Trainline app problems hit rail journeys during rush hours

Chaos leaves commuters running late, with many customers forced to purchase extra tickets

Tuesday 28 November 2023 09:52 GMT

Problems with Trainline came as millions of people made their way to work (Getty Images)

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Rail travellers in the UK faced problems with their journeys this morning after ticketing platform Trainline suffered major technical difficulties.

More than 1,200 reports of problems were made to the DownDetector website at peak commuting time, disrupting journeys. The vast majority of the issues have affected app users, although there have also been reports of problems on the website.

Passenger Emily Driscoll wrote on Twitter/X that she was late this morning as “queues for tickets were 30 minutes long”, while Cameron Schedije sarcastically said that the incident proves “the plans to close ticket offices were always sound and well thought through”.

Another user took aim at the state of Britain’s transport network: “The UK rail system. Worst in the world.”

Many of the complaints were from people who had already purchased tickets on Trainline but were unable to load them due to the outage, so were forced to buy another at the station.

Posting on social media, Trainline said: “We’re experiencing technical difficulties with our app and website which means some customers may be unable to search for or book rail and coach journeys.

“We’re very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause however please be assured we’re working hard to fix it.”

The problem has been fixed, with the firm posting on Twitter/X that “we’re back”, but many people appear to be encountering issues.

The Independent has contacted Trainline for more information.

It’s the second time this month that there have been problems involving the travel company’s IT.

On 3 November, Trainline apologised for customers being unable to search or book trains or coaches. Days later, on 7 November, a similar problem occurred.

During major strike action in March this year, Trainline stopped working, leaving users unable to see train times or access bookings.

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