Changes to the Virgin Trains charity discount scheme will leave many charities worse off, according to the Directory of Social Change.

Virgin Trains has changed its CharityLine offer, which allowed charities to buy travel at on-peak times at off-peak prices.  Now it offers charities a 20 per cent discount on advance fares. The changes came into effect on Friday.

The DSC claims this will mean a 7am trip from Liverpool Lime Street to London will increase for charity passengers from £66 under the old scheme, which was in place for ten years, to £250 under the new one.

Jay Kennedy, head of policy at the DSC, said the changes had been made with “zero consultation” with the sector. The DSC claimed it could leave charities which had budgeted for their travel expenses for the year, out of pocket.

“The company has presented the changes as advantageous by offering a 20 per cent discount on advance tickets, but these are severely restricted. The benefit of the discount for some journeys will be eclipsed by the huge increase in fares for any charity needing to travel at peak times,” he said.

A Virgin Trains spokesman told Civil Society that the company had refocused the scheme to provide benefits to all charities which receive more than 10 per cent voluntary income.

“We are proud to be the only rail operator that offers discounts for charities. We go a lot, lot further than other operators now and in the past,” he said.

The changes, he said, will offer charities discounts throughout the day, rather than just at peak times.