We had a great day, thoroughly enjoyed the steam train ride with just enough time to walk around York While we went for the premier tickets, the breakfast was really great plenty of choice and hot. S... See more
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Two little quibbles about the catering in first class: tasty "savoury of the day" (aka, sandwiches), but so tiny! Big scone (nice), but tiny pat of butter and small jam to go with. The staff were ve... See more
Company replied
The Cumbrian Mountain Express 23/08/2025. Catering vg indeed, quality food and prompt friendly service. This was a forced route change from the Cumbrian coast route which is no longer available due to... See more
Company replied
Plenty of helpful stewards on board, well organised and paperwork arrived in plenty of time. Only problem on the day was a points & signal failure, which was a Network Rail problem and beyond Railway... See more
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Company details
Written by the company
The Railway Touring Company has a long established reputation for providing an interesting variety of UK day trips by steam train and tours in the UK, Europe and Worldwide.
Contact info
United Kingdom
- railwaytouring.net
3.9
Great
102 reviews
Replied to 66% of negative reviews
Typically takes over 1 month to reply
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Enjoyable day
We had a great day, thoroughly enjoyed the steam train ride with just enough time to walk around York
While we went for the premier tickets, the breakfast was really great plenty of choice and hot. Sadly the evening Christmas meal let itself down considerably with almost raw vegetables and cold. starter dessert and cheeses were good Definitely need to look closer at keeping things Hot
November 15, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your feedback.
We are glad you enjoyed your day with us to York.
It is great to hear you enjoyed your breakfasts, starters and cheese courses. We are very sorry that the main evening meal did not meet your expectations. Please do bring any issues with the food service to the attention of your server on the day so that they can rectify this for you there and then. Your comments have been noted and will be passed on to Gravy Train Catering.
We hope you will travel with us again.
Lovely fine dining day trip to York
Lovely fine dining day trip to York on 15th November. We have done this one a few times now and it never fails to please. The staff are truly first class, excellent service and very friendly. Highly recommended!
November 15, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your five star review of our Christmas White Rose trip.
We are glad to hear you enjoyed your day with us. It must be good if you have done it several times previously right!
Your kind words will be passed on to Gravy Train Catering and our team of volunteer stewards/train managers.
Thank you for the recommendation too!
We hope you will travel with us again in 2026.
EVERYTHING WAS FINE
November 15, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your feedback.
We are glad you enjoyed your experience on board with us.
We hope you will travel with us again.
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your five star feedback.
We are happy to hear you had a brilliant experience on board with us.
We hope to welcome you back on board soon.
AWFUL, ATROCIOUS, AVOID!
PLEASE - don't be tempted to pay this company any money, but rather pay that bit more and travel with Saphos. We gave this firm a second chance, yet the day was just as bad. Awful customer service from an outsourced catering company. The food was disgusting and churned out like old school dinners. Dirty cutlery, a premium 'Prawn & Smoked salmon' salad starter. Look at the photo posted o Tripadvisor, and I implore you to locate the salmon. I complained but executive management couldnt care less, dumbing down my experience as an only report of unsatisfactory service. Look at the multitude of complaints by several customers, all saying the same. Furthermore, we didn't feel safe, carriages were dirty. AVOID!
**This review is based on my own personal experience and is the truthful opinion and thoughts of this service provider, as is my statutory right as a consumer**
December 14, 2024
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your comments.
As we have dealt with this matter with you personally via email we will not be responding further here.
Two trips booked and 2 trips cancelled
Two trips booked and 2 trips cancelled. The first was the Kentish Belle trip around the Kent Coast on August 6th and the latest was a trip to Canterbury on the 10th December. No real apology other than that's the way it is!! Not remotely good enough. I will not be booking with this company again.
August 6, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your feedback.
Our Kentish Belle trip was cancelled due to the scheduled loco being unavailable to us and no substitute being available at said time, as explained in our communication to you.
Our Canterbury Christmas Express trip was cancelled due to multiple operational issues with running the trip.
Whilst is is unfortunate that both trips you were booked on were affected by issues, these issues were beyond our control and could not have been foreseen by us.
We did apologise sincerely in both our communications regarding the trips, if you refer back to these.
We are sorry to hear you would not book with us in the future as we would like you to experience one of our trips in all its glory as advertised.
Excellent day out
Excellent day out , lovely day and weather , knowledgeable people and staff, and bang on schedule everywhere we went, the coaches could do with a little more legroom haha, but a very pleasant day.
November 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your lovely comments.
It is great to hear you had an excellent day on board with us.
The weather behaving always helps!
Unfortunately we cannot change the legroom available, but if we could we would!
We hope you will travel with us again soon.
Everything was good
Everything was good. The train journey went as expected, the RTC team and the Gravy Train team were all very helpful and very pleasant and the food and drink was very good. Definitely value for money. A most enjoyable day. Looking forward to next time I travel with RTC!
November 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your five star review.
We are glad you enjoyed your day with us.
Your kind words and compliments will be passed on to Gravy Train Catering and our team of volunteer stewards/train managers.
We hope to welcome you on board again soon.
Had a fantastic day on the Chiltern…
Had a fantastic day on the Chiltern Explorer. We went Premier Dining, both Breakfast & Dinner were fantastic. It was served at your table by very friendly & professional staff. Each of the coaches had a steward, don’t know if they were paid or volunteers.
Which ever they were helpful & knowledgable.
This was our first time with The Railway Touring Company, but we are already looking for some thing in 2026. Thanks to everyone who made this a day to remember.
November 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your lovely feedback on our Chiltern Explorer trip.
We are so pleased to hear you had a fantastic day with us.
Your compliments will be passed on to Gravy Train Catering
and to our team of volunteer stewards/train managers. They work very hard to ensure passengers have the best possible experience on board.
