Great Western Railway Review
Welcome everyone to my first full train review! Today we are going to be taking a look at the Great Western Railway, one of the train lines I took on my 2023 trip to England, if you keep reading I’ll show you everything about the train and what it’s like to ride on it!
Trains Information:
Dates: July 13th 2023 and July 15th 2023
Train Types: Great Western Railway Class 800 & 802
Seat/Class: Standard Class Seats
Train Times: PAD-OXF 1h 7min PAD-BTH 1hr 20min
So let's get into it. I ended up taking 4 trips on the GWR this being the first to Oxford, the other ones were in and out of Bath Spa, taking a look at the Train Stations Though, I have to say they are all incredible, they are super well designed to stop crowd crushes and they are super pretty at the same time, so overall great job on the stations, my favorite of the ones I visited was the Bath Spa one, It had a historical structure but was somehow modern at the same time, Second up is Paddington, this is where I stayed for my trip to London In the Hilton, Located inside the terminal, overall an amazing station, but it just gets way too crowded, and lastly on my Station list is, Oxford, It is a great station but it lacks that Historical feel and destroyed Paddington in Overcrowding, overall Stations on the Great Western Railway are amazing, expect to be in some crowds, and I suggest you study a station map.
A view at all the stations I visited on the network (Top - Paddington) (Bottom Left - Bath) (Bottom Right - Oxford)
In addition to the stations being great, the trains are no different, they are super clean, modern, and comfortable. This can depend on your train type. The ones I had for my journey were the class 800s and the 802s this might have not been as nice of an experience if I got stuck with a class 166, but since the 800s are taking over the network we will focus on that, the cars are made up of 2 classes of service, Standard and First Class. I only sat in standard, but when I got a look at the first I was glad I saved my money because it is a ripoff. The seats *are* the same in comfort and the legroom isn’t any better, the only reason I would pay the £30 extra pounds would be to have the 1-2 configuration and that’s only if I had tons of work, otherwise, the -2-2 standard class is perfectly fine, the legroom is great, there are tables, and seating for families, along with plenty of space for bags, also the seats may look thin at first but somehow they are decently comfortable, so overall they are great seats, I would go with the coach tho.
A look at the GWR Standard and First Class seats on the class 800 type
So once on board what can you expect, first off boarding can go 2 ways, If you are doing it at rush hour it’s miserable but at other times of the day it’s quite enjoyable, walking to the platform is just a short walk from the station hall, and there is only single ticket barriers blocking the way between you and the train its pretty easy but expect crowds, once on board your seating can happen in 2 different ways, the first is free seating, this I had on my trains, to -Oxford and back but on my trains to -Bath, my seats were pre, picked for me and I had to find my numbered car, somehow being an introvert I like the open seating more it was just easier IMHO
A look at the Hectic and Calm boarding conditions, and what the seat reservation system is like
So now that we are on board what can we expect? Well, it does depend on your train service, if you are on a longer train line like mine to Bath Spa, that was going onward to Bristol, Temple Meads. You get cart service, But on shorter trips like mine to Oxford you don’t, this service is when staff come around with drinks, coffee, and snacks, to keep you from going hungry. I did not end up buying anything from the cart tho since a bag of crisps cost 12 pounds!! But on a longer trip, I may have, another thing to expect on the GWR is stunning views out the window, I could have stayed there all day looking at the British Country. But no matter where you are, even in London there is always something cool out the window on the Great Western Railway.
A good look at the views on the train, and the overpriced trolley service!
So that’s it, everyone, that’s what to expect while riding the Great Western Railway in England, it’s one of my favorite train systems in the world after this trip, and I am so happy I got to ride on it, I’ll give the GWR an 8/10 on this one, yes it was great, but the very bad overcrowding and the seat reservation system left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth, but overall it was great I had a fun time, and if you do have the option 100% pick the Great Western Railway, it’s modern, clean, fun, and best of all it’s a train! So that’s it, everyone, I hope you enjoyed this blog post and I look forward to talking to you again soon! Bye Bye Humans
You can also see my Oxford Travel Vlog which has a mini GWR review in it!