What's your favourite TOC and why?

[Essexman]

First Great Western - for their HSTs, Travelling Chef, Pullman Dining, Night Riviera sleeper, plus in the main friendly staff.

 

[CarltonA]

I will nominate Chiltern for a generally good service and decent trains. Oddly, since the Gerrards Cross tunnel collapse my area has been a bit quieter and I usually manage to get a seat. My only complaint is the sluggish TVM at my station that doesn't like to issue tickets first thing in the morning.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Theres good staff at every TOC iv traveled with other than EMT but for overall amazing customer service, plus pacers which I am rather fond of it has to be Northern!

 

[Matt Taylor]

SWT, largely because they keep putting money in bank account every month.

 

[fowler9]

SWT, largely because they keep putting money in bank account every month.

Ha ha, best reason I've read yet. Am surprised at the number of mentions for Northern given the amount of stick my brother and various mates give them.

 

[dannypye9999]

British Rail was my fave TOC, tickets were reasonable and cheap, Mainline engineering works resulting in major closures blocking the line to London and the trains would run to other London terminals. You could catch a cross country from Manchester to Gatwick at 11pm at night or a sleeper from Manchester to Euston. And Blackpool, Shrewsbury, Barrow-in-Furness and Stranraer had direct services to and from Euston. Where have them days gone?

 

[attics26]

Scotrail ....... cos they go to really beautiful places ... otherwise wouldnt give them time of day!

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Merseyrail Electrics have made great strides forward since the Dutch took over, dramatically improving reliability and stations, and even replacing 3 and 2 seating with 2 and 2 when refurbishing 507's and 508's. The only downsides are the lack of toilets, both on trains and on stations, and the fact that electrification ends at stations on or near the country boundary instead of continuing to places like Wigan, Preston, Wrexham and Helsby.

My least favourite operator is East Midlands Trains for gross overcrowding on many lines, especially Crewe - Derby which should run through to Nottingham at least, no late evening trains to Liverpool or Crewe as all the stock has to get back to Nottingham, terrible leg room and lousy connections, particularly at Kettering.

I'm also not overfond of Northern with their ancient and crowded trains, lack of express services or through workings (e.g. Liverpool - Bradford), useless service patterns on lines like Ellesmere Port - Helsby and poor frequencies on local lines into Manchester.

 

[tsr]

For London, the South, East Anglia and the Midlands, my "Top 5" ranking would have to be:

1. Chiltern (I rarely ever find serious punctuality issues, their staff seem knowledgable, and they have a very good reputation of decent customer service & onboard experience, bar late evenings at Marylebone; one sticking point is 67 reliability)

2. FGW (I often find punctuality misses out, but the rest seems to be quite good - HSTs, premium options, social media, station managers, you name it - and they even try to make Pacer journeys feel a little better; many overall issues are down to a vocal set of daft passengers)

3. GA (yes, really - my journeys & staff encountered have generally been OK, with a good reason given if something's gone wrong or the stock isn't satisfactory; also, their 360s and refurbished 156s are very acceptable on most applicable workings)

4. SWT (when I've commuted with them, I have rarely seen serious issues which they haven't handled as best as possible, given the intense services, and the guards & station staff are usually friendly and happy to help; their NR Alliance is also an excellent move)

5. Joint between c2c & London Overground (both of which are busy & largely punctual operators, who seem to know what they're doing and take pride in keeping things clean & tidy as far as they can; however, some London Overground revenue staff are somewhat ridiculous, and the methods used to manage info during delays seem to be somewhat spartan!)

 

[Blaahh]

East coast for great first class and SWT for always getting me home!

 

[Clip]

I like Virgin Trains because they invented the tilting pendalino trains that they own and Richard Branson has a nice bread.

In all honesty, I don't have a favourite tea oh see. I haven't travelled about enough to form an opinion about most of them.

He should tell his train company to make the sandwiches with it as the bread they use now is bloody awful.


Oh and I got the bit about the pendo's being a tongue in cheek postage


Ill probably go for LOROL - it goes where I want to go without the need for criss crossing london.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Southern, for running 442s and have £4.95 advances to Milton Keynes Central all the way from Hastings. Saved a hell of a lot of money in the long run.

 

[fireftrm]

East Coast, for great service, great staff and for being all ours. Also for making money, again all ours .... Shame that ideology is to change that.

I hate Northern, the comments about their range of services, or they get me to Carlisle, cut no ice with me. Their range is contractual, simples. The staff are generally great, which I hope means they are well treated. But the trains are dirty, I will not accept that being due to their age. They haven't done anything to update them and when 'refurbishing' is done it means a paint over if interior panels, a deep clean, and maybe some seat covers changed.

 

[prod_pep]

Merseyrail Electrics have made great strides forward since the Dutch took over, dramatically improving reliability and stations, and even replacing 3 and 2 seating with 2 and 2 when refurbishing 507's and 508's. The only downsides are the lack of toilets, both on trains and on stations, and the fact that electrification ends at stations on or near the country boundary instead of continuing to places like Wigan, Preston, Wrexham and Helsby.

Although I would agree they've improved reliability since MTL days, it has to be said the 507/8 refurbishment had nothing to do with the Dutch. The programme was drawn up to Merseytravel specifications under Serco-Abellio's predecessors Arriva. The refurbishment was actually underway with the first unit nearly completed by the time Serco-Abellio took over the franchise.

