First pays out after Delay Repay error

FirstGroup has agreed to pay out more than £500,000 after Delay Repay claims were found to have been left unforwarded, due to an IT error.

The error meant that more than 53,000 Delay Repay claims made wrongly to FirstGroup operators were not redirected to the appropriate train company for processing.

The train operating companyowning group, which runs Great Western Railway, Avanti West Coast, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express and open access operators Hull Trains and Lumo, says it self-reported the issue to the Office of Rail and Road after identifying the problem during a recent audit.

ORR says it is satisfied that the matter has now been resolved, that compliant processes have been put in place, and that

FirstGroup did not financially gain from the issue.

FirstGroup has begun contacting all eligible passengers and will be making a goodwill payment of at least £10 for the inconvenience.

“A recent internal audit has unfortunately highlighted an IT issue that has meant that some cases weren’t successfully forwarded to the correct operator as we promised, at the time the affected customers were advised of our rejection of their claim,” said a FirstGroup spokesman.

“We recognise this could have caused additional complications for customers as they would have had to pursue their claims directly with the correct operators, and we will therefore be making a goodwill payment for those customers affected for any inconvenience caused.”