Which? criticises inadequate protection in law for international rail passengers in the UK and Europe

[Starmill]

According to consumer group Which?, weak protection could harm the drive towards sustainable travel. “The EU has ambitions to encourage more people to travel by train, but, to be successful, protections must be strengthened to offer at least the same level of cover as flights,” says Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel.

“Not only do train passengers often receive lower levels of compensation, potentially leaving them out of pocket for disruption, but rules on assistance and rerouting are often poorly understood, or ignored, leaving customers stranded, and so rail is likely to continue to be a less attractive prospect .”

Compensation has been as hellish as our Eurostar trip

When it comes to delays, rail passengers are treated as second-class compared with those who choose to fly

www.theguardian.com

I couldn't agree more with that statement personally. It's true both that the existing PRO are not at all adequate by comparison with the rules for air passengers, and also that, contemptibly, rail operators frequently don't respect even the less comprehensive provisions which are in place. Which? have picked up on both points here and I'm happy to see them getting involved.

Of course for domestic journeys in the UK, in general the NRCoT or the company's delay compensation information on their website can be relied upon to form a part of the contract for travel, as could the remedy of a repeat performance or price reduction under the test in the Consumer Rights Act. Therefore for the compensation element it would be easier to get some redress for such an exceptionally long delay.

It appears that the customer of Eurostar whose case study is linked above travelled from the UK to the Netherlands when they experienced their delay of over eight hours. It is a shame that the Consumer Rights Act route wasn't available for them, although in any case the price reduction they could have achieved may have been less than the 50% anyway.

Finally, it's also noted in the article that Eurostar didn't bother to comply with the law on providing food and drinks to delayed passengers - now there's a shock.

 

[hkstudent]

Compensation has been as hellish as our Eurostar trip

When it comes to delays, rail passengers are treated as second-class compared with those who choose to fly

www.theguardian.com

I couldn't agree more with that statement personally. It's true both that the existing PRO are not at all adequate by comparison with the rules for air passengers, and also that, contemptibly, rail operators frequently don't respect even the less comprehensive provisions which are in place. Which? have picked up on both points here and I'm happy to see them getting involved.

Of course for domestic journeys in the UK, in general the NRCoT or the company's delay compensation information on their website can be relied upon to form a part of the contract for travel, as could the remedy of a repeat performance or price reduction under the test in the Consumer Rights Act. Therefore for the compensation element it would be easier to get some redress for such an exceptionally long delay.

It appears that the customer of Eurostar whose case study is linked above travelled from the UK to the Netherlands when they experienced their delay of over eight hours. It is a shame that the Consumer Rights Act route wasn't available for them, although in any case the price reduction they could have achieved may have been less than the 50% anyway.

Finally, it's also noted in the article that Eurostar didn't bother to comply with the law on providing food and drinks to delayed passengers - now there's a shock.

Sadly is that EU haven’t thought/willing to think well to make long distance intercity service in line with airline for protection (though airlines are now lobbying to reduce EC261 protection as well, as cost being too high).

Even missed connection protection still cannot apply if trains are on different mother group of train services

 

[Starmill]

Sadly is that EU haven’t thought/willing to think well to make long distance intercity service in line with airline for protection (though airlines are now lobbying to reduce EC261 protection as well, as cost being too high).

Even missed connection protection still cannot apply if trains are on different mother group of train services

The CIV might apply to protect you against a missed connection, but only where there's a through ticket available. And only one.