seat in front of me and took my seat to allow people to pass through the train. Shortly after this I had to move out of my seat to assist people with finding baggage space as the luggage racks in the carriage filled.
Edinburgh to Newcastle (do not be fooled)
This part of the journey was actually pleasant. The train staff were very engaging with us throughout this part of the journey and kept us up to date with the latest information.
This train made an additional stop at Berwick-Upon-Tweed to collect passengers who were left behind by previous services. The train manager was fantastic at helping those passengers find a seat somewhere in the train.
Sadly, I was on the wrong side of the train for seeing the views, so my tip is sit on the left-hand side of the train (in direction of travel to see the views), otherwise you will mainly be looking at fields compared to the sea.
We arrived in Newcastle 1 minute ahead of schedule, but this good fortune was about to turn sour, very quickly.
Newcastle to London (ah the LNER I know and hate)
We departed Newcastle on time and our new train manager made an announcement about where to find seats. He then passed through the train to check tickets, below is how our interaction went down.
Train Manager: “Tickets out for inspection now. Give me the ticket.”
Me: “Here’s the ticket and I will get the railcard open.”
Train Manager: *Walks to the next set of seats*. “Hurry up, railcard now”
Now, I could be overreacting, but I suspect I am not, this is no way for a member of staff to address a customer. I had no warning he was coming as I was the first seat in the carriage, so I could not even be ready for him.
I also noticed he spoke very condescendingly to the passenger sitting next to me, showing me that I was not the one to blame here.
After this staff member left I attempted to order from the café on the train. The theory being you can place an order on your phone and staff deliver it to your seat. As I said, it is a theory, but like my last journey it did not work.
I then attempted to charge my phone, and the plug did work, but it made my phone completely unresponsive whilst plugged in, sort of a problem when I need to use it.
The rest of the journey was rather uneventful, and we arrived in London Kings Cross just before 1540, I was glad to get off this train as the seat had become really uncomfortable after 4+ hours.
My Thoughts on This Journey
I went into this journey really wanting to be impressed by LNER, however, I found myself really disappointed by the service provided and let down once again.
I was glad to see that some of the staff were engaging and that if I had done the journey only between Edinburgh and Newcastle then this review would be vastly different. However, I did not just do that bit and as a result the staff spoilt the experience.
It is just my opinion that LNER were not that great and combined with my previous experiences I think I will avoid them for a while longer. Despite this I DO have a member of staff I want to compliment. I message LNER on twitter and ^Charlene was kind enough to listen to my problems and apologise on behalf of the company.
Maybe, just maybe I have been really unlucky with my experiences, share this post on social media and let me know your experiences.
George Nugent Travels 