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About the Customer Pledges
When you choose to travel by train, it’s more than a journey. That’s why, if things don’t go to plan, you need the best information as quickly as possible.
We know from speaking to our customers that when things go wrong, we don’t always get it right – and we want to get better at keeping you up to date with the information you need during this time.
The rail industry’s 'Smarter Information, Smarter Journeys' programme aims to achieve a step-change in customer experience through the provision of better customer information, and by providing customers with all the information they want, when, and how they want it.
To support this, train operators, in partnership with Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group, have agreed on a set of pledges which outline what good looks like, and what customers can expect before, during and after their journey by train.
Through our Customer Information Pledges, we will:
show that we care by putting our customers’ needs first;
commit to a set of guiding principles that will bring real consistency to the information we provide to customers when they choose to travel by train;
allow for enough flexibility across the network to ensure we meet all customers’ needs, which might be slightly different locally, whilst still maintaining consistency across the industry;
bring together good practice from across the railway - and other industries - to support customers during disruption and get them where they need to be as quickly as possible.
A journey doesn’t start at a railway station - it can start when you arrange a meeting with a colleague, when you start a new job or when you fancy a day out with family and friends.
It’s good to plan...
Sometimes, Network Rail need to carry out improvement works (which keeps our network safe and makes it more reliable) or we might need to change the published timetable for other operational reasons. We work with Network Rail to agree and confirm any special timetable to cover this.
We normally plan things like this many months before they’ll happen - if we need to change your train times, we will let you know as soon as we can.
To help you plan your journey, working with rail industry partners and retailers, we will:
• publish the changes in our journey planners as soon as possible - we aim to do this no later than 12 weeks in advance for planned works.
• tell you in our journey planners if we haven’t yet confirmed the timetable and our normal timetable is still being shown.
• widely communicate details of upcoming changes to train times, so you know to recheck before you travel.
• provide a list of dates that are currently available for booking our Advance tickets on our website, so you don’t need to worry that you’ll miss out on any cheaper tickets that might become available.
• let you know when planning your journey if, for any part of your journey, you need to travel on a mode of transport where you would normally expect it to be a train.
• run trains and road transport that is accessible for everyone. If this isn’t possible, we will tell you and offer to arrange an alternative if you get in touch with us.
• ensure replacement buses display their destination and depart from an identified departure point which will be clearly shown.
• share information about the facilities that are available at the stations you’ll be using and highlight where there are any issues.
The railway is all about people: we are people who work hard to help people just like you travel from A to B. We care about you. We care about your journey. We care when things go wrong.
Nobody likes it when things don’t go to plan - but from time to time, it’s inevitable that it will. We simply ask that you allow us the opportunity to put things right and treat our people with respect.
Our team members will:
• be happy to help and be visible so you know where to find them.
• be the eyes and ears to help things run smoothly on the network - they will listen to any feedback you give and make sure that it is recorded to help make things better in the future.
• know what they need to do to resolve or report a problem.
• know what to do to help you when you travel with us.
• have access to technology (such as a mobile device) to enable them to get helpful information and share it with you.
• be available at our staffed stations to give you information. At unstaffed stations, or if no staff are present, there will be a way of getting in touch with us and we will tell you about these on notices around the station.
When you’re at a station, we will:
• give you as much notice as possible about the platform your train will depart from. When we can’t confirm the platform or there is a change to the platform, we will tell you as soon as we know.
• keep you up-to-date on the status of your train.
• keep announcements to a minimum, so you can easily pick out important information.
• let you know if you need to travel in a particular part of the train for your journey - such as if you are travelling to a station which has a platform shorter than the length of the train or if your train splits during the journey.
• provide details about onward travel options - including connecting trains and any local public transport services that are available.
When you’re on a train, we will:
• tell you as soon as we’re aware that your train may be disrupted.
• let you know about the stations the train will stop at and let you know we are approaching the next station, to give you time to get ready to leave the train.
