Ombudsman aims to ‘educate’ young passengers

An initiative to “empower” young rail users has been launched by the Rail Ombudsman.

It follows a case in which the mother of a female teenager travelling alone complained to the Ombudsman after an incident in which the daughter was accused of fare evasion.

In response, the Ombudsman has now launched The Young Person’s Train Guide, a campaign that includes a resource pack explaining such aspects as penalty ticketing and including worksheets for school pupils. The guide has been picked up by Merseyrail, which is working with schools in the Liverpool area to educate new railway users.

The Ombudsman said that since the role was established in 2018, “young people’s lack of knowledge of rail travel, the laws and byelaws that govern it, and passengers’ responsibilities and obligations to achieve safe passage, has been evident”.

It adds that cases “whereby young people are penalised, based on a lack of experience or knowledge of the rail sector, can be very damaging. Their experience of the industry is negatively impacted, confidence is knocked, and parents, guardians and families’ reactions have long-term industry repercussions.”

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