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Rail passengers waiting over six weeks for ticket refunds

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
20/05/2020

Some rail passengers are waiting six weeks or more for a refund on their season tickets, according to a survey by the transport watchdog.

Transport Focus questioned almost 700 season ticket holders and found a third of those who had requested a refund had not yet received it.

Only half of rail passengers were satisfied with how their refund was being handled.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “While the majority of passengers have received a refund, six weeks on from applying others are still out of pocket and in the dark.

“Operators must reassure passengers on how long they can expect their refund to take and when they can realistically expect to see the money back in their bank account.”

In March, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said passengers with unused time left on season tickets and advanced ticket holders could get a refund.

Industry body the Rail Delivery Group says over 109,000 season tickets have been refunded in the last two months, more than the whole of 2019.

Jacqueline Starr, of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “Train operators are working hard to process an unprecedented number of refunds as quickly as possible.

“We thank people for their patience as refunds are processed during these exceptional times and we have doubled the number of staff processing refund claims, extended the claims period to 8 weeks and are backdating refunds.”

Passengers should contact their train company or independent ticket retailer to claim a refund.