Getting back on the rails

Delays, cancellations, constant overcrowding, old trains, skipping stops… the list of complaints about the nation’s train services keep rising as fast as the ticket prices.

Rail passengers across the UK are paying more than ever for the privilege of travelling on the tracks, but they are still arriving – eventually – at their destinations, late and frustrated.

We rely on trains to get us to work on time – so we can keep our jobs – and to get us home again on time – especially vital if there are children waiting to be collected from nurseries and childminders or elderly parents to care for.

Our trains need to be run with passengers at the top of the priority list. Yet people are suffering with rail services that don’t even deliver the basics.

At Which? we’ve long campaigned for this appalling customer service to end. We want to see train companies respect passenger rights and comply with the law; the rail regulator given real teeth to hold the industry to account; and the government to swiftly bring forward reforms that put passengers first.

So we were delighted when, at the start of February, the rail regulator announced that train companies will be required to participate in a new, freeto-use ombudsman scheme for customer complaints. We had feared it might be a voluntary scheme, but thankfully it is compulsory so passengers should have confidence they can use the ombudsman if they feel their complaint has not been dealt with adequately.

The new body will investigate customer complaints when train companies fail to take action. If the ombudsman identifies valid complaints and claims that the train company has disregarded, then it will be able to overrule the company’s decision.

It’s now up to the rail industry to get on board with this proposal and ensure that the ombudsman is up and running as soon as possible.

And we hope that it will help to improve standards and ensure that passengers’ rights can no longer be ignored.

Send me your consumer queries to askalex@which.co.uk