“I always find Hull trains to be to time and comfortable with really helpful staff. My wife uses a wheelchair and, compared with other train companies, the facilities are very good. Again the staff are really courteous and helpful. It is good to have free wifi, but often the speed of the service makes it very difficult to use. Overall, I really enjoy traveling with Hull trains.”
“Actually I didn't travel on the day planned as, on arrival at Hull station, I became really ill and felt quite unwell. On going back to my car, I spoke to the person in the ticket office (0630) and asked, as my train had not yet departed, could I be reimbursed, to which the reply was no as the permissible time allowance to cancel was passed. I spoke on the telephone when I returned home, and was told (after gaining approval), that I could claim £15, subject to me providing a medical certificate! I was appalled with the service received, and as a regular train user, this is poor service in my opinion.”
“As a frequent visitor from Canada I have actually been travelling between London and Selby 3 to 4 times each year for about 15 years. It has always been easy to make bookings online and the service is excellent. The trains run on time and the staff are friendly and the level of service has always been very good. The carriages are clean and comfortable although I much prefer seats at a table rather than the airline type of seating. I usually travel in the quiet coach and occasionally first class, and In recent years the addition of wifi has been much appreciated.”
“I have very mixed views about Hull Trains having used their service for a number of years without any problems.
I recently needed to travel from Hull to London to attend an event. I purchased the tickets on-line (two singles as it was cheaper) and they arrived in the post a few days later. Unfortunately I needed to be in London about 8 hours earlier than I planned, so wanted to change my booking. I phoned Customer Services and was told that I could change the booking on-line myself and was given instructions on how to do this. When I tried to change the booking, all that was available was full price First Class tickets. I phoned Customer Services again and was told that there may be a glitch on the website and to try again. Having tried a second (and third and fourth) time, I was still unable to change the booking. I called Customer Services again, only to be told the same thing about being able to change the booking myself. I eventually managed to make the person understand that it was not possible to change the booking to another Standard Class ticket, only First Class, which I did not want, and that there were still cheaper advance tickets shown on the public website. He apologised and told me that there must be a problem with the website, which he could not fix and that he could not help me with my problem and that I would have to go to a station with my ticket to change it. I went into Hull station and obtained a ticket for an earlier train, paying the difference in price and an admin fee of £10 for doing so.
Unfortunately the train I traveled on broke down (incidentally causing chaos on the East Coast main line for the rest of the day). The staff on the train were excellent, keeping passengers informed of progress (or lack of it). What was supposed to be a direct train, eventually arrived in the next station and terminated there. I had to board another train (packed due to the extra passengers and knock on delays). I arrived in London over 2 hours later than planned.
To add insult to injury, the return journey was also delayed by half an hour due to a possible fire on another train.
I submitted a claim for compensation for the delayed journeys - requesting full refund for the first journey and half fare refund for the second. I submitted my claim via email on 9 November. Liability for payment of compensation was accepted in a return email on 17 November, however the amount appeared incorrect, so I asked for clarification, sending my reply email on 18 November. I had to wait until 24 November for the second reply, explaining how the refund was calculated. I felt that the amount offered was incorrect as it did not refund the additional cost of the purchase of the earlier ticket, just the cost of the original cheap on-line advance ticket - leaving me £41 short of what I thought I should receive. Needless to say, I have asked for the amount to be recalculated, with an explanation of why I think this is so. I sent that email on 24 November and have not, as yet, received any further communications from Hull Trains.
I have found the on-board staff to be helpful, polite and efficient. The trains themselves are usually clean and run reasonably to time. The frequency of service, train times and journey times between Hull and London are quite convenient and have improved over the years. The website is reasonably easy to use and advance ticket purchases usually give significant savings. What seems to let Hull Trains down, is their Customer Services when things go wrong. It seems that they are unable to put things right in a timely manner.”
“The train to Kings cross was cancelled - the only way we knew about this was the small electronic information screen. Nothing came over the tanoy system to let us know the next train to Doncaster would allow us to take a connecting Virgin train to Kings Cross. We were lucky, two women with suitcases who had arrived and managed to have time to speak to the ticket office were able to tell a few people that we should be able to get on a Virgin Train from Doncaster. The ticket collector on the Hull to Doncaster train was short tempered and we had to ask him twice to be clear that we could get a connection, we were told only one Virgin train would take us, at a later connecting time.
Thankfully, VIRGIN TRAINS SAVED THE DAY. They had six representatives on the platform at Doncaster and told us to get on ANY Virgin train coming through Doncaster to Kings Cross no extra charge - there was NO ONE FROM HULL TRAINS TO EXPLAIN WHAT WAS GOING ON.
Very good PR by Virgin. Can't wait until they start running more trains out of Hull.
I won't rush to book Hull Trains again, I will seek another provider first.”
“Using the online service is very easy to use and information provided is very clear and precise. Normally get tickets sent by post which always arrive within two days of placing an order.
Customer service over the phone is excellent and also when on the train the service received is first class. Nothing is too much trouble.
I would recommend anyone travelling east of the country to use Hull trains as the service, cleanliness and comfort of the service provided is excellent.”
“My Hull Trains experience was a very pleasant one. Friendly staff. Lots of room on the train itself. A brisk return journey from London Kings Cross to Hull flew by in no time at all. Good pricing structure also compaerd to other train services. Hull Trains are ace!”
“Hull trains is a reliable service to London from Hull,we use this service fairly often,the staff are first class,food decent,clean and comfortable seats,all at a very good price ,even for 1st class.”
“Hull Trains is always good value and a pleasant experience
I caught the 6.02 train from Beverley to Kings Cross and was delighted not to have any changes
Great service, really pleased to hear it is now extended
Many thanks”
“I travel from London to Hull regularly so Hull Trains is perfect for me - always clean and friendly/helpful staff - my first choice.
However - I have experienced trains cancelled which is extremely inconvenient obviously. Also every time I book a ticket, online, I request an airline seat but I always get a table seat allocated - I simply sit elsewhere but would prefer to get what I specify. On my most recent journey I was in the quiet coach - first time I have booked this - despite all the notices so many people using audio equipment - i did the same in the end to be fair - staff did not challenge anyone doing so - one lady's phone was not on silent si every text message arrived with a ping - so "quiet coach" is pretty much an irrelevant idea to be honest.”
