Train to Machu Picchu: can you change the date, give the ticket to someone else, or complain if they cancel?

A tourist train is domestic transport

Article 66.7 of Peru’s Consumer Protection and Defence Code (Ley 29571) speaks of consumers of the «servicio de transporte nacional en cualquier modalidad» (domestic transport service in any mode). A train between two stations in Peru, like the one to Machu Picchu, is domestic transport. That rule gives you three things:

• Postpone the trip. You can «postergar la realización del servicio en las mismas condiciones pactadas» (postpone the service on the same agreed terms).
• Give the ticket to someone else. You can «endosar o transferir la titularidad del servicio adquirido a favor de otro consumidor plenamente identificado» (endorse or transfer the service you bought to another fully identified consumer).
• Use the return even if you skipped the outbound. If you bought a round trip or several legs and didn’t use one, you have «el derecho de utilizar los destinos o tramos siguientes» (the right to use the following legs), unless you hold another booking or ticket for the same route between those dates.

There are two conditions to postpone or transfer. You must notify the company «de manera previa y fehaciente» (in advance and verifiably) with «una anticipación no menor a veinticuatro (24) horas» (at least twenty-four hours’ notice). And you pay only the cost of issuing the new ticket, which «no deben ser superiores al costo efectivo de dicha emisión» (may not exceed the actual cost of issuing it). Not a penalty, not a percentage of the fare.

Cancelling is not the same as postponing

Article 66.7 covers postponing and transferring. It does not cover cancelling the trip and getting your money back. In the rules we read for this page, we did not find a right to a refund just because you decide not to travel.

Before writing the ticket off, check two things: whether you are still more than 24 hours from the train (then you can postpone or transfer it) and what your ticket conditions say. The company may offer more than the legal minimum.

If the company cancels or delays the train

We did not find a compensation table for trains like the one that exists for flights. What does apply is the Consumer Code’s general rule on suitability (idoneidad):

• Article 18 defines it as «la correspondencia entre lo que un consumidor espera y lo que efectivamente recibe, en función a lo que se le hubiera ofrecido» (the match between what a consumer expects and what they actually receive, given what they were offered).
• Article 19 says «el proveedor responde por la idoneidad y calidad de los productos y servicios ofrecidos» (the provider is answerable for the suitability and quality of the products and services offered).

Our reading is that if the train doesn’t run, or runs with a delay you weren’t offered, you don’t get what you bought, and the company is answerable for that. What you are owed in each case (another date, a refund or something else) is not set by any rule we read; it is decided in the complaint or before Indecopi. So in your complaint, ask in writing for what you need.

Why the complaint doesn’t go to Ositrán

Ositrán supervises transport infrastructure, including railways. But article 2 of its Users Regulation says that on road and railway infrastructure (except the Lima and Callao Mass Transit Electric System) it «no aplica para el transporte de carga y pasajeros y el tránsito terrestre (circulación)» (does not apply to freight and passenger transport and road traffic). It adds that those activities fall under the competence of SUTRAN, the Ministry of Transport (MTC), regional and local governments, the National Police and Indecopi, «según corresponda» (as appropriate).

The same article 2 says the regulation does not apply to relations between intermediate users and end users, which «son reguladas de acuerdo a lo establecido en el Código Civil y en la Ley Nº 29571» (are governed by the Civil Code and Ley 29571). Article 3 lists «operadores ferroviarios» (railway operators) among the intermediate users.

Our reading is that, for a problem with your ticket, the route is the consumer one: the company’s libro de reclamaciones, then Indecopi.

What the regulation does require on the railway itself is something else. Under article 25, the entities providing railway infrastructure «deberán poner a disposición de sus Usuarios un sistema de comunicación de emergencia» (must make an emergency communication system available to their users).

Where to complain

1. The train company’s libro de reclamaciones, physical or online. Describe what happened, attach your ticket and your written notice, and say what you are asking for. The company must answer within no more than fifteen business days, not extendable (Ley 31435).
2. Indecopi, if they don’t answer or the answer doesn’t satisfy you: Reclama Virtual for conciliation, or a denuncia if you want a sanction. The step-by-step is in how to file a complaint with Indecopi.

A text you can use to postpone, in Spanish:

Soy titular del boleto [número], tren [número o servicio] del [fecha] a las [hora], [estación de origen]-[estación de destino].

Solicito postergar este viaje a [nueva fecha], en las mismas condiciones pactadas, conforme al artículo 66.7 de la Ley 29571. Hago esta comunicación con más de 24 horas de anticipación. Acepto pagar solo el costo efectivo de emisión del nuevo boleto.

What this page doesn’t cover

• The National Railway Regulation (D.S. 032-2005-MTC). It has its own rules on passenger rail transport. We could not read those articles in a complete official copy, so we don’t tell you what they regulate.
• Entry tickets to the Machu Picchu citadel and the other parts of the trip that aren’t the train.
• Accidents and insurance on the train.
• Each company’s commercial terms, which may be more generous than the law.