PRIVATISED train companies are misleading passengers over their compensation rights and getting away with it, Which? said yesterday.

The consumer group’s researchers have found some operators are refusing to accept liability for expenses such as taxi fares when a train is cancelled, despite the rail industry’s conditions of travel being rewritten.

Which? made “mystery shopper” phone calls to 26 operators, asking if an elderly friend or relative was eligible for compensation when the last train of the night was cancelled and they were forced to pay for a cab.

Twelve of the 26 provided “incorrect or inconsistent advice,” Which? found. It named Cross Country, Grand Central, Greater Anglia, Heathrow Express, ScotRail and Stansted Express as the six “worst offenders” as they told the callers that they could not make a claim.

Which? director Alex Hayman urged regulator the Office of Rail and Road to take enforcement action, saying: “This is the latest in a catalogue of examples of train companies treating their passengers with breathtaking disregard.”

The revelation came on the same day that under-fire rail operator Great Northern was accused of using the fact that someone had made multiple compensation claims to avoid shelling out. The operator has denied at least one commuter a “delay-repay” claim as it had “observed an unusually large number of claims submitted against your account.”

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan called on the company to “do the right thing and pay up, instead of looking for spurious reasons to avoid doing the decent thing.”

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes told the Star: “The Great Train Robbery knows no end.

“Passengers are being fleeced by greedy private operators, and the only way to stop this is to bring our railways back into public ownership.”