They're not too bad a TOC on the whole but there are serious capacity issues which simply haven't been addressed and the cleanliness of their trains, especially externally, is poor.

My personal favourite TOC is probably Southern, for their excellent DaySave ticket, friendly staff and internally tidy trains. I also rate EMT highly for their great value Liverpool - Manchester advance tickets and excellent 158 fleet.

 

[OLJR]

Favourites:
* East Coast for great onboard service, pleasant interiors and top-notch revenue management leading to extremely affordable 1ST fares for off-peak travel.
* First Great Western for the Dawlish Sea Wall.

Least favourite:
* Virgin for dated and naff interiors
* East Midland for no 1ST between Norwich and Peterborough

 

[33056]

(Unless I can extend the boundaries of the question a little, in which case my answer would be Rhätische Bahn - comfortable trains, courteous staff and unsurpassed scenery. I could travel on their trains all day - and sometimes do).

RhB gets my vote as well (with the BLS not far behind and I don't mean the Branch Line Society )

My favourite TOC would probably have to be Southern as that and LM are what I travel on most of the time. As for LM, like the 350s (but hate the 321s), never had any problems with the staff on the ground but despise the company due to their ability to totally loose the plot the moment there is any disruption :-x

 

[Passenger John]

FCC to Royston, Shepreth and Cambridge, just love the 365 a train perfect for its route.

 

[Butts]

Got to be East Coast for me.

Over the last few years I have visited lots of places on Advanced 1st Class Tickets at a relatively moderate cost.

The Cities of Northern England and Scotland are all there to be explored.

It's wonderful to breakfast on the way and dine on the way back in some comfort and at no extra charge.

Okay there is the odd "toast famine" and "whisky shortage" but overall it is fantastic value for money

 

[Hellfire]

Dirty in what way?

Maybe grubby is a better description. I appreciate the nooks and crannies in old interiors are miserable to clean and I can't blame the cleaners who are probably on minimum wage and working rubbish hours and don't get allocated nearly enough time to do the job properly.

I accept the fact trains will get progressively dirty during the day, due mainly to the habits of some of our less savoury passengers. But, even first thing in the morning there is grime around the bottom of seat legs and the upholstery is grubby.

If Northern had done a decent job of refurbishing their rolling stock with modern materials they would be easier to keep in better condition. Certainly on my local line the trains don't seem to have been updated for decades.

As others have said, I have no problem with Northern staff, all of whom seem very helpful and friendly. But, in conversations with them, they too feel Northern has attempted to get as much as possible out of this franchise with as little input as possible. Serco influence I suppose. I hope someone else has an opportunity when renewal comes around.

 

[6Gman]

I know this may attract some derision but I mainly travel on Virgin and I like them. The staff are invariably efficient and polite (no I don't normally travel in First) and the train I get every week from Preston to Euston is usually on time or pretty close.

The journey is fast and quiet and actually I like the Pendolinos. If you get the seating plan out when you book a ticket you can always sit near a window if you like.

And, yes I know Virgin do not own and did not invent the Pendolino and I don't care about Branson's beard.

Northern, at least on the Ribble Valley Line, are pretty dire. Overcrowded and often dirty trains. I've stopped using them to go into Manchester because of the unreliability. May not be their fault they have clapped out rolling stock but it's not mine either.

Virgin are pretty good when things are going ok, but they do seem to have a habit of giving up if it rains/ snows/ whatever.

 

[harry42]

Not many East Midlands Trains mentioned but I think they are quite good: only negative is staff seem to like chatting to each other constantly.
Like Northern too due to friendly staff and clean stations.

CrossCountry and Trans Pennine Express I don't like due to overpriced, overcrowding and grumpy staff mostly

 

[455driver]

SWT because they pay me.

 

[JB25]

As I work for Southern they are a very good company imo... And good to work for. Other than that I do think SWTs are pretty good. Nice spacious trains, rarely cancelled or late in my experience.

Not a fan at all of FCC. hock:

 

[Gareth]

I think we're fortunate to have Merseyrail in this part of the world.

 

[1e10]

I'll do the unthinkable and nominate CrossCountry for my best. The staff are polite and friendly and have been helpful on the few occasions I've needed them to turf someone out of a reserved seat. I've only ever travelled with FGW and XC though, so not much of a choice for nominees.

The vestibules have always been clean when I've required them for somewhere to sit too!

 

[RPM]

In terms of current TOCs (discounting the one that provides my living - they're scoring well enough here already) I would nominate South West Trains.

Historically, my favourite TOC is Anglia Railways.

 

[WestCoast]

Definitely Chiltern. Most of the larger stations they manage are just lovely, the stock is very well presented and they've innovated with Mainline offering a credible alternative to the WCML. The whole 'atmosphere' is pleasant, never really had a bad journey. I'm sure those who commute with them will have issues, but which TOC doesn't.

I've commuted with Northern, Virgin (short distance), TPE and LM. I've found the most jovial staff on Northern, the best facilities with Virgin and the best presented trains with LM and TPE. They all excel at something and fall down on certain issues, e.g. stock (Northern), poor reliability due to issues within TOC control (LM).

 

[Whistler40145]

First Transpennine Express for me, reason being, I don't have to endure a Class 142 stopping at all shacks from Blackpool North to Manchester!

 

[ivanhoe]

EMT for me. Decent trains which are kept in reasonable nick.Staff are good.

 

[Aldaniti]

British Rail.