Following extremely hot weather when passengers were advised not to travel unless necessary, rail firms have updated their advice this week, creating a complex mix of rules for passengers holding different types of rail tickets.
Holders of monthly or longer season tickets choosing not to travel on Tuesday (19 July) can claim 100% compensation through Delay Repay, while weekly season ticket holders appear only to be able to compensation if unable to travel because there was no service running on the line covered by the ticket.
Those holding flexi-season tickets may need to tap in for journeys they do not intend to make in order to obtain refunds it emerged, as holders of those tickets have to have 'activated a day’s travel' for 19 July.
This prompted campaigners to call for rail season ticket extensions when passengers follow advice not to travel.
Southern Rail limited compensation during last month's strikes
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) told Transport Network that customers using a rail company’s app could activate flexi tickets via an app but those using smartcards would need to travel to the station to do so through the ticket barrier.
Similarly, in advance of further strikes across the rail network, the RDG put out a statement advising passengers to ‘only travel if necessary’.
It stated: ‘Passengers with a season ticket that is monthly or longer, or have an activated days’ worth of travel on a flexi season ticket, who choose not to travel on 27 or 30 July can claim compensation for these days through the delay repay scheme.’
This again illustrates the lack of flexibility in time-limited ‘flexi’ tickets, which are based on the carnet model and time-limited, meaning that customers carry the risk of having unused tickets at the end of a period.
Norman Baker from Campaign for Better Transport, a former transport minister, told Transport Network: ‘Passengers with any sort of season ticket, whether it's traditional or flexible, should be entitled to an extension to their ticket to make up for strike days.’
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