Tonight:
4°c
Delayed rail passengers 'are not told how to claim refunds'
Dick Murray, Transport Editor18 Nov 2008
RAIL passengers are missing out on hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for poor service because they don't know how to claim refunds, MPs said today.
Passengers paid £5.1billion in fares last year, but are being left in the dark when it comes to getting money back for delayed trains, which cost travellers £1billion in lost time during 2006-7.
"Passengers are not always informed of their rights to compensation when they are delayed," a report from the Commons public accounts committee confirmed.
The committee criticised the Department for Transport for its failure to monitor the amount paid in compensation by train operating companies and how the refund scheme is publicised. It also condemned the rail industry for failing to deal quickly with delays and not keeping passengers informed of the causes.
"Passengers are rightly angered when their train comes to a halt for a lengthy period and nobody in the train crew can give them any information," committee chairman Edward Leigh said.
Mr Leigh said one of the reasons for train delays was poor communications between Network Rail, which is responsible for the tracks and signals, and emergency services.
London operators are the worst for informing passengers over the causes of delays. A list compiled by watchdog Passenger Focus found only 13 per cent of Gatwick Express users were "satisfied" with the response followed by London Overground (14 per cent) and Southeastern (27 per cent).
"Passengers have told us repeatedly that having informed staff on the train and on the platform is their main concern during disruption," Passenger Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said.
An NR spokesman said delays to services had been reduced by more than 30 per cent in the past six years, with more than 90 per cent of services now running on time.
Southeastern admitted it "struggled" to keep all passengers informed of the reasons for train delays.
Reader views (7)
Northern Rail introduced a new timetable today. On my route they have cut peak time services. Tonight's train home was farsical. They put on an old bone shaker one carriage train on a service that has replaced three former well subscribed, modern, multi carriage train services, and didn't anticipate that it would lead to serious, dangerous overcrowding?!? Are they running the service down as Virgin need the line more for London services? And they wonder why Stockport residents voted against the C-Charge .... Current operators are not capable of carrying through vital improvements!!!
- Jj, Stockport,, 15/12/2008 20:57
Report abuse
John Galt - Actually, the way it works is that if the cost of paying compensation is less than the cost of doing something about the problem causing delays, then nothing will be done, and then they'll start to look for something else to economize on and make the service even worse!
So claim every last penny you can, it's the only way to get a better service.
- Nigel, London, 18/11/2008 19:43
Report abuse
Congratulations to National Express then. Having booked on the 18.00 from King Cross to Carlisle last Saturday, the train left on time, but ws delayed for 20 mins due to signal problems at Newark. Or so we were told after sitting stationary for about three minutes. Updates were given until we were on the move. We missed the connection to Carlisle but were told by an in train announcement to contact customer services when we alighted at Newcastle. Nine of us missed the Newcastle train, nine of us were put into three taxis to our destination without a cross word, but loads of apologies. I'll travel with them again because of the exemplary service.
- Alan, Carlisle, England, 18/11/2008 14:20
Report abuse
The trains in Manchester are notoriously unreliable at the moment. I'd never rely on one to get me somewhere, even as a last resort. As a monthly season ticket holder, it is annoying that I have more difficulty claiming back fares than if I bought returns every day.
Claims aside, the most infuriating aspect of delayed trains is the fact that the train continues to be announced in Deansgate station every 5 minutes for the next hour and a half, each time delayed by an addition "5 minutes". By my reckoning, that meant that when I first heard that the train was "delayed by 5 minutes", it actually hadn't even gotten back to Liverpool from its PREVIOUS journey yet.
- Alex, Manchester, 18/11/2008 14:20
Report abuse
Where is the point to claim compensation for peak trains, if the "opportunity cost" suffered is actually far greater - regulary arriving late in the office in todays times will guarantee you a place on the next P45 list; missing vital meetings with buyers or sellers will not result in growing business or careers.
Unless the train operators and Network Rail are actually forced to take responsibility for their actions (or non-actions) the rest is a Socialists farce.
Train operating companies are charging commuters and travellers billions, to supply a service that is not up standard - on top of it, in order to keep them sweet, the tax payer provides additional subsidies that are the real cash cows for each and every operator.
The more you claim in compensation - the more the tax payerr has to put in. Thrain operators are a regulated business - where fines don't work.
- John Galt, London, 18/11/2008 13:57
Report abuse
The whole system is a farce, no peak trains run at the level they are supposed to but this is offset by off peak services hitting above their service level. If we have to pay extra for a peak service ticket then let peak services be judged seperately to off peak services, my morning train hasn't arrived on time in 2 months but there's no way I can claim back any compensation unless I buy a daily ticket and claim every time the train is late.
- Bob, Cheam, 18/11/2008 11:54
Report abuse
It might be helpful if the Standard provided a summary of compensation available from the capital's operators. Whilst there are variations between operators, you are usually entitled to a refund in Rail Travel Vouchers if your train is more than an hour late, or cash if it's more than two hours late - the caveat being that it has to be due to a factor under the rail operator or Network Rail's control. (i.e. delays caused by vandalism don't count)
- Mark Lee, Vauxhall, 18/11/2008 11:54
Report abuse
