Your Operator of the Year 2023

[MKJai]

Almost forgot to share my thoughts...

Best: It is not an easy choice as we know how "well" our TOCs are performing in general. I would choose XC because their HST comprises most of my good memories this year.
(It used to be LNER but their fare is too pricey after scrapping open return tickets. Buying the bumpy CAF Civity is also not a smart decision.)

Worst: London Northwestern (or should I say WMT?), by worsening punctuality & cabin cleanliness. Of course we all know they have given up their 350/2s. I have been their frequent passenger for 3 years and they performed the worst this year!

Most Improved: Avanti really stands out by their new Superfare & refurbished 390s. and now I can say their train CAN run on time.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Of those I've travelled on...

Best: Greater Anglia. They've really got a grip alongside their excellent new trains. "One" etc were never the very worst (just deeply grotty), but they have come on in leaps and bounds since then

Worst: (predicably, although I should say I have barely used Northern and not used TPE at all in the past year, but what I have seen in passing of either when I have been in their areas of operation has not been impressive) CrossCountry. The weekend service between Birmingham and Oxford and Reading (generally hourly, 4 or 5 coaches), in particular, is inferior to what it was during COVID (hourly, 8 or 9 coaches) or before (half-hourly, 4 or 5 coaches), with the added bonus that the even more excessive overcrowding than before increasingly leads to delays that result in vital connections at New Street being missed. Plus even when things do go to plan. there is no longer any attempt at certain times to have reasonable connections there between the various arms of their network. They were unpleasant to travel on pre-COVID, but are now vastly worse.

Most improved: Avanti. Granted they are recovering from a really bad time, but I really won over by the refurbishment of the Pendolinos, which is quite superb - one of those "is this 1st or Standard?" moments.

Most downgraded: GWR. Failures of Hitachi units-a-go-go have destroyed the reliability of what, pre-COVID, was becoming an excellent service on most of the parts of the GWML I frequent, and, even, occasionally, the Golden Valley line

 

[camflyer]

Another vote for Greater Anglia. Much improved rolling stock in recent years and staff are always great. Massive difference to when National Express had the franchise.

Thameslink really need to improve both in terms of the onboard experience (I know the poorly specced-700s were mostly the DOT fault) and reliability. Considering the amount of money spent on the Thameslink project, it really should be a flagship network but always feels second best.

 

[iphone76]

Another vote for Greater Anglia. It's great to live on a line that you can rely on to run a decent service, with friendly staff and generally back to a pre-covid service level.

Second goes to MTR Elizabeth Line. (Being slightly biased). They really are trying to run a decent service, despite grappling with new technology tacked on to existing infrastructure. Passenger numbers through the roof. Things can only get better once issues with the trains, ETCS system and West infrastructure are resolved.

 

[cactustwirly]

Where to start....

I personally don't think SWR are that bad, all the services I have used have been reliable and punctual, and they have good value Sunday and evening tickets.

GWR have gone downhill massively, I struggle to recollect a time when the trains aren't delayed or the trains aren't stupidly busy.
Even the North Downs yesterday had cancellations.

I don't think any of the ToCs are good, it's a case of who is the least worst

 

[dk1]

Where to start....

I don't think any of the ToCs are good, it's a case of who is the least worst

You could say that about one particular OA operator too whose reliability and cancellations are quite shocking when used as a percentage of trains they run.

 

[jrail1992]

I usually travel with Northern or TPE, however I've had to make a few journeys with TfW this year & they have been very good, particularly when other services have been cancelled.

Worst has been TPE with the most delays. Recently I've had to claim delay repay for each week for a journey with TPE. Catering has also been lacking on first class services despite being offered so they are my worst operator of the year.

 

[Class 170101]

Do you know that a lot of it goes down to those great days of Anglia Railways and their general attitude to customer service which was like a mini GNER. Many of those visions and indeed us staff and management are still here.

Yes I reckon the best right now, however they need to focus on the whole network and not just the former Anglia Railways bit that they once ran (alone).

 

[YorkRailFan]

I usually travel with Northern or TPE, however I've had to make a few journeys with TfW this year & they have been very good, particularly when other services have been cancelled

Never thought I would hear something good about TFW.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I'm not sure any TOCs have given me consistently pleasant experiences this year, but I'll happily vote for my WORST TOC.

Transport for Wales. 1000000 times over.

 

[northwichcat]

In terms of most improved, probably Northern, since becoming an OLR and getting new trains, Northern has become a great option when traveling York-Leeds among many others.

