I say it as I see it

In some circles, National Express East Coast ("NXEC") has a pretty bad press.

NXEC operates a high speed train service up the east side of the UK from London Kings Cross to Scotland, with an offshoot to Leeds.

Over the weekend I've traveled by train on NXEC from London to Edinburgh and back.

• On Friday we were six minutes late into Edinburgh, while last night we were seven minutes early back into London.
• The trains were full, but the vast majority of seats were reserved. It was after all the busiest weekend of the year in Edinburgh, so no surprise there.
• The trains were clean and tidy and each had 'litter pickers' walking up and down the train clearing away rubbish.
• There were no grumpy staff - everyone seemed professional, polite and well organised.
• Between Newcastle and Edinburgh there is some stunning scenery, though I will say that only a tiny proportion of passengers paid the slightest attention to the views. You also get a true feeling of the scale of Durham Cathedral when pulling in and out of that North-Eastern city.
  

All in all, a positive experience.