Rail compensation scheme extended

TRAVEL: A compensation scheme for rail passengers affected by the Northern timetable chaos is being extended to those without season tickets.

Transport for the North, which brokered the deal after calling for more to be done for travellers, said it was the first scheme of its kind in the UK.

A COMPENSATION scheme for rail passengers affected by the Northern timetable chaos is being extended to those without season tickets, after lobbying from the North’s transport body.

Transport for the North, which brokered the deal with Northern after calling for more to be done to recompense travellers, described it as the first scheme of its kind in the UK.

A spokesperson for TfN said: “We are pleased to confirm that an agreement has now been reached with Northern on how this scheme will operate.

“Northern have launched a web page – available at northernrailway.co.uk/season-ticket-compensation – explaining how the scheme will work and how those entitled to compensation can make their claims.”

However, as with the season ticket claims scheme, compensation is confined to travel on certain lines, with the delay-hit Wharfedale route among those excluded, along with lines serving Harrogate and Skipton.

Compensation will again also be limited to the cost of a week’s travel for disruption suffered during a period of more than a month, from May 20 and June 30, and passengers will have to provide either their tickets or proof of payment. Claims will be accepted over an eight-week period beginning on October 9 and the existing compensation scheme for season-ticket holders is also being extended to match.

A similar scheme for Transpennine Express passengers who faced disruption is expected to follow at a later date.

The news comes just days after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) published a damning report, saying “no-one took charge” during the timetable chaos, with the rail industry unclear about who had responsibility.

George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse Partnership, which calculated that the rail meltdown cost the North £38m, welcomed the news that the compensation scheme was being extended.

Its director, Henri Murison, said: “Compensating passengers across the North who were affected by the summer of train chaos is the right thing to do.

“Our recent report showed during the worst affected period almost a million hours of traveller time were lost.”

However, he called on rail companies to continue to improve their performance.

He said: “The fact that on Transpennine, in particular, performance has yet to recover consistently is of significant continuing concern. First Group needs to get a grip of this franchise, the way that the team at Northern Rail have done, despite the issues across the industry in the North as highlighted by last week’s ORR report.”

Last week, under-fire Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced a “root and branch” review of Britain’s railways, admitting its current structure is “no longer fit” for the 21st century.

The entire rail industry will be investigated by an expert panel led by former British Airways chief executive Keith Williams, with the aim of reforming the franchise system by 2020.

It follows a dire year for rail, with the collapse of the Virgin Trains’ East Coast franchise, unprecedented delays and cancellations in the summer timetabling chaos in both the North and the South-East, and punctuality falling to a 12-year low.

The review has been described by the Department for Transport as the most significant since the privatisation of the railways in the 1990s, and it will look at ensuring a better balance between public and private involvement.

Almost a million hours of traveller time were lost. Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership