The Railway Touring Company Reviews 134

Hot with no way of adjusting the temperature, unadjustable seats in First Class (despite being manufactured as such - not heritage at all, just static) and to cap it all the steam engine failed on the return requiring the back-up diesel to push.

Another fantastic tour. Very much looking forward to the next trip.

Excellent organisation, friendly staff on board the train, and a really well-produced booklet describing the journey and what to look out for along the way

We enjoyed going on The Buxton Spa Express. It was an interesting itinerary with an attractive destination.
The meals were great and the catering staff attentive and pleasant. The stewards were also helpful.
But there was one awful omission, no chance whatsoever to actually see the engine, a Black 5. Yes there were operational difficulties with short platforms at Buxton but there was plenty of time there for the engine to draw on to another platform for us to actually look at it. Instead it went off to a siding.

A lovely trip to Buxton hauled from Leicester to Buxton and return by Black 5 no. 44871. The engine performed faultlessly and the staff as always were attentive and friendly. However the day was rather spoiled by signal hold ups at Buxton that gave us a mere hour in Buxton , not long enough to fulfill the point of the trip.
The brief stopover was again compounded by the engine getting stuck in the siding where it was being serviced due to a point failure leaving us all waiting in the station .
This was not RTC’s fault of course but due to these infrastructure failings, the day was rather spoiled.
This is the reason for the loss of a star in the review.

All the staff on the train that I met or had dealings with were very helpful, going out of their way to assist. Being disabled they were very helpful and made my day out so enjoyable.
The steam engine and crew excelled throughout the journey.
Well done Railway Touring Company.

With the Railway Touring Company you can sit back and think of Yesteryears, forgetting about the turmoil of life, placing to one side the mobile 'phone and sit back and relax.

Three Tour guides all knowledgeable and approachable - Action packed experience of Poland which is now a smart and successful country with a good rail system (beware the platforms change at the last minute) and roads too. Some of the days were rather long and the cold weather made open air carriages character building. The hotel breakfast was good and all their staff were very helpful throughout. My room incorporated a staff lift and was really part of the corridor but it was quiet although being in the corner it was overlooked by the main bedrooms - a single MAN supplement room!

Most of the organised activities were good. Bit misleading over the "steam" description as 3 of the trips were diesel hauled

A super trip we celebrated a 90th birthday in style, great food and lovely staff onboard.

All on time emaculate carriages-a real treat.

The tour, visiting tramways in several cities in the Czech Republic was simply excellent. The party of ten (and we all got on very well) was met at Heathrow and taken through all processes at the airport...and ditto on our return from Prague. We travelled by 1st class train on day trips from our Radisson Blu hotel in Prague to Pilsen, Brno and Most, with a tour of each system in our own vintage tram, including Prague, of course. We had plenty of time to do our own tram riding in each city, with any necessary tickets being provided. Our two guides were incredibly knowledgeable, helpful and great travelling companions. Many lunches and dinners were provided in interesting establishments. There really was nothing to fault, instead, only our heartfelt thanks. This was my third tour with the RTC and I look forward to more.

We had a great day!

The carriages were ex British Railways MK3s. These are not vintage but the first of modern generation - double glazed, air conditioned AND NO OPENING WINDOWS = UNABLE TO HEAR STEAM LOCOMOTIVE - poor heritage experience.
On Sussex Belle (a shorter day trip) lunch served at 15.00 which was OK IF there had been something to eat after departure at 10.45. A solitary cinnamon swirl is just not enough - at least a continental breakfast - fruit yogurt, croissant and pastry. First and last day trip with RTC.

Such an enjoyable day out on the Sussex Belle to Eastbourne. Attentive and friendly service and lovely scenery en route. Highly recommend this company.

Absolutely lovely!

I have been on 4 railway touring company tours now and each one has been absolutely fantastic. My most recent was The Sussex Belle on April 15th (2026) and I am already thoroughly looking forward to whichever tour I do next.

Keep being brilliant guys!

Enjoyed the relatively short trip to Eastbourne and Hastings on the Sussex Belle. I find the long trips hard going, having to get to the starting station very early in the morning, but a 10:45 from Victoria was easier. Could maybe have been a little longer to give more time at Eastbourne?
Helpful staff - thank you Steward Ron.
Gravy Train took care of a dietary need which was appreciated.

