Frequent travellers with rail season tickets could receive a refund if they choose to stay at home during the coronavirus outbreak, the government has promised members of the public.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it would “ensure no-one is unfairly out of pocket for doing the right thing”.
The refund is part of measures outlined by the government to help support train companies financially.
There has been around 70% drop in passenger numbers and ticket sales have dropped by two-thirds, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
As a result, the firms in charge of ensuring the trains continue running are facing “significant drops” in their income, the government said. The number of services they run has also been cut.
To stop those firms from significant financial difficulties, the DfT has suspended all rail franchise agreements, which manage many aspects, such as how many trains run each hour and restrict how much the companies can charge for tickets.
Under these contracts, the train operators are generally required to make frequent payments to the government to run services on parts of the rail network.
However, DfT has now suspended these agreements for six months.
Instead, all the money from fares will be paid to the government, which will also take on the financial risk of running the network, to save firms from going under as a result of the slump in demand.
However, the train operators will continue to run the services “for a small predetermined management fee”, the DfT said.
As it stands the UK government are advising against all but non essential travel, insisting that working from home is the best option if available and social distancing should be enforced across the country.
Members of the public have been asked to think very carefully about wether or not their travel is essential and if it could be avoided or postponed. We’re advising that all of our readers take extra precautions and avoid all travel completely.
