Southeastern Railway Reviews 656

I left my phone on the train. I rang SE and a delightful and helpful lady took details and rang Canterbury West to see if one had been found. She confirmed there was one and I went to the station where two very pleasant staff located it. It had been handed in by a very thoughtful passenger. Many thanks to all

I’m extremely upset with how we were treated. I was travelling with my two children, and we unfortunately missed our train by just a few minutes. We had already bought all of our tickets in advance, but when we asked to get on the next train, we were simply told no.

We weren’t trying to cause any problems – we just wanted to visit our family. Instead, we were left standing there with three paid tickets and no way to travel. The staff didn’t offer any real help or understanding. In the end, they only refunded one part of the journey, and on top of that, they charged us a £5 fee on each ticket.

It felt like they were more interested in the rules and fees than actually helping people. I’m especially disappointed because I was travelling with my children, and it was an important trip for us. We lost money and missed out on seeing family, and that’s not something you can get back.

Very poor customer service – I wouldn’t recommend booking with them based on how we were treated.

We missed our train by just a few minutes, and despite already having all our tickets paid for, we weren’t allowed to get on the next train. It was me, my mum, and my brother – we were just trying to visit family, and now we can’t even do that.

To make it worse, we could only have a refund on one of the journeys,and still charged us a £5 fee per ticket on top of that. So not only did we miss seeing our family, we also lost a good chunk of money for absolutely nothing.

There was zero flexibility, no understanding, and no effort to help us out. We weren’t asking for a full rebooking or anything unreasonable – just to get on the next available train. Really disappointing customer service and not what you’d expect after already paying for everything in advance.

Won’t be booking with them again if this is how they treat paying passengers.

Exceptional Service from Vanessa

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the outstanding assistance I received from Vanessa regarding my lost rucksack on the train.

From the moment she contacted me, Vanessa was extremely professional, kind, and efficient. She went above and beyond to ensure my belongings were identified and safely returned. Thanks to her swift action, I was able to collect my rucksack the same day at Gravesend Station, Platform 0.

I also want to commend the staff at Gravesend Station — everyone I encountered looked calm, friendly, and genuinely happy in their work, which created such a positive atmosphere.

It is rare to come across someone as dedicated, attentive, and genuinely caring as Vanessa. She is an excellent representative of your company, and I hope her professionalism and kindness are formally recognised.

We moved to southeast Kent to live the good life. Little did we know there is a MAFIA running the countryside - SOUTHEASTERN RAILWAYS. You want to go to work in London? You better pay up topolino. Boss Steve White says so. And he and his clan ain't gonna make it easy for you. Lower fares? Pff. Keep dreaming topolino

Terrible that they can’t even get the wifi to work properly on these trains for first class customers - this is a solved problem in 2025!
I even met a member of their It team who blamed it on the cellular signal - how backwards - IT team have a chat with Starlink as there’s nothing overhead on a train so you can deploy this on all your trains - customers would even pay to use it for goodness sake!

1 star is a complement for this company, trains are consistently delayed or cancled and only thing you can rely on with southeastern trains to leave you stranded for hours, i would heavily recommend using a different service if you possibly can

Shitty company. If I could give it 0 stars, I would.

Awful service, horrible and aggressive staff. High speed is always filthy, hardly on time despite their extortionate ticket prices.

I am planning on driving to work from Kent so I can completely avoid using their services. I’d rather spend hours being stuck on the motorway than endure another commute using their barely-functioning train service.

Totally disgraceful service. A shambles of a company that, like an old dog that has lost control of its bowels and motor functions, should be put to sleep as quickly as possible at the vets. I can't describe the feelings I have from the shambles of a journey yesterday, which despite meticulous planning (and leaving an extra hour for problems), Southeeastern still managed to screw my life up. A broken down train in a tunnel led to us having to reverse several miles onto a different line, de-train, wait for 30 minutes and then go on a huge detour of the Kent countryside into London, making me an hour and a half late for a work conference. The look on my bosses face of disappointment and disgust as I walked into a packed ballroom in Covent Garden was one that will stay with me for a long time. Thanks Southeastern. You can stick your 'delay repay' right up your Sevenoaks tunnel too, you utter prats.

