Rail passengers will no longer have to fork out for new ticket if their train is cancelled in new reforms
Train passengers who get stranded due to cancellations and face the cost and inconvenience of having to buy another ticket will very soon not have to worry about that.
From Sunday (20 September) onwards if you've had your train cancelled and would normally need to buy another ticket you'll now be able to travel for free on other services without worrying.
No more hoping the other operators will accept your ticket, figuring out the faff of buying a new one or dipping into your pocket again while hoping you can get the old ticket refunded, if you've bought a ticket to get somewhere via rail then you're allowed to get there through a reasonable route.
If you have a valid ticket for travel then a few days from now when the changes kick in you can travel on another operator's train that's leaving up to two hours before or after your train was supposed to set off.
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All of the publicly owned operators already do this, but others are getting rolled into the scheme ahead of the launch of Great British Railways.
Train operators you can travel on
This scheme will work for any operator that's already in the public ownership and now four of the private ones are included, with the new additions being CrossCountry, Great Western Railway, Avanti West Coast and Chiltern Railways.
The full list of operators where you can travel on another viable service if your train is cancelled includes:
- 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
- Great Western Railway
East Midlands Railway is not currently in the scheme but is expected to join later on so there'll be more journeys where you can travel on if you've been struck by cancellation.
The Department for Transport said passengers had been left 'paying the price for a system which prioritises shareholders when trains are cancelled' and that was going to change now.
As long as you can find a reasonable alternative route at some time two hours before or after you travelled then you can use your ticket on the other services from Sunday onwards.
Rail minister Lord Hendy said it was a 'simple, common-sense change that puts passengers first' and will help stop people from becoming 'stranded' if their train was cancelled.
Alex Robertson, Chief Executive of Transport Focus said: "When passengers are delayed, they just want to get where they need to be, not worry about whether their ticket will be accepted on another train.
"This is a welcome change that we have long called for and should make it easier for people when services are cancelled.
"The key now is making sure passengers get clear information about their options whenever disruption occurs."
Joe Harker