We are committed to fair complaint resolution

Please give us the opportunity to try to resolve your complaint. If you’re unhappy with the response you receive then please let us know and we will review your complaint. If we uphold our original decision and you remain unhappy we will issue you with a deadlock letter or email.  You can then appeal to the Rail Ombudsman.

The Rail Ombudsman is there to help resolve disputes between us and our passengers. It’s free to use their services and they are independent of the rail industry. They don’t take sides, but just look at the evidence available. They will help us both to try to reach an agreement, but if this doesn’t happen, they will make a decision based on the evidence they’ve received. If you agree with their decision, then we have to act on what they say.

You can appeal to the Rail Ombudsman if:

You are unhappy with our final response which was contained in a letter/e-mail a deadlock statement referring you to contact the Ombudsman

If your complaint has not been resolved within 40 working days of Northern receiving it; or your complaint relates to any final response issued by Northern in the last 12 month’s.

Rail Ombudsman
www.railombudsman.org
Email: info@railombudsman.org
Phone: 0330 094 0362
Textphone: 0330 094 0363
Twitter: @RailOmbudsman
Post: FREEPOST – RAIL OMBUDSMAN

There are some complaints that the Rail Ombudsman won’t be able to look into, for example if it’s about the way one of our services has been designed, industry policy, or if your complaint relates to an event which took place before the Rail Ombudsman service was established.

If that is the case, then they will contact you to let you know. If possible, they will transfer your complaint to another organisation that may be able to help you further, such as Transport Focus – the independent consumer watchdog for the rail industry. They will independently review your complaint and where appropriate, follow things up on your behalf.