We look forward to welcoming you on board again soon.
A good day out with steam to reading…
A good day out with steam to reading from Nuneaton via east west line. Staff well informed
November 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your five star review.
Lovely to hear you enjoyed your day with us.
Our team of volunteers work very hard to ensure everyone has the best possible experience on board.
We hope to see you again soon.
It was a good trip on the Chiltern…
It was a good trip on the Chiltern Explorer! Would happily do 1st class again but would like to request cream with the scone in the afternoon
November 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your comments on our Chiltern Explorer trip.
We are pleased you enjoyed your day with us.
We will pass your request on to Gravy Train Catering for their consideration.
We hope you will travel with us again soon.
Trip was a great day out
Trip was a great day out . Staff on the train were well presented and friendly at all times. B coach steward seemed to stay at one end of the coach and not interact with the rest of the coach. Food way well prepared and presented.
November 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your lovely feedback.
Your kind words will be passed on to our on-board team. Please do alert your steward if you have any queries or would like to ask them something trip related.
We are glad you enjoyed the food service. We will pass your comments on to Gravy Train Catering.
We hope you will travel with us again in the future.
Such a disappointing trip, definitely not Premier Class
such a disappointing trip travelling Premier dining that I had been looking forward to with my husband and daughter. Joined at taunton, an hour after everyone else and many were eating their breakfast. No problem there but we were then treated as an inconvenience. We were rushed, every time I asked for something (like bread basket after the pathetic half a slice of toast and scrambled egg) I was told it was too late but grudgingly I was brought a cold round of toast, asked for a cup of tea and was told I now had to pay for it when clearly others had been enjoying cup after cup - I had eye rolling and curt replies from the stewards as if I was making outrageous demands. Evening service was better but the food portions and quality disappointing - a 2 pack of jacobs cream crackers with miniscule portions of cheese. Everything seemed skimped on. I am comparing them with Midland Pullman Company and Pathfinder Tours who I have travelled with on many occasions and enjoyed excellent meals and service. This is meant to be a premium service and it was not. I don't usually write a bad review but I wrote to the company after the trip to voice my concerns and was ignored. They had their chance.
September 28, 2025
Unprompted review
ON TIME COMFORTABLE EXCELLENT SUPPORT…
ON TIME COMFORTABLE EXCELLENT SUPPORT STAFF GREAT DAY OUT
October 25, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your five star review.
We are glad to hear you had a great day with us.
Your kind words will be passed on to our team of volunteer stewards/train managers.
We hope to welcome you on board again soon.
We were well looked after by the staff
We were well looked after by the staff, good atmosphere onboard, knowledgeable guests onboard, great city for a couple of hours walk and a market & cathedral to boot (Chester).
October 25, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your lovely feedback.
We are happy to hear you enjoyed your day with us.
Our on-board team work very hard to ensure everyone has the best possible experience.
We do have a mixed demographic on our trips which we find makes for a fun atmosphere on board. We are glad you enjoyed this.
Chester is a lovely destination to while away a few hours isn't it. The cathedral is up there with popular sights to take in whilst there we find.
We hope you will travel with us again in the future.
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your five star feedback on our Varsity Explorer.
We are glad you enjoyed your experience on board with us.
We hope you will travel with us again.
Autumn in Alsace
Very well organised tour , with friendly and knowledgeable leader.
Would be better if one or more free days were included , to allow for exploring the immediate area.
October 2, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your feedback on our Autumn in Alsace tour.
We are so pleased you enjoyed your holiday with us.
All of our Tour Managers are very experienced and on hand at all times to assist you with anything you may need. Your kind words will be passed on to them.
Your suggestion for more free time has been noted and we will bear this in mind for future tours.
We hope you will travel with us again.
The Cumbrian Mountain Express
I have done a considerable number of tours with Railway Touring and as usual everything within the control of the company was excellent throughout the day.
The Settle to Carlisle Railway rightly deserves its place in the lists of *the best railway journeys"
October 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your lovely comments.
It is lovely to hear you enjoy our trips/tours. The Cumbrian Mountain Express is one of our most popular trips, taking in the iconic Settle Carlisle line.
Your kind words are appreciated and will be passed on.
We look forward to welcoming you back on board in 2026.
Excellent organisation
Excellent organisation. Catering was superb with great staff. Fortunate to go on a day that the weather was good. Highlight was the steam train and the opportunity to get close up at Preston.
October 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your five star review.
It is great to hear you enjoyed your experience with us.
Your compliments will be passed on to Gravy Train Catering and our on-board team.
The weather is never something we can guarantee so we are glad it played nicely for you.
These vintage engines are very impressive aren't they. Time permitting, the loco crew will always try to allow time for passengers to take photos and board the footplate whilst the train is stationery at a platform. We are glad you got to experience this.
We hope you will travel with us again soon.
Cumbrian Mountain Express
Plenty of helpful stewards on board, well organised and paperwork arrived in plenty of time. Only problem on the day was a points & signal failure, which was a Network Rail problem and beyond Railway Touring Company's control. The stewards provided free hot drinks to cover the 1hr 20 min delay and regular updates so no major problem. The actual Settle to Carlisle under steam power part of the trip was really enjoyable.
October 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from The Railway Touring Company
Thank you for your feedback.
We are glad you enjoyed your day with us.
It is unfortunate that your trip was affected by a points failure. This can happen on the main line from time to time and does affect all trains obviously.
Your kind words will be passed on to our on-board team. They all work very hard to ensure everyone has the best possible experience.
The Settle Carlisle line really is iconic and quite something to behold isn't it, especially behind steam.
We hope you will join us for more steam adventures in 2026.
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