Call for rail refunds to be made easier to claim

RAIL passengers should be offered automatic compensation if their trains are cancelled, a former minister has said.

Rhondda MP Chris Bryant called for the Government to simplify the process of claiming a refund for commuters who face disruption to their journey by widening it to apply to all passengers.

However Transport Minister Paul Maynard said the move would be difficult to implement as passengers would need to prove they were on the affected train.

The comments came after the Commons Transport Committee heard rail operators were “making money from delays” by failing to pay out millions of pounds of unclaimed compensation they received from Network Rail for unplanned disruption.

Mr Bryant, speaking during transport questions, told MPs: “It is so often that the school run train in Rhondda is cancelled or for that matter First Great Western trains from London to Cardiff, and there is no automatic compensation on either of those lines which other providers do give.

“Why can’t we have automatic compensation when a train is cancelled?”

Mr Maynard replied: “We need to ensure that whenever a passenger makes a claim for compensation they can demonstrate that they were on the train in question.

“Automatic compensation can be achieved if you have either a season ticket or an advanced purchase ticket.”