…to make it clear how we will use your information

…not use the information for anything other than you agree to

…to stop using your information if you tell us, at any time

…publish the changes in our journey planners as soon as possible – we aim to do this no later than 12 weeks in advance for planned works

See how we’ve achieved this with our service changes at Basildon station below:

Changes to services at Basildon station>

…widely communicate details of upcoming changes to train times, so you know to re-check before you travel.

See our detailed breakdown of our December 2022 timetable change here:

Timetable changes from Sunday 11 December >

…update our digital information channels and stations/on train information screens with any cancellations, delays, or changes to the stations the train will call at.

…give you a reason for the alteration if the train is delayed by over ten minutes, if the train is cancelled or if we change the stations at which the train will be calling.

…give our best estimate for how long the disruption will last.

…enable our team at our staffed stations to provide further announcements where more relevant local information is available.

…keep you up to date with information from the incident scene and our control rooms, so you know what is being done to put things right.

…work with rail industry partners to make sure that messages across all channels are consistent, so you don’t have conflicting information.

…encourage you to ‘re-plan’ your journey using our Journey Planner, by viewing the Live Departure Boards or by speaking to our team, so you can understand how the disruption will affect your journey.

…make sure that if we know a train is cancelled, it won’t be possible to buy a ticket for that journey on our website or a ticket-buying app. Our team members will make sure you know there are problems before they sell you a ticket.

…make sure you’re reminded of your right to claim compensation if your journey is disrupted.

…posting a message on our homepage and app, as well as the nationalrail.co.uk website if the change to your journey is part of a larger incident affecting the network, to let you know:

• what the problem is
• how it might impact your journey
• our advice and options for you to consider

…telling you how the incident is progressing

• whether we are investigating the problem
• if work is ongoing to fix the problem
• whether the problem is resolved, or
• if the incident has been cleared with the train service back to normal.

…making sure our information is:

• Clear: easy to understand and jargon-free.
• Consistent: you’ll get the same information whatever channel you use.
• Correct: we’ll give you factual information. If we don’t know something, we’ll tell you that we don’t know it.
• Concise: we’ll keep things simple.

…helping you decide what to do by explaining your options, so you can make informed choices:

1. Check if your journey by train is currently possible.
2. Travel on another route (which might include local public transport).
3. Use Emergency Replacement Transport, where provided.
4. Consider travelling later.

…give you as much notice as possible about the platform your train will depart from. When we can’t confirm the platform or there is a change to the platform, we will tell you as soon as we know.

…keep you up-to-date on the status of your train.

…keep announcements to a minimum, so you can easily pick out important information.

…let you know if you need to travel in a particular part of the train for your journey – such as if you are travelling to a station which has a platform shorter than the length of the train or if your train splits during the journey.

…taking care of you – if the last train of the day is cancelled, we won’t leave you stranded.

…helping you with directions if we suggest an alternative route and you’re not familiar with it.

…making it clear that if we tell you to travel on a different train, route or operator, there will be no extra charge and you don’t have to change your ticket even if it is for a specific train or operator.

…ensuring that if you had to travel from another station on your outward journey because your planned journey was disrupted and your ticket was being accepted on that route, you will be able to travel back to that station without paying an extra fare using your original ticket – even if there is no longer any disruption.

…making it clear how you can get in touch with us if you want to let us know how we are doing. We will listen to your feedback and use this to help improve in the future.