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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Rosaleen Fenton

National Rail slammed after turning website black and white - as users can't book tickets

National Rail has faced a slew of criticism after trying to pay tribute to Prince Philip by turning their website grey.

The organisation tried to pay its respects to the Duke of Edinburgh by removing all colour from its website.

But the gesture backfired after some customers complained they could no longer read the website - and urged the service to revert back to normal.

One person tweeted: "This is just too much @nationalrailenq @CrossCountryUK website is the same.

"A lot of people struggle with low contrast text - it would be good if the rail industry could pay its respects without needlessly discriminating against some of its customers."

The tribute left some visually impared peoples struggling to book (nationalrail.co.uk/)

Another said: "Just a small reminder that the National Rail website is currently in monochrome because they are "in mourning". Which seems a bit much."

A third added: "National Rail greyscaled their website to mourn the death of Prince Philip and its causing utter chaos for the visually impaired."

One person asked: "Um, national rail, whilst this is a sweet sentiment, did you consider disability accessibility laws?

"Pretty sure Philip's dying wish will not have been "make it hard for people to book a train ticket."

Writing on the National Rail's Twitter feed, a now-deleted tweet from an employee also admitted that they were finding it difficult too.

Rather awkwardly, someone else noticed that they hadn't spelt the Duke's name right either after mistakenly adding an extra l.

Following a barrage of criticism online, the train firm has now said it is "making further changes" so all customers can use the website.

Industry body the Rail Delivery Group, which runs NRE, told The Mirror: “The National Rail Enquiries website has been temporarily greyscaled as a mark of respect following the death of HRH Duke of Edinburgh on Friday.

“We are listening to feedback about how people are using the website and are making further changes today to make it more accessible to all our customers.”

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