The Snowdon Mountain Railway Reviews 15

We were booked on the morning train of Thursday, 30th April, the day was sunny and clear but windy. We were instructed to arrive by at least an hour beforehand, during which time we viewed a film about the history of the railway, although I believe this should be optional rather than perceived as mandatory. There was some info about Health and Safety which could easily have been passed on to us all whilst on the train, we are not children after all! I do not see why we had to view this film , where we could have just turned up 15 minutes or so before boarding, so a complete waste of time. We were informed that the wind might be too strong and the trip may be cancelled but we were soon on the train and set off on our journey. Roughly half way up we were informed that the wind was "now too gusty at the top" to proceed and that we would return after stopping briefly some half way up. It was stated that a part refund would be made due to this. Well consider this - clearly the wind speed at the upper section of the track must be known beforehand, to decide whether to proceed or not, however if it was cancelled before leaving he station I presume we would all have had a full refund, yet in proceeding to the half way mark the Railway seem to be only obliged to refund a rather small 25% of the sum paid, thus saving themselves an absolute fortune. It could quite possibly be argued that this could be a policy whereby they can save a substantial amount in refunds had the trip been cancelled before leaving the station. Besides, the whole point of taking the train is to go to the summit of Wyddfa and that objective singularly failed. As such the minimal refund does not reflect the loss involved due to cancellation. Indeed, had there been an offer of a half price refund and / or half price ticket for a future date then that would be a welcome, fair and decent procedure to follow. I am sure that many, if not most would then return for another trip, hopefully successful, to the summit of Wyddfa. I have been up the mountains of Snowdonia/ Eryri so many times, in all weathers. This was my first time up (partly) on the train (and the first time ever for my wife) and most probably my last. A most disappointing day out. I think it is a sad way to treat visitors, where some families have spent a considerable amount only to be thoroughly let down.

Went up snowdon Monday what a fantastic trip ! you do have to remember though for those complaints I can see on here that are totally unfair we got the perfect day but I booked only a few days before as I knew the weather forecast was going to be good if the weather is bad it could be cancelled or they may not go to the summit or the cloud may make it so you don’t see anything but this is not their fault they can’t control the weather but for the experience you get to go to the top of a mountain for those that could never walk it what a great experience the staff were great the day was beautiful it took about 2 1/2 hours and I thought the price was reasonable yes they don’t give discounts but after all it is a business I thought it was worth every penny and would recommend it the views were spectacular but try avoid peak summer periods as it gets really busy at the summit and you may have to queue you do only get 30 minutes at the summit which is a little short but I wouldn’t have been able to walk it so was a great experience for me

Amazing experience from start, every member of staff went above and beyond, made our trip unforgettable, they could not have been more friendly and accommodating. Thank you.

Perfect journey from start to finish.
The sun shone from the bottom to the top of the mountain, amazing views, Owain was a great host, very helpful. Thank you

The Guard / Brakeman "Owain" was a really competant tour guide, not one question from all the passengers failed to be fielded with an informative answer.

Expensive and an inflexible company who only care about profit. They will change your booking and demand extra money.

This trip to snowdonia was part of a 90th birthday and there was 15 family members. We all had a return fare to Clogwyn, although there was 15 of us we had no discount. On the day, the organiser in the family received an email from the train company ,which informed us they would only be going to Rocky Valley and not Clogwyn ,which was the journey we had paid for and longer. This was because of weather conditions, we were disappointed but excepted it, as also they mentioned we would get a partial refund. Soon after that we received another email, it said not to take any notice of the previous email as they had made a mistake, so they decided not to give all of us the partial refund after all. I think this was badly dealt with, they could of let us know the day before about the changing of stops ,as we could of made other arrangements, we were all geared up on that day to go.Also the car park was horrendous with big holes of water all over the car park which they charged£12 to park, if you don't want your tyres ruined don't park there! All in all very disappointing 😞 I definitely would not recommend and judging by other comments, the company are not very concerned about their customers.

The magnificent views and natural beauty of the mountain.
The little train up was amazing l hv just one request not complaint.
I went up with my friend a few weeks ago being told on website l hd to leave my walker in a locked room.mine and another ladies walker were pushed into a doorway on view certainly not locked.l hd booked a walker for at the top.of mountain.l tried to get on train but my legs are very weak and step up onto train was too high as my legs sank my friend pushed me from behind and l sprawled on seat which was funny but driver was there never said anything.we loved trip to top but l darent get off in case l cdnt get on again.my friend hd a look and brought us drinks to carriage.
On arrival back down l spotted a ramp driver was walking past meant te knew l hdnt got off train and why but l hd to shout him saying l needed the ramp.he sighed and went to fetch it.lt was s brilliant ramp.l just want the drive5rs to offer the ramp to Disabled people so they don't feel as if they shouldn't be there and certainly an inconvenience. There was no walker on platform waiting for me .Just learn from my experience as we appreciate how busy yr job is but don't advertise suitable for Disabled if its not.A ramp wd of made all the difference thank you
I still loved experience!

