SWR Help Recensioni 705

Absolutely appalling, horrible, and terrible service. They cancel for no reason, and they cancel because of a 1-minute delay. They change platforms at the last minute without prior notification. There are always disruptions, delays, cancellations, and signaling failures every single day, messing up journeys to work and causing late arrivals home. There was one time they changed platforms like four times, alongside delays. Shocking service. I wonder how they are still allowed to operate with this abysmal performance. They don't even deserve a zero-star rating terrible, terrible service, and no one does anything. Because of them, I won't get home till 9 p.m. after a long day's work.

Absolute abortion of a company.
False information on delayed and cancelled trains.
3 times this week I’ve had to find alternate travel home because of SWR service costing me £135 on top of my weekly ticket that I pay for which is £127! .2 times were because it was “too hot” for trains run which is utter b****x.
The price they’re charging is shocking.
The service they provide is shocking.

If I could give it 0 stars I would. The absolute worst service. I’d say less than 10% of their trains run on time and there is no communication on the platforms when trains are delayed. You just have to sprint around trying to find the right one. Cancelling trains for “severe” weather when temperatures are around 23-25C is an utterly embarrassing excuse for messing up my journey home

Worst, most unreliable service. Wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy.

Only to end up in a cattle truck.

Walked 40 miles of coast path from Poole to Weymouth on this recent scorching bank holiday weekend. Walk was perfect, but we completed 2 hours early.

Asking about switching to an earlier train back to London we were quoted £85 (original tickets were half that) so obviously we declined, but watched a less than half full train depart.
Which was just silly.

Then we were informed our train would arrive 24 minutes late.
Then that we should all pile onto the train before that because our train was cancelled.
Two to three train loads of passengers then boarded this train and many found no seats (we were lucky) but two carriages had faulty air conditioning turning them into saunas on a day of 24 degree temperatures.
There was a delay around Southampton, something about the train being split.
A cancelled train coming the other way.

We arrived into Waterloo, astonishingly, only around 20 minute late.

However, there was no first class carriage and what we had was poor standard class, so we won’t be doing that again.

Are we still having the debate about whether or not Britain is broken?
Plainly it IS, but until we agree that it is, it won’t be possible to do anything about it.

Worse train service. Everyday trains are delayed or cancelled without any explanation. Where is our money going?

Tried to travel from Salisbury to London during the heatwave. For some unknown reason, the train driver decided to put the heater on. The temperature on the train must have been over 45C.
Had to get off the train early at Andover as I nearly passed out from the heat. I asked one of the staff members for help. He was extremely rude and told me they had no alternative options in place for disabled customers and that I would have to wait for possibly more than four hours for a train that has air conditioning!
When I told him that there were children on the train I had just gotten off of and that the temperatures were dangerous, he just waved his hands at me and said "yeah, yeah".
Will be reporting to this to BTP, as after checking SWR policies it's clear that they do have alternative options in place for disabled customers but chose not to bother with them- this is blatant disability discrimination (probably age discrimination too given I don't look disabled). I didn't ask for anything extraordinary, just whether they could confirm which trains have aircon, which they should have be able to confirm easily.

Another ridiculously appalling week on SWR. Three journeys with over 2 hours of delay each! Broken down train, tree on the line, no driver. The list of excuses goes on and on. Probably one of the most expensive per mile journeys in the country and the reliability of the service is non-existent. And to top it all compensation apparently only paid for the delay to the train I actually end up getting rather than the overall delay from the cancellation of the original train I bought the ticket for!

Genuinely the most shambolic rail service to exist, I would say about 1/10 trains are actually on time, always the late at night ones which are canceled and will never compensate you despite the high prices you pay. Warmest day of the year and a tree has fallen on the track as if a storm has hit us, then cancelling the train to send it back to the depot whilst the next train has just arrived from the depot.. make it make sense?

