East Lancashire Railway Reviews 

This was our first visit, courtesy of a birthday voucher from my partnr's son. It was a pleasant sunny Sunday and there were lots of people at the station. We thought it may have been difficult to park, but it was no problem. The bar and outdoor seating were very welcoming, giving a great impression of the whole setup! There was also a Com & Cosplay market spread along the bridge and platform, from which a few unique gifts were bought! As we neared our time slot, we joined a short queue, after checking in. The steam train was a beautiful sight, not be on one since I was a little girl! The dining carriages are lovely with traditional upholstered comfortable seating. We were shown to our table for two, by a pleasant member of staff and this set the standard throughout. We were greeted with a glass of sparkling wine. We also decided to order a bottle of the alcohol free version to compliment our food and this was served in an ice bucket with frosted glasses too. Our nice waiter kept us topped up, got me a cushion for more comfort and really looked after us very well. Our 3 course set meal was excellent and pleasantly served by other staff, who were also very friendly and polite. All our food was fresh, tasty and main course nice and hot. There are different menus on the dates you book and we can't wit to book again to try the rest! Oh yes, there will definitely be more visits! Many thanks to all staff who contributed to our great experience. ❤️

Booked a trip for my elderly parents.

My father fell down two flights of stairs and is in whiston hospital awaiting an operation. When my mum called to try to rebook she was left in distress and already traumatised by guy named Vincent.

No offer to rebook and only part refund.

Helpful and enthusiastic staff, well maintained stations, and a rather lovely 3f with steam heat for the carriages pulling the train. A quiet Sunday, I could imagine car parking at Bury could be a problem on busier days

Absolutely brilliant time was had on our trip on 13/12/25. Kids loved it and so did the big kids! Lovely feel to the whole experience with all of the staff making it feel very special. Fantastic value for money, great presents for the kids, a miniature Baileys and mince pie for the grown ups too. Whats not to like! The steam engine was fantastic, the whole atmosphere was brilliant and that's the best mince pie I've ever had!

Went to the vintage vibes weekend, everything from value of the gig to trains to food to beeer to staff to the whole event was outstanding.
Best event I've been to.
Allowed to use trains all day as well.
Hoping they do it annually or even twice a year from now on.

the annual visit to the east lancs for there diesel gala from previous visits they always put on fantastic event i highly recommended this railway to any who wants a great day out

We had afternoon tea which was a gift. Unfortunately it wasn’t the best experience. Although the staff tried hard to be welcoming they were unsure and pretty miserable. The food appeared with little effort and seemed to be supermarket bought sandwiches cut into triangles with a packet of scones and shop bought chocolate cake. Totally unappealing and poor value. At least a little effort and thought could have been made with freshly baked scones and thoughtfully prepared sandwiches! The coffee was stale from a prepared flask. I would have liked to give a good review as this is a lovely local experience. Unfortunately the lack of catering thought totally let it down.

We booked the Lancastrian lunch experience to celebrate my 80th with family and friends. It proved an enjoyable and memorable experience. Boarding was well organised and we were taken to our seats in carriage C. The ambiance was lovely, the food excellent and beatifully presented. Our dietary requirements were well catered for and the service was brilliant. All in all a great experience.

Have visited the railway a few times over the years and always enjoyed it.

My wife booked me on a drivers experience day for a significant birthday. Wonderful experience made all the better by fantastic staff and volunteers.

I was able to drive and fire city of wells on the watch of Dave Jones (driver) and Mark (fireman). Both are great guys and are a credit to the railway. It makes such a difference when you can enjoy your interests with knowledgeable and enthusiastic people who are easy to talk to.

Everyone there on the day was brilliant and I am hoping to volunteer there in the future!

10/10!

Went on a surprise visit with my daughter & friend. As I was in a wheelchair, I was ushered on first up a ramp & seated at the first table where they had provided a bouquet, balloon & 80th banner. I was treated as if I was royalty. All the staff were so friendly & arrived en 2 masse to sing happy birthday & give me a card. The 2 course lunch we had was excellent & they provided me with gluten free. I felt I was treated like royalty from start to finish. The best day out I have ever been on.

Having enjoyed so much the Flying Scotsman centenary celebrations I purchased tickets for Legends of Steam. Obviously the organisers were not the same. For a major event, there were no numbered seats, too few places for tickets sold, crammed carriages and ever lengthening queues. Not an enjoyable experience. On the plus side I did manage some good photographs.

The first thing I want to mention is - parking for the Santa express was horrendous, and even the overflow car park wasn't enough. However, we were late to our booking because of a crash on the motorway, 45 minutes in standstill. When we turned up we explained what had happened and why we had missed our pre-booked slot on the train, I fully expected to be told that we had to leave and our slot was gone, but they went above and beyond. Huge huge thanks to the team working there that day, they got myself, my partner and my child on the train that was in the station at that time (our original train had left). They communicated between multiple members of the team, didn’t make it awkward for our young child, and managed to get us on to a spare table with us all sat together. Everything felt as it should have, we still had our time on the train, our gift bags and our child had the gift from Santa that was pre-approved. Honestly the team there went above and beyond and our child loved it. There was no hint from anyone that it was stressful or too much which helped us keep the magic for them. It was a wonderful experience and we loved it. If I could thank them individually I would.

Santa express
Boring
Pathetic attempt
Impossible to park
Poor value for money experience for a family. Rushing through the crowds to catch your train then nothing happens for 30 mins a short ride to no where - with 2 carols a v quick visit from Santa and some pathetic presents - boring day - would not recommend- could not wait to go home!!!

I had paid for a Residents Permit 18 months before the L-Down and myself and my then 3 year old paid £7.50 for a full line return and we used the line every 3 or 4 weeks. October 2022 I renewed the Residents Permit after numerous failed attempts due to staff shortages. We took a full line return costing neary £30!!! We have not been able to use the Residents Permit again as all weekends were "Special Events" or the the Railway has been closed for Winter (which was never the norm before). We used to enjoy this line on a very regular basis, now it is "find the date when it is open for regular running" as the timetable has been slashed.
I have heard reasons as to why this is happening; Lack of coal, Price of coal, Lack of visitors. The "lack of visitors" is down to the; Slashed Timetable, Not running weekend trains, Too many "Specials".
Run more regular trains you will might get visitors.
The ELR has lost a lot of volunteers who's hobby was the railway, they gave up as THERE WERE NO TRAINS! To be honest the Railway was a shambles on a regular but fun way and was a regular part of our lives. Now it is just an afterthought to a Saturday morning, if thought of at all when it was a regular planned Saturday event. RIP ELR

Always loved going on the ELR and have a residents pass. However the move to a new ticket provider Quay Tickets is so disappointing. Not the friendliest of systems and not trying to book during the first week of June to find that there is actually no availability on 2nd June, I find hard to believe. Of course there is availability at more than DOUBLE the price over the BH dates. The war weekend cannot possibly dictate this massive price increase! I am looking at over £120 for my party of 6 to go literally from Rawtenstall to Ramsbottom! Extortionate rates, very disappointing. No idea why I cannot book for the Thursday when there is a timetable, yet I can book the days after with yet no timetable.