Rail Delivery Group

All change as National Rail Enquiries launches new local rate 0345 phone number
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date 17 May 2015
source Rail Delivery Group
type Press release

From Sunday (17 May), National Rail Enquiries (NRE), the country’s official and biggest source of train travel information, will launch a new telephone number so that customers can continue to call at local rates.

From 17 May, NRE‘s number will change to 0345 7 48 49 50 as the 0845 number first used in 1996 is phased out.

A call to the new 0345 number will cost the same as a call to a landline anywhere in the UK (so-called ‘geographic’ 01 and 02 telephone numbers) from a landline, mobile or other device.

NRE’s contact centre number has always been local rate for landline callers, but 0845 numbers will become more expensive to call from July.

NRE deals with more than 493million customer contacts a year, providing journey planning, fares information, up-to-the-minute travel news and a range of other rail-related info via telephone, apps and online.

Jason Webb, Acting Chief Executive of National Rail Enquiries, said:

“Just one digit in our number is changing, but it’s an important one for callers as they will pay much less than if we had kept the old 0845 number.

“We didn’t want people to have to pay significantly more to call us. Due to the increase in mobile calls to National Rail Enquiries, moving to a local rate 0345 number was the best and most practical option for our millions of customers. The ‘phone is just one of several ways to get in touch with us, and apps are proving very popular.”

Telephone numbers for NRE’s Welsh language service and line for the hard of hearing, Textbox, will change too from May 17 as follows:

o Welsh Language Line: 0345 6040 500
o Textbox: 0345 6050 600

All NRE services are available online at www.nationalrail.co.uk or by downloading the free app for IOS or Android.

ENDS

Notes to editors

From 17 May the new number 0345 7 48 49 50 will come into service but will run in tandem with the original 0845 number for a transition period.

The new number will be covered by all ‘inclusive minutes’ on mobile and landline phone packages.

Calls from landlines to 0345 numbers typically cost up to 9p a minute and between 8p to 40p a minute from mobiles, depending on the mobile network operator. Users can check their inclusive minute plans and costs of calls with their providers.

Railhub Archive ::: 2015-05-17 RDG-001