Premier Dining Experience… apparently stuck in 1972

We booked the York to Edinburgh steam train (04/04/2026) as a “Premier Dining Experience” at £329 per person. What we received was a deeply disappointing and frankly misleading experience.

A member of staff proudly told us the carriage was from 1972, which, unfortunately, was the most accurate part of the day. This was not charming heritage; it was tired, cold, and poorly maintained.

The steam locomotive failed after approximately 2 hours (cylinder issue), meaning, only around 1/7 of the journey was actually steam-hauled. The rest was completed by diesel, not what anyone paid for.

Yes, the company hides behind its terms and conditions regarding mechanical failures, but when a train breaks down almost immediately on a 15-hour experience, serious questions about preparation and maintenance are unavoidable.

The so-called “Premier service” was equally poor (pictures available if required):
- Not once were we offered water, even during a long unscheduled stop
- Tea was served carelessly, spilling everywhere, with no apology
- Dirty cups were simply refilled
- Breakfast was mediocre at best
- The carriage was cold, with passengers repeatedly asking for doors to be shut. The experience of travelling back in time didn’t happen in a positive fashion.

We eventually gave up and booked LNER back cleaner, warmer, more professional, and a fraction of the cost.

After complaining, we were offered a £30 voucher per person, which frankly feels insulting given the price paid.

Even more telling: all reviews are marked “unprompted” because customers are never actually invited to leave feedback. That says a lot about how seriously this company takes customer experience.

A very expensive, poorly delivered experience that fails to meet its own promises. No Premier Experience and all negative comments are addressed in a passive aggressive manner and a dismissive tone.

Avoid at all costs.

Update following company response on my TripAdvisor review :
“ The company’s response illustrates the issue perfectly. Rather than acknowledging clear failings (cold carriage, lack of basic provisions, poor service), they shift responsibility onto customers and external factors. Staff was informed on several occasions to close the broken sliding doors, service on a train or a plane is not very different and an apology is not hard to mak and you don’t promise a “premier dining experience” if you can’t freshen up cups or anything else!

At no point do they address the core issue: the significant gap between what is marketed as a “Premier Dining Experience” and what is actually delivered.

If nostalgia is your thing, then the Edinburgh Flyer delivers in spades—just perhaps not the era you were hoping for.

Marketed as a “premium dining experience” behind a magnificent steam locomotive, the reality feels more like a lovingly preserved tribute to British Rail circa 1983… and not in the charming, heritage sense. When the steam engine gave up somewhere north of Newcastle (arguably the most authentic part of the experience), we were gently reintroduced to diesel reality—along with carriages and cuisine that appear to have travelled through time with it.

The dining element is particularly impressive if your benchmark is school dinners from a bygone decade. “Premier” might be stretching it slightly; “vintage” would be more accurate—both in flavour and ambition. One can only assume the menu was curated with a strong commitment to historical accuracy.

Service, meanwhile, had a certain chaotic energy—tea offered repeatedly but rarely in a way that suggested fresh cups were part of the plan. At times it felt less like hospitality and more like a social experiment in beverage distribution.

There is, of course, something poetic about sitting in a freezing carriage, watching the British countryside roll by slowly, wondering whether you’ve accidentally boarded a time machine set to “mild disappointment.”

All in all, an experience that promises the romance of steam travel but delivers a rather more immersive lesson in why we moved on.

Needless to say, the return journey will be via LNER—modern, warm, and reassuringly anchored in this century.

It clearly wasn’t for me and my guests

The train was on time and we had good views from our seats. The staff were mostly friendly & welcoming with the exception of the man on the buffet bar. He was rather miserable, the cold drinks were not on view so I had to ask what was available, He was a bit reluctant to tell me. We wanted a hot breakfast & were told by him that there "might" be some sausage or bacon left after the first class passengers had had their food. We found this a little cruel as we had left our home very early in order to catch the train & had not had a breakfast. There were some cold sandwiches but we couldnt understand why cant everybody be catered for with hot food, as we were willing to pay.
The journey was good and Buxton was nice, we would have liked more time to look at the train but there were lots of people that were not passengers crowding round so we had difficulty trying to get near it! Maybe keep the area more private in future as we paid for an experience we couldnt get the full value of!
We did however enjoy the day.

It was a very good trip with excellent time keeping.