HERE'S how you can claim compensation if you were affected by the South Western Rail strike action in December 2019:

Monthly or longer season tickets

For customers who have monthly or long season tickets, including monthly, monthly plus, and annual season tickets, you can claim five days worth of compensation.

The value will be calculated from the daily value of each of those season tickets, for any days valid while the strike took place.

For ticket holders who bought their ticket from one of SWR's stations or website, contact details have already been held by the company so you will be contacted directly to arrange this compensation.

Weekly season tickets

For customers who have weekly season tickets, you can claim five days worth of compensation, for travel during weekdays affected by strike action.

The compensation available is not dependent on the number of weekly season tickets bought, provided that at least one ticket was valid during the strike. For example:

  • A customer who bought one weekly season ticket, would be eligible for five days worth of compensation
  • A customer who bought four weekly season tickets, would also be eligible for a maximum of five days worth of compensation.

Customers will need proof of purchase, this can be in the form of the ticket, receipt, bank/credit card statement that shows payment to SWR, or any email receipts if you purchased tickets online from SWR or another ticket retailer such as Trainline.

Daily tickets

Customers who travelled using daily tickets, including anytime and off-peak single or return tickets, Carnet, Oyster and contactless pay-as-you-go, will need to have travelled for at least three days in a seven-day period.

This would be available up to a maximum of five days worth of compensation for the whole strike period.

For example:

  • Customers who travelled for three days in a seven-day period, would be eligible for three days’ worth of compensation.
  • Customers who travelled for four days in a seven-day period, would be eligible for four days’ worth of compensation.
  • Customers who travelled for five days or more in a seven-day period, would be eligible for five days’ worth of compensation.
  • Customers who travelled for more than five days or in more than one seven-day period, would also be eligible for five days’ worth of compensation.

Customers will need proof of purchase, this can be in the form of the ticket, receipt, bank/credit card statement that shows payment to SWR, or any email receipts if you purchased tickets online from SWR or another ticket retailer such as Trainline.

Season ticket holders whose station received no train service or bus replacement

Customers who hold season tickets but did not receive a train service or bus replacement will receive the full cost of travel for the days in which they had a valid ticket during the period of the strike.

The compensation value will vary and depends on the origin, destination and route of the ticket.

Customers may receive less compensation where another operator also provides a service along that line of route or where customers need to travel partially with another operator to complete their journey.