PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Railways: Compensation (1 March 2017)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to provide passengers with information on their rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 related to train companies' compliance with consumer law.

Asked by:
Helen Hayes (Labour)

It is the responsibility of train operators, as service providers, to ensure that their customers are made aware of their rights to compensation or other redress in cases of service failure or disruption. Train operators’ own compensation schemes provide the main means of redress for passengers.

My Department has worked with the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), industry and consumer groups to identify actions to improve passenger awareness of their rights to claim compensation, including all options open to them. The ORR has also been working with the Rail Delivery Group and individual train operators over the last year to raise their awareness of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) and their obligations under it.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 came into force for all transport providers on 1 October 2016. Information about the Consumer Rights Act is widely available from the Citizens Advice Consumer Service, consumer organisations and government websites. Transport Focus, the independent transport user watchdog, has produced a guide to passengers’ rights under the Consumer Rights Act, which is available on their website.

Answered by:
Paul Maynard (Conservative)
9 March 2017