Grand Central First Class COULD Be Great, But…

Grand Central First Class *COULD* Be Great, But…

This video is in partnership with TrainPal. Today we’re back in the UK, 
to check out Grand Central, one of the Private operators who run open 
access services on the East Coast Mainline. We’ll travel in First Class 
from London to Bradford, with complimentary snacks in a very 
comfortable train – so let’s go! Hello and welcome back to London. I spent much of my life living and working 
within an hour of the UK’s capital, and always visited once or twice a month. However, I still find new things to 
see and do here whenever I come back now I’m travelling full-time. The central areas are filled with many 
stunning buildings, interesting museums and so much history – I can see why London 
is the third most visited city in the world! Today’s journey starts at 
London King’s Cross – gateway to Great Britain’s east coast and Scotland. Outside you’ll find many bus stops 
and taxi ranks serving the station, and also entrances to the Underground – 
of which 6 of ‘The Tube’ lines call here. There is currently an artisan Christmas market 
set up in the square outside the main entrance. King’s Cross Station opened in 
1852 to serve the newly built Great Northern Railway, between London and York. Extensive renovations have taken place in 
recent years with the showpiece being this amazing semi-circular, white steel ‘waterfall’ 
roof – which lights up in various colours. A wide variety of shops and food outlets 
can be found off to the left side here, including up on the mezzanine 
overlooking the whole concourse. Also, don’t miss the Harry Potter shop, 
and famous Platform 9¾ photo opportunity. There are both staffed information 
points, and a ticket office… along with various automatic ticket vending 
machines around the whole station. However, I wouldn’t recommend 
using either of these. I used TrainPal to book my tickets today. And I’ve been using them for the past 3 
years as I’ve found them to be the best way to quickly search for the best prices within 
the minefield that is UK railway ticketing. On the TrainPal App you can easily search 
all available trains and ticket types and then TrainPal will automatically show 
“Split-ticketing” options for your journey, which can save you up to 90% straight away! And if you find a lower price elsewhere 
– TrainPal will refund the difference. And then you can save another 33% on that price, by using a Railcard – which 
are also available on TrainPal. Take my journey today, for example. If 
we search for King’s Cross to Bradford tickets for 2 weeks time, then full 
price is £62.00. TrainPal has found if we ‘Split’ the journey at Wakefield, 
then we save nearly £12 straight away. It’s the same train, just a 2 separate tickets. And then if we add a 26-30 year 
old railcard, it’s now just £33.65. That’s nearly half the original 
price! And all with NO BOOKING FEES! The eTicket is then available in-app straight away, or you can download to 
your Apple or Google wallet. TrainPal are also offering my viewers some special 
deals; New Customers get 20% OFF UK Railcards, 5% OFF UK & EU Train Tickets and 
a Special £10 welcome gift pack. Existing users can still benefit with 10% OFF 
UK Railcards and 2% OFF UK & EU Train Tickets. Click the link below and use Code: 
NONSTOP and you can start saving today! Our train today is this Class 221 
Super Voyager diesel multiple unit. There are two classes of travel onboard, and 
we’ll be in First Class for today’s trip. These 5-car units were built in 2001, 
with this specific one previously being in service with Cross Country before 
being acquired by Grand Central in 2023. Only the front a rear cab cars have since 
been repainted in Grand Central Livery, with the middle 3 still in XC colours. They have a maximum speed of 200km/h (125mph). OK, let’s board… There are two steps up from platform to 
train, and ramps are available on request. Oh wow, I guess they didn’t 
have time to get the hoover out! First Class is in Coach E, which is at the 
front today – and it looks pretty good! TRAIN MANAGER: 10:57 is the departure time, this service is run by Grand Central. We do 
not accept tickets from LNER or Hull Trains. TRAIN MANAGER: There are no ticket 
agreements in operation today. TRAIN MANAGER: Train doors will be closing, anybody not wishing to travel, 
please return to the platform. TRAIN MANAGER: The first station stop in 
around 45 minutes time will be Peterborough. We leave London and head north 
up the East Coast Mainline, calling at Peterborough and Doncaster, then 
turning west and making stops in West Yorkshire, before arriving in Bradford early afternoon. We depart on-time at 10:57am. The full route is 360km (224mi) and is scheduled to take 3 hours and 6 minutes of 
travel time, arriving at 2.03pm Pricing is dynamic, but First 
Class advance tickets start from £47.00 (€54.28, $63.38) and Standard 
Class from just £18.00 (€20.80, $24.26). I paid £65.00 (€75.06, $87.68), booked 4 weeks before travel – which is still 
pretty good value for money. HOST: Good morning ladies & gentlemen, and welcome onboard. This is a catering 
announcement. The buffet is now open. HOST: Orders should be placed by scanning the QR code which can be found on the 
chairs or tables in front of you. HOST: First Class passengers’ 
ordering through the QR code; your orders will be delivered 
directly to your seat. HOST: For the rest of the 
passengers using the QR code, you will be notified when your 
order is ready for collection. We’ll be sure to check all that out soon! As we are speeding through the north 
London suburbs tickets are checked, and we pass by the Great Northern Hornsey 
and LNER Bounds Green depots and sidings. It doesn’t take long to make it out in to open countryside on this cold 
and crisp January morning. OK, let’s settle into our seat and check out 
the First Class service onboard Grand Central. First, I jump on the free WiFi, which 
connected quickly and worked well. I did as the lady instructed, 
and literally 2 minutes later my complimentary goodies were delivered to my seat. Now, unlike LNER, Grand Central don’t offer 
