Industrial Action

Travel on alternative dates

Customers who purchased Advance, Anytime or Off-Peak tickets before the strikes were announced - before 16 January 2024 - for a journey involving one of the train companies affected (listed above) for travel on a date between Tuesday 30 January and Monday 5 January 2024 will instead be able to use their ticket on either Monday 29 January or up to and including Wednesday 7 February 2024.

This policy does not apply to journeys wholly within the unaffected train companies: Elizabeth line, Heathrow Express, London Overground, Merseyrail, ScotRail, Transport for Wales - except where through tickets are held to or from them for journeys that also involve the affected train companies. 

This policy does not apply to any journeys on the unaffected train companies: Caledonian Sleeper, Grand Central, Hull Trains, Lumo. 

Notes:

• Journeys should be permitted at as closely matching times as possible to the original booking.   

• Seat reservations cannot be honoured if you travel on a different day.  

• Customers who wish to change Advance tickets to travel outside of this easement
  are permitted to do so under the usual Advance ticket terms and conditions. 

Crossing London:

Tickets with a cross-London marker [ † + Maltese Cross] denoting validity on London Underground and DLR services will be valid to use these services on the date shown on the ticket only. Customers using their tickets to travel on an alternative date will need to purchase a separate ticket or pay as you go (contactless or Oyster) for the London Underground or DLR segment of the journey. 

TfL have confirmed that customers will not be able to use London Buses or London Trams as an alternative on any day; nor use London Underground or DLR outside of the valid route and on the date shown as noted above. Customers will be expected to pay for their TfL journeys as normal. 

Fee-free refunds

If you purchased an Advance, Off-Peak or Anytime ticket and choose not to travel at all because your service on either your outward or return journey has been cancelled, delayed or rescheduled then you will be entitled to a fee-free refund or change from the original retailer of your ticket.

In the event of your service being affected by strike action, cross-industry ticket acceptance between different train companies and temporary removal of certain ticket restrictions may be made available.​​​​​​​​

Please note refunds and changes can only be made by the original retailer of your ticket.​

Please contact the train company you are travelling with for more information.​

Can I get a refund if the train I was planning to take is delayed? 

Yes, you are entitled to a refund under Condition 30.1 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel (PDF, 1.1MB). Alternatively, if you choose to travel and your train is delayed for more than 60 minutes you may be able to use your ticket to make your journey at a later date, subject to the restrictions of your ticket. Please contact the train company you are travelling with for more information. 

Will I be eligible for Delay Repay if the train I was planning to take is delayed? 

If the delay to your journey meets the Delay Repay threshold as a result of industrial action, you will be entitled to compensation from the train company that you are travelling with.

Can I get a refund if my train is rescheduled?

Yes, you are entitled to a refund under Condition 30.1 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel (PDF, 1.1MB). If you have purchased a ticket and your train has been cancelled, delayed or rescheduled due to strike action then you will be entitled to a refund or change of journey.

Please contact the retailer of your ticket for more information.  ​​​​​​​

Season tickets

If you have a Season ticket** that is monthly or longer and you cannot travel due to timetable disruption on the day that any strike action has cancelled your service then you can claim 100% compensation for these days through Delay Repay. 

If you have purchased a Season ticket** and would like a refund you can apply for a refund from the original retailer of your ticket. Please note an admin fee of no more than £10 will apply. Refunds are calculated from the date you return your season ticket and will be the difference between the price you paid and the cost of a ticket or tickets for the period for which you have used the ticket up to and including the date you request a refund.

If you are affected by cancellation or disruption to your journey, you may be entitled to compensation such as Delay Repay.

**If you are a Weekly Season ticket holder and purchased your ticket after the strikes were announced you will only be entitled to compensation if you actually travel and are affected by cancellation or disruption and the delay to your journey meets the Delay Repay threshold. ​

Flexi Season tickets

If you have purchased a Flexi Season ticket and would like a refund due to strike action affecting your journey, you can apply for a refund but an admin fee of no more than £10 will apply. Refunds are calculated from the difference between the price you paid for the Flexi Season and the cost of an Anytime return ticket for each day you have used. If you only have 1 or 2 journeys left on your Flexi Season ticket you may find that no refund is available.

If you had activated a day's worth of travel on a Flexi Season ticket and you cannot travel due to timetable disruption you can claim 100% compensation for these days through Delay Repay.

Weekly season tickets which have not started yet can be refunded, a £10 admin fee may apply.

To make sure that a weekly season ticket is the best value for you if you’re unable to travel during industrial action use our handy Season Ticket Calculator.

Advance tickets

If you purchased an Advance ticket and your chosen train has been affected by industrial action, you may be able to use your ticket on an alternative train on the same route. If you choose not to travel you may be able to amend when you travel fee-free by contacting the original retailer of your ticket up until 18:00 the day before you travel. ​​

Alternatively, customers with a ticket for travel on a strike day can instead use their ticket on an alternative date, see Can I get a refund or travel on a different day? above.

Why have you paused Advance tickets?

We have suspended the sale of Advance fares on strike days until the timetable for the strike days have been finalised. We do not want to mislead customers into thinking that we are able to run a full service or sell them tickets for trains that may not run. ​

It is likely that we will be running many fewer services on strike days and so we do not want to sell tickets to more passengers than we can accommodate. ​

Whilst Anytime and Off-peak fares will still show for strike days, we would encourage customers to wait until the day of travel or until the timetable is confirmed before buying a ticket. Once we know which trains are running, some Advance fares will be back on sale.​

Passengers who have already purchased Advance tickets on strike days may be entitled to a fee-free change of journey by contacting the original retailer of their ticket up until 18:00 the day before they travel.

Anytime and Off-Peak tickets

During periods of industrial action, the rail industry introduces a temporary timetable. Customers are encouraged to only buy Anytime and Off-Peak tickets once they know their train is running as the cost of the ticket would not change but admin fees for refunds may apply. 

Please check with the retailer you purchased your ticket from for more information. ​

The normal terms and conditions of your ticket will apply, but in some cases a train company may relax the restriction at their discretion. 

We will make information available when a service has been declassified. 

While we cannot refund taxi or hotel bills, if you decide to travel during a strike period and your chosen train is affected, you may be able to use your ticket on another train company or by an alternative route. Where disruption prevents you from completing the journey for which your Ticket is valid and is being used, any train company will, where it reasonably can, provide you with alternative means of travel to your destination, or if necessary, provide overnight accommodation for you.

If you choose not to travel because your service has been cancelled, delayed or rescheduled you will be entitled to a refund.

If you choose to travel and are delayed on your journey, you will be able to claim compensation if the delay meets the Delay Repay threshold.​​​​​​​

Station car parks are, in a majority of cases, managed on behalf of train companies by a third party operator, so it may not be possible to temporarily transfer a car park season ticket to another location. Please contact the train company that manages the station your car park season ticket is valid at, or the third party car park operator, for details of any easements. You can find details of car park operators by searching for your station on our Find a Station page.