Commuters go loco at rail rip-off
Firms’ £20m compo for engineering works Passengers get nowt for disrupted journeys
RAIL firms have scrapped compensation for passengers facing delays over Christmas – but will pocket a £20million bonus for the track chaos.
Train companies will be paid cash by Network Rail for their loss of income as services are reduced because of engineering work.
A mass of festive works will hit journeys from London stations to many parts of the country, on lines running from Paddington, Victoria, Waterloo and Liverpool Street.
But rail firms, who usually refund passengers when journeys are delayed 30 minutes or more, will pass none of their £20m compensation on to customers who are delayed.
Train bosses will exploit a loophole which allows them to keep compo funds when delays are due to engineering work which is planned, not unplanned.
Experts said passengers would be sickened by the unfair situation.
Industry sources said compensation payments rocket at Christmas, with 11 days of works from December 22 to January 1 making it the busiest time of the year for work.
Rail firms sharing the festive payout include those worst hit by festive works – Great Western Railway, Southern and Greater Anglia.
Travel expert Ian Baldry, who has run IBPTS travel consultants since 2001 and previously worked for rail, bus and airline operators for 25 years, said: “It’s sickening for passengers to know rail firms will receive compensation for running delayed services.
“Passengers will feel the money should be used to compensate them.”
Bruce Williamson, inset, a spokesman for campaign group Railfuture, said: “Passengers will struggle to understand why rail firms get compensation for engineering work but people travelling don’t. “There is a cost to operators when their services are impacted by work. But passengers will view operators’ compensation as unfair.” Network Rail said: “Train operators are paid for the financial impact of planned service disruption as a result of engineering work. “Payments are calculated to reflect revenue loss from reduced ticket sales and costs, such as for running replacement buses.”
MoneySavingExpert.com said: “As passengers were informed of amended Christmas timetables in advance, rail companies only have to deliver that service – so passengers unfortunately won’t be able to claim.”
Rail companies banked £301m in compensation last year for allowing Network Rail to carry out work.