full meals in First Class – rather just a small selection of tea, coffee, water 
and a few different cakes and snacks. I went for a coffee and a Bakewell 
Tart. They were both very nice. TRAIN MANAGER: This service is now 
approaching Peterborough. Change here at Peterborough for connections 
to East Anglia, Cambridgeshire. TRAIN MANAGER: If you’re leaving 
us here at the first stop, please do take care when stepping from train to platform. TRAIN MANAGER: Thanks for travelling Grand 
Central, and Peterborough your first stop. Peterborough is home to around 200,000 
people and stands on the River Nene. OK, let’s check out the seats here in 
First Class, which are in a 2+1 layout. They are well shaped, and have a reasonable amount 
of padding, along with winged head and armrests. They recline by pulling this 
lever and then shuffling forward. Each seat has access to one UK 3-pin power socket. Legroom is good – even with 
someone sat opposite you. The large table is very sturdy, 
and perfect for working. Coat hooks can be found up above, along 
with full length sun blinds on the windows. There are also personal reading lights. Luggage can be stored on the 
stacks at the end of the coaches, or on the large overhead racks 
which run above all seats. It’s a pretty good First Class product – 
much comfier than on any of the Class 800s. There is one wheelchair space 
here in First Class, and one in Standard Class. Both have accessible 
toilets in their adjacent vestibules. Apart from the floor being a bit dirty, this was 
generally in a good condition, and fairly clean. TOILET: Toilet door locked. The water and soap both worked, 
but the hand dryer did not. Well, I guess I’m using toilet 
paper to dry my hands then. There was also a baby changing 
table – and the toilet flushed ok. Let’s check out Standard Class now. This is in a 2+2 configuration with a 
mix of bay and airline style seating. The seats are still pretty comfy with plenty 
of space, tables and power sockets throughout. Then, here is the buffet 
counter, and a look at its menu. There is a good selection of hot and cold drinks, including alcohol, hot and 
cold sandwiches and snacks. I went for a veggie sausage panini which was £4.00 
(€4.61, $5.40) and another coffee, which was free. Next up, after passing through Newark 
Northgate Station, be sure to keep an eye out for something unique on British railways. This double track ‘flat crossing’ is the only 
one remaining on the network, where our East Coast Mainline crosses the Nottingham to 
Lincoln line at a near 90 degree angle. This has a 160km/h (100mph) 
speed limit on our line. Shortly after, we cross over the River Trent, the main reason this junction has 
not been grade separated… yet. TRAIN MANAGER: If you’re 
leaving us here at Doncaster, please do take care when stepping from 
the train on to the platform edge. Next we call at Doncaster. This is the biggest ‘Railway Town’ in the UK, 
along with Crewe on the West Coast Mainline, with both being in strategic locations as 
major junction stations – and also both historically having large rolling stock production 
and maintenance facilities in the towns. Doncaster is also one of only 
eight stations in the UK to have a ‘Platform Zero’. King’s Cross 
is ironically one of the others. Shortly after, we diverge left, heading 
from South Yorkshire into West Yorkshire. The electrification has now also 
finished, not that we were using it anyway! It is an environmental shame that 
we run under wires for 250km (155mi) today. That’s 70% of this 360km (224mi) 
journey. Bi-mode trains are becoming much more common in the UK these 
days to eliminate this problem. If you want AD-FREE early access to every 
video, great perks and to help me to do BIGGER & BETTER reviews, then become a 
Channel Member from just £1.99 per month. Just click the link above now, or the 
join button in every video, thank you! There is also now some snow on the ground as we 
arrive in Wakefield – calling at Kirkgate Station. As we depart, we pass under 
the line to Westgate Station, which all trains on the London to Leeds 
LNER route call at on the way through. This section of the route is the most scenic – 
with some stunning wintry #TrainWindowViews being seen as we are travelling past the towns, through 
the valleys and over the canals of West Yorkshire. I’m not sure why – but some fresh snow on 
the ground make everything more picturesque. Our next stop is Halifax – 
in the eastern foothills of the Pennine Hills in the Calder Valley. This 15th century town is home to around 
90,000 people and was most famous for its hundreds of cotton mills which thrived 
from the 1700s to the early 1900s. As we depart, we see a former flour 
mill – which is now home to the Nestle Confectionary Company who make Quality 
Street and After Eight chocolates here, along with hundreds of thousands 
of Easter Eggs every year. Anyway, we are now approaching the end of 
today’s route, so let me summarise this trip from London to Bradford with Grand Central in 
First Class on their Class 221 Super Voyager DMU. It was a very enjoyable, fast and 
efficient trip up the East Coast Mainline, and in to West Yorkshire with 
some stunning snowy views. The staff were friendly, and 
the seats were comfortable. The few complimentary goodies were nice to have 
– however I do feel that for the uplift in price, some more should be included – like 
a sandwich and drinks other than tea, coffee and water in order to give good value. When it’s as quiet as it was 
today – I’d definitely chose Standard Class over First Class – as it 
was a third of the price when I booked! We finally arrive at Bradford 
Interchange, one minute late at 2.04pm. Have you been on any open-access, private 
operator service trains in the UK before? If so, which ones and on which routes? How did you 
find them? Let me know in the comments below! I’m always open to new video ideas, so if you 
have something you’d like to see on the channel, then drop me DM on Instagram, BlueSky or Twitter. Don’t forget to subscribe, thanks for watching 
to the end, and I’ll see you in the next video!