Over priced. Overcrowded. Not enough time the top. Getting parked is a complete joke. Not forgetting the £3.50 bottle of coke which is daylight robbery. Train staff were not pleasant either.

My advice is to avoid

Returning for two adults is £82 for this trip it’s a lot of money. The seats are rockhard and very uncomfortable. Whilst the company who run the trains cannot control the weather I feel it would be good for them to have a weather forecast at the station so you can decide whether to continue to take your trip because we got to the viewpoint and couldn’t see anything. This is the second time this has happened to us.

As disabled users of the train on this trip they only give you 30 minutes. Between taking the train back. Well they don’t take into account is that the mountain is very busy with walkers, which means if you want to go to the summit you have to queue to get there. The viewpoint café and gift shop was overrun with walkers. Which is not a problem it is great that it’s busy, but the train company are giving you 30 minutes to do everything and that is impossible. Because you have to queue for literally everything. They don’t give you an option to catch a later train back. As we would’ve quite happily stayed for a while in the hopes that the weather would clear for a while for us (which is did when we arrived back typical!) .

However, you cannot do this you have to go back on the train you came on. This meant that I could not get to the summit, even though I really wanted to because I am disabled and there is no way I would’ve been able to get to the summit in the time allotted. Plus, if I wanted to use the facilities like the toilets there was a huge queue.

I feel that you should be able to take a different train back if you want to. However, it’s become so busy that you can’t do this anymore. However, they could time the trains as they seem to go every 30 minutes, so that our train takes the previous trains people back so that you would get an extra 30 minutes. This would mean you would get an hour instead of 30 minutes. It is nowhere near enough time. I just don’t think the company have taken into account how busy this viewpoint has now become, making it impossible for the people who use the train who are mostly more elderly people or more people who are unable to walk to Snowden. Most of them saw the queues and got straight back on the train because there was no point even trying.

We booked 3 return tickets with them for our holiday in April. But on that day the weather was really bad, their first train only run to Rocky Valley rather than Clogwyn, which is 2/3 of the journey we paid for. We were told by their office, if we cancelled the tickets we could get full refund and if not we could get a partial refund. We chose to get the partial refund.

However, we haven’t get any refund yet even no reply to our emails since then. We called them today but we were told we won’t get any refund at all as long as we took the train. But it’s completely different from what we were told on that day.

Tried to book a trip to summit with disabled daughter. Rang through as advised on website. Staff unhelpful and made to feel a big inconvenience to them. Finally found a trip and ready to book. Would not accept a wheelchair and assistance dog at the same time so couldnt book. It was the one thing my daughter wanted to do whilst in Wales. Left very disappointed.

We bought 4 return tickets from the station. After making the first payment, the staff said the payment didn't go through and requested me to make a second payment. I was in doubt and checked the payment was indeed made. However, he insisted it was just pending and £128 will be refunded to my bank account. He also refused to issue the tickets to us unless we make the second payment.
One day later, my bank account showed those 2 payments are completed and I have been double charged.
I emailed them for a refund. Unfortunately, almost a week later, I still haven't got any replies from them.

RUDE STAFF

Paid £35.00 received a email when I almost arrived saying
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Hello,

We are experiencing high Winds on the Mountain today; Trains are only running to Rocky Valley Viewing Point.

Rocky Valley is just below ¾ of the way up Snowdon.

Unfortunately, we are unable to allow passengers to disembark from the train at Rocky Valley for safety reasons and you must remain in the carriage.

If you have a single Ticket, please note you will not be allowed off the train to walk, you can upgrade your ticket to a return if you still would like a train ride.

If you don’t wish to make the journey with us to Rocky Valley, please email bookings*********co.uk quoting your reference number at least 45 minutes before your departure time and we will automatically refund your tickets.

Kind Regards

Snowdon Mountain Railway
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The fact of the matter is, we could see hundreds of walkers and the wind was non-existent, we got to the part where the train was not going any further and what made me laugh about the so called wind ! There was a "Walkers Crisp Packet" on the floor. It wasn't even moving, there was no wind at all only sunshine.