Train companies have been accused of confusing passengers by having vastly different rules on what constitutes peak-time travel.

Which? magazine said operators were not providing a consistent message.

Some such as East Coast trains began evening peak services in the afternoon while others had no restrictions.

The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said most people were able to buy the right ticket and get on the right train without any problems.

Restrictions
The magazine said the East Coast train company and West Coast Main Line operator Virgin Trains began their evening peak in the mid-afternoon. In the case of East Coast, that means the evening peak period last four hours.

But Chiltern Railways and Merseyrail had no specific evening peak times.

Atoc claims 'four out of five passengers are happy with their journey'."

I wonder how they question those whose trains were cancelled...