Cancelled or delayed train: what compensation?

When your train is cancelled or delayed by more than one hour, you have the choice between taking another train at no extra cost or cancelling your journey and receiving a full refund. The refund must be paid within one month of your request.

Delay of a departing train: beyond one hour, compensation is due

Train delays and cancellations are eligible for compensation in certain cases. But under what conditions, and by how much exactly? Be aware that when a train is cancelled or delayed by more than an hour, passengers are entitled to compensation from the carrier. The carrier must inform passengers of the situation and offer them two options. Passengers can take another train, at no extra cost, under similar conditions and as soon as possible. Or, they can choose to cancel their trip and get a full refund of the ticket, including for returns if a round-trip ticket had been purchased. Reimbursement must be made within one month of the request.

To obtain a refund, several options are available depending on the situation. Passengers can use the website where they purchased their ticket, call 3635 (for travel with SNCF on TGV INOUI and Intercités), or go directly to a train station ticket office. For Ouigo trains, passengers receive an email from the carrier with options to exchange their ticket free of charge or cancel the trip and obtain a full refund. For TER, conditions vary depending on the region.

Compensation is due in case of delay in arrival as well.

In case of delay in arrival, passengers are also entitled to compensation. If the delay in arrival is between one and two hours, they can get 25% of the ticket price. For a delay of more than two hours, the compensation rises to 50%. In addition, even if it is not legally required to do so, as a commercial gesture, SNCF offers additional compensation in the form of a voucher for delays between 30 minutes and one hour, applicable to national and international TGV INOUI as well as Intercités trains. Compensation requests can be made online with the booking reference.

However, no compensation is available if passengers were informed of the delay before purchasing the ticket, chose to be refunded rather than travel, or if the delay is due to exceptional circumstances such as extreme weather conditions, natural disasters or public health crises.

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