• let you know the destination of the train (on the front and/or side of the train) and the stations the train will call at (on internal displays, where fitted).
• announce if the train stops unexpectedly between stations or will be late departing a station, so you know what is happening.
• make an announcement when the train will be stopping at additional stations.
• let you know, where we can, of any disruption on other routes that your train connects with, which may affect your onward journey.
As soon as we are aware of a problem affecting your journey, we will:
• update our digital information channels and stations/on train information screens with any cancellations, delays, or changes to the stations the train will call at.
• give you a reason for the alteration if the train is delayed by over ten minutes, if the train is cancelled or if we change the stations that the train will be calling at.
• give our best estimate for how long the disruption will last.
• enable our team at our staffed stations to provide further announcements where more relevant local information is available.
• keep you up to date with information from the incident scene and our control rooms, so you know what is being done to put things right.
• work with rail industry partners to make sure that messages across all channels are consistent, so you don’t have conflicting information.
• encourage you to re-plan your journey using our Journey Planner, by viewing the Live Departure Boards or by speaking to our team, so you can understand how the disruption will affect your journey.
• make sure that if we know a train is cancelled, it won’t be possible to buy a ticket for that journey on our website or a ticket-buying app. Our team members will make sure you know there are problems before they sell you a ticket.
• make sure you’re reminded of your right to claim compensation if your journey is disrupted.
We’ll clearly explain things to you, by...
• posting a message on our homepage and app, as well as the nationalrail.co.uk website if the change to your journey is part of a larger incident affecting the network, to let you know:
• what the problem is
• how it might impact your journey
• our advice and options for you to consider.
• telling you how the incident is progressing:
• whether we are investigating the problem
• if work is ongoing to fix the problem
• whether the problem is resolved, or
• if the incident has been cleared with the train service back to normal.
• making sure our information is:
• Clear: easy to understand and jargon-free.
• Consistent: you’ll get the same information whatever channel you use.
• Correct: we'll give you factual information. If we don’t know something, we'll tell you that we don’t know it.
• Concise: we'll keep things simple.
• sharing relevant travel options that help you make decisions about your journey.
These may include:
A. Checking if your journey by train is currently possible.
B. Travelling on another route (which might include local public transport).
C. Using Emergency Replacement Transport.
D. Travelling at a later time or on a later day.
• taking care of you - if the last train of the day is cancelled, we won’t leave you stranded.
• helping you with directions if we suggest an alternative route and you’re not familiar with it.
• making it clear that if we tell you to travel on a different train, route or operator, there will be no extra charge and you don’t have to change your ticket even if it is for a specific train or operator.
• ensuring that if you had to travel from another station on your outward journey because your planned journey was disrupted and your ticket was being accepted on that route, you will be able to travel back to that station without paying an extra fare using your original ticket - even if there is no longer any disruption.
• making it clear how you can get in touch with us if you want to let us know how we are doing. We will listen to your feedback and use this to help improve in the future.
We think it’s important that you know what tools are available to help keep you informed.
There are some things we’d encourage you to do:
• always check before you travel, to make sure that nothing has changed, through your train company’s website or app, nationalrail.co.uk or the National Rail Enquiries app.
• remember that “everyone’s journey is different”, and that using a journey planner is the best way to find the best trains to match your journey - especially if your journey is disrupted.
• ask for help, we’re here whether that’s before you travel, on the day if you need it or after you’ve travelled...
• sign up for our notification services, and we’ll make sure to explain the benefits.
• check out the ‘Ticket Availability’ pages so you know when Advance tickets will go on sale.
• be aware that some stations may not be accessible for everyone - plan ahead to make your journey as smooth as possible.
• know where to go to get information about a major incident on our website or app.
• remember it can take us time to get alternatives arranged during disruption – please be patient and courteous to our team whilst we work hard to put things in place.
• be aware of compensation arrangements and to claim if they are delayed.
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