Good news for UK train passengers whose services get cancelled
Key Points
- Passengers with cancelled trains can board other operators' services for free from Sunday 20 September
- Valid tickets are accepted on services departing within two hours before or after the cancelled train
- Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, CrossCountry and Great Western Railway join the scheme; East Midlands Railway follows later
- Government investing £156 million in pay-as-you-go ticketing at over 100 more stations by 2027
Train passengers whose services get cancelled will be able to board another operator’s train for free from Sunday (20 September), the Department for Transport announced on Monday (14 September).
The change ends the current arrangement where passengers wait on platforms for operators to agree ticket acceptance, buy a replacement ticket, or abandon their journey entirely.
Customers holding a valid ticket will be able to travel on another participating operator’s service departing within two hours before or after their original cancelled train. The replacement journey must follow a direct or reasonable alternative route.
Passengers will need to show their original ticket to staff on the new service as proof of purchase. There is no requirement to download a new ticket.
Cross-operator ticket acceptance already applies across all publicly owned operators. From Sunday, the scheme expands to include CrossCountry, Great Western Railway, Avanti West Coast and Chiltern Railways, which run key intercity routes across the UK.
“This is a simple, common-sense change that puts passengers first. No one should be left stranded because of a fragmented railway when their journey is disrupted,” said Lord Hendy, Rail Minister.
“From this weekend, if your train is cancelled, you can get on another operator’s service and carry on your journey without paying again,” he added.
Following the expansion, the following operators will take 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
- Great Western Railway
East Midlands Railway will join the scheme at a later date, the department said.
The reform comes ahead of the creation of Great British Railways, which will bring the network under stronger public control. The government said the new arrangement forms part of its wider work to simplify the fare system before GBR launches.
The government is also investing £156 million in new ticketing schemes so that pay-as-you-go will be available at over 100 more stations across Greater Manchester, the Midlands and the south-east by 2027.
Digital ticketing lets passengers download an app that uses GPS to track their journeys and calculate the best fare, without checking in and out or buying a ticket in advance. A new GBR website and app is in development, which will let passengers buy tickets, check train times and access support in one place.
“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,” said Alex Robertson, Chief Executive of Transport Focus.
“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,” he added.