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Today we’re back in the UK to check out one of the open-access, private operator on the East Coast Mainline.

We’ll travel from London King’s Cross to Bradford Interchange with Grand Central in First Class onboard one of their Class 221 ‘Super Voyager’ DMU – It’s a good experience, but they really need to do ONE THING to make it MUCH better – so come along with me and let’s check it all out together!

#TrainPal #GrandCentral #Class221 #SuperVoyager #London #Bradford #UK #TrainWindowViews

Date of Filming: 10/1/25
Camera: GoPro Hero 12 Black
Operator: Grand Central
Departure: London, UK
Arrival: Bradford, UK
Cost: First Class – £65.00 (€75.06, $87.68)

To check out my review on the LNER Intercity 225 from York to London, click here: https://youtu.be/UCokbo8KfbE

To see the Grand Central onboard menu, click here:
https://www.grandcentralrail.com/travelling-with-gc/on-board/food-and-drink

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00:00 – Intro
01:10 – Arrival at King’s Cross & Tour
02:38 – How to Buy Your Tickets at The Best Price
04:40 – Train Info Class 221 ‘Super Voyager’
05:08 – Boarding & Route Info
06:12 – Departure & Pricing
08:06 – Complimentary Service
09:18 – First Class Seat Tour
10:16 – A Walk Around the Train…
11:51 – A Unique Sight!
12:31 – Calling at Doncaster
13:14 – Calling at Wakefield
14:09 – Beautiful Snowy #TrainWindowViews
14:51 – Calling at Halifax
15:26 – Trip Summary
16:06 – Arrival at Bradford & Outro