South Central Railway

Advantages: Much better than they used to be.
Disadvantages: Still a way to go.

...listed in Ciao as Connex South Central, but for the last year and a bit, this train service has changed hands. It is now run by a company called Govia, under the new name South Central. Having been in Brighton now in university for three years I have seen first hand how the train service has been running here. When I arrived, Connex was in charge down here and had a fairly bad reputation. With an open mind, I used this service on many occasions, ...
...Govia took control of the south central network as Connex had left it in such a mess. They were using the same rolling stock and poor stations. However, it does have to be said, that Govia have done a really good job and should be commended for their efforts. Firstly, Govia have invested a great deal of money into the network here. They have improved many of the smaller stations, with new signs, and given them a lick of paint making them a much ... Read review

Advantages: it's better than walking in the rain
Disadvantages: Price, punctuality, reliability, lack of leg room, rude staff, early ticket-office closure....

I have lived in the Brighton area all my life, and have used the trains, since I don't drive for approximately the same amount of time - I remember when it was part of the national rail network, I remember Connex, and I am enduring Govia, now. May I first point out, in contrast with perhaps popular opinion, that just because something is new, it doesn't mean it is any better - this is certain the case, I would say, of the 'new' trains operated by ...
...half the leg room; - hey have crammed twice the number of seats into smaller, and fewer carriages; these seats are hard; the electronics fail regularly - the automated displays and 'voices' are more often than not, wrong, if in operation, but more annoying, the doors often lock shut and do not open at station platforms. Other niggles include lack of openable windows (carriages are 'air conditioned' i.e. heaters on in summer, fans on in winter); lack ... Read review

Advantages: Fairly good network, can be quick
Disadvantages: Price, Still unreliable

The South Central network extends across several routes from Bournemouth to Ashford and as far north as Watford. Their principal line is Brighton to Victoria and the fastest trains, stopping just at East Croydon, can do this journey in 50 minutes. Price ranges from £12 return at certain off peak times to around £30 at peak time. A big discrepancy in prices is apparent to other destinations. Brighton to Worthing, a journey of approximately 20 minutes, ...
...there are frequent delays on South Central Services. Sometimes explanations are given but quite often they are not and the company is quite inflexible. For example I was at Lewes station on Saturday night. My train to Brighton due at 23.01 was running half an hour late. During that time a diverted train, en route to Brighton, passed through the station but did not stop. It would have been easy for the staff at Lewes station to contact the driver ... Read review

Advantages: Good day out, intresting to look at all the steam trains
Disadvantages: not much else to do around the area.

...The Bluebell Railway is a very popular tourist attraction. It’s Victorian Metropolitan Railway. A great day out for all the family, especially if you like trains. They are all old steam trains. Both my children like Thomas the Tank engine and we are planning a second visit to Bluebell Railway to see Thomas and friends in the summer. Bluebell Railway is in East and West Sussex it just crosses the border between the both. Sheffield Park Station is the best place to get on the Bluebell Railway, which you will find it on the A275 East Grinstead. You can get your tickets at most central south coast train stations. I know you can get them from London Victoria, then travel down by the London to Brighton line, Just jump on the South-Central or Thameslink trains. After reaching East Grinstead you will have to get the bus to Bluebell... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Even the longest journey....
Disadvantages: ....begins with a single steppe

...hardly read a word. Instead, I stare out as if mesmerised across these vast open prairies, seeing not just the green summer grassland on each side of the track, but imagining it in sombre windswept white under midwinter skies of almost uninterrupted night. You look at the map and remember that although the Trans-Siberian is Russia's major artery, the body it serves is huge and cumbersome and almost without veins. Go north at any point and you will be faced with a distance equal to that eastwards across the plain, but trackless and almost uninhabited, just grassland and forest until you reach the tundra and the permafrost of the Arctic shore a thousand miles or more away. Go south through prairie and steppe and you will reach the deserts of Central Asia. The railway is a thin thread across the middle of an empty tapestry. o... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: a unique experience
Disadvantages: none

...the hillsides- was visually stunning. As in so many mountainous and beautiful parts of the world ( I have in mind Wales and Scotland) the 60 Km of track is all that remains of a much longer line, in this case what was the Central Otago Railway. It is maintained and run by a dedicated volunteer group (Otago Excursion Train Trust), though, unlike many other lines worldwide, considerable support has been forthcoming both from the public and the forward looking and farseeing Dunedin City Council , which recognised the line's clear tourist potential The Central Otago Railway covered some 230 Km from just south of Dunedin to Cromwell, built at considerable expense ( not just financial but also in terms of loss of life amongst the labourers) in the late C19th. Especially through the gorge the line represents a considerable engineering feat... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful