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TfL pays £5m in refunds for Tube delays
Last updated at 14:18pm on 26.02.07
London Underground has been hit by a record number of claims for refunds from delayed passengers, figures show.
Transport for London has paid nearly £5 million to dissatisfied travellers in the past three years, according to data released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Almost every Tube line saw a rise in the number of complaints, with the total number of claims almost doubling from 261,725 in 2004 to 447,626 last year. The majority of claims are for refunds caused by delays. Anyone whose journey is delayed by more than 15 minutes is entitled to a refund.
Stephen Hammond, MP for Wimbledon and the Conservative transport spokesman who unearthed the figures-said they showed the Mayor was not delivering value for money.
He said: "Ken Livingstone talks a great deal about his £10billion investment plan for London transport. These figures show just how little he has achieved with all that money. The Mayor's council tax precept keeps on rising and fares have gone through the roof but commuters' journeys just get worse."
The figures show the Metropolitan line had the highest number of complaints last year, with 97,773 passengers applying for refunds, up from 60,853 in 2004 - but down from 111,504 in 2005.
Others with a poor record included the Central line, which saw 92,336 people apply for refunds last year, compared with 58,783 in 2004, and the Northern line with 56,805 claims, compared with 29,755 two years before. The number of refunds claimed by passengers using the Piccadilly line more than doubled, from 25,282 in 2004 to 51,619 last year - again indicating a deterioration in service.
The Waterloo & City line was the only one to register a fall in complaints from its 2004 figure - probably because it was closed for five months.
Across the network, the number of claims has risen by 70 per cent over the three years. This has prompted new questions about Metronet, the private company responsible for maintaining two thirds of the Underground, includingthe Metropolitan, Circle and District lines.
Other recent figures showed that delays on the Metropolitan line are the worst on the network, with journeys on average taking 101/2 minutes longer than they should.
Metronet, which enjoys a 30-year watertight contract, has come in for repeated criticism over its performance, which has frequently caused Tube services to be delayed because of over-running engineering work.
Its programme to improve scores of stations has also fallen behind schedule.
A recent report by the London Assembly concluded that the company should be stripped of some of its responsibilities unless its performance improves.
TfL was not available for comment.
Reader views (3)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
Easy solution: remove ALL ministerial cars, and make them use public transport. When it actually affects them, the MPs will soon do something about improving the rubbishy and overpriced system that we, their paymasters, have to tolerate.
- Lezli Taubler, London
I wonder if the figures for the Metropolitan line refunds reflect more the fact that Metropolitan line passengers are more likely to be city workers and more bolshy and likely to think of applying for a refund, just a thought.
Why not scrap the refund service altogether and put the admin money saved into improving the system.
- M Willis, UK
Surely no one can be suprised by this. It's the same old story. The hard pressed passenger has to pay more and more for a worsening service. Where are the imporovemnts we are always being promised.
- Simon, Crystal Palace, London
