Passenger’s Charter
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Great Western Railway<br />
1<br />
<strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
September 2015
What’s inside?<br />
What is our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong>? 4<br />
How we’ll help you plan your journey 6<br />
Making it easy to buy tickets 8<br />
If you need help when you travel 12<br />
What to expect at our stations 16<br />
What to expect on our trains 20<br />
If things go wrong – including delays and compensation 28<br />
How to get in touch with us 38<br />
Great Western Railway route map 43
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
5<br />
What is our<br />
<strong>Passenger’s</strong><br />
<strong>Charter</strong>?<br />
Our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong> is our commitment to you. We work hard<br />
to make sure every journey you take with us is easy and enjoyable.<br />
And our charter tells you what you can expect from all of us at Great<br />
Western Railway (GWR), on our trains and at our stations. It sets out<br />
the minimum level of service we’re committed to.<br />
Every year, we review and refresh our charter. We work with Transport<br />
Focus, London TravelWatch and TravelWatch SouthWest to make<br />
sure it’s up to date and fair for all of our customers. If you have any<br />
suggestions for us, we’d love to hear them. You can let our Customer<br />
Support team know your thoughts on 03457 000 125.<br />
You can get copies of this charter from the staff at our stations,<br />
from our Customer Support team or from our website, www.GWR.com.<br />
Treating our customers fairly<br />
We put our customers at the heart of everything we do and every<br />
decision we make. Making sure you’re safe and well, and that we<br />
always treat you fairly, is our highest priority. We want you to have<br />
a great experience with GWR. So we make it easy to talk to us, and<br />
we’ll always listen to you and take your individual circumstances<br />
into account.<br />
Our Customer Report<br />
We’ll publish our Customer Report every year to update you on our<br />
plans and tell you about the improvements we’ve made. We’ll also let<br />
you know how we’re performing against our customer satisfaction,<br />
reliability and punctuality targets.<br />
The National Rail Conditions of Carriage<br />
Our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong> goes hand in hand with the National Rail<br />
Conditions of Carriage. These conditions explain the contract you have<br />
with us when you buy a ticket and use it to travel. You’ll find them on<br />
our website, www.GWR.com, or you can ask our Customer Support<br />
team or the staff at our stations for a copy.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
7<br />
How we’ll<br />
help you plan<br />
your journey<br />
We know how important it is to give you everything you need to plan<br />
your journey properly, and to keep you up to date with any changes.<br />
That’s why we offer advice, timetables and information about travelling<br />
with GWR in all sorts of ways.<br />
Here’s how you can stay up to date:<br />
• Check the information displays at our stations.<br />
• Read our leaflets at our stations or on our website.<br />
• Go to www.GWR.com for train and journey information, to book<br />
tickets and to print your own personal timetable.<br />
• Follow us on Twitter @GWRHelp for live journey information, service<br />
updates and to have your questions answered 24 hours a day.<br />
• Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GWR.<br />
• Sign up to our free journey alerts at www.journeycheck.com/GWR.<br />
• Download our free app from your app store or text GWRapp01 to<br />
86688, so you can plan your journey, buy tickets and check train times<br />
and journey information.<br />
• Call our Customer Support team on 03457 000 125.<br />
You can also listen for our announcements at our stations and on our<br />
trains. We give full and accurate live information before and during<br />
your journey. This includes information on how our trains are running,<br />
as well as information about our station facilities, promotions and fares.<br />
National Rail Enquiries and Traveline<br />
You can also get information about all UK trains from National Rail<br />
Enquiries. Just call them on 03457 484950 or go to<br />
www.nationalrail.co.uk.<br />
Traveline can help you with local and national bus information.<br />
You can call them on 0871 200 22 33 or go to www.traveline.info.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
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Making it easy<br />
to buy tickets<br />
Our Buy Before You Board policy means you need to get a ticket before<br />
you get on a train. So we make it as easy as we can for you to buy<br />
tickets for our journeys. And we offer a range of tickets to suit different<br />
circumstances and budgets.<br />
You can find information on our website at www.GWR.com or speak to<br />
our station staff who are happy to help.<br />
Go to www.GWR.com to buy tickets in advance<br />
We can post them to you or have them waiting for you at the station –<br />
either at the ticket office or in one of our ticket machines. You can also<br />
print your tickets at home if that’s easier.<br />
Download our free app to buy M-tickets<br />
You can buy M-tickets for some routes and ticket types with our GWR<br />
app. To get the app, text GWRapp01 to 86688 or search ‘GWR’ in your<br />
app store. We’ll be adding more routes and ticket types to the app soon,<br />
but until then you can find everything you need at www.GWR.com.<br />
Go to the ticket office at any of our stations to<br />
buy our full range of tickets<br />
We’ll explain our range of ticket and fare options and help you find the<br />
best one for your journey.<br />
You can use cash and most credit and debit cards to pay – each office<br />
displays a list of the payment cards it accepts in the window.<br />
You’ll find the opening hours of our ticket offices at www.GWR.com or<br />
displayed at our stations, along with details of how to buy tickets if the<br />
office is shut.<br />
You shouldn’t have to queue for more than five minutes to buy a ticket<br />
from our ticket office at peak time, or more than three minutes at other<br />
times. Peak times are 7am–9am and 4pm–7pm, Monday to Friday. If<br />
we find there are very long queues, we’ll open extra windows or put on<br />
extra ticket staff to speed things up if we can.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
