The government has ruled out refunding or extending the time limit on railcards which people have been unable to use during lockdown.
The Disabled Persons Railcard offers discounts of around a third on travel and costs £30 for one year.
The Rail Delivery Group, which manages the railcard scheme, said: “After careful consideration, the government has confirmed to us that railcards will remain non-refundable and will not be extended. We understand that this decision may not be the news our customers had been hoping for.
“Refunding or extending railcards for over 5.1m customers would come at a significant cost to the taxpayer at a time when the focus must be on maintaining rail services to support the country’s recovery from the pandemic.”
DR UK’s Head of Policy Fazilet Hadi said: “The government seems to find money for all sorts of causes except those that affect the least well off, including many disabled people. When the private sector has had to return money to people using other forms of transport, such as planes, it seems both unfair and baffling that the RDG will not refund passengers for redundant railcards.”