Passengers should be refunded for ticket purchases

It’s with some dismay that I learn the rail industry will no longer refund advance tickets.

This was one of the things the Government did well back in March, as otherwise many who had bought advance tickets would have found themselves out of pocket through no fault of their own.

Most of the travel industry followed suit to some extent, or at least offered rebooking at no extra cost.

This gave customers the confidence to book knowing that if circumstances changed, meaning they were unable to use the bookings, they would not be penalised. And it had the advantage to businesses of keeping some cash coming in.

Now it appears that the Government doesn’t want the railway industry to do this, so I checked with my solicitor just what the legal situation would be.

His answer was that should Government action mean you should no longer travel as booked with an advance ticket, the contract between the train operator and the passenger will become unenforceable.

Bottom line: the train operator would then need to refund the passenger their money.

Ross Middleton, St Albans