Megatrain tickets are sold subject to the 'Ticketing and Settlement Agreement', which specifies that all tickets are sold subject to the NRCoC.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...t_data/file/4143/sswt-franchise-agreement.pdf
(Clauses 13.6, 13.7 and 13.8 on page 90 make expressly clear that the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement applies to Megatrain tickets).
Condition 10 of the Megatrain conditions
http://uk.megabus.com/terms.aspx#megatrain
states that bookings are subject to the NRCoC except where expressly stated otherwise, (and claims to amend the NRCoC in certain areas, for example, on consequences for a forbidden BoJ, and refunds for late running).
Condition 64 of the NRCoC states that the contract for rail travel is governed by English law unless a ticket is bought in Scotland for travel wholly within Scotland, which is not the case here.
When a person purchases a ticket entitling them to travel on the railway, they enter into a contract with the TOC whose trains he or she has the right to use- in this case, SWT.
Condition 1 of the NRCoC makes clear that "where the company selling you the ticket is not one of the Train Companies on whose services you are travelling, the seller is acting as agent for the Train Company or Companies in whose trains you are entitled to travel."
Whilst the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 do not apply to any contractual term governed by a statutory or regulatory provision* they do apply to contractual terms other than those subject to such a provision.
(2) These Regulations do not apply to contractual terms which reflect–
(a)mandatory statutory or regulatory provisions (including such provisions under the law of any Member State or in Community legislation having effect in the United Kingdom without further enactment);
*These include relevant byelaws, the Penalty Fares Regulations, the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, the franchise agreement, or the NRCoC)
Accordingly, contractual clauses which are not subject to the NRCoC, franchise agreement, or Ticketing and Settlement Agreement,
would be covered by the UTCCR, which, amongst other things, declare terms giving a unilateral right of cancellation to the provider to be unfair and unenforceable.
If megatrain tickets are covered by the NRCoC and its associated obligations to honour the contract entered into (although they are), they would instead be subject to the even more stringent UTCCR.
Having carefully reviewed the megatrain terms and conditions, I see nothing that provides for a unilateral right of cancellation for either Megatrain or the TOC concerned, except in case of emergency or
force majeure- and wanting to re-sell the ticket at a higher price hardly qualifies as
force majeure:
In any event, courts do not look favourably on contractual terms providing for a one-sided, unilateral, and well-hidden right of cancellation even where the contract is not subject to the UTCCR- such a term is likely to be considered "onerous" as per
Interfoto Picture Library Ltd. v Stiletto Visual Programmes Ltd http://casebrief.wikia.com/wiki/Interfoto_Picture_Library_Ltd._v_Stiletto_Visual_Programmes_Ltd.
To put simply, a passenger who changes his or her mind about travel cannot demand a refund on a Megatrain ticket already purchased simply because he or she dislikes the contract he or she has entered into- so too, Stagecoach South Western Trains Ltd and their agents, Megatrain, cannot simply cancel a contract because they regret entering into it.
