Demand for refund to passengers after research finds ticket machines are too confusing

(Credit: Shutterstock)

Recent research initiated by the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) has found that passengers buying train tickets from ticket machines often paid more than was necessary and some were even at risk of a penalty fare.

(Credit: Shutterstock)

Using mystery shoppers, the ORR found that:

• 13% chose a more expensive ticket than required
• 7% did not select the most flexible ticket (with the majority risking a penalty fare)
• 65% did not see any information on the type of tickets which could or couldn’t be bought from the machine
• 57% said the ticket machine did not explain peak and off-peak times
• 32% could not see any information on ticket restrictions

As a result, John Larkinson, ORR’s Director of Railway Markets and Economics, has demanded that rail operators introduce a price guarantee, stating: “We are calling on train companies to commit to refund anyone who finds that they could have bought a cheaper ticket for the same journey.”

Rail passengers must be confident when purchasing tickets from ticket machines

Around a third of passengers use ticket machines and it is important that they are clear and concise for passengers to make the right ticketing choices.

The ORR is therefore keen for the Rail Delivery Group to address these issues and refund passengers where necessary. In a letter to Jacqueline Starr, Managing Director, Customer Experience at RDG, Mr Larkinson writes that: “Train operators must work harder to build trust and in turn demonstrate publicly that they are responding to passengers’ needs.”

Unacceptable

Commenting further, Vickie Sheriff, Director of Campaigns and Communications at consumer body Which? stated that “the current ticketing system is a mess” and that it is “unacceptable that people are paying over the odds. Train companies need to refund passengers who’ve paid more than they should.

“Train companies must do much more to ensure passengers can find the right fare every time.”

RDG’s plans to improve ticket machines

In 2016 the Rail Delivery Group published at ten-point plan to improve ticket machines. In it they vowed to “make clear to customers what times a [ticket machine] is configured to sell off-peak tickets” and that “if there is a cheaper alternative ticket available via the [ticket machine] that might allow the customer to travel on their specified journey more cheaply, this should be made clear.”

Responding to the ORR’s findings today a spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group said that: “Train companies are working to reform fares through a number of agreed trials which will enable simplification of fares structures. We want customers to get the best possible deal every time they travel by train, however they buy their tickets.”

Whether passengers will receive refunds for their mispriced tickets remain to be seen, but the results published today from ORR’s research has certainly brought to light the need for change in our current ticketing machine system.