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Use our ticket machines to buy tickets to<br />
use straightaway<br />
At a ticket machine, you can buy a wide range of tickets available for<br />
immediate use. You can also pick up tickets you have booked online<br />
or over the phone. Most of our stations have them, and they take cash<br />
and/or most credit and debit cards. Some tickets may not be available,<br />
depending on the time of day. You can buy these in advance on our<br />
website, at the ticket office or through our Sales team.<br />
You can check whether your local station has a ticket machine at<br />
www.GWR.com or by calling National Rail Enquiries on 03457 484950.<br />
Call us on 03457 000 125 to buy tickets over<br />
the phone<br />
We’re open from 7am–10pm Monday to Friday, and from 8am–7pm<br />
at the weekend. We can post your tickets to you or have them<br />
waiting for you at the station – either at the ticket office or in one<br />
of our ticket machines.<br />
If you need help when you travel, please call our Assisted Travel team.<br />
They’ll help you plan your journey, buy your tickets and arrange any<br />
support you need on your trip. There’s more about this on page 12.<br />
Load up your Oyster card to travel round London<br />
Oyster cards make it really easy to travel around London. You can use<br />
your card for GWR journeys between any stations in the London fare<br />
zones 1–6, and as far as West Drayton and Greenford.<br />
You can put travelcards and pay as you go (PAYG) credit on them.<br />
For Oyster PAYG, you need to touch in on the yellow reader at the<br />
station where you start your journey, and touch out at the end of your<br />
trip. That way you’ll be charged the right fare.<br />
We do cap our Oyster fares. So, if you take several journeys in zones 1<br />
and 2 on the same day, the most you’ll pay is the cost of a travelcard<br />
for those zones. If you don’t touch in and out, you’ll be charged the<br />
maximum fare for your trip, and we won’t cap the cost.<br />
You can use an Oyster card with a travelcard on it with Oyster PAYG<br />
as well. But you can only use your Oyster PAYG with paper tickets if<br />
you’re at an intermediate station. These have a yellow Oyster reader<br />
where you can touch in.<br />
It’s really important that you make sure you have enough money on<br />
your Oyster PAYG to cover your journey. If you don’t, you won’t be able<br />
to use the card again until you top up the amount. You might also get a<br />
penalty fare or be reported for prosecution.<br />
Use smartcards for your season tickets<br />
We’re testing smartcards (a bit like Oyster) across our network.<br />
Once we’re happy they work for our customers, we’ll start setting<br />
them up in more places. You’ll then be able to load your card with<br />
your season ticket and just touch in and out to get to and from your<br />
train more quickly.<br />
Buy PlusBus for unlimited bus travel at<br />
your destination<br />
You can buy PlusBus with your ticket; it’s available in more than<br />
70 towns on the GWR network. You can also get a season ticket version.<br />
Go to www.plusbus.info for more details.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
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If you need help<br />
when you travel<br />
We want to make sure everyone who travels with us has an easy<br />
and comfortable journey – including our older customers and people<br />
with a disability. So if you need support getting on and off the train,<br />
navigating the station or planning your journey, we’re more than happy<br />
to help.<br />
We’ve put together a leaflet called ‘Making Rail Accessible’. There are<br />
several different versions. Our Easy Read version is for people with a<br />
learning disability and it’s available at www.GWR.com. We also have<br />
Braille and audio versions. Just ask a member of staff at one of our<br />
stations for a copy, or call our Customer Support team on 03457 000 125<br />
for more details.<br />
How we can help<br />
If you’re planning a journey with us, you can book some support for<br />
when you travel. You just need to let us know 24 hours before your trip.<br />
Then we’ll:<br />
• help you find your nearest station with the best facilities for you<br />
• help you plan the easiest route for your journey<br />
• make sure our staff know you’re coming and what support you need<br />
• give you all the help we can along the way.<br />
If your local station or the station you need to get to isn’t very<br />
accessible, don’t worry. We’ll arrange for you to get to and from a<br />
station that is, free of charge.<br />
Giving us enough notice<br />
If you can’t give us 24 hours’ notice of your journey, we’ll do our best to<br />
support you when you travel. But we can’t guarantee that we’ll be able<br />
to give you the same level of help.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
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How to book support for your journey<br />
You can get in touch with our Assisted Travel team from 7am–10pm,<br />
every day except Christmas Day. They can also help you buy tickets<br />
and make seat reservations. You can:<br />
• call them free on 0800 197 1329<br />
• dial Textphone free on 18001 0800 197 1329<br />
• email GWR.assistance@GWR.com.<br />
You can also book through our website: www.GWR.com.<br />
Other useful numbers<br />
You can get more information about trains and journey times from<br />
National Rail Enquiries. Their phone and Textphone number is<br />
0345 60 50 600, and they’re available 24 hours a day.<br />
Our mobility scooter permit scheme<br />
If you have a mobility scooter, we’re happy for you to bring it with you<br />
on certain trains, as long as you have a permit. The only exceptions are<br />
concerned with certain sizes and weights, which may make the scooter<br />
unsuitable or unsafe for our trains. You can find out more about this<br />
and apply for a permit by calling our Customer Support team on 03457<br />
000 125 or going to www.GWR.com.<br />
You won’t need a permit if your mobility scooter can be folded down so<br />
it is no bigger than an average large suitcase; that way it can go in the<br />
luggage rack. You’ll need to be able to take the scooter on and off the<br />
train yourself, or have someone with you who can help.<br />
Priority Seat Cards<br />
We always ask our customers to give up priority seats for people<br />
who need them more. But it’s not always obvious why someone needs<br />
