The government has announced that passengers whose train journeys are cancelled are now able to use other services to complete their journey free of charge.
Previously, the system prioritised shareholders when trains were cancelled, with passengers left to wait on platforms, rush to catch another service across the station, or buy a new ticket.
However, since Sunday 20 September, if a passenger’s train is cancelled, they are now able to transfer to another service run by a different operator to complete their journey at no additional cost. Customers holding a valid ticket will be able to travel on another participating operator’s train, departing within 2 hours before or after their original cancelled service, using a direct or alternative route. Passengers can show their original ticket to customer support staff on their new service as proof of purchase, with no requirement to download a new ticket.
Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, said that it was a simple, common-sense change that puts passengers first – helping to fix the railway from the ground up.
Following the expansion this weekend, the following operators will be taking part in the scheme: c2c; Gatwick Express; Greater Anglia; Great Northern; LNER; London Northwestern Railway; Northern; Southeastern; Southern; Thameslink; South Western Railway; Transpennine Express; West Midlands Railway; Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; CrossCountry; and Great Western Railway.
Paul Cooper, Passenger Rail Adviser, and member of CILT(UK)’s Strategic Rail Policy Group, commented:
“Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel and operator codes, cross-operator ticket acceptance has applied during major disruptions for many years, with operators required to ‘agree’ to a ticket acceptance arrangement for that specific incident. In my experience, it didn’t usually take long to reach these agreements, and the new arrangements apply to only 13 of Great Britain’s 24 existing passenger train operators. Nonetheless, the government’s announcement of a new scheme to help stranded rail passengers is a small but welcome improvement - as it covers any form of cancellation and not just major disruption.
“However, one thing we ought to question is why operator-specific, as opposed to train-specific, fares continue to exist. Consolidating these fares would be a real change and would reduce the need to put the announced arrangements in place.”