Appeal to pay out for chaos on the railways
A PASSENGER group is calling for a better compensation scheme for those affected by the rail timetable chaos.
Transport Focus, an independent watchdog, says existing compensation schemes don’t adequately reflect the difficulties experienced by passengers on Northern and other train operator services in recent weeks.
It comes as Northern Rail’s boss told the Examiner’s sister paper the Manchester Evening News that it had paid out £1m in compensation to passengers in the last two years.
Another compensation scheme is currently being formed in the wake of the recent delays and details are expected to be announced soon.
Transport Focus Chief executive Anthony Smith said: “We’ve heard from people who have been unable to get into work, a heavily pregnant woman stuck on a coach for hours, someone unable to visit their elderly parent – all because they are unable to rely on the train.
“We want train companies to spell out, as soon as possible, how they will compensate those affected. Meanwhile we urge all passengers to claim what they can now and send a strong message to operators that this level of service is unacceptable.” The watchdog is calling for: The adoption of a 15-minute delay ‘trigger’ rather than 30-minutes for Northern passengers.
A lump-sum payable to season ticket holders to reflect the hardship experienced
Recognition of the impact on regular travellers who do not buy season tickets – for instance parttime workers who may not buy a season ticket or leisure/business passengers who make regular journeys. This could take the form of a number of free journeys.
Special offers/marketing deals designed to rebuild trust/confidence once services returned to normal.
This week David Brown, managing director of Northern which is run by Arriva Rail North, was asked how long it will take for a proper compensation scheme to be formed.
He said: “Passengers have two choices for compensation at the moment. There’s Delay Replay for trains delayed by 30 minutes or more or cancelled.
“We’ve had a lot of questions and queries about that. We’ve got more staff in now to deal with that and we are dealing with those in a timely fashion.
“We’ve paid out about £1m in compensation in the last two years on that.
“For the vast majority of the north that compensation is right. But we are in a discussion with the DfT about finalising a compensation scheme which is broader than that and that’s particularly relevant to those who have been most affected over the last few weeks.”