a seat.<br />
If you need to sit down when you travel, you might be able to get one of<br />
our Priority Seat Cards. That way, when you ask someone for their seat,<br />
you can show your card without any embarrassment or having to offer<br />
an explanation.<br />
To see if you can get a card, call our Assisted Travel team on<br />
0800 197 1329 or go to www.GWR.com.<br />
Parking for Blue Badge holders<br />
If you have a Blue Badge, you can park for free in all of our car parks.<br />
The badge just needs to be visible through your windscreen.<br />
Disabled People’s Protection Policy (DPPP)<br />
Our Disabled People’s Protection Policy (DPPP) outlines our<br />
commitment to helping our disabled and mobility-impaired customers.<br />
You can read the policy on our website at www.GWR.com, or ask our<br />
station staff for a copy of the booklet. It’s also available in large print,<br />
Braille and as an audio recording from our Assisted Travel team.<br />
You can call them for free on 0800 197 1329.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
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What to expect<br />
at our stations<br />
We work hard to make our stations pleasant and easy to use. So we<br />
regularly check everything’s working properly, and keep them clean<br />
and tidy as best we can throughout the day. If you find that’s not<br />
the case, please speak to a member of our Station team or call our<br />
Customer Support team on 03457 000125.<br />
Here’s what you can expect at our stations.<br />
Polite, helpful staff<br />
Everyone who works at our stations is proud to wear a smart,<br />
distinctive GWR uniform. They also wear a name badge, and they’re<br />
trained to give you excellent customer service. They’ll be happy to<br />
answer your questions, give you information about your journey and<br />
help with anything else you need.<br />
Waiting areas<br />
All our stations have sheltered waiting areas. Some have waiting rooms<br />
as well, which are open when our staff are at the station.<br />
We also have first class lounges at London Paddington and Cardiff<br />
Central. Here are their normal opening hours, but these can change<br />
from time to time:<br />
London Paddington<br />
Monday to Friday: 6.30am–11.30pm<br />
Saturday: 6am–9pm<br />
Sunday: 10am–11.30pm<br />
Cardiff Central<br />
Monday to Friday: 6am–6.45pm<br />
Saturday and Sunday: – closed
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Automatic ticket gates<br />
For extra security, and to stop people travelling without a ticket,<br />
we’ve fitted automatic ticket gates at many of our stations.<br />
If you need to keep your ticket after your journey, you can show it to the<br />
staff at the gates and let them know you need to keep it. They’ll open a<br />
gate for you.<br />
Getting the right train<br />
We give as much information as we can to help you find your train.<br />
All the platform details, train times and stations on each route are<br />
on our notice boards and information screens. We also have help<br />
points at most of our stations, where you can get live updates and<br />
timetable information.<br />
Changing trains<br />
If you’re changing trains and the service you’re on is running late, your<br />
next train may not be able to wait. That’s because we don’t want to<br />
make the customers already on that train run late as well. Sometimes,<br />
we will be able to wait – for example, if there aren’t many trains per<br />
day or if your connecting train is the last one of the day. But if not, your<br />
ticket will be valid for the next available service.<br />
Please check our timetables to see how much time you’ll need to<br />
change trains before you book your tickets.<br />
Car parking<br />
Most of our stations have car parking for customers. You can check<br />
www.GWR.com to see if your local station has a car park and how<br />
much it costs. Or you can call our Customer Support team on<br />
03457 000 125.<br />
Toilets<br />
Many of our stations have toilets for customers and they’re open when<br />
our staff are there. We work hard to keep them clean and hygienic<br />
throughout the day.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
21<br />
What to expect<br />
on our trains<br />
We want all of your journeys with us to be comfortable and enjoyable,<br />
so we work hard to make sure everything runs smoothly. Here’s what<br />
you can expect on our trains.<br />
Food and drink<br />
We offer a range of different options for food and drink on our trains.<br />
We give details of all the catering services in our timetable, and at<br />
www.GWR.com. We’ll do our best to let you know if anything changes<br />
before you travel.<br />
The Pullman is the UK’s only train with fine dining. There’s information<br />
about the train’s routes and the impressive menus on our website.<br />
Wi-Fi<br />
At the moment, we have Wi-Fi on our:<br />
• Night Riviera Sleeper<br />
• long-distance services to the West of England and South Wales<br />
• trains that run between London Paddington and the North Cotswolds.<br />
By the end of 2015, we’ll have Wi-Fi on our local trains which stop at<br />
stations in the Thames Valley.<br />
Our first class service<br />
We have first class coaches on many of our trains – we list which ones<br />
in our timetables. And we always try to give exceptional service to all<br />
our first class customers. This includes giving you free refreshments<br />
on the trains with a catering service.<br />
There are times when we can’t serve you at your seat. When this<br />
happens, just show your ticket at the buffet to get the complimentary<br />
snacks and drinks you’d like.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
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Room for bikes<br />
We always try to accommodate bikes on our trains, but we can’t<br />
promise there’ll always be room.<br />
If you’d like to travel with your bike, it’s best to check www.GWR.com<br />
before you get to the station, to see which trains you can catch.<br />
You can book a bike space when you buy your ticket, and from the<br />
ticket office at the station up to two hours before you travel. As the<br />
spaces are limited, it’s a good idea to book early. It’s also a good idea<br />
to arrive early to give yourself plenty of time to get your bike on the<br />
train safely.<br />
If you have a foldable bike, you can put it in the luggage rack on our<br />
coaches, if there’s room. When you do store your bike on our train,<br />