With Northern it really depends which line you use. On some routes you get doubled up new trains providing a relatively punctual service. On other routes it's delays and cancellations due to staffing issues and overcrowded Sprinter trains breaking down frequently.

For me, Northern really took the biscuit last weekend. There was an annoucement my train would be delayed by 10 minutes (by the station staff) due to 'waiting for a member of staff'. Just after it the guard releases the doors. 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time there's no movement. The train is now showing in apps as running semi-fast but no on board annoucements since the doors were released. A few minutes later the guard walks through and asks everyone where they're going, telling some passengers to make their way to another platform for the following service. 10 minutes before the scheduled departure of the following service there's still no movement. Someone else in Northern uniform has appeared on the platform, a passenger asks him what's going on. He informs her that the following service will depart on time (he's the guard for that service and there's a driver sat on his train). The news is passed on and everyone moves to the other train. A Northern dispatcher even tells the RPIs to let the people transferring straight through, without any ticket checks. However, it means people leaving a 4 car train and 2 services worth of passengers on a busy Saturday squeezing on a 2 car train. 2 minutes before the 2 car train leaving, a driver takes the empty 4 car train out!

 

[YorkRailFan]

With Northern it really depends which line you use. On some routes you get doubled up new trains providing a relatively punctual service. On other routes it's delays and cancellations due to staffing issues and overcrowded Sprinter trains breaking down frequently.

For me, Northern really took the biscuit last weekend. There's was an annoucement my train would be delayed by 10 minutes (by the station staff) due to 'waiting for a member of staff'. Just after it the guard releases the doors. 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time there's no movement. The train is now showing in apps as running semi-fast but no on board annoucements since the doors were released. A few minutes later the guard walks through and asks everyone where they're going, telling some passengers to make their way to another platform for the following service. 10 minutes before the scheduled departure of the following service there's still no movement. Someone else in Northern uniform has appeared on the platform, a passenger asks him what's going on. He informs her that the following service will depart on time (he's the guard for that service and there's a driver sat on his train). The news is passed on and everyone moves to the other train. A Northern dispatcher even tells the RPIs to let the people transferring straight through, without any ticket checks. However, it means people leaving a 4 car train and 2 services worth of passengers on a busy Saturday squeezing on a 2 car train. 2 minutes before the 2 car train leaving, a driver takes the empty 4 car train out!

Northern is sometimes like two different TOCs, Northern in the North East is amazing, not so much in the North West...

 

[LittleRedTrain]

For me best (least-worst) is probably Chiltern.
Although they are still massively short of stock, all the times I've had to use them to get to London, the trains have run, been on time and I've not been forced to stand.
It's good that they've also tried to fill in some gaps in the Birmingham service, even though they're not back to full the pre-Covid frequency.

Worst is still CrossCountry. At least with the post-Covid service of hourly 8/9 car trains on Reading-Birmingham, you could generally get a seat.
However, now it's back to 4/5 cars on almost everything, often full & standing.
The timekeeping is atrocious, and I have had to plan journeys on the assumption that any connection <15mins is just not realistic.

Although a handful of the direct Reading-NE trains have been re-introduced, they're not at very helpful times and the only time I actually wanted to use one for Banbury-Derby, it got terminated at Birmingham NS!

They also have a habit of cancelling several trains in a row from Birmingham-Reading in the evenings due to train crew shortages, and Chiltern from Moor St have saved my bacon a couple of times!
Finally, the one time I paid extra for 1st, there was no food onboard (not even biscuits) and we were only offered a single drink for the entire journey.

 

[40129]

Of the operators I've used for more than one round trip this year, which are Avanti West Coast, Crossrail, Merseyrail, Northern and Transport for Wales, I would say:

Best: Transport for Wales. Despite being the operator I travel with most, I've not experienced a single cancellation and only one delay of more than 10 minutes

Most improved: Avanti West Coast. Unlike 12 months ago, they are now performing with some degree of competence in my experience, although there have still been times when my journey home has been significantly delayed and/or I've had to re-route to avoid missing a connection

Worst: Crossrail. Don't think I've ever experienced such extremes of performance with any transport operator. It's been either near perfect or utterly dire. The latter including a 45 minute wait for a train from Heathrow Central to Terminal 4. Thankfully, I was travelling to a hotel and not catching a plane. Also, the complete absence of ticket selling staff at Terminal 4 put me in a potentially awkward situation as it meant I couldn't buy the (priv) ticket i needed. Thankfully, the (Thameslink) gateline staff at the other end of the journey were both very understanding and helpful

In terms of other operators, I'm pleased to report I've had no major issues this year although the lack of comfortable seating on GWRs dreaded IETs has made me glad that I no longer live in their territory. My journey home on Chiltern was a reminder of from what heights GWR has fallen. Merseyrail and Northern have both been clean and punctual when I've used them and I must confess to benefitting from TPEs poor performance - both times I've used them it's been because their service was late and saved me waiting for a slower (albeit on time) Northern service, resulting in me arriving early at my destination

 

[waterboo]

Anyone going to punt a vote in for C2C as best operator?

