RAIL PASSENGERS GET FREE SWITCH RIGHT AFTER CANCELLATIONS

Rail passengers whose trains are cancelled will be able to travel on a different operator's service without paying again, the Department for Transport has announced. The change takes effect from Sunday 20 September. Passengers holding a valid ticket will be able to board another operator's train departing up to two hours before or after their cancelled service, using a direct or reasonable alternative route. Previously, travellers on disrupted services often had to wait for formal confirmation before switching operators, or buy a new ticket and separately apply for a refund. The Department for Transport said passengers had been "paying the price for a system which prioritises shareholders when trains are cancelled." Passengers will need to show their original ticket to staff as proof of purchase.

The automatic right already applies across operators in public ownership. It will now extend to CrossCountry, Great Western Railway, Avanti West Coast and Chiltern Railways, which run major intercity routes, alongside Gatwick Express, Great Northern, LNER, Southeastern, Thameslink and South Western Railway. East Midlands Railway will not be immediately included, which reports linked to ongoing cancellations and seat shortages tied to its Hitachi bi-mode trains. Rail minister Lord Hendy said: "This is a simple, commonsense change that puts passengers first. No one should be left stranded because of a fragmented railway when their journey is disrupted."

Lord Hendy said the government was working towards Great British Railways and making the network "simpler, fairer and easier to use." Remaining operators are scheduled to move into public ownership next year under the Great British Railways banner, aside from a small number of open-access services. The government is also investing £156 million in new ticketing schemes, with pay-as-you-go travel due to reach 100 more stations across Greater Manchester, the Midlands and the south-east by 2027. Alex Robertson, chief executive of watchdog Transport Focus, called the change a "welcome change" that should make things easier for passengers when services are cancelled.