Most of the trains are always late or magically cancelled. The bathrooms? A fragrant cocktail of filth and despair.

This company treats customers with the same care a cat gives to a glass on the edge of a table—none. Honestly, they should slap a giant XL-font disclaimer on every ticket:

“We’ll happily sell you overpriced tickets, cancel your train at the last minute, not give a single damn, toss you a generous £5 for your suffering, and if you dare use the bathroom, prepare to leave with a new strain of regret.”

Truly, this company is the worst thing to happen to England since Nigel Farage discovered a microphone.

If only there was 0 stars options!
My daughter was travelling to Canterbury from sittingbourne to go to college on the 18th of sep she has an account online so she scanned her ticket waited on the platform for the train then announcement came up on screen saying train cancelled followed by another announcement saying there has been an incident at previous station 5min later they said someone had jumped in front of the train so train cancelled till further notice so she contacted the college and was told to work from home which she did she went back home asked them for refund and was told only £1.20 will be refunded as the other £5 will go towards admin fee!!! She’s a student every penny counts why on earth would you charge admin fee for something that wasn’t her fault after contacting them over the phone still nothing has been done so we have taken this further with the bank to take the money back that way! Awful awful service avoid them if you can

Train from Hither Green to Charing Cross is late again today. It was late yesterday. It’s late all of the time. Always the same excuses. These signals have been failing or faulty for years. Maybe try and fix them. Invest in more staff and infrastructure. You charge enough money to do this. If I could give zero stars then I would.

Almost every day in the working week, trains stop just before Hither Green station or wait at Hither Green station for anything between 5 to 10 mins due to the excuse of signal failure or signal issues. This has been going on for almost a year. For the duration of time this has been happening, it is laughable to be giving the same excuse. You charge customers enough to be able to invest in improving the service. Sort yourselves out and stop making people late and missing their connecting trains due your awful incompetence!!!

Awful company dont care about customers. Pay £39 to £50 A DAY to commute 2 days a week from Kent to London Bridge (58minutes). What is more, to pay £39 you are forced to book in advance and to commit to a time. Not that the cost is a justifiable advantage at £39!!! Barriers wont let you through if you try to go through earlier, up to 10mins before the train time on your ticket. Life has emergencies and unforeseeable events, like tonight had to leave work earlier following a call from my daughter. Couldnt get through though, had to hang around and make urgent alternative childcare arrangements. Hate Southeastern so much as they extort people and monopolise the trains, with no one stopping them.

VERY VERY FOOLISH PEOPLE THERE, alright so basically I was running late for my train and it was my first time using e-tickets so I wasn't sure and when I showed them booking confirmation they didn't let me in so I missed my train, then they told me to go the ticket person so when I showed him he said it was expired and I had to buy a new one but someone else came and let me go regardless but I missed 3 trains and ended up getting home almost 2 hours later because of the utter incompetence of their employees

First they spam me with Google calendar invites (I reported them to spamhaus). The train was delayed so I have to run only to find my next train has left early, since when are British trains early.

It's about time that cesspit of a staion concourse at Peckham rye is demolished. It stinks and is an aberation to travel through there. Why allow it to get into such a state before someone decides to rectify it ? not before time.

Crap service again from Southeastern. For the past 5 hours trying to get home still not there. Trains either cancelled or delayed from St Pancras what a service. I pay a lot of money to be subjected to this.

You are lucky to get one star. what is wrong with you. Total lack of communication,staff disappear when a problem occurs. You do not appear willing to learn. Not to worry,never mind the public, cut costs lots of dividends for the shareholders. Profits before the public, hang your head in shame

Case: SE2748076
On Sunday 17 August I boarded the HS train from Folkestone Central to London St Pancras at 17.58pm. There was standing room only. I have an invisible disability but I could not get to a priority seat. In Ebbsfleet we were delayed and heard repeated messages of 'signal failure'. Then we had to change trains and eventually arrived in St Pancras at half seven, instead of 7pm.
I applied for compensation and have been told that I 'have been awarded' £3.60, is this a joke? Interestingly, the salary for the CEO/MD, Steve White, of Southeastern Railway is 'not publicly available' but other rail CEOs make nearly £600000, including shares and performance related bonuses. Really? Unacceptable and disappointing service