 

[YorkRailFan]

Best: Transport for Wales. Despite being the operator I travel with most, I've not experienced a single cancellation and only one delay of more than 10 minutes

Two people now have said TFW as their best? Wow!

Finally, the one time I paid extra for 1st, there was no food onboard (not even biscuits) and we were only offered a single drink for the entire journey.

I always regard XC first class as one of the biggest rip offs.

 

[dk1]

Anyone going to punt a vote in for C2C as best operator?

An operator that often gets overlooked. They seem to do a pretty good job on the whole.

 

[JamieL]

Caledonian Sleeper is my choice for best TOC. I have found the Service to be reliable, often arrives early, cabins impeccably clean and it is just so convenient. Only real gripe is the lack of Winter capacity.

I echo some of the comments about Avanti - the service has improved immeasurably and the First Class experience is now tolerable.

 

[Energy]

Anyone going to punt a vote in for C2C as best operator?

C2C do a good job and are overlooked but they also have the easiest operation, they run a simple service, have modern electric traction and only share infrastructure with London Overground at Barking and nowhere else.

 

[306024]

C2C do a good job and are overlooked but they also have the easiest operation, they run a simple service, have modern electric traction and only share infrastructure with London Overground at Barking and nowhere else.

And, as with Greater Anglia, freight. Whilst freight train regulation sits pretty much with NR, it can still upset your operation.

 

[mangyiscute]

Best: I haven't had too many issues with any of the operators, and I have traveled around the country with several journeys on most. Therefore I'll just choose my local, GWR as they almost always get me between London, Reading and Oxford reliably and frequently on nice new trains, plus the journey times are extremely impressive - 23 mins for London to Reading is superb.
Worst: I guess I have had the worst experiences with EMR since I had one train that was 40 mins late meaning I missed my connections onto a train that stopped at an obscure station with the next train not for 6 hours, plus made the delay repay very awkward to claim too.
Cross Country get an honourable mention in both categories, I don't mind voyagers and I've found they usually run fairly punctual on the Reading to Manchester route with most trains having at least some space, but I have had a couple journeys where the train has been crammed and one where we had to leave people behind - just seems to be sort of luck of the draw and sort of if you have knowledge of which trains are gonna be busy and check on the day if its a 4/5 or an 8/9 to try and ensure you get one that isn't too busy. I also got a cheap £12 first class advance from Banbury to Birmingham recently which included a toasted panini, hot drink and crisps - amazing value

 

[BwniCymraeg]

Other than brief forays into England, none of which were really remarkable enough to leave me with a lasting impression of the TOC responsible (although fair play to TPE for managing to get me to and from my destination on time…), I’ve only travelled with ScotRail this year. Overall, I’m fairly satisfied. As others have mentioned, the off peak fares trial is a fairly exciting happening, and I’ve not had any major delays other than a few sporadic track issues, which of course cannot be blamed on ScotRail.

 

[sh24]

Best - Greater Anglia have been good, and LNER continue to set the standard for long distance

Worst - GWR. The staff are invariably lovely, Pullman dining is ace but a 50% delay repay record really grates, especially when it extends a 3h15 min journey to well over 5 on a Friday night when you just want to get home

 

[43096]

C2C do a good job and are overlooked but they also have the easiest operation, they run a simple service, have modern electric traction and only share infrastructure with London Overground at Barking and nowhere else.

Easy to forget that the bulk of c2c’s fleet is now 20 years old.

 

[Caaardiff]

Surprised TFW have had more positive comments vs negative. As a regular user of their service, I must be getting all the bad luck. Delays, cancellations, overcrowding and 2 carriage 153s on long distance journeys.

 

[Rail Quest]

Surprised TFW have had more positive comments vs negative. As a regular user of their service, I must be getting all the bad luck. Delays, cancellations, overcrowding and 2 carriage 153s on long distance journeys.

