Transport User Voice September 2024 – Rail compensation and refunds

04 September 2024

Could you be due a refund?

South West Trains  

Good news for South West Trains passengers – who could benefit from a new compensation plan announced recently. 

A legal challenge has been made against several train companies over ‘boundary zone’ fares. These allow passengers who own a London Travelcard to travel beyond the zones covered by their Travelcard, paying only for the part of the journey from the Travelcard boundary to their destination.

The legal case argues that these boundary fares were not easy to buy and passengers weren’t made aware of them, meaning that some bought a new ticket covering the entire journey, and paid twice for part of the journey.  

The legal challenge is ongoing, but one of the parties has settled. Stagecoach (who operated the South West Trains franchise until 2017) did not admit any legal liability, but agreed to pay up to £25 million pounds to passengers who may have been affected.  

If you travelled on Stagecoach South West Trains between 1 October 2015 and 20 August 2017 and believe you were affected, you may be able to claim compensation of £100 or more, and up to £30 without any proof of purchase. 

To find out if you are eligible and how to claim, please visit: www.BoundaryFares.com  

Single Justice Process ruling 

A recent court ruling could have implications for passengers who travelled on any one of seven train companies and were prosecuted for fare evasion, using the Single Justice Process. 

In August, the Chief Magistrate made a judgment on a small number of fare evasion cases, to decide how incorrectly-handled convictions should be dealt with. He decided that these cases should be declared invalid, and anything paid for that offence should be reimbursed.   

What happens next? 

Other cases of this type will now be listed and brought before the court, so that a decision can be made as to whether they should also be declared invalid. Passengers involved in these cases will not be required to attend those hearings.   

His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) will use court records and case information held by rail providers to contact those affected over the coming weeks about the hearing and decision.  

Passengers who may be affected, should wait to be contacted directly and told what will happen next including if they have paid some or all of a financial penalty. For those who haven’t yet paid anything relating to their offence, HMCTS will be writing to them to tell them that the conviction is declared invalid to confirm the court record has been corrected.  

Passengers should meet all the following criteria. Affected cases were prosecuted:   

• by Northern, Transpennine, Avanti West Coast, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Arriva Rail Northern or Merseyrail (this list may be subject to minor amendments and will be updated on Monday 19 August 2024) 

• between 2018 and 2023 (with the vast majority of affected cases prosecuted from 2020) 

• under Section 5(1) or 5(3) of Regulation of Railways Act (and the wording of one of these would have appeared on the single justice notice you would have received) 

If address or payment information has changed since they were last provided to HMCTS, passengers should email: SJS@Justice.gov.uk or telephone 0300 303 0656 to provide updated information. A case number or account number will need to be provided. 

More information can be found here: Train company prosecutions – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

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