we’re not responsible if anything happens to it – for example, if it’s lost,<br />
stolen or damaged.<br />
When you may not be able to put your bike on<br />
the train<br />
On some peak time trains, we can’t take bikes at all. On others, we can<br />
only take bikes if customers have reserved a place for them.<br />
There may also be times when we feel there isn’t enough room for your<br />
bike, or that loading it on to the train might be inconvenient or cause<br />
delays, damage or injury. If that happens, we may not carry your bike –<br />
even if you booked a space.<br />
You can find out more about taking bikes on our trains in the National<br />
Rail Conditions of Carriage and our leaflet ‘Cycling by Train’. Please<br />
ask the staff at any of our stations or go to www.GWR.com for a copy.<br />
Taking animals on our trains<br />
If you’d like to travel with your pet, we’re happy for you to bring it.<br />
Please keep dogs on a lead and other animals in a suitable carrier.<br />
You can take up to two animals free of charge. You’ll also need to keep<br />
them off the seats and make sure they aren’t taking up space that other<br />
customers could use.<br />
We’ll get you to where you need to be<br />
If you give yourself plenty of time but still miss a connection because<br />
our train is late, we’ll help you get to the destination on your ticket.<br />
Reserving a seat<br />
When you buy your ticket, you can make one seat reservation per single<br />
journey. If you don’t use your seat, we’ll give it to someone else. If you<br />
buy an advance purchase ticket, it’s only valid with the seat reservation<br />
that comes with it.<br />
If you haven’t made a reservation in advance, we can’t guarantee that<br />
you’ll get a seat on the train. We plan our services around how many<br />
customers we expect to travel at certain times. But at peak time, when<br />
trains are much busier, you may have to stand. This shouldn’t be for<br />
more than 20 minutes (or one stop, if that’s longer). And you shouldn’t<br />
have to stand on an off-peak train at all.<br />
Some of our tickets are flexible, so you can catch any of our trains. But<br />
it’s a good idea to book a seat on a specific train – especially for longdistance<br />
journeys. It’s free to reserve a seat when you buy your ticket.<br />
If you do book a standard class seat but have to stand up because we<br />
couldn’t provide it, we’ll give you some vouchers as compensation or<br />
a cheque if you would prefer. If you have a first class ticket and there<br />
are no seats available, we’ll give you some vouchers based on the<br />
cost of your ticket, or a cheque if you would prefer. We’ll make up the<br />
difference between a first and standard class ticket for your train. If you<br />
have a season ticket, we’ll work out the proportional rate (not pro rata)<br />
for your journey.<br />
To claim your compensation, please send us your:<br />
• original first class ticket, or<br />
• standard class ticket and seat reservation, or<br />
• M-Ticket booking confirmation, or<br />
• season ticket details.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
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You can send them to:<br />
GWR<br />
Customer Support<br />
FREEPOST RSKT-AHAZ-SLRH<br />
Plymouth PL4 6AB<br />
Bringing luggage on our trains<br />
Please don’t bring more luggage onto the train than you can carry.<br />
If you have large cases or other large items, you might be able to put<br />
them in our guard’s van. But that’s only for our high-speed trains, and<br />
we may charge you a fee. You can find out how much in the National<br />
Rail Conditions of Carriage or by calling our Customer Support team<br />
on 03457 000 125.<br />
We always do our best to accommodate all your luggage, including<br />
things like surfboards. But if the train is busy, or loading your luggage<br />
could cause delays, injury or inconvenience, we won’t be able to take it.<br />
We also won’t take unaccompanied luggage or anything that we think<br />
might be dangerous.<br />
Travelling without a valid ticket<br />
Our Buy Before You Board policy means that all our customers must buy<br />
a ticket before they get on the train. We remind our customers about<br />
the policy by displaying signs at all our stations.<br />
If you start your journey at a station where you can’t buy a ticket, you’ll<br />
need to buy one on the train. Or, if you’re changing trains, you’ll need<br />
to buy one at the station where you change.<br />
It’s really important you know if your ticket has any restrictions.<br />
You can check the terms and conditions of our tickets and railcards<br />
at www.GWR.com. Or you can call our Customer Support team on<br />
03457 000 125 before you travel. They’ll be happy to help.<br />
If you catch one of our trains without a valid ticket, at a station where<br />
you could have bought one, we’ll charge you an anytime fare. That’s the<br />
cost of an open single or return. You won’t get any discounts, unless<br />
you have a Disabled Persons Railcard.<br />
If you’re in a penalty fare area, you might be charged a penalty fare of<br />
£20, or twice the cost of a single fare to the next station – whichever<br />
is more.<br />
You can find out more about the Penalty Fares Regulations in our Buy<br />
Before You Board policy. Please ask the staff at any of our stations or go<br />
to www.GWR.com to read it.<br />
If you have a railcard, please carry it with you when you travel. If you<br />
can’t show it with your discounted ticket, we’ll charge you the full<br />
standard single fare for your trip. This is the same for advance ticket<br />
reservations. Your ticket is only valid if you have the reservation with<br />
you – and vice versa – so you need to show them together. If you don’t,<br />
you may be reasonably asked to pay the full standard single fare.<br />
If you have a ticket for a specific train and you want to travel on a<br />
different one, please go to our ticket office before the train you booked<br />
leaves. You can then pay any difference between the old fare and the<br />
new fare to travel on a different train. We will charge a £10 admin fee<br />
for amendments. If you don’t pay the extra fee you might have to buy a<br />
new ticket at full price on the train.<br />
Our staff check tickets at many stations, so please keep your ticket with<br />
you until you’re outside the station.<br />
Travelling in a group<br />
If you want to travel in a group of 10 or more, please call our group<br />
booking service on 03457 000 125. We’ll help you find the trains where<br />