You're certainly not the only one puzzled by this haha. My mate feels the same as he currently stranded at Shrewsbury thanks to a cancelled Llandudno Jnc service due to staffing issue, having also had to deal with his TfW train earlier being full to the brim and running half an hour late, making him miss his connection in Cardiff... Loads of trains of theirs very late today and short forms galore. Even if some of these can be attributed to other factors, the way TfW have handled the situations has apparently been really bad with minimal communication with frustrated passengers...

Certainly the worse operator this year in my eyes.

 

[D1537]

I'm only going to comment on TOCs I have used more than a few times this year.

Best: LNER and Chiltern. Chiltern have been 100% for me, and on the occasions when my LNER trains have had issues it has almost always been due to infrastructure issues. LNER First Class is excellent value.

Worst: EMR. Used them six times with a 50% farce ratio. Though kudos to the one conductor who was more than helpful when I ended up with a ticket which wasn't for the one I was one, due to my own incompetence.
A quick shout out to LNR, however, for providing a last train from Birmingham to Rugby, Northampton and points south, on a Saturday night, when the Brum German Market was on ... with 4 coaches. At least I know what those Japanese train stuffing operations feel like now, except with drunks instead of commuters.

Most improved: Avanti. Whilst I'd still trust LNER over them for our Anglo-Scottish journeys, and their FC isn't as good, at least they have managed to not screw up nearly every time I've used them this year, which definitely wasn't the case in 2022.

 

[stadler]

Translink Northern Ireland Railways easily wins both for this year and every year in the past. No operator on the mainland even comes close to being as good as them. Translink Northern Ireland Railways is a perfect example of how to run a railway. Nice clean modern reliable trains. Delays and cancellations are very rare. Strikes are non existent. Amazing integration between trains and buses with railway stations and bus stations located right next to each other. Bus tickets are valid on trains and train tickets are valid on buses in the evening. Everything is well maintained. Customer service is excellent and staff are very helpful. Tickets are very cheap compared to the mainland. None of this penalty fares and prosecutions for innocent mistakes and no TVMs either. You simply buy your ticket from a ticket office or from the Guard onboard the train. They make ticketing very simple and fair.

It helps that Translink is one company that runs all public transport and infrastructure. They operate the trains and buses and coaches. They maintain the tracks and infrastructure and carry out engineering works. So having one company that does everything rather than splitting it up in to hundreds of companies certainly helps.

People seem to always forget about Translink Northern Ireland Railways but they are a UK train operator. The railways on the mainland should look to them to learn how to run a railway. They could learn a lot. I would even go as far as saying Translink Northern Ireland Railways is better than most of the Mainland European railways.

If we are restricting this thread to National Rail only then i would find it very hard to choose. All of the mainland rail operators are as bad as each other. In the past there were some that did a decent job but in the last few years they are all as bad as each other. I see no difference between all the National Rail TOCs these days.

 

[Babybirdrobin]

Best: C2C - I use both them and Greater Anglia fairly regularly however just find C2C to end up with less disruption in my experience overall.
Honourable mention to Scotrail - When I travelled on their Highland 156 fleet, it was very well maintained!

Most Improved: Avanti - although their delay and cancellation rates are still above what they should be, they have improved leaps and bounds with (in my opinion) slightly improved disruption (as in experiencing less of it) but a great refurb of the Pendos.

Most Worsened: SWR - They are still withdrawing their metro fleets (seeing 707’s (No Choice I know) and 458’s (beginning to for now) leave us this year) and the 701’s are still nowhere in sight.

Worst: TPE - Although they are getting better, they still have a long way to go.

 

[Purple Train]

Best: C2C - I use both them and Greater Anglia fairly regularly however just find C2C to end up with less disruption in my experience overall.
Honourable mention to Scotrail - When I travelled on their Highland 156 fleet, it was very well maintained!

Most Improved: Avanti - although their delay and cancellation rates are still above what they should be, they have improved leaps and bounds with (in my opinion) slightly improved disruption (as in experiencing less of it) but a great refurb of the Pendos.

Most Worsened: SWR - They are still withdrawing their metro fleets (seeing 707’s (No Choice I know) and 458’s (beginning to for now) leave us this year) and the 701’s are still nowhere in sight.

Worst: TPE - Although they are getting better, they still have a long way to go.

Out of interest, what's the crowding like on c2c? I've only travelled on them there times or so this year (which is why I didn't feel qualified to pick them) but on two occasions they were full and standing and on one there was one spare seat in the carriage. These would have all been from or to Upminster or Barking (within the Travelcard area essentially) - was I just unlucky or is c2c often standing room only?