Rail Ombudsman Opiniones 

The train manager insulted me and lied and had me kicked off a train incorrectly by police

The railway ombudsman said that they can’t look into it as police facilitated the removal

The police said they didn’t remove me they supported the train company and whilst it was a wrongful removal I have to take it through civil court

So now neither is taking responsibility and the train company is completely unregulated

Slow, disinterested and useless. Firstly, quickly closed the case and didn't bother to check the deadlock letter and ref.no. Then needed reminding to reopen it. Sided with the provider of course and didn't awarded me with well deserved refund. Rail system is made consumer to pay for their mistakes every time they occur.

Web-site says I can only complain after 40 days or I have a deadlock letter. I have no deadlock letter (it East Midlands Railway they take over 30 days to reply to anything) but it has been over 40 days but the web-site still does not let me submit a complaint.

After being batted between two rail companies when our journey was abandoned and we were forced to make our own way home late on a winter night I contacted the Rail Ombudsman. Their response was clear, professional and of course impartial. Five months on we’re finally on course to receive an apology and refund from one of the RSP’s. Many thanks to the Rail Ombudsman.

Sad that you have to go to the Ombudsman in the first place but they helped matters along in my 6-month saga with Cross-Country Trains

Waited over three months for a delay repay from Scotrail. It was quickly settled after the Rail Ombudsman contacted them.

R173546: Complaint against Scotrail for overcharging. After 3 months prevarication and repeat requests by Scotrail for evidence already supplied, the matter was resolved in short order by RO.

Received a swift response after my complaint with a RSP went unanswered for 40 working days. Resolved by Rail Ombudsman within 9 working days, received appropriate compensation.

They act only to defend the train company’s who they are financed by. Complete and utter waste of time and completely unfit for purpose. No wonder they are being replaced.

The rail Ombudsman was very helpful, understanding and efficient. I’m very grateful. How comforting to know there is someone to support the little person.

The case itself was handled professionally and communication from the Rail Ombudsman was clear throughout, so I have no criticism of the way the investigation was conducted.

However, the outcome left me with the strong impression that the threshold for what is considered acceptable service from train operators is set very low, and that decisions tend to favour the operator even where the passenger has incurred clear additional costs due to a cancelled service.

In my case, a booked train to Birmingham International was cancelled and the next available service would not have provided enough time to complete a time-critical airport journey. My original plan would have arrived around 1 hour 55 minutes before check-in closed, which most passengers would consider reasonable, yet the decision concluded that I had not allowed sufficient contingency. The only earlier train would have meant arriving nearly three hours early, which goes beyond what most people would consider normal journey planning.

The decision relied on Passenger Charter guidance rather than the National Rail Conditions of Travel, even though the Conditions of Travel form the contractual basis of the ticket. The operator also relied on incorrect factual assumptions during the case, but this did not appear to affect the outcome.

The process itself was polite and thorough, but the result gives the impression that the current framework sets a high bar for passengers while allowing operators considerable flexibility when services fail. Given the cost of rail travel in the UK, this does not leave much confidence that the complaints process provides meaningful protection for customers.

Amazing ! Speedy response to my initial and subsequent enquiries . As soon as I had been in touch I heard from the offending rail operator and the case was concluded within a week . After months of contacting the rail operator and being sent in circles and fobbed off . Pity the ombudsman can’t just be the first line of contact . Thank you !

I spent 3 months wrangling with 3 train companies, re. a journey I took which left me arriving over 2 hours late at my destination. 3 weeks after complaining via Rail Ombudsman, I received a full refund of my fare. Very happy.

A complete was of time. They closed my initial complaint because the rail operator stated they hadn't provided a deadlock letter. This is true, but they didn't respond at all within 90 days, which I explained in my initial complaint to the Ombudsman, so they clearly didn't read it. When I got it re-opened it was under a different case number so had to call if they had an update because all I got was an automated email to log into the portal but the new case number was not visible on there. They told me they needed more time to provide a response, too.

My complaint was about the rail operator not allowing re-routing. This was entirely ignored and my "final" response was a load of irrelevant information about Delay Repay and why the company had to cancel the trains I was booked on but nothing at all about why they refused to allow my ticket to be used on a different route, which was the entirety of my complaint. I had explained I had to get a refund of the tickets and drive instead because both trains being cancelled resulted in over 2 hour delay in both directions, so travelling by train was no longer practical. I don't think they really read it and were determine to just agree the train company did nothing wrong no matter what. Don't waste your time with them.

After cross country failed to respond to my claim for compensation, the ombudsman achieved this, and the appropriate compensation as per the rail guidelines.
(As a general comment, I actually feel there should be a financial penalty on the rail provider in addition to the compensation , if they neglect to respond) .

Awful service, slow, incompetent and toothless
I escalated a complaint at the start of October about Scotrail and provided proof of how they had repeatedly misinformed me over a number of months.
In November I hadn't heard anything, despite sending several chase emails. I then called and by chance got the person who initially responded and she told me she had closed it and not bothered to tell me, as I had not included the deadlock letter. I pointed out that I had included this and she checked and said "oh, I'll reopen it"
I heard nothing for weeks again, despite sending 3/4 updates, and asked for it to be escalated. I finally got contacted just before Xmas and was told again that I had not included the deadlock letter and I had been told this on the call. I correct the person and explained that I had included it in the original email. She then miraculously found this and said no-one had even read it yet and as we are coming up to Xmas it would be in 2026 before anyone read this.
I asked twice to escalate this higher within the Ombudsman's service and I got one response early December and nothing since.
I then asked again today after the same person got back to me and asked for evidence I had already provided - clearly she had not read the email chain. Again no response to escalating this matter.
I cannot believe how poor the service is with this lot and I have completed wasted hours responding to them and they are clearly offering a very sub-standard service, which is ironic given their role.
I have now been told I have one day to provide documents that I already sent them in October/November. Given they sat on this for 3 months without even reading it, I find this an absolute joke to give one day to resend multiple emails.
Awful service

Excellent and prompt action from the Rail Ombudsman in securing compensation from a rail company I was in dispute with. Thank you.

Thank you to the Rail Ombudsman for being logical and fair in handling my complaint. They were able to achieve a goodwill payment from a train operating company which had previously just stonewalled me for months over a late timetable change. You can bet I will be keeping them in mind for the next time I travel 'cross the country.

The Ombudsman is not impartial and makes unbelievable excuses for refusing the payment of fair compensation to customers. They make every effort to justify reducing the amout of compensation paid by the train company through several methods:

Ignoring details which would justify increasing the compensation (in my case, a clause in the company's conditions of carriage)

Claiming that something which falls within the train operators responsibilities is not their responsibility (in my case, this was providing a response to a complaint - apparently this is not the customer service team's responsibility???)

Blatantly lying (in my case, the fare set and indeed charged by the company for my travel that day was not the fare for that journey???)

These tactics have been used in several of my complaints.

I have forwarded my review to the Office of Rail and Road, who manage the Ombudsman service. I urge everyone else who is as frustrated as I am about the service to send their reviews to the ORR and embarrass them into taking action against the Ombudsman.

The ombudsman resolved my complaint with Cross Country Trains very quickly. They kept me informed of progress throughout the process.