Trainline has warned customers they could be hit with a huge £100 fine if they don’t follow key train fare rules. Passengers using the app, which allows you to book train tickets, have been told they can’t use a Railcard for discounts on every fare.
Various restrictions apply to some popular Railcards – which help young and old people get discounts on train journeys.
Your Senior Railcard cannot be used on peak services from Monday to Friday, except on bank holidays. Similarly, a Network Railcard cannot be used for journeys starting before 10am Monday to Friday.
While fewer restrictions are in place on the 16-25 Railcard, it still can’t be used for discounts on first-class fares, season tickets and fares under £12 between 4.30am and 9.59am Monday to Friday.
Passengers can be hit with fines of up to £100 for breaking these ticket rules.
Speaking to The Sun, a spokesperson for the platform said it would be making changes to make these rules clearer to customers.
They said: “While we have always applied railcards correctly and presented the right fees to our customers, recent events highlighted a sense of confusion for passengers around rail industry terms and conditions.”
The spokesperson added that the platform had “changed how we present this information” when customers book tickets. Trainline has also added more information to its website.
Railcard drama made headlines earlier this month as The Guardian reported that Northern was prosecuting young people for allegedly breaking restrictions on their 16-25 railcards.
This reportedly left some passengers facing huge bills after saving a couple quid on their train fare.
But the rail operator has since backed down. In a statement to the Telegraph, it said: “We are withdrawing any live cases and will also look to review anyone who has been prosecuted previously on this specific issue”.
Many operators slap passengers with on-the-spot fines for failing to pay the proper fare.
More often than not passengers are expected to pay the original fare, but in exceptional cases they are hit with a penalty charge of £100.
This charge drops to £50 if it’s paid within 21 days.