-5 stars. Worst company ever
Nearly missed my cruise because they don't care.train should've arrived in southampton at 2.15pm Because of broken down train at clapham junction train was delayed.they could've used another line. Had to wait till broken down train was moved.then when train left half an hour late.it kept stopping because it was behind a slow train.supposed to be fast train.got to southampton central at 3.05pm. Because it came in at a different platform. No lifts so we had to walk up & down stairs. We are elderly. It was a nightmare. We managed to get outside main entrance. Panicking. Supposed to be leisurely. Lucky we caught a taxi straight away. We got to cruise port at 3.16pm. Last embarkation was 3.15pm.so we were lucky. Then on the way back. Train every hour. It was packed solid.no seating. Lucky there were a couple of people that gave up their seats for us as we were exhausted. You pay a fortune & cannot get a seat.disgusting service.money grabbers. Profit before customers.should lose there licence 25th april & 2nd may.says lift is out of order. Get train to platform 2.main entrance is on platform 1.so they talk so much trash. Next time I'll get coach. Pay extra to stay the night.will never use your service again.

Shite. Lousy, inept.
What more can I say?

The app is bad! Why does it require the user to sign in every time I want to access the ticket? This “service” does not require highest level of security.
I assume the aim is to make us confirm the T&Cs - which we have no choice but to accept - so could be signed ones rather than every time.

I take the train to sixth form every day, sometimes using the train multiple times a day during my free lessons. I can't count the amount of times that a last minute delay or cancellation has lead to me being late for my lessons with no good reason from South Western railway. What is just a few minutes to them means missed learning for me. Recently however the service has become absolutely appalling. In the past week I can not even count how many times I have had a problem with the trains.

I arrived at the station the other day on time for the train only to be notified that actually the train was delayed. The info boards on the platform all stated that the delay wouldn't be long so I sat and waited. The train's predicted times only became further and further away whilst their online information told me that two trains had come through the platform whilst I was there which they clearly hadn't because I think I would've noticed! I had no choice but to sit on the platform and wait in the freezing cold and rain as I had no clue when the train would actually turn up as their information was clearly lying so couldn't go and find somewhere warm and dry to wait nearby. After over an hour of waiting and the trains being pushed further and further back, I got onto an overcrowded ten carriage train. The train started moving and only then was I informed this train would be terminating early and I would have to get off and wait for another train again in the cold and rain. Everyone gets off this train, the platform is packed to a dangerous level, so much so that not everyone would fit behind the yellow line. We were all being yelled at by employees to stay behind the yellow line when there clearly was no space. Finally another train arrives to take everyone to the final stop on the line that the original train was meant to go to, everyone going to other stops would have to wait ages for another train. This train was a three carriage train and they somehow thought it would fit everyone off the ten carriage train from before. All in all a very unpleasant experience. And to add insult to injury when I submitted my claim to be compensated for the delay South Western railways decided to reject my claim, telling me a train was at the platform on time when it clearly wasn't because I was sat there the whole time and didn't see a single train! Very unhappy.

Today however was much worse than anything I'd experienced before. When I arrived at the station there was an employee with a microphone telling everyone that all services had been cancelled which lead to a lot of confusion when the train showed up on time. I boarded the train and we were told the train was going to take a route. We were told many different tings about where this train was headed whilst we were on it and ended up at a small station about fifteen minutes away from where we wanted to go, which was not even a station on the original journey and made no sense for them to take us there. Me and my friend had bought tickets to go to another station that we were told would we would be going to, After we believed we would no longer be able to get to our original station, but then south western railways changed their minds again, leaving us with tickets we couldn't use and they probably won't refund. Me and my friend have a nice day out and then head back to the station close by to where we originally wanted to go. We get to the station and all of the information boards say all the trains are fine. We get onto the platform and quickly realise this is not the case and if we wait for the next train which was an hour away they'll end up delaying it further. It's starting to get late and as a teen girls we obviously don't feel very safe being out late, South Western railway offered no help in getting us home. We ended up having to find our own alternate route which I'm not sure our tickets were even valid for and having to get four different trains and over two hours just to complete what should've been a half hour journey. I know that the situation today was out of South Western railway's control but the way that they handled it was not. Overall, there was inconsistent messages, unhelpful announcements and no assistance there when needed.

On a more positive note however, on a normal day, the staff are generally very helpful and kind. Very easy to approach with any questions you may have. I think they could definitely use more training on how to assist customers during delays.

