The Railway Touring Company Avis 

An outstanding and memorable day out. We were initially disappointed that, due to the Network Rail ban, steam locomotives would not be hauling our train. However, the service we received from the staff and volunteer stewards meant that we soon forgot about this and enjoyed the luxury train and superb meals. Special mention must go to the chef, who despite working in the cramped gally of the kitchen car, produced such excellent meals. I would certainly recommend RTC and look forward to travelling on one of their trains again, soon.

Fantastic staff, gorgeous scenery, beautiful coaches, delicious food.
A brilliant day out, thank you.

A great and well organised trip with a booklet fully explaining the journey and what you can see as you travel. Easy to book, good communication and friendly staff. Nice food/drink choice on board - cash only and reasonable prices, also frequent rubbish collection through the carriages during the trip. Despite the steam ban really enjoyed the electric/diesel hauled journey and already booked our next trip!

Absolute con
Booked for steam excursion and have diesel within a few days of travel
No refund- just hid behind terms and conditions
Can re book within 6 months - useless
Appalling customer service

First railway excursion trip. Quite understood about no steam pulled engines fue to weather. Everything was great.

Absolutely brilliant day out. Would recommend these tours to those who are thinking about such a day trip.

Overall experience was greater, clean and good service. Sorry there was no steam locomotive as that would have been highlight of the day.
Will definitely use the service again when steam is allowed back on the main line again.

Another fantastic trip

This was a birthday treat for my hubby and it was a great day. Because of the heatwaves and dry conditions they had to change the steam train to a diesel engine but once you're in the carriages you don't know what's pulling you anyway. Stunning scenery, lovely staff onboard, great FULL day out.

The first disappointment was the Waverly steam locomotive had to be replaced by a diesel engine. But, because of the hot weather conditions making the countryside a tinderbox we did accept the fact that there was a risk of fire which we would not want to happen. Nevertheless, because the trip was advertised as steam pulled and a birthday treat it was not the same.
My wife and I also thought more commentary from the train guard could have been given along the route to inform us what to expect and look out for. After all it was a tour and not just the local train we had a ride on.
And for paying £225 ea. for 1st class tickets we would have liked/expected something more to choose from regarding what was offered for the breakfast and afternoon tea that was not very appetising.
Also after initially making plans to board the train at Leeds station and book to park the car, we had to change all that, and get on the train at Woodlesford.

Nice coach air con and music
Great trip to Great Yarmouth
Driver dave was very friendly and helpful

Booked a trip back in March 2026 with this company having used them many times before without incident. On this occasion however it all went wrong. Having paid the full amount by the due date, booked hotels and train travel to and from the point of departure, they unceremoniously cancelled the holiday more than five weeks after taking the full amount for the holiday. Clearly they knew they had not made the required numbers for the holiday at the time of taking the money. Now they refuse to accept the consequential losses of our hotel bookings and train bookings associated with taking this holiday. Our Travel insurance company say that the railway touring company are the liable party as they have put us in this position and we have suffered loss as a result. They won't be getting our custom again, for sure.

I could not do without the wonderful Chris as I am sure many people would feel the same
He helped with making sure everyone got sorted at Oslo airport as I could not manage it being 74
He was wonderful and we could not have had a better guide as he showed us the way on trains and the coach
I as everyone didd enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to anyone
As amatter of interest one of my friends wants to see the itinerary we did
The scenery was wonderful and the ferries as well as the food
WE visited steam railways and had a tram ride
I would recommend it to anyone
Best wishhes from
D A Cookson

A great day out despite the unfortunate lack of steam.Fantastic crew and excellent meals with breakfast and a fantastic dinner served well by a superb crew.
I look forward to bring with you all again.
Wonderful weather,great views and a fantastic 90th birthday occasion.

Our overall experience of the day was very good - the seating, the food, the on-board service and punctuality all met our expectations. The downside was that we were advised a few days before departure that the traction had changed from steam to diesel and, worse, we were given no reason; at Paddington the train was not shown on any departure boards so finding the platform was a challenge.

A very good day out and the lack of steam traction did not detract from the wxperience.
Food and service were top notch.

A very enjoyable day out in spectacular scenery. The catering was very good, although vegetarians might have struggled with elements of the menu. Maybe think about offering a vegetarian option for the evening’s main course. All the catering crew were helpful and very friendly. The several ‘pit stops’ were rather tedious although we understood why they were needed, but we were kept fully informed. A pity it couldn’t be run with a steam loco but, again, we understand why this was not possible. Overall an enjoyable day.

The food in the first two hotels was cheap and of poor quality, we were let down on a trip that were part of the experience and feel one days notice of trip cancellation, was very cynical as the Railway Touring Company must have known well in advance that this trip was unavailable on the day booked which left quite a hole in the schedule with little to do. (The Waverley Paddle Steamer)

The organisation was excellent.
Cab ride
Fantastic railways nothing was too much trouble.

Prompt and helpful response during booking and making changes. Comfortable seats, an excellent breakfast and wonderful-sounding dinner (more on that later) with friendly and very helpful stewards and staff who all worked hard to ensure we had a wonderful experience. The one thing that didn't work for us was being served a four-course dinner at 3:30pm(!) during a heatwave. Whilst we appreciate the logistical reasons, as people who normally have dinner after 7:00 pm we simply could not eat at such an early hour. Suggest (a) please warn people of this so they don't eat lunch during a stop-over & (b) offer a snack alternative.