Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with train operating companies on offering full refunds to passengers who have purchased advanced rail tickets and are no longer able to use those tickets due to covid-19 restrictions.

In October government agreed with the rail industry that, where a passenger with an Advance ticket is prevented from travelling due to changes to local or national restrictions, change of journey administration fees will be waived and, if they purchased their ticket directly from a train operator, they will be able to apply for a Rail Travel Voucher valid for 12 months. Independent rail retailers can use their discretion to offer a credit note if they have the ability to do so, or a fee-free change of journey.

On 24 November, government announced that Advance ticket change of journey fees will also be waived for students who need to rearrange travel to comply with the student travel window.