I am beyond disappointed with the service from South Western Railway. I use this train service every single day to get to and from work, and honestly the experience keeps getting worse instead of improving. Constant delays, cancellations, overcrowded trains, last-minute platform changes, and absolutely no reliability whatsoever.

People pay a huge amount of money for these tickets expecting a basic level of service, yet every week there seems to be another problem. It has reached the point where commuting has become stressful and exhausting. Delays regularly affect the start and end of my working day, making me late for work, late getting home, and completely disrupting daily life.

What makes the experience even worse is the attitude of the staff at London Waterloo station. Many staff members are unhelpful, dismissive, and often rude when passengers are simply trying to get information during delays or cancellations. Instead of helping stressed commuters, they make the situation even more frustrating.

What is most upsetting is that these problems are not occasional — they happen constantly. Passengers are expected to accept poor service while fares continue to rise. Communication during disruptions is poor, accountability is non-existent, and loyal customers are treated with very little respect.

For many commuters, this is not a luxury service — it is something we depend on every day to earn a living and manage our lives. Sadly, South Western Railway continues to fail its customers on a daily basis. After years of using this company, I can honestly say the service quality has seriously declined and confidence in this railway is at an all-time low.

Absolutely would not recommend.

I can’t believe I am giving SWR five stars, believe me it is not for the train service as that really is poo! It is for a revenue guard who stopped me this morning as I was using my gold card and she initially thought you could only use it after 0930hrs. During our discussions I was slightly agitated having paid £7400 for a card I was being told I could only use after 0930. However, she was polite, firm but friendly throughout and between us managed to sort the issue. If the train service was a reflection of this individual all reviews would be five stars. Apologies for me being slightly agitated.

I have commuted on SWT for the last 17 years and pod my fares and season ticket. Today was a real low, trains stranded and worst of all zero comms from the crew. We had kids on board writing their GCSE exams so lots of tears and distress. As a dad it was heartbreaking… the simplest of updates or even just saying we are going to be stuck for a long time would have enabled us/them to make alternative plans. In this day and age of instant comms and a supposedly customer facing service provider (that we pay a lot to use)…on behalf of this poor kids…shame on you SWT…horrific.

I have been using South Western Railway since January for work training and now for my new job, travelling 4–5 times per week between Farnborough, Waterloo, and Basingstoke.

In that time, delays and cancellations have become a regular occurrence — genuinely every other day at times. The reasons given are often things like signalling/radio failures, engineering works, or incidents on the line. While I understand some incidents are outside your control, what is incredibly frustrating is the constant lack of reliable contingency planning and poor handling when problems happen.

As a major rail operator, passengers should not be left stranded repeatedly with little useful information, long waits, and no confidence that they’ll actually get where they need to be on time.

Engineering works should be planned to minimise disruption where possible, and when unexpected issues happen, there should be far better backup arrangements and communication.

I have been stranded multiple times because of South Western Railway’s poor management of disruptions. When you rely on trains to get to work, this isn’t just inconvenient — it causes real stress, lateness, and uncertainty.

For the cost of rail travel in the UK, this level of service is simply unacceptable.
I cant work due to the main railway company being this poor and should be taken over by a more reliable company.

1/5. (This should be a 0/5)

Because of a distribution in service my train left on the opposite platform from usual. Despite a number of staff they were unhelpful and even though it was possible to see many passengers run across the bridge, and despite actually touching the door buttons he just shouted for us to stand back. I understand the rules ( H&S / trains leaving on time), however with so many customers unaware of the disruption and the lack of service, they could have opened the doors to provide some kind of customer service. The staff clearly found this amusing. Very poor and no more than we are already used to.

I tried to claim for delays to and from my destination and the found it impossible to. The website took me round and round getting nowhere

Booking system has been "improved"!

Each time I went through the process it changed the date. This must be deliberate because they now have a way to edit the date, but when you select the date you want, the price has gone up and there is a £10 admin fee, which must be how they are paying for their bonuses.

Customer support are no longer able to provide any support, so they should change the name of that department.

Their suggestion was 'next time', take screenshots of each page.

My advice, which I will be taking, is go by coach.