Booking Conditions

Your application, purchase and use of tickets constitute your full acceptance of these terms and conditions.

The terms "Us", "We"; or "Our" refer to West Coast Railways. The terms "You", "Your" or "Passenger(s)" refers to The person whom has made the booking and/or members of their party.

• Every seat on our excursion trips should be paid for in advance and in FULL by booking it through available methods – only this guarantees you a fully reserved seat for the journey you have paid for. We only accept the booking as valid once the money has been received by us (i.e. cheque cleared properly, or online payment once confirmed by the clearing bank).
• We will aim to meet your special on-journey requests if they are possible for us to achieve and considered reasonable, with regard to seating or indeed other matters – in order to help us do this please advise us with your booking or at latest 2 weeks prior to the trip. Please note we are unable to take requests for the side of the train you desire your seats to be on. This is due to our carriages frequently changing direction before use on each tour. Seating layouts and carriage interior guidance is available on our website or by contacting the office.
• Estimates of timings are only a guide – please note when booking you accept that actual departure times may differ from our estimates. Final times may only be available several days before the train runs and issued when we send your individual/group ticket. It is your responsibility and that of your party to be at your boarding point in good time before the train´s departure. Refunds cannot be entertained if you fail to meet this requirement.
• Whilst every effort is made to complete the advertised service, West Coast Railways reserves the right to alter the journey, locomotives and timings, which may also include the route taken, as required without prior notice and without refund, due to circumstances beyond our control.
• Tickets are usually issued approximately one week before the date of your booked tour (and no sooner). West Coast Railways reserves the right to alter this timescale should our timing schedule not reach us by this time from the Railway operating authorities. 
• Transfers: We will be pleased to accept requests to transfer existing bookings (subject to availability) onto similar trains of equal duration and cost, prior to 30 days before travel; however an administration charge of £15 per booking will be levied.
• All efforts are made to ensure the train runs as it is scheduled to, with correct locomotives (if specified), coaches, routes/destinations and additional options for the day. West Coast Railways reserves the right to alter these at any time and will not in doing so incur any liability to any person travelling with us who has purchased a ticket/s, resulting from alterations that are made. Whilst all our trains use vintage carriages that are very well designed for comfort on longer journeys with larger saloon windows we would like to note that carriage interiors, colours, type of interior lighting, style of décor and heating/air conditioning may vary in both standard and first class vehicles, and these may also be subject to variation on different excursions.
• Details of tours are given in good faith based on information from our suppliers and the railway operating authorities. All efforts will be made on the day of the rail trip to ensure it runs as planned – but we cannot be held responsible for any delays to the journey, mishaps, alterations or necessary curtailment of the journey when situations are outside the control of West Coast Railways.
• On Steam Hauled Excursions: West Coast Railways reserves the right to use diesel traction if unforeseen circumstances dictate; this includes but is not limited to the event of high fire risk, emergency operational incident or any form of mechanical failure experienced by the steam locomotive. This will only be done as a last resort by our train suppliers and as such no refund will be available to any party in the event of Diesel Traction being used on the day under such circumstances.
• West Coast Railways will guarantee to ensure that all passengers that have purchased valid tickets for the journey will be returned to their joining stations by whatever transport is necessary (in the event of curtailment/diversion of the train).
• West Coast Railways are only responsible to return passengers holding valid tickets to their joining stations by any necessary means of transport, therefore West Coast Railways cannot be held liable for any missed connections into or out of any kind of transport link due to the early/late running of its trips. It will be your responsibility to get to your joining station for the trip and return home/back to your desired destination from the joining station.
• For 1 Day Excursions – Refunds:
  If you cancel your booking a partial refund will be given dependent on the notice of cancellation:
  
  43 days or more prior to travel, 75% refund will be given.
  31 to 42 days prior to travel, 50% refund will be given.
  Less than 31 days, no refund will be given.
  
  For one day tours and short breaks (including Railtours and Spirit of the Lakes tours) dining class deposits of £50 per person are non-refundable and non-transferable, unless the trip is cancelled by us (please see section above for further details).
  
   Cancellations must be made in writing or by e-mail to ensure no misunderstanding by either party. West Coast Railways recommends customers to take out suitable travel insurance and West Coast Railways advise customers to check the individual policy wording prior to purchase to ensure that the insurance purchased provides the cover required, it is the passengers responsibility to arrange any insurance as they see fit.
• For Jacobite – Refunds:
   

If you cancel your booking (of 10 seats or less), or reduce the number of passengers, a partial refund will be given dependant on the notice of cancellation and whether the booking is cancelled or the number of passengers are reduced:

14 days or more prior to travel, full refund less £20 will be given.

7 days to 13 days prior to travel, full refund less £30 will be given.

Less than 7 days, no refund will be given.

