Rail firm’s £350 bill after fed-up traveller sues over 183 delays
GRUMBLES about delays are a recurrent theme on train platforms up and down the country – but one long-suffering commuter decided to take his complaint all the way down the line.
Seph Pochin became so fed up with ‘woeful’ service that he sued the train operator for wasting his time.
And when the £350 compensation that Greater Anglia was ordered to pay him failed to turn up, the 45-year- old decided he had heard enough excuses and is preparing to send in the bailiffs.
Mr Pochin, an ecologist who moved to Halesworth in Suffolk just over a year ago, described the Greater Anglia service to his office at Suffolk County Council in Ipswich as ‘woeful’ with ‘continually delayed’ trains. He became so fed up that he started to record the delays in a spreadsheet, which he sent to Greater Anglia’s customer care team every month. He said that these added up to almost 28 hours in the 12 months since last February, with 183 delays on 550 journeys.
Mr Pochin, who even considered moving to Ipswich to avoid having to use the trains, was spurred into action following a 100minute delay in August. He said: ‘The penny dropped, and I thought this isn’t getting any better and something needs to be done. This can’t go on.’
But his demand for a refund on his season ticket received short shrift from the rail operator. He said: ‘They just kept fobbing me off and complaining about Network Rail. They kept promising new trains arriving next year, but it is next year and it hasn’t changed. And that has just wound me up even more.’
He paid £35 to lodge a case in Norwich County Court under the Consumer Rights Act to ‘highlight the regular deficiencies with the service’. The operator was ordered to pay him £350 compensation in December. As Greater Anglia has failed to pay up, Mr Pochin has now been issued with a warrant, meaning bailiffs will be able to seize property worth the compensation amount.
Steve Chambers, public transport campaigner at Campaign For Better Transport, said: ‘This case shows that the compensation system isn’t working. Ultimately though, passengers just want a train that arrives on time.’
A Greater Anglia spokesman said it has not yet received a warrant, adding: ‘We are unable to comment … as legal proceedings are still ongoing.’