Northern Rail clampdown on railcard use despite leaving students late to lectures
Students at Man Met are paying almost double in train fares to arrive in time for their lectures due to restrictions on when they can use their railcard.
Northern have been accused of being too harsh in prosecuting young people and students across the country for using the 16-25 railcard before 10am.
The terms state that the railcard can be used only after 10am on Mondays to Fridays unless the fare is above £12, and can be used at any time on weekends. The terms exclude the months of July and August where it can be used at any time.
This has caused confusion among many students who say they were not ware of the restrictions and have been faced with a fine.
One Man Met student said: “What is the point of the railcard that you can’t use before 10am when most of people’s lectures are before 10am?
“It really affects us as individuals.”
Commute
Many students at Man Met who commute to university via Oxford Road station have felt frustrated by the Northern rail for not allowing them to use their railcard for morning lectures. If they don’t want to be late for their first lecture, many are having to pay more for their travel.
A first-year student said her experience with Northern had been “shocking”. For the first three weeks of term, she has had an over “two-hour delay with Northern Rail” and has been late to at least two of her morning lectures so far because of disrupted train services.
She feels that it is not fair that students must pay the full fare amount for their morning travel, particularly when the trains sometimes lead her to be late.
A spokesperson for Northern said: “The industry regulations on railcards are extremely complex for customers, so we are taking the opportunity to look at how we apply all railcard T&Cs and not just the 16-25 Railcard.
“This includes continuing to work with the industry to address the simplification of terms for customers”
One photography studentat Man Met said her Northern trains get cancelled at least “once a week” which affects her attendance.