Rail firms ‘paid for failure’
Train operators accused of reaping reward from cancellations as snow hits services
BRITAIN’S largest rail operators are today accused of benefiting from transport chaos by pocketing millions of pounds in compensation while passengers endure cancellations and delays.
Train companies will run reduced services today and tomorrow as up to 4in of snow falls in parts of the country, with commuters on busy lines bearing the brunt of the upheaval.
The disruption highlights complaints from Tory MPS and campaigners that rail companies will receive huge automatic compensation payments from Network Rail for stoppages to services while passengers are given far less.
The system has led to fears that operators are being given incentives to cancel services rather than keep trains running in bad weather.
Between 2011 and 2017, rail companies were handed more than £2billion in compensation by Network Rail for cancellations and delays to services caused by bad weather, engineering work and other disruption.
Over the same period, passengers received just £187million, leading to concerns that train companies are effectively profiting from cancellations and delays.
While firms receive automatic compensation if their trains are delayed by a minute, passengers have to be delayed by half an hour on most services to get their money back. Passengers on nearly all affected services are also required to fill out application forms.
The Met Office has issued weather warnings for eastern England and parts of the South East including Kent, East Sussex and Suffolk, with passengers on some services urged to avoid travelling altogether.
Cold air sweeping in from Russia, described as the “Beast from the East”, will combine with wind chill to make it feel as cold as 5F (-15C) in some places.
Greater Anglia last night cancelled services on rural routes in anticipation of heavy snow falling, while Great Northern and C2C also warned of limited services.
C2C, which runs services in Essex, has urged people not to travel where possible.
Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express ran empty trains overnight in an attempt to keep tracks clear and put contingencies in place.
The Met Office said some roads may become impassable and vehicles may be stranded. There is also significant flight disruption.
Tim Loughton, a Tory MP and former minister who is campaigning for a better deal for passengers, said they must receive automatic compensation.
He said: “It’s a complete scandal. They [rail companies] are being paid for failure, they are profiting from delays and cancellations. There is no way that they should be holding on to that money.
“It is a double whammy for commuters whose journeys are being wrecked to know that the train operator is benefiting financially.”
Stephen Joseph, executive director of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Passengers will think that this system, which rewards companies for delays, gives perverse incentives to train operators.”
A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents trade companies, denied that they are profiting from delays and cancellations.
He said: “These payments are overseen by the rail regulator, which says that they keep costs down for taxpayers and fare payers, and they are completely separate from the money customers rightly receive for delays.”