Refund on monthly railway ticket

I bought a monthly railway ticket to travel into the city to work. This includes the weekends, because I work in a fashion store. Yet every weekend I have travelled so far, the train has been replaced by a bus. I get the impression this is no accident.

In the weekends, trains seem to be automatically replaced by buses. Yet, I paid to travel by train. I like trains, I don’t like buses. And I suspect buses are cheaper to run. So shouldn’t I get some sort of refund every time I have to travel by bus?

Good point. This is like the issue of whether air travellers should get a partial refund if they’re bumped off a plane and onto a bus because of, say, mechanical problems. It costs less to hire a bus than fly a plane, so why do passengers not get some money back? It’s an even better argument with rail companies if they’re constantly replacing trains with buses in the weekend.

I don’t know the economics but, like you, I suspect it’s cheaper for a rail firm to stick its smaller number of weekend travellers on a bus than bring out a train. Presumably, it also gives the rail company the opportunity to work on the lines. However, you bought a train ticket not a bus one. So, I think you should take the rail firm on and demand a partial refund.

Suggest they have misled you about the mode of transport. If they don’t have a reasonable answer and refuse to budge, I would be inclined to take them to the Disputes Tribunal. If you like battles, it could be great sport. They may get away with it if they warned that you might have to travel on buses over the weekends. But that warning would have to have been very clear – and made before you purchased your monthly ticket.