What Tripadvisor thinks of Heritage Railways.

It's a good thing to keep a good eye on Tripadvisor, both so the railway can thank favourable comments and correct the misinformed or the merely spiteful. Basically I think it is "for entertainment only" although it can aid a railway in knowing what reasonable visitors really think about them. It is not too difficult to identify the reasonable from the unreasonable ones. In what comes next I will try to ensure no clue is given to the railways concerned.

The lady concerned had not had particularly good experiences of heritage railways but this one was different. Her carriage was shiny clean inside and out for a start. Staff seemed keen to present an idea of how things were in the past and the ancillary facilities were good as well. Five out of five

Intrigued I looked further to see which lines had incurred her displeasure. Only one other heritage railway had been reviewed and this got two out of five. It sounded lackadaisical and horrible. Little attempt had been made to identify which train had to be joined and when it was boarded it was in a dreadful state. Filthy windows and seating which appeared not to have been cleaned in forty years. She was grateful to have a supply of disinfectant handwipes!

A return fare of £34 for two was thought to be excessive and as they travelled principally for the views and to visit the attractive town at the far end they would very likely go by bus next time. The bus probably would have windows which could be seen out of and upholstery which did not soil clothes or represent a health hazard.

So there we are gricers! Worry less about what colour your Mk.1's are and rather more about how clean the windows are and whether the seating appears to be marinaded in sump oil.

PH

 

filthy carriages is a genuine re-creation of steam days of course

 

In the dreadful nineteen fifties certainly; I remember it well. Mk.1 heyday as well!

More seriously the heritage railway experience is not dissimilar to recreations of old time farming practice. Both are essentially sanitised. Just as visitors are not expected to retrieve the sparking plugs for the Fordson Standard tractor out of the oven and then start the brute on the handle so they should not expect to collect dirty marks on summer clothing from railway seats.

Paul H.

 

Actually, as an enthusiast I would like to be able to see out of the windows, not sit knee deep in litter, have clean seats, and not have to wear wellies to use the urinals. It's good as well to have staff/volunteers who are able to be polite and helpful. And whilst I have some understanding of the difficulties of keeping everything clean, safe and in good condition, it concerns me as an enthusiast to see passenger carrying coaches in service so clearly in need of repair that doors don't shut well, and you can see daylight where there should be solid steel. And so on

Most of the railways I've been to recently have been well up to standard, but some have a long way to go.

Having helpful, friendly staff can go a long way to help when things aren't yet at the level that the railway might aspire to, whilst rude and surly staff can ruin someone’s day out even if the facilities are perfect.

Steve B

 

I regularly post on TripAdvisor and comment as I find things, warts and all. Unfortunately, despite being an avid rail enthusiast, one of my worst experiences has been on a heritage railway and so got the proverbial 1 out of 5 star score as that railway effectively ruined our day out simply by failing to deliver its refreshment services as advertised. Today the heritage railway must aim at the leisure market and step up to the mark. I might be a Jo Anarak but when out with my wife I become Jo Public, and expect the same level of service as any top tourist attraction in terms of toilets (clean) and food (hot and as advertised). Just because I / we might be enthusiasts that is no reason to tolerate bad service.

 

The trouble with tripadvisor is it gives an unbalanced view as most of it's reports are there because of a bad experience, whereas adequate, indifferent and good reports tend not to be made

 

I like to give as many good reports as bad. When using TripAdvisor (TA) to decide where to visit / stay I tend to ignore those posts that only give negative / bad reviews, and particular those where the poster has only made a single review. Used with such discretion I then 100% relie on TA.

I would advise Heritage railways to review all positive and negative TA reviews and learn from them if they are to grow. To do otherwise is just head in sand.

 

Surely if that were true nobody would ever get a good rating on it?

Checking a few random railways: the SVR currently scores 4.53/5, the WSR 4.74, the Bluebell 4.42 and the FFestiniog 4.68. So clearly most people visiting those lines are giving good reviews, even if people who have a bad experience are more likely to leave one.

 

Having said that I was anxious not to identify the line concerned, the 2/5 related to one of those specified. I won't narrow down the identity any further! They all vary day to day; one of them I would rate as between 3/5 and 5/5 myself, depending on circumstances. More often 3/5.

PH

 

it only gives the majority view of those who respond who tend to be mostly those with an axe to grind.

 

That's not my experience from using it. I find most places have a mix of reviews and that there are often as many good as bad.
I've posted good and not so favourable reviews.
You soon learn which reviews to ignore.

 

I do use it for places to stay and have found it gives good advice in the most part.
I do think from the review in question which I have read the importance of clean coaches and toilets can not be over stated how important it is that and good customer service giving information that is correct and done in a polite manor.
This and cost were the think mostly offending in the bad reviews so maybe priorities need to be changed and it does rather dispel the idea that what is on the front of thee train has much affect on the experience of the customer only one complaint about a diesel replacement.

 

It's not true that most TA reviews are negative. Take, for example, eateries in Bridgnorth: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restau...h_Shropshire_England.html#EATERY_OVERVIEW_BOX A large majority of reviews are positive.

 

Agree with you. Sometimes they are actually too positive IMHO! Where they are of real value to the organisation concerned is when they give unfavourable feedback citing the same inadequacies.

PH

 

You didn't make it very difficult to work out though! I should say I've never experienced anything like that on the line in question especially regarding the state of the stock - which highlights the danger of Tripadvisor, I suppose, as that bad review is out there forever now.

I myself would rank one of the four I mentioned as usually a 2-3 score - not the one that received the bad review though.

Looking through the bad reviews on the four lines I mentioned, there seems to be a theme of them being associated with special events, such as overcrowding on Santa days etc - which I suppose highlights just how close to capacity some lines run on a busy day.

 

St Albans South Signal Box has about 30 reviews on TripAdvisor, with most rating us 4/5 0r 5/5. As a result we're rated around the 5th most popular attraction in St Albans, putting us close to the Abbey and other, much larger, museums. But that's only 30 reviews in about three years when we've had around 6,000 visitors during the same period, so statistically it's a very small number who've taken the trouble to write in to TripAdvisor. So yes, it gives us a glimpse of how visitors see us, but it's only a small glimpse!
John Webb
Trustee, St Albans Signal Box Preservation Trust

 

exactly, it's not reliable and I would tend to beleive it an attraction would be better than most of the reviews would suggest