Passenger Indemnification and assistance

Was your train delayed or cancelled, or are you dissatisfied with the guaranteed quality of transport? In the sense of Regulation (EU) No. 2021/782 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 October 2021 on rail passengers’ rights and obligations, the General Conditions of Carriage for Rail Passengers (GCC-CIV/PRR), and the ČD Contractual Conditions of Carriage for Public Passenger Transport by Rail (SPPO), ČD indemnifies passengers in international and inland transport for train delays of 60 minutes and longer, or 120 minutes and longer, respectively, and for non-fulfilment of selected standards of transport.

What kind of indemnity will you receive?

• an indemnity in the amount of 25% of the price of the fare, provided the total price of one ticket for a one-way journey for one passenger is at least EUR 16 in international transport or CZK 360 in inland transport, in the form of a credit note or, upon the passenger’s request, a bank transfer to the passenger’s account, for delays of 60 to 119 minutes;
• an indemnity in the amount of 50% of the price of the fare, provided the total price of one ticket for a one-way journey for one passenger is at least EUR 8 in international transport or CZK 180 in inland transport, in the form of a credit note or, upon the passenger’s request, a bank transfer to the passenger’s account, for delays of 120 minutes or longer;
• indemnities for eTikets issued per the ČD Tariff are not limited by a minimum price of the travel documents;
• special terms and conditions apply for time tickets (see the SPPO).
   

Assistance for passengers

• If you couldn’t continue to your destination station on the same day due to a delay, cancellation, or missing a connecting train, then you are entitled to be returned to your originating station or to alternative transport to the location of the destination station. This can be an operative ČD replacement service (e.g. a bus or other transport means), or public transport or a taxi service, for which an authorised ČD employee shall grant permission.
• If the transport cannot be completed by means of alternative transport, and if it is possible under the circumstances, then an authorised ČD employee shall provide you with a free accommodation voucher for a contractual accommodation facility, or you will be entitled to a reasonable reimbursement for accommodation and information on wait times, including essential transport to the location of the accommodation (permission shall be issued by an authorised ČD employee).
• In the event of a delay in arrival or departure of more than 1 hour, ČD shall provide you with refreshments in an amount commensurate with the wait time, provided such refreshments are available on the train or at the station, or if they can be delivered under reasonable circumstances. Refreshments are generally provided in the form of a voucher which can be used with contractual partners until 23:59 (11:59 p.m.) on the following day.
• More detailed information will be provided by the conductor of the delayed train, by ČD employees at the station, or by operators at ČD’s Central Customer Service on tel. +420 221 111 122.
• If, within 100 minutes from the scheduled departure time of a delayed or cancelled train or of a connecting train, you have not received information on a further manner of transport, then you may elect to continue your journey with different providers of public railway, coach or bus transport. If it is possible to use public transport, then it is not permitted to use a taxi service.
• You have the right to a reimbursement of necessary expenses for alternative transport. For the reimbursement, you must send the original payment receipts together with the original ČD documents in question, or the number of the card on the chip of which the documents were recorded, and the allocated consent number (“číslo souhlasu”) if a consent number was issued, to ČD’s claims processing facility (České dráhy, a.s. – Claims Processing Facility (OPT), Department of Portioning, Clearing and Reconciliation of Relationships, Vídeňská 15, 772 11 Olomouc, CZECH REPUBLIC), or to hand them over at a ČD ticket counter.
   

How do you exercise a claim to an indemnity?   

1. If you hold travel documents purchased from a carrier other than ČD, please contact the carrier which issued the travel document (see the  list of contact information for foreign carriers.
2. If you are exercising a claim to an indemnity for a ČD travel document in the case of a delayed train, you can do so by selecting one of the following options:
   
   a) an automatic indemnity for eTiket documents, if the travel document was an eTiket:
   •    paid for using a payment card or from a ČD Credit account;
   •    issued for a one-way fare per the ČD Tariff;
   •    used on a connection without a transfer;
   •    was inspected (scanned) and recognised as valid by a conductor on the delayed train.
   •    The indemnity will be paid out automatically to the account from which the eTiket document was paid for. If the payment is not credited to the account within 30 days from the end of the eTiket document’s term of validity, then we recommend that you request an indemnity using one of methods specified below.
   
   
   
   b) fill in the  online Application for Indemnification form and attach a file containing the travel documents in question (e.g. PDF, photograph, scan, etc.);
   c) in the Můj vlak (“My Train”) application, submit a request for an indemnity electronically from the overview of your purchased tickets;
   
   d) at the ticket counter, submit a filled-in request form together with the originals of the travel documents in question (eTiket documents must be printed from the PDF file on white A4 paper in the original, unreduced size); the form can be obtained at the ticket counter or you can download it here:  formulář žádosti o odškodnění ke stažení,
   
   e) send the filled-in application form for an indemnity together with the originals of the travel documents in question to the following address:  České dráhy, a.s. – Odúčtovna přepravních tržeb, Oddělení podílování, odúčtování a urovnání vztahů, Vídeňská 15, 772 11 Olomouc.
3. It may be possible to process your request more quickly if you also submit documents or confirmations for the realised journey, e.g. a seat reservation, official confirmation of the delay, etc.
4. You must exercise your claim to an indemnity no later than 3 months following the end of your travel document’s term of validity.

How are requests processed?

After reviewing your claim to an indemnity and if it is recognised (the receipt of a request does not automatically entail the recognition of a claim), the carrier will issue you a voucher which you can use with the same carrier, or the carrier will provide a reimbursement for your expenses connected with the use of a substitute transport means or accommodation. 

