Further response and they include some interesting comments due to their planning of services…..
Thank you for your replies.
The formation of services is based on the train plan for each service dictated by the franchise agreement that stipulates capacity requirements for specific routes across different time periods. I hope you can appreciate that we only have a limited number of trains at our disposal and much thought goes into how best to distribute the finite number of carriages that are available to us.
If we reallocate carriages from one service to bolster another, this results in other services then operating with reduced carriages. Carriage numbers can also fluctuate when maintenance work is needed (both planned and unplanned).
Regular passenger counts are taken in order to identify particular areas where current levels of service are not meeting the requirements of our customer. We try to strengthen services wherever possible, particularly in peak times on journeys into major cities. This can be over and above what we’re contracted to deliver
As advised I have logged the details of the service you were travelling on so that the appropriate personnel can review the journey and look to strengthen if possible.
In regards to refunds, although there is typically a £10 admin fee applied to refunds, this is not the case if tickets are unused due to disruption, which overcrowding would fall under. Details of the refund policy can be found through this link: Travel help and information – Northern Railway This is also outlined in Part F of the National Rail Conditions of Travel which is linked to in your previous email.
If you did purchase your tickets from Northern and have some form of evidence, for example a receipt or bank statement showing the purchase, please reply to this email with a photo or scan of the document within the next 28 days. Once received I would be happy to refund the cost of the unused ticket as a gesture of goodwill.
I would like to politely ask that you not take this as a precedent, and that any future complaint will be dealt with on an individual basis in line with Northern policy and may not be subject to a gesture of goodwill.
Once again I do apologise for your experience on the day and hope the above information has clarified our policies and processes in these areas.
Kind regards,
Customer Complaints Manager