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.