Upon request, the indemnity can be paid out by bank transfer instead of as a voucher. Your request will be processed within 1 month from the date of submission.
 

What is a voucher?

A voucher is a form of financial indemnity granted to a passenger for a delay, missed connection, cancellation, etc., and is sent to the passenger by e-mail in the form of an alphanumeric code or by post to the passenger’s address. The voucher is valid for 1 year from its date of issue and can be used for purchases of travel and reservation documents in the ticket office, in the ČD e-shop, or in the Můj vlak (“My Train”) application.

Selected standards of transport were not fulfilled?

On ČD trains, you have a claim to a one-off indemnity in the amount of CZK 30 in the form of a discount on your next purchase, which is issued by the conductor aboard the train upon request while you wait. You are eligible for an indemnity if you present a valid ČD travel document and on a ČD train of the category fast, express, InterCity, EuroCity, SuperCity, railjet, EuroNight or nightjet, the following standards or comfort of transport were not maintained:

• a 1st class carriage was not included in the train, even for part of the journey, although according to the composition plan it should have been included, and the passenger presents a travel document valid for 1st carriage class;
• the planned number of carriages was not provided (either fewer carriages or carriages with less seating capacity were included in the train), and for this reason a passenger with a valid travel document stood, even for only part of the journey;
• in a carriage included according to the composition plan with a pictogram of a 230 V electrical socket, 230 V electrical sockets were missing and a passenger with a valid seat reservation for this carriage could not be re-seated to a seat of the same category in a different carriage on the same train with a functional 230 V electrical socket;
• in a carriage included according to the composition plan with a WiFi pictogram, there was not a functional WiFi internet connection for reasons on ČD’s side, and a passenger with a valid seat reservation for this carriage could not be re-seated to a seat of the same category in a different carriage on the same train with a functional WiFi internet connection;
• in a carriage included according to the composition plan, a comfortable temperature was not maintained due to non-functional air conditioning, forced ventilation, heating or the inability to open a window and a passenger could not be re-seated to a seat of the same category in a different carriage on the same train with functional ventilation or functional air conditioning, heating, or the possibility of opening a window.

An indemnity for non-fulfilment of selected standards is valid for 1 year and during its term of validity can be used for payment as follows:

• at the ticket counter for inland or international ČD travel documents, sleeper or couchette supplements, seat reservations, ČD applications, to recharge an electronic wallet on an In Karta card (EPIK) or to recharge a ČD Credit account;
• on the train for Inland ČD travel documents purchased from the conductor;
• for coffee, tea or sparkling/still water without supplementary payment, without a refund, or for partial payment of the price of other items from the offering with a supplementary payment, as the case may be, in a dining or accommodation carriage or from a minibar operated by the company JLV, a.s., or from the services of a ČD Minibar on the train where it was issued (i.e. on the day in question, or on the next day in the case of an overnight connection). 

A maximum of five indemnities for non-fulfilment of selected standards can be applied toward a single payment.

Your seat wasn’t on the train?

• If, in inland transport, the carriage for which you had a seat reservation was not included in the train and you sat in a different seat, then you can request a refund of the price paid for the seat reservation. If no seat on the train was allocated to you within 15 minutes of departure, you have a claim to five times the price of the paid seat reservation. In order to process the refund, you must submit a confirmation issued by a conductor on the train in question together with the seat reservation. 
• If, in international transport, you were not allocated any seat on a train for which you purchased an international seat reservation for ČD, even for part of the route, then you are entitled to an indemnity in the amount of EUR 6 for each seat not allocated for which you had an international reservation. 

Oversight of passengers’ rights

The Railway Authority (www.ducr.cz/cs), as a state administrative body, shall exercise oversight over the fulfilment of obligations concerning the upholding of passengers’ rights in rail transport according to the directly applicable regulations of the European Community and concerning the handling of complaints for violations of these obligations.

Agreement on Journey Continuation in respect of International Passenger Traffic by Rail (AJC)

In addition to the EU Regulation 782/2021 (on rail passengers' rights and passenger obligations), on the basis of a multilateral agreement between the carriers involved, the passenger may use the nearest suitable train in the event of a miss of connection, even though the travel documents for these trains constitute separate transport contracts (the passenger has been issued 2 or more consecutive travel documents - separate transport contracts, e.g. the ČD Vázaná jízdenka (bound train ticket)  issued for domestic transport and the International Sparschiene Ticket). These must always be the same carriers for which the ticket was issued.

If the connection in international transport is broken and the passenger has the relevant delay confirmation (e.g. on the reverse of the travel document or separately issued), he/she may use the next suitable train, including a train with a compulsory reservation (if there is sufficient capacity).

On overnight trains, the passenger is entitled to use seating car only and must pay the full amount of any sleeper and couchette supplements.

The following carriers have entered into an agreement:
BLS and SBB/CFF (Switzerland), ČD, CFL (Luxembourg), DB (Germany), DSB (Denmark), MÁV-START (Hungary), NS (Netherlands), ÖBB (Austria), Renfe (Spain), SJ (Sweden), SNCB/NMBS (Belgium), SNCF (France), SZ (Slovenia), Trenitalia (Italy), ZSSK (Slovakia).
If you are on a delayed train and want to use the agreement, ask for confirmation of the delay on the delayed train or at the station.

More information about the agreement can be found here Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC) (cer.be)

Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC) (PDF)