you’re more likely to get enough seats for everyone, and you might also<br />
be able to get a discount.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong> 27<br />
Business Direct<br />
If you travel for work, you might like to use our dedicated rail booking<br />
and business management system to organise your travel quickly and<br />
easily. You can call our team on 03457 660 228 or go to www.GWR.com.<br />
First class upgrades for mums-to-be<br />
We know it can be hard for pregnant women when there aren’t any<br />
seats in our carriages. That’s why we offer women who are 25 weeks<br />
into their pregnancy, and have a standard class season ticket, a first<br />
class upgrade. That way, if there aren’t any standard class seats, they<br />
can sit in any first class seats that are free.<br />
If you’d like to be upgraded while you’re expecting, please send us a<br />
copy of your:<br />
• season ticket<br />
• photocard<br />
• Maternity Certificate (MAT B1) or Family Health Services Authority<br />
Exemption Certificate (FP92) – you can get these from your midwife<br />
or GP.<br />
You can send them to our Customer Support team at:<br />
GWR<br />
Customer Support<br />
FREEPOST RSKT-AHAZ-SLRH<br />
Plymouth<br />
PL4 6AB
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
29<br />
If things<br />
go wrong<br />
We work hard to make sure your journeys with us run smoothly. But<br />
we know that sometimes things don’t go to plan. So, if your journey is<br />
delayed, we’ll do everything we can to get you where you need to be.<br />
What we’ll do to get you through delays<br />
• We’ll always try to keep you up to date about what’s happening, and<br />
give you advice about your journey.<br />
• If the problems with our service are very bad, we’ll try to put extra<br />
members of staff on the delayed trains and at the stations they<br />
stop at.<br />
• On high-speed services running over an hour late, we’ll give you free<br />
soft drinks for as long as we have them on board.<br />
• If the train you’re on is delayed during your trip, we’ll get you to the<br />
station you’re going to if we can – by bus or taxi if we need to. If we<br />
can’t get you to that station, we’ll take you back to the station that<br />
will work best for you. And if we can’t do either of those things, we’ll<br />
find you somewhere to stay for the night, so you can continue your<br />
journey the next day.<br />
• We’ll make claiming compensation for a delayed journey as easy<br />
as we can. Where possible, our crew will let you know if you’re<br />
entitled to it and will give you a claim form or let you know where you<br />
can collect one.<br />
Let us know how we’re doing<br />
If you ever get delayed on a journey with us, we want to hear from you.<br />
We’d like the chance to make up for it and handle any complaints you<br />
have quickly and efficiently.<br />
For more on what you can expect from us and how to get in touch, check<br />
our Complaints Handling Policy. You’ll find a copy at www.GWR.com.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
31<br />
How we compensate you for delays<br />
When we give you compensation, we’ll ask you whether you’d like rail<br />
travel vouchers or an e-voucher, which will show as credit on your<br />
GWR online account. If you’d prefer to get your compensation back as<br />
money instead, just let us know and we’ll send you a cheque.<br />
Below, you’ll see the details of the minimum amount of compensation<br />
we pay for delays. If the delay to your journey isn’t covered, please get<br />
in touch with our Customer Support team on 03457 000 125. They’ll<br />
look into what happened and get back to you as quickly as they can.<br />
If your journey is delayed because of something outside the control<br />
of the rail industry, we don’t normally offer any compensation. This<br />
might be things like trespassing, vandalism, someone being hit by a<br />
train, severe weather or a security alert.<br />
If you have a single, return or weekly season ticket<br />
Journeys on (former) First Great Western services<br />
If you’re delayed by more than an hour, we’ll compensate you for the<br />
full value of that part of the journey. That’s 50% of the cost of a return,<br />
and 100% of a single.<br />
If you’re delayed by more than two hours, we’ll compensate you for the<br />
full cost of your ticket.<br />
For weekly season tickets, we’ll base your compensation on the value<br />
of your journey. So we’ll divide the cost by 10 – which represents two<br />
journeys a day for five days.<br />
Journeys on (former) First Great Western Link services<br />
We’ll compensate you for 50% of the cost of your tickets if:<br />
• your journey is an hour or more and we delay you by an hour or more<br />
• your journey is less than an hour and we delay you by more than<br />
30 minutes.<br />
For weekly season tickets, we’ll base your compensation on the value<br />
of your journey. So we’ll divide the cost by 10 – which represents two<br />
journeys a day for five days.<br />
Journeys on (former) Wessex Trains services<br />
If you’re delayed by more than an hour, we’ll compensate you for 50%<br />
of the cost of a single ticket and 25% of a return ticket.<br />
If you’re delayed by more than two hours, we’ll compensate you for the<br />
full cost of your ticket.<br />
For weekly season tickets, we’ll base your compensation on the value<br />
of your journey. So we’ll divide the cost by 10 – which represents two<br />
journeys a day for five days.<br />
If you have a combination of tickets<br />
If you have a combination of tickets for your journey, we’ll compensate<br />
you for your whole journey in line with the compensation<br />
arrangements above.<br />
If some of your tickets are for trips with other train companies, we’ll<br />
compensate you if we caused the delay. If we didn’t, we’ll ask the other<br />
train company to contact you. We’ll always let you know when we’ve<br />
done this.<br />
If you have season tickets for a month or longer<br />
Our compensation for customers with a season ticket for a month or<br />
longer is based on whether we meet our punctuality and reliability<br />
targets. If we don’t meet them, we’ll give you a discount when you<br />
renew your ticket.<br />
The table on the next page shows how this works for our different<br />
services. We explain the terms we use later on.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
33<br />
<strong>Charter</strong> Group<br />
On-time<br />
allowance<br />
Punctuality%<br />
