Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2020 to Question 39619 on Railways: Coronavirus, what assessment he has made of the difference in cost to railway season ticket holders that have not used their season tickets as a result of the Government's measures to prevent the transmission of covid-19 of obtaining (a) a refund and (b) an extension for time unused on those tickets.

As season tickets offer a discount relative to the alternative of buying other tickets, refunds are calculated based on the alternative fares that could have been purchased for the journeys made. The amount refunded to each passenger depends on what proportion of their ticket they have already used, with season tickets having a refund value except for the last seven weeks of an annual season ticket, one week of a monthly ticket, and three days of a weekly ticket. However, as many annual season tickets are bought in December, the majority of season ticket holders will be entitled to a refund for time unused on their ticket.

We have allowed season ticket holders to backdate their claim to 17th March, when ‘do not travel’ advice was first introduced, and they now have up to 56 days to submit their claim. Since 17th March over 100,000 season ticket holders have claimed season ticket refunds totalling over £150 million in response to COVID-19 travel restrictions.