ORR CALLS FOR ALL TRAIN COMPANIES TO IMPLEMENT AUTOMATIC PASSENGER INFORMATION NOTIFICATIONS

Passengers want to be able to plan their journeys in advance and when they do, to be kept informed of any changes.

A timetable comparator system was developed last year through the Smarter Information, Smarter Journeys programme. The system enables notifications to be sent to ticket retailers when trains are changed or cancelled. The passenger is then sent an email or text notifying them of any changes up to 48 hours before travel. For shorter notice and emergency changes, ORR has advised train companies to make it simple for passengers to sign up for travel alerts.

It is important that all ticket retailers and train companies that sell tickets in advance are signed up to the system so that as many passengers as possible benefit.

The rail regulator has written to train companies setting the expectation that they should be using this system by the end of March 2023. ORR also expects that providing such notifications will become a Customer Information Pledge between operators and their customers.