If you cancel your booking (Booking of more than 10 seats), or reduce the number of passengers, a partial refund will be given dependant on the notice of cancellation and the amount of the admin fee detailed below:

Seat cancellation/reduction fee up to 21 days prior to travel:

10 seats or less cancelled/reduced admin fee = £65

11–20 seats cancelled/reduced admin fee = £75

21–30 seats cancelled/reduced admin fee = £85

31–40 seats cancelled/reduced admin fee = £95

41–50 seats cancelled/reduced admin fee = £105

51–64 seats cancelled/reduced admin fee = £125

LESS THAN 21 DAYS, NO SEAT CANCELLATIONS OR REDUCTIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED. NO REFUNDS WILL BE GIVEN.

We may change these terms from time to time; however any changes will not affect existing terms accepted by you when making a reservation.

• Alterations to your booking can be made (except for seat reductions), they will be subject to a £15 alteration fee and will only be accepted if given up to 14 days before the trip. West Coast Railways has the right to apply its normal cancellation policy.
• Social Distancing
• If social distancing is required on any trip promoted by West Coast Railways, then the details of how this will be carried out, will be explained in detail only on the company’s website (https://westcoastrailways.co.uk).
• If your booking is for 6 or more seats, then the following might apply:
  • If you require additional seats to allow for social distancing your party greater than the normal allowance of 60% of occupancy, then West Coast Railways reserve the right to charge for the additional seating required.
  • Example: if your booking was for a party of ten passengers and to socially distance them you required the party splitting into two sets of two passengers and two sets of three passengers, you would require 16 seats (four tables of four). You would not receive a surcharge for this, as you would be occupying over 60% of the seats required for your party.
  • Example 2: However if you required the party of ten passengers to be split into three x single passengers, two x two passengers and one x three passengers, this would require six tables of four and you would only be occupying 41% of the seats required. You would receive a surcharge equivalent to four passengers return fare. This surcharge would require payment at least 7 days in advance of travel.
• Miscellaneous
• If West Coast Railways cancels any advertised excursion or trip then it will give a full refund to every passenger that has purchased a valid ticket for the journey, but no other liability shall be incurred by West Coast Railways.
• Should you feel there is reason to raise a complaint about your trip with us, we ask that this be raised immediately with your coach steward. An experienced tour manager will also be aboard the train should your coach steward be unable to resolve your issue. We ask that this be done so that all efforts can be made to rectify any issue. If it is required that you need to contact us post event we ask that this is done in writing or by e-mail no later than 10 days after you have travelled with us. Please ensure that the Party leader is the person whom correspondence is sent from.
• Whilst West Coast Railways excursions convey a team of carriage stewards it is essential to remember it is the sole responsibility of every West Coast Railways passenger to attempt to alight and board the train safely at any station platforms and adhere to any instructions or advice for doing so. All party bookings made via West Coast Railways conveying any persons with mobility issues/problems or using wheelchairs should advise West Coast Railways at the time of making their booking. Assistance can be made available but we require that you request and await assistance if necessary when actually boarding or alighting from the train in order to ensure everyone is conveyed as safely as possible before, during after the excursion. We are unable to convey mobility scooters or non-folding wheelchairs due to the age and design of the trains used.
• Premier Dining Class: A vegetarian option is available and this must be requested at least 7 days before the date of your tour. We regret that we are unable to offer any special dietary requirements such as wheat or gluten free food. We also ask kindly that passengers do not consume their own alcoholic drinks in Premier Dining Class.
• Appropriate Dress: Whilst we do not have any dress code requirements on board the train we would remind passengers that they should bring/wear appropriate clothing for the climate and weather conditions relevant to the excursion.
• Alcohol: You are allowed to consume alcohol on our trains; however, we do not tolerate any anti-social behaviour. Under the railway byelaws, if you are deemed to be intoxicated by the Train Guard we may ask you to leave the train.
• Passenger Behaviour: Should any passengers ever be deemed to be posing a safety risk, affecting the comfort and enjoyment of other passengers or acting in an unreasonable or abusive manner to any member of staff or fellow passengers then West Coast Railways will take steps to remove such passengers at the next available point. This includes passengers found to be smoking on board the train. No refund would be available for such passengers whom would then be responsible for making their way back to their joining point by their own means and at their own cost.
• Additional Conditions for 2-4 Day Breaks:
  
  If you cancel your booking a partial refund will be given dependant on the notice of cancellation:
  
  43 days or more prior to travel, 75% refund will be given.
  31 to 42 days prior to travel, 50% refund will be given.
  Less than 31 days, no refund will be given.
  
   Please bear these conditions in mind when considering travel and cancellation insurance. For your own peace of mind, we strongly recommend that you do take out such insurance for those customers who do not already hold an annual travel policy.

All tickets for every railtour/trip West Coast Railways organise that are applied for and sold to passengers, are issued subject to the above conditions.

It is the purchaser’s responsibility to check that the receipt and or tickets issued are correct for the date of travel, the number of passengers and the class of travel are correct.

Your application, purchase and use of tickets constitute your full acceptance of these terms and conditions.