London North Eastern Railway - King's Cross — Local services in London

LNER Railways. Ah, where do I even begin? Let's start with the basics: the trains themselves are fine, as long as they actually run on time. But, of course, they don’t always do that. In fact, they love to cancel trains for any reason, or no reason at all. You never know if your trip will actually happen until the last minute. And even when the trains do run, don’t expect any helpful announcements at Kings Cross. They’ll only tell you the platform about 10 minutes before departure, which is just enough time for every person in the station to scramble through the gates like a herd of cattle, all while you're wondering if this is what the apocalypse would feel like.

But here’s where the real fun begins: our train from Edinburgh to London was canceled mid-way near York — and that’s when we were truly introduced to the chaos that is LNER. Picture this: we’re packed into York station like sardines, with absolutely no communication from staff. There was no free water, no seating for pregnant women or the elderly, and forget about any sympathy for families with children. We waited for five hours without so much as a single update, while the staff wandered around, probably wondering where their next coffee was coming from.

Finally, they decide to put us on another train. Of course, no one bothered to mention that there was zero room for luggage, and we were crammed onto the train like a human game of Tetris. There were people yelling, pushing, and fighting for seats—because, naturally, every seat was taken, and those that weren’t were covered in crumbs, filth, and questionable stains. We spent four to five hours on that train, standing or sitting on the dirty floor, while LNER’s "customer service" left us to rot in discomfort.

To sum it up: LNER is a complete disaster. The staff is rude, the management is a joke, and the system runs about as smoothly as a toddler on a sugar rush. If your train gets canceled, you’re pretty much on your own. So if you enjoy spending hours in a station with no information, no customer support, and no dignity left, then LNER is definitely the train company for you. If not, avoid them...

I travelled on the LNER service from Peterborough to King's Cross on 6th November at 11:11 and was extremely anxious due to my train (10:50) being cancelled and worrying about being late. Trains are already something that sets my anxiety into overdrive. I spoke to a staff member about my anxiety and she invited me to stay with her in the bar area. This would have been a good enough gesture but the kind acts just kept following. She and another female staff member kept chatting to me throughout my trip, between them they made sure I was never left alone. They gave me a bottle of water for my next train and they talked me through each step of my journey. They showed me maps, timings, the underground map and when we got to King's Cross the younger lady walked me over to the underground station and reminded me to keep my pockets done up due to pick pockets. The involvement these ladies had on my trip set me off in a positive mindset for the rest of my trip, which without them I'm sure would've been anxiety ridden and panic inducing. I am sad to say I didn't get their names but the younger lady was 22 and had blonde curly hair, the other lady was in her early 40s had short straight brown hair and a foreign accent. I hope you can identify them from the dates and description I have given as they both deserve to be recognised for their efforts. They went truly above and beyond. It was also their first time working together and I noticed the teamwork was excellent too. This is the first time I have been on a train and felt even remotely comfortable and I am also prone to panic attacks. If I had seen how busy the coach was (due to the cancelled 10:50 customers boarding this one) I am sure I would have had a panic attack, but the younger lady had the foresight to keep me with her by the bar so I didn't even see the coach. I'm extremely grateful to these two ladies and would really like them to know what a difference they made to be not only on that day, but going forward with my confidence to travel again, knowing there are people out there like them on the trains. Thank you from the bottom of my...

Travelled from Kings X to Leeds. Missed my 0805 train, and I assumed I could just take the next train for 0905.

I was very wrong.

Despite it being, as they call it for a Saturday "super off peak", my ticket was invalid. I was forced to buy another ticket on the train for 70£ - super off peak adult and no return. My Railcard wasn't accepted either. My original return cost 45£.

I would understand if I had a non-peak ticket and tried to sneak it during peak, but for an hour later on a Saturday, the 70£ EXTRA for catching the next exact train with the same exact stops and destination seems nothing short of robbery.

The trains hardly go packed and I failed to see what reason there could be for every train having a different fare and requiring a different ticket. Very unlike my travel experience in London.

The driver's announcement prior to departure wasn't very clear - I wasn't about to exit my carriage to inquire and potentially miss my train.

On my return journey the LNER train was delayed and of course this time it would be silly to expect compensation.

The seats in economy are very uncomfortable, not fit for long journeys. Also, for some strange reason seats are assigned on purchase, similar to airlines but highly unnecessary.

A piss poor experience - meanwhile the DfT try to convince the public transport more. Final word of advice - if you must travel by intercity trains, check your ticket with several members of staff and arrive well early.

Update: Upon trying to claim for delay compensation, I received two interests and conflicting resolutions -...