Flybe customers offered free travel by First Rail companies including First Great Western Railway and South Western Railway

Published: 14:38, 05 March 2020

Train companies are providing free travel to stranded travellers and employees

FIRST Rail, the company which owns First Great Western Railway and South Western Railway, has confirmed it will be offering free travel today (Thursday, March 5) for those intending to travel via Flybe.

We’re sorry to hear about the collapse of @flybe. We’d like to help those affected by allowing them free travel today on any First Group train by producing evidence of a Flybe booking. This includes @GWRHelp @AvantiWestCoast @SW_Railway, @Hull_Trains & @TPEassist #Flybecollapse
— GWR Help (@GWRHelp) March 5, 2020

A spokesman for the company said: "We are sorry to hear about the collapse of Flybe.

"We'd like to help those affected by offering them free travel on our services today by producing reasonable evidence of their Flybe booking to our staff.

"Flybe staff are also welcome to travel with is today if they need to, by showing their ID."

First Rail managing director Steve Montgomery said: "Our rail services connect people and communities up and down the country and as a gesture of goodwill we want to ensure that anyone who was due to travel on Flybe's grounded flights today can still complete their journey."

Newbury Travel Geraldine Gardner