Punctuality, reliability and the on-time allowance<br />
Reliability%<br />
Target Trigger Target Trigger<br />
High Speed Services* 10 minutes 90.0 88.0 99.2 98.2<br />
London–Thames Valley Services** 5 minutes 92.0 89.0 99.0 98.0<br />
Bristol Suburban Services*** 5 minutes 92.0 89.0 99.5 98.5<br />
Devon Services*** 5 minutes 92.0 89.0 99.5 98.5<br />
Plymouth & Cornwall Services*** 5 minutes 92.0 89.0 99.5 98.5<br />
South Wales–South Coast Services*** 10 minutes 92.0 89.0 99.5 98.5<br />
*Former First Great Western services<br />
**Former First Great Western Link services<br />
***Former Wessex Trains services<br />
All Monday to Saturday services are included in these calculations, except former First Great<br />
Western Link services. For those, we include Monday to Friday services. And we only include<br />
morning and evening peak services in the punctuality calculation. Peak services are the trains<br />
that arrive at London Paddington from 7am–10am and trains that leave London Paddington from<br />
4pm–7pm. We don’t include Sundays and Bank Holidays in these calculations.<br />
Punctuality concerns the number of trains that arrive at their final<br />
destination on time. The ‘on-time allowance’ concerns the number of<br />
minutes’ leeway we have to still be classed as on time if we don’t arrive<br />
exactly on schedule. Reliability concerns the number of scheduled trains<br />
that actually run.<br />
At the moment, we record our punctuality and reliability standards<br />
under these groups:<br />
• the former First Great Western<br />
• the former First Great Western Link<br />
• the former Wessex Trains<br />
We also separate Wessex Trains’ targets into four sub-groups.<br />
The table opposite shows these groups and their standards.<br />
The trigger<br />
The trigger is the point at which we give a discount for season ticket<br />
holders. If we don’t meet one of the targets, and fall below the trigger<br />
percentage in the last 12 months, we’ll give our season ticket holders<br />
5% off their next season ticket. If we miss both the punctuality and the<br />
reliability targets, and fall below both triggers, we’ll give you 10% off.<br />
How to get your discount<br />
If you’re entitled to a discount, we’ll take it off when you renew your<br />
ticket. To get your discount, please buy your new ticket:<br />
• within four weeks of the day your old ticket expires<br />
• for the same journey<br />
• for the same period of time or for a shorter period of time than<br />
your old ticket.<br />
Annual season tickets for former Wessex Trains<br />
If you used to buy your annual season tickets from Wessex Trains,<br />
we’re more than happy to give you the same discounts.<br />
We’ll give you another 1% off when you renew for every four-week<br />
period that our average yearly punctuality or reliability falls below<br />
the trigger. We’ll give you a maximum of 8% off. If we fall below both<br />
triggers, we’ll give you a maximum of 16% off.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
35<br />
If you’re entitled to a discount, we’ll take it off when you renew your<br />
ticket. To get your discount, please buy your new ticket:<br />
• within four weeks of the day your old ticket expires<br />
• for the same journey<br />
• for the same period of time or for a shorter period of time than<br />
your old ticket.<br />
Compensation for void days<br />
A void day is when there’s a serious disruption at peak time, and we<br />
haven’t offered you another way to get to where you’re going – like a<br />
rail replacement bus.<br />
If we think our performance falls below an acceptable level during a<br />
peak period, we’ll declare the day ‘void’ for the people affected. When<br />
this happens, we’ll get in touch by email or post. We’ll also put up<br />
posters at our stations. We’ll explain what happened and the options<br />
they have for compensation – either a season ticket extension or a<br />
refund based on the number of void days. And we’ll let them know how<br />
they can claim it.<br />
We don’t compensate you for any losses or<br />
other costs<br />
If your train is delayed or cancelled, we won’t give you compensation<br />
for any losses or extra costs (if you miss a plane, for example).<br />
That’s in line with the National Rail Conditions of Carriage for all<br />
train companies.<br />
If you are catching a plane, please leave plenty of time to allow for any<br />
delays to your train journey. You can ask your airline how much time<br />
you’ll need to leave to check in. It’s also really important to get full<br />
travel insurance.<br />
Work to improve our services<br />
Planned improvement work<br />
At the moment, we’re introducing electric trains on many of our routes<br />
so we can run a faster, more efficient service. There’s also lots of<br />
resignalling work going on, as well as the construction of Crossrail and<br />
the ongoing maintenance of the train network. This means many of our<br />
timetables will be changed to allow this work to go ahead.<br />
We always know about improvement work 12 weeks before it starts,<br />
and we keep our website up to date with any changes to our services.<br />
Alternatively, you can contact National Rail Enquiries for information<br />
on work across the entire rail network.<br />
We’ll also put up posters at our staffed stations four weeks before and<br />
we’ll make amended timetables available at stations seven days before.<br />
We’ll do our best to make sure you can still travel by train for all your<br />
journeys during the work. But there will be times when we may need<br />
to take you by road instead. When this happens, we don’t always have<br />
room for things like:<br />
• prams and pushchairs that don’t fold<br />
• bikes<br />
• animals (except guide dogs).<br />
If you need to travel with any of these things, please check the status of<br />
your journey before you leave home.<br />
Emergency work<br />
Work sometimes needs to be done at very short notice, so we have to<br />
run a new timetable. When this happens, we’ll give you as much notice<br />
as we can – through our website and at our stations. You can also<br />
follow us on Twitter @GWRHelp for live updates, or get a text or email<br />
alert. You can sign up for the alerts at www.journeycheck.com/GWR.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
37<br />
When we can give you a refund<br />
Delays and cancellations<br />
If your train is delayed or cancelled or your reservation will not be<br />
honoured and you decide not to travel, we’ll give you a full immediate<br />
