Rail Refunds If Your Train is Delayed
We have all been there, standing on the train platform when the dreaded announcements start carrying on about how sorry they are and how many minutes it may be delayed by in a pre-recorded message. You grin, bear it, and settle down for another sit on an increasingly chilly platform. Obviously, some delays are inevitable, indeed it is an incredible feat of organisation that for the majority of the time the trains do run on time. When they do go wrong they often go very, very wrong. It is very hard to be charitable when you have been on every mode of transport known to man, barring camel and hydrofoil, to get to your destination. Like any service you purchase however, there is redress and so long as you get the right forms together there is the potential for a refund either in full or in part.
“Please have your Tickets ready for inspection….”
When you purchase a ticket you are entering into an agreement with the train companies. This agreement is based on the National Rail Conditions of Carriage and governs the rights and responsibilities as a minimum that can be expected as between yourself and the train companies. If you have any more rights then this is something you will have to actively ask about at the point of sale, rights and responsibilities can be varied but there are some minimum standards.Like most situations every case is individual, each persons’ train journeys should, and are, treated separately and should be claimed for individually. At the time of writing the relevant part of the Conditions of Carriage are Part E and Part H and is available to download. Irrespective of the contents of Parts E and H you should read these conditions carefully before raising your expectations that you might be automatically entitled to a full refund as this may not be the case. In the instance that you have derived some benefit from the ticket, such as part of your journey ran to time, you might not receive a full refund. You should read the whole document should you be unsure or want to make yourself more aware of your rights.
Some train companies operate different standards as to when and how they will pay compensation should a train be late or disrupted, or, whether the train company can be held reliable for the disruption. The individual arrangements are not going to be explored in this article but the Conditions of Carriage represent the minimum standard to be expected. If you are in doubt that you have received good service, speak to the ticket office and see what they say.
