Heatwave ticket arrangements

Introduction

Amber and even red weather warnings that were issued by the Met Office across most of England and Wales on Tuesday 23, Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 June, for temperatures expected to be as high as 40°C in some parts of Britain, have now been extended to include Friday 26 June. As a result, the ticket validity easement arrangements have been extended, see below.

Many train companies, including Chiltern Railways, have or are planning to reduce their services to minimise the risk of train breakdowns whilst others operate over sections of line that have had speed restrictions implemented due to the risk of rails buckling in the heat and other possible infrastructure failures.

As a result, services are subject to delay, diversion and cancellation and customers are advised to check every journey on nationalrail.co.uk or by using the Chiltern Railways App or website before attempting to travel.

At present, Chiltern Railways along with several other train companies serving England and Wales are expecting to be significantly affected by the weather.

At the time of writing, the National Rail Enquiries and Chiltern Railways real-time Journey Planner might not be showing all the altered services. You are advised to check your entire journey before you travel as trains may be altered in advance or at short notice.

This page focusses on ticket validity, refund arrangements and compensation arrangements for season ticket holders.

For information regarding the train service we plan to run, please visit our service summary page.

Ticket date validity

Applicable if the journey involves an impacted train operator (including Chiltern Railways) or a through ticket  

We have worked together with other train operators to formulate a policy for ticket validity that is relevant for all customers that may be affected.

The below policy is what customers travelling with Chiltern Railways (and those with connections) can expect. It is possible that some train companies may offer even further ticket easements beyond the dates shown – but if they do then these will be advertised locally and will only be applicable to journeys wholly with that train operator and not with connections through to other train operators..

The below policy is at no extra cost to the ticket types shown.

Anytime, Off-Peak or Advance tickets; also Rovers and Rangers and customers travelling with Interrail and Britrail Passes

Applicable to:

• This applies to customers completing their rail journeys wholly with the train operator that is directly affected by this event, as well as journeys to, from or via the affected train operator's services and connecting services. 
• Customer deciding to travel earlier in the day are recommended to do so before midday when temperatures are likely to be cooler – whilst still noting the boxed note above. 
• Customers with tickets valid to travel across or within London, please see ‘Crossing London’ section below. 
• Where you hold a seat reservation, this cannot be honoured if you travel on a different day. Chiltern Railways does not offer seat reservations on its services.
• If you wish to change an Advance ticket or tickets to travel outside of this easement,  that is permitted under the usual Advance ticket terms and conditions. 

Through journeys to or from unaffected train operators

Train operators that are not directly impacted will accept any connections or through tickets on the alternative dates shown above. For example, if you were due to travel to or from the affected area to or from somewhere that is not affected, your ticket will be accepted on the dates noted above.

If you are using a combination of more than one ticket to complete the journey, you will be treated the same as if a through ticket were held.

Ticket acceptance

Applicable if any part of the journey involves an impacted train operator

In the event of a customer’s service being affected by disruption caused by the weather, cross-industry ticket acceptance may be made available. Mutual ticket acceptance with and between other operators will be communicated locally when and if agreement is made. If your journey with Chiltern Railways is affected and ticket acceptance arrangements are agreed with other operators, thes will be communicated via our JourneyCheck page and at National Rail Enquiries.

Where mutual ticket acceptance is in place on any given date with another operator, you may use the services of either the affected operator or the other operator to complete your journey on that date, regardless of the type of ticket purchased.

Crossing London

Tickets with a cross-London marker [ † + Maltese Cross] denoting validity on London Underground and DLR services will be valid to use these services on the date shown on the ticket only. Customers using their tickets to travel on an alternative date will need to purchase a separate ticket or pay as you go (contactless or Oyster) for the London Underground or DLR segment of the journey.

TfL state that customers will not be able to use London Buses or London Trams as an alternative on any day; nor use London Underground or DLR outside of the valid route and on the date shown as noted above. Customers will be expected to pay for their TfL journeys as normal.