refund at any ticket office wherever possible. Alternatively, you can<br />
return the unused tickets to where you bought them, no later than 28<br />
days after they expire. This also applies to advance tickets.<br />
If you choose not to travel<br />
If the trains are running with no problems and you decide not to travel,<br />
we’ll give you a refund, depending on the ticket you have, but will take<br />
a £10 admin fee off. All you need to do is return the unused tickets to<br />
where you bought them, no later than 28 days after they expire.<br />
We won’t refund certain tickets – for example, advance tickets – so it’s<br />
a good idea to check the terms and conditions of your ticket before you<br />
buy it.<br />
Refunding season tickets<br />
In most cases, we can refund you if you don’t use a portion of your<br />
season ticket – in other words, if you return it before it expires. You can<br />
return the season ticket to where you bought it and we’ll give you a<br />
refund from the date you handed it back.<br />
Our season tickets are a great deal for regular travellers because you<br />
pay a lot less per day for your journey. You also save more for a yearly<br />
season ticket than you do for a monthly one, for example. So you might<br />
find that there’s only a very small amount, or nothing, to refund when<br />
you return it to us.<br />
If you use an annual season ticket for 40 weeks, there won’t be any<br />
refund. That’s because we don’t work out the refund pro rata: we base<br />
it on the difference between the cost of the season ticket you originally<br />
bought and the cost of a season ticket for the amount of time you<br />
actually used it.<br />
If you’re ill<br />
If you can’t travel for more than four weeks because of illness, we might<br />
be able to refund some of your unused season ticket. Please let us know<br />
as soon as you can if you won’t be able to use your ticket. You can call<br />
our Customer Support team on 03457 000 125. We may ask you for some<br />
confirmation of your illness, such as a medical certificate.<br />
If you lose your season ticket<br />
It’s important that you keep your ticket safe. We can give you a<br />
duplicate, but we will charge you a £10 admin fee.<br />
If your property is damaged<br />
Anything you bring with you to our stations or on our trains is<br />
your responsibility. So if you lose it or it’s stolen, we don’t give any<br />
compensation. If your property is damaged, we’ll only give you<br />
compensation if the damage was caused by the negligence of our staff.<br />
Accidents and injury<br />
Travelling by train is very safe, and we work hard to prevent accidents.<br />
If something does go wrong and you are hurt, please let us know as<br />
soon as possible. If it’s an emergency, we’ll get you the help you need.<br />
We record all the details of accidents so we can investigate what<br />
happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.<br />
Lost property<br />
If you ever leave something on the train or at the station, you can let<br />
our Lost Property team know on 03457 000 125.<br />
If we find any lost property, we send it to our lost property office<br />
at Bristol Temple Meads station. Or if we find anything at London<br />
Paddington, we keep it in the lost property office there.<br />
We store the items we find for at least 12 weeks. If we have something<br />
of yours, you can collect it, or we can post small items or arrange<br />
a courier. We do charge an admin fee in line with the National Rail<br />
Conditions of Carriage, and we’ll ask you to pay for postage or courier<br />
fees as well.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
39<br />
How to get in<br />
touch with us<br />
Whether you have a question or a complaint, want to claim<br />
compensation, give us feedback or make a suggestion, we make it<br />
as easy as we can for you to get in touch with us.<br />
Go to www.GWR.com<br />
Start a web chat<br />
If you’re travelling soon and need help straightaway, start a<br />
web chat with one of our advisers. They’ll help you find train<br />
times and tickets, and book your seats – seven days a week,<br />
from 7am–10pm.<br />
Fill in our online form<br />
Send us a message and we’ll aim to get back to you within<br />
five working days. If you send us a complaint, we may take<br />
longer to give you a full response if we need to look into<br />
what happened.<br />
Call us on 03457 000 125<br />
If you’re travelling soon and need help straightaway, our<br />
Customer Support team will be more than happy to help you<br />
with whatever you need. They’re available from 7am to 10pm<br />
every day, except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.<br />
Get in touch on social media<br />
If you’re travelling soon and need help straightaway, tweet<br />
us @GWRHelp or send us a message on Facebook at<br />
www.facebook.com/GWR. We’ll be on hand to help you<br />
24 hours a day.<br />
Email us at GWRfeedback@GWR.com<br />
Send us a message and we’ll aim to get back to you within<br />
five working days. If you send us a complaint, we may take<br />
longer to give you a full response if we need to look into<br />
what happened.
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
41<br />
Write to us<br />
Our address is:<br />
GWR<br />
Customer Support<br />
FREEPOST RSKT-AHAZ-SLRH<br />
Plymouth<br />
PL4 6AB<br />
Once our Customer Support team has your letter, they’ll aim<br />
to get back to you within five working days. If they need more<br />
time to investigate a complaint or check information, they’ll<br />
let you know within five working days. They’ll then write<br />
with a full response within 20 working days.<br />
Sometimes letters get lost in the post. We work with Royal<br />
Mail to try and stop this, but we can’t always prevent it. If<br />
you’re worried about your letter getting lost, the best way to<br />
get in touch with us is by email, online or over the phone.<br />
Comments about other train companies<br />
If any of your comments are linked to another train company,<br />
we’ll send them on and ask them to contact you.<br />
Our customer panels<br />
We’re always keen to hear from our customers if they have<br />
any suggestions for how we can do better. In fact, we<br />
have two regional customer panels to help us do this. The<br />
panels meet every six months with members of our Senior<br />
Management team. So, if you’d like to help us make changes,<br />
you can volunteer to be on the panels.<br />
If you’re interested, go to www.GWR.com for more details on<br />
