«Breaking News» More than 15,000 rail passengers a DAY win payouts for train delays after new timetable led to chaos

Train operators are paying out more than 15,000 compensation claims every day for delayed services, it emerged yesterday.

Official figures published for the first time give a damning insight into the scale of the disruption endured by passengers.

They show that 3 million payouts were made in the six months from April 1 to October 13 last year.

Passengers have been hit by over-running engineering works, broken overhead cables and a series of crippling strikes by train guards, orchestrated by the militant Rail Maritime and Transport Union [File photo]

Some companies have also been accused of ‘dragging their heels’ over compensation payouts, as the slowest to pay up were named and shamed.

The data, published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) watchdog, covers the period after the botched introduction of a new timetable on May 20 last year, which triggered hundreds of delays and cancellations every day during the summer.

More than a third of the claims – just over a million – were paid out by Govia Thameslink Railway, which operates the troubled Thameslink, Great Northern and Southern franchises.

Commuters on Thameslink and Great Northern were among those hardest hit by the timetable shambles, which caused weeks of disruption. But South Western, which runs some of the busiest commuter services in and out of London Waterloo, had to make the second-highest number of claims, with 320,427 payouts.

Commuters are pictured at Waterloo in June last year. Some operators are signed up to the stricter Delay Repay 15 scheme where passengers can also claim a quarter of the cost of a single ticket if their service is held up by 15 minutes or more [File photo]

Passengers have been hit by over-running engineering works, broken overhead cables and a series of crippling strikes by train guards, orchestrated by the militant Rail Maritime and Transport Union.

The ORR also revealed that South Western, Hull Trains and TransPennine Express have the worst record for paying compensation promptly.

Train operators are meant to pay a claim within 20 working days. But Hull Trains paid fewer than a third of claims (32 per cent) within this time frame, with TransPennine paying 46 per cent, South Western (70 per cent) and Great Western Railway (76 per cent).

Fifteen out of 23 train operators were above the national average of 92 per cent in closing claims within 20 working days. Stephanie Tobyn, of ORR, said: ‘ORR will be meeting with all train companies later this month to review the current timescales for compensation claims, particularly where these are below target.’

Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: ‘While the majority of operators are promptly dealing with claims, it is disappointing to see some dragging their heels.

‘Operators now need to take action to ensure more compensation claims are dealt within the required 20 working days to help passengers feel confident in their service.’

Train passengers are entitled to a partial or full refund if their service is significantly delayed. Under the Delay Repay 30 scheme, passengers are entitled to compensation if their service is held up by half an hour or more. 

Official figures published for the first time give a damning insight into the scale of the disruption endured by passengers. They show that 3 million payouts were made in the six months from April 1 to October 13 last year [File photo]

Those delayed between 30 minutes and 59 minutes are entitled to half the cost of a ticket. They can claim a full refund if the service is delayed by an hour or more.

Some operators are signed up to the stricter Delay Repay 15 scheme where passengers can also claim a quarter of the cost of a single ticket if their service is held up by 15 minutes or more.

Campaigners, including Transport Focus and Which?, have called for compensation to be paid automatically, because they say many passengers either do not claim, are unaware of their rights, or find the process too arduous.

Some operators have begun to introduce automatic compensation, including Govia, Virgin Trains West Coast and Northern.

The amount of compensation paid out to passengers has jumped by 80 per cent in two years to £81 million in 2017/18, according to figures previously released by the Department for Transport.

Robert Nisbet, regional director of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the railway industry, said: ‘We know that services on some routes weren’t good enough last summer due to disruption from the May timetable change and the heatwave the country experienced.

‘We want to make it simple and easy for customers to claim compensation if they’ve experienced a delay.’ 

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https://hienalouca.com/2019/01/11/more-than-15000-rail-passengers-a-day-win-payouts-for-train-delays-after-new-timetable-led-to-chaos/
Main photo article Train operators are paying out more than 15,000 compensation claims every day for delayed services, it emerged yesterday.
Official figures published for the first time give a damning insight into the scale of the disruption endured by passengers.
They show that 3 million payouts were made in the...

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