Veterans and service personnel rail discounts are to be protected in law under the Railways Bill
A Government amendment laid on Monday would put the one-third railcard discount for veterans and serving personnel on a statutory footing for the first time, alongside the protections that already cover young, elderly and disabled passengers.
The rail discounts relied on by veterans and serving personnel are to be written into law. In a written statement to Parliament on Monday, the Rail Minister, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, told the House that the Government had that day laid an amendment to the Railways Bill whose purpose is to safeguard the discounts in legislation, rather than leaving them to rest on practice and assurance.
The gap the amendment closes is a simple one. Holders of the relevant railcards currently receive a third off most rail fares, but, in Lord Hendy's words, until Monday they had “no statutory protection for this discount”. Other groups are already in a different position: discounts for young, elderly and disabled people carry statutory protection, and the statement presents the change as bringing the armed forces community into the same category, so that nobody who has served is left outside it.
The amendment arrives inside a much larger reconstruction. The Railways Bill establishes Great British Railways, the organisation through which the Government intends to run the railway as a single body with, in the statement's terms, a relentless focus on the passenger experience. Ministers argue that the network has for too long been run in the interests of profit rather than passengers, and the discount protection is offered as one concrete sign of the new order's priorities, extended to every community the railway serves.
It is vital that those who give so much for our country have their service and sacrifice recognisedLord Hendy of Richmond Hill, Rail Minister, written statement to Parliament
What is being protected is a working benefit, not a ceremonial one. National Rail's published terms for the Veterans Railcard give the holder a third off most fares across Great Britain, covering advance, off-peak and anytime tickets in both standard and first class, allow a nominated companion travelling with the holder to receive the same reduction, and give up to four accompanying children 60 per cent off their fares. Reporting of the announcement in The Sun put the same figures at the centre of its account: a third off through a railcard, and 60 per cent off for children travelling with the holder.
The statement also placed the change next to a recent companion measure: free rail travel was recently widened to cover a bereaved military family member travelling to Remembrance events, intended, the minister said, to make sure that travel costs do not stand in the way of paying tribute. Taken together, he argued, the two steps show a determination to recognise the armed forces community through practical action rather than words alone.
The practical effect of statutory wording is about the future rather than this winter's fares. A discount that exists only as a scheme can be altered or withdrawn by a later decision; a discount carried in legislation cannot quietly lapse. Lord Hendy's statement closed on that point, saying the amendment means veterans and service personnel “cannot be forgotten”, and that their service will continue to be recognised across the railways for years to come.
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