The Rail Ombudsman is pleased to announce that Trainline, the UK’s largest third-party rail retailer, has registered with the Rail Ombudsman scheme. This marks a significant step forward in simplifying the complaint landscape and enhancing consumer protection.

The Rail Ombudsman, sponsored by the Office of Rail and Road, is a free, independent, and impartial service that helps passengers escalate unresolved complaints about rail service providers. It plays a key role in improving the passenger experience and giving passengers the confidence that complaints can be resolved. Decisions by the Rail Ombudsman are legally binding, and all licensed train and station operators within England, Wales and Scotland are part of the scheme, which also provides learning and accredited City & Guilds training.

Trainline connects passengers with more than 300 operators over 40 countries, providing a leading platform for booking rail and coach tickets. With over 128 million visitors to its app and website each month, Trainline  is the UK’s most popular travel app. By joining the Rail Ombudsman scheme, Trainline reinforces its commitment to delivering excellent customer service and ensuring fair, transparent, and accessible dispute resolution for its users.

With Trainline’s inclusion, passengers will now be able to access independent resolution for eligible complaints relating to its services, including fares, retailing, journey information, and customer service. This ensures that Trainline and their customers will benefit from impartial and expert handling of any dispute.

“We are delighted to welcome Trainline to the Rail Ombudsman”, said Kevin Grix, CEO and Chief Ombudsman, the Rail Ombudsman. “By taking this step, Trainline have demonstrated their commitment to their customers, providing access to independent dispute resolution and further simplifying the complaint landscape in rail.”

John Davies, VP Industry Relations from Trainline said, “Joining the Rail Ombudsman is important to us because we know passengers value its independent and impartial role. While we’re always committed to resolving any disputes as quickly as possible, by aligning our escalation channels with those of train operators we’re reducing friction even further and ensuring that we’re putting our customers first. ”

For more information about the Rail Ombudsman and its services, visit www.railombudsman.org.