what’s involved and how to join.<br />
Our advisory board<br />
Our advisory board is made up of stakeholders and customers<br />
who meet at least five times a year with directors and senior<br />
managers. Together, they look at how we’re doing and<br />
discuss changes for the future.<br />
The board, and our customer panels, help us decide what we<br />
do with our Customer and Communities Improvement Fund.<br />
This fund helps us transform our customer service where<br />
there is real social need and where normal business criteria<br />
make it harder to invest.<br />
Meet the manager<br />
We hold regular sessions where you can talk to our senior<br />
managers and directors about our service. You can find out<br />
when the next sessions are at www.GWR.com.<br />
If you’re not happy with our reply to<br />
your complaint<br />
We work hard to give you great service and treat complaints<br />
fairly. If you’re unhappy with our response to your complaint,<br />
you can get in touch with Transport Focus or London<br />
TravelWatch – the watchdogs for the rail industry. They can<br />
independently review your complaint and make sure we<br />
responded fairly.<br />
For journeys outside London, please contact Transport Focus.<br />
Here are their details:<br />
Transport Focus<br />
FREEPOST RTEH-XAGE-BYKZ<br />
PO Box 5594<br />
Southend on Sea<br />
SS1 9PZ<br />
Phone: 0300 123 2350<br />
Text phone: 0845 850 1354<br />
Website: www.transportfocus.org.uk<br />
Twitter: @transportfocus
Great Western Railway: our <strong>Passenger’s</strong> <strong>Charter</strong><br />
43<br />
Greenford<br />
South Greenford<br />
Castle Bar Park<br />
Drayton Green<br />
West Drayton<br />
Iver<br />
Hayes & Harlington<br />
Southall<br />
Hanwell<br />
West Ealing<br />
Ealing Broadway<br />
Acton Main Line<br />
London Paddington<br />
Redhill<br />
Shalford Chilworth<br />
Dorking West<br />
Gatwick<br />
Airport<br />
Dorking (Deepdene)<br />
Reigate<br />
Banbury<br />
Kings Sutton<br />
Heyford<br />
Tackley<br />
Brighton<br />
STAN GWR - SEPT 2015<br />
Oxford<br />
Worcester Shrub Hill<br />
Hereford<br />
Marlow<br />
Henley-on-Thames<br />
Gloucester<br />
Worcester Foregate Street<br />
Bourne End<br />
Cookham<br />
Shiplake<br />
Langley<br />
Burnham<br />
Wargrave<br />
Furze Platt<br />
Didcot Parkway<br />
Swindon<br />
Yate<br />
Bristol<br />
Parkway<br />
Port Talbot Parkway<br />
Reading<br />
Carmarthen<br />
Slough<br />
Taplow<br />
Maidenhead<br />
Twyford<br />
Chippenham<br />
Reading West<br />
Filton Abbey Wood<br />
Theale<br />
Stapleton Road<br />
Aldermaston<br />
Keynsham<br />
Midgham<br />
Thatcham<br />
Newbury Racecourse Mortimer<br />
Freshford<br />
Melksham<br />
Newbury<br />
Avoncliff<br />
Kintbury<br />
Bradford-on-Avon<br />
Hungerford<br />
Bramley<br />
Worle<br />
Bedwyn<br />
Trowbridge<br />
Pewsey<br />
Bath Spa<br />
Newport<br />
Montpelier<br />
Clifton Down<br />
Sea Mills<br />
Shirehampton<br />
Lawrence Hill<br />
Avonmouth<br />
Bristol Temple Meads<br />
St Andrews Road<br />
Bedminster<br />
Severn Beach<br />
Parson Street<br />
Nailsea & Backwell<br />
Yatton<br />
Bridgend<br />
Winnersh<br />
Swansea<br />
Windsor & Eton Central<br />
Wokingham<br />
Crowthorne<br />
Sandhurst<br />
Blackwater<br />
Farnborough North<br />
Pembroke Dock Weston-super-Mare<br />
Westbury<br />
North Camp<br />
Ash<br />
Basingstoke<br />
Frome<br />
Wanborough<br />
Highbridge & Burnham<br />
Gomshall<br />
Betchworth<br />
Worthing<br />
Hove<br />
Shorehamby-Sea<br />
For journeys within the area in the map below, you can contact<br />
London TravelWatch.<br />
Here are their details:<br />
London TravelWatch<br />
169 Union Street<br />
London<br />
SE1 0LL<br />
Phone: 020 3176 2999<br />
Website: www.londontravelwatch.org.uk<br />
Email: enquries@londontravelwatch.org.uk<br />
Ascott-under-Wychwood<br />
Finstock<br />
Moreton-in-Marsh<br />
Kingham<br />
Pershore<br />
Evesham<br />
Honeybourne<br />
Malvern Link<br />
Great Malvern<br />
Ledbury<br />
Hanborough<br />
Combe<br />
Charlbury<br />
Shipton<br />
Colwall<br />
Ashchurch<br />
for Tewkesbury<br />
Radley<br />
Cheltenham Spa<br />
Culham<br />
Cholsey<br />
Goring & Streatley<br />
Pangbourne<br />
Tilehurst<br />
Stonehouse<br />
Appleford<br />
Cam & Dursley<br />
Kemble<br />
Stroud<br />
Severn Tunnel Junction<br />
Pilning<br />
Patchway<br />
Cardiff<br />
Central<br />
Kidwelly<br />
Pembrey & Burry Port<br />
Llanelli<br />
Neath<br />
Ferryside<br />
Whitland<br />
Redland<br />
Oldfield Park<br />
Narberth<br />
Kilgetty<br />
Saundersfoot<br />
Tenby<br />
Penally<br />
Manorbier<br />
Lamphey<br />
Pembroke<br />
Weston Milton<br />
First Great Western summer only service<br />
Dilton Marsh<br />
Bruton<br />
Guildford<br />
Castle Cary<br />
Warminster<br />
Bridgwater<br />
Salisbury<br />
Taunton<br />
Tiverton Parkway<br />
Barnham<br />
Havant<br />
Yeovil Pen Mill<br />
Romsey<br />
Exeter Central<br />
Chichester<br />
Fareham<br />
Southampton<br />
Central<br />
Barnstaple<br />
Chapelton<br />
Umberleigh<br />
Portsmouth Arms<br />
Kings Nympton<br />
Eggesford<br />
Lapford<br />
Morchard Road<br />
Copplestone<br />
Yeoford<br />
Gunnislake<br />
Crediton<br />
Newton St Cyres<br />
Calstock<br />
Exeter St Davids<br />
Exeter St Thomas<br />
Bere Alston<br />
Starcross<br />
Bere Ferrers<br />
Dawlish Warren<br />
Dawlish<br />
Newquay<br />
Quintrell Downs<br />
St Columb Road<br />
Roche<br />
Bugle<br />
Luxulyan<br />
St Ives<br />
Cosham<br />
Carbis Bay<br />
St James’ Park<br />
Polsloe Bridge<br />
Fratton<br />
Digby & Sowton<br />
Teignmouth<br />
Newton Abbot<br />
St Budeaux<br />
Victoria Road<br />
Totnes<br />
Ivybridge<br />
St Germans<br />
Menheniot<br />
Lostwithiel<br />
Bodmin Parkway<br />
Liskeard<br />
Lelant<br />
Lelant Saltings<br />
Thornford<br />
Par<br />
Truro<br />
Hayle<br />
Camborne<br />
Redruth<br />
Portsmouth & Southsea<br />
Portsmouth Harbour<br />
Yetminster Chetnole<br />
St Erth<br />
Newcourt<br />
Topsham<br />
Torre<br />
Maiden Newton<br />
Dorchester West<br />
Exton<br />
Lympstone Commando<br />
Torquay<br />
Plymouth<br />
Devonport<br />
Dockyard<br />
Keyham<br />
St Budeaux<br />
Ferry Road<br />
Saltash<br />
St Austell<br />
Coombe Junction Halt<br />
Upwey<br />
Lympstone Village<br />
St Keyne Wishing Well Halt<br />
Exmouth<br />
Weymouth<br />
Paignton<br />
Causeland<br />
Sandplace<br />
Looe<br />
Penzance<br />
Perranwell<br />
Penryn<br />
Penmere<br />
Falmouth Town<br />
Falmouth Docks
FCN: 482899/00