Didcot Railway Centre Reviews Summary

Accessibility

Pros:

• "They are currently building a ramp."
• "Wheelchair access is also available."
• "Very easy to go there if you use train."
• "The centre is based within easy reach inside Didcot railway station."
• "Didcot is best reached by Railway to Didcot Parkway station which is adjacent to the Railway centre."
• "The only problem is with access for disabled people but there is work started that will remedy this."
• "We used JustPark App and parked handily only 3 minutes away from entrance."

Cons:

• "The parking is a little far for those of a more senior nature."
• "Car-parking is quite a walk away from the centre."
• "Nice place not very wheelchair friendly on my scooter not good keep crossing lines and lifting my scooter on and of the carriages."
• "The lack of wheel chair access is the big down for this place trying to get someone up a flight stairs is not on."
• "Unfortunately, this place is not friendly for people with physical disabilities."
• "There's no wheelchair access!"
• "Can we talk about the fact that y'all don't have disabled access from the train station? Is that even legal?"

Staff and Volunteers

Pros:

• "Not only did the staff do a great job of looking after us around the site, but the value for money was excellent."
• "Cared for by talented and enthusiastic staff who love their work."
• "Helpful and friendly (volunteer) staff."
• "Staff are very nice and entertaining."
• "Everyone was so helpful and gave us interesting information."
• "The staff were very friendly and most are volunteers."
• "All the staff were really friendly and extremely helpful."

Cons:

• "I met a couple of people complaining that the running trains shut down for lunch, which was fine, but nobody seemed to know what time this happened and you were left standing about over the lunch period."
• "The staff/ volunteers are nice and friendly."
• "Staff are very knowledgeable and friendly."
• "All staff were friendly and helpful."
• "A few of the staff could have tried a little harder with being friendly."
• "Good little place for the kids to see a real steam train in operation close up, but disappointed the men in the train didn't seem interested at all in showing the kids the firebox, and how the coal works...we asked but they ignored us like we weren't there."
• "Shame about the jobsworth staff at the barriers at Didcot station whose one aim in life is to ruin your day."

Facilities and Exhibits

Pros:

• "Excellent quality facilities."
• "Brilliant displays, superb historical artifacts, and very well layed out."
• "Signalling Centre very impressive showing several generations of railway signalling in operation."
• "They have some nice picnic areas."
• "It was wonderful to see the mighty King Edward II in steam!"
• "The site also has a great museum of days gone by and a chance to see how the signal boxes work."
• "Amazingly good museum that preserves Britain's GW railway really well."

Cons:

• "On the whole it looks like it hasn't moved on much from the 90s."
• "Once kids are done seeing one old train they've seen all of them."
• "The GWR artifact museum is very small, it was interesting, but not big enough by far."
• "Some parts of the grounds were unkempt and looked like a work in progress or a dumping ground."
• "Then you go in and all the trains are is parked in a dark hall where you can’t really see them."
• "There is a tiny garden model railway which was not running and was not mega impressive."
• "The only thing we found wrong was the directions on the website to the car park."

Food and Cafe

Pros:

• "There's also a café at the centre, so pop in and get a bite to eat if you feel like it."
• "Onsite cafe too for lunch and snacks etc."
• "Cafe was takeaway only, but as I have an egg allergy the lady was very helpful and got me a mayo free sandwich from the back."
• "The cafe, albeit basic offers a wide selection of good food."
• "Food and drinks were good as long as you want cafe type food."
• "The cafe is great, delicious food and everyone working were really nice."
• "Cafe on site, good selection of hot and cold food."

Cons:

• "Cafeteria is only ok, sometimes too busy."
• "The cafe leaves a little to be desired."
• "21 Acres of old trains to look at but whatever you do, AVOID THE CAFE and take a packed lunch."
• "On special event days, DRC should consider other popup catering as queues for cafe were ridiculous."
• "The food in the cafe was a little undercooked (pastries)."
• "A big disappointment for us, don’t buy coffee there! This was the worst coffee we ever have had in England."
• "The café serves more food than you might expect from the website."

Value and Experience

Pros:

• "An absolute bargain. There is so much to see, loads of interactive displays and trains to ride on."
• "With unlimited rides on a steam engine on the demonstration track, you won't get bored easily!"
• "A fascinating place to visit where you are pretty much able to roam around everywhere within reason."
• "The steam train was wonderful. It was like Hogwarts express to kids."
• "Has to be the best collection of GWR steam locomotives anywhere."
• "Lovely place for a day out although the website said it was £6.50 each not £12 each so that was a shocker!"
• "Absolutely fab to see everyone walk around with smiles on their faces."

Cons:

• "We went to the 'Father Christmas Experience', which was by far the worst part."
• "I was disappointed with the Hallowsteam stuff. I felt the cheap tacky decorations on the locos ruined some picture ops."
• "I would never go back the highlight of the day was the trip to the Prince of Wales across the road."
• "Staff is nice enough but everything feels pretty run down and bare bones."
• "Was expecting more for what it cost and to be clearly signed (getting there was a pain!)"
• "But I'm very disappointed in your parking situation, we paid for more than we stayed... and got a ticket for a £100 saying that we didn't parked correctly."
• "I'm just disappointed because I thought we would have a really nice day out here, and we didn't."