Northern, East Midlands Railway, and TransPennine Express have strengthened an agreement, allowing passengers to travel automatically on other rail companies’ services during times of disruption.

Passengers who encounter delays while travelling on either of the three Train Operating Companies’ (TOCs) will be able to continue their journey using the same valid ticket on another TOC service, between the cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham.

This agreement between Northern, East Midlands Railway and TransPennine Express will automatically enable tickets that are valid on a train that has been cancelled by one train company, for use on another rail company’s services, within two hours of the original train being cancelled.

This will allow passengers with pre-booked tickets to finish their journeys more quickly by using other services serving the same destinations. It will also simplify the process and workload for staff at stations when dealing with passengers whose trains have been cancelled. The agreement will cover pre-planned cancelled trains and services that are cancelled on the day or at the last minute.

This agreement builds upon an existing agreement that was launched between Northern, East Midlands Railway and TransPennine Express in December 2024, whereby tickets for cancelled Northern trains could be used on other train companies’ services, but on Sundays only.

“This agreement is about doing the right thing for our customers when things don’t go according to plan.

Sadly, things do go wrong from time to time, so we’ve worked closely with colleagues at East Midlands Railway and TransPennine Express to design a policy which will keep our towns and cities across the North connected in times of disruption.

I’m pleased that we have been able to build upon the great work that has already taken place to date, with a simpler, easy to understand policy that makes sense for customers and our teams.”

Tricia Williams, Managing Director for Northern

“This agreement is a great example of train operators working together to put customers first. Disruption is never ideal, but when it does happen, passengers need clear, consistent and practical options.

By strengthening this arrangement with our industry partners at Northern and TransPennine Express, we’re making it easier for customers to complete their journeys with confidence.”

Will Rogers, Managing Director at East Midlands Railway