Rail refund scheme was deliberately kept out of media

A GOVERNMENT official attempted to keep a rail compensation scheme “lowkey” and out of the media spotlight, it has emerged, as rail campaigners warned that the decision hindered commuters’ efforts to obtain refunds.

Chris Grayling was last night unable to explain why an official in his department advised that Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) didn’t make details of its compensation process known to the media, saying only that the instruction was not heeded.

It comes after emails sent between officials in the Department for Transport (DFT) emerged last night, showing that one had suggested limiting publicity of the scheme to “passengers and stakeholders, not media”.

One email, dated July 5, stated that details of the scheme had now been published on GTR’S website, “although my advice would be to keep this lowkey”.

The correspondence came amid widespread rail chaos following the botched implementation of the new train timetable in the summer, during which 470 trains a day were cancelled on the GTR network alone.

Charles Horton, the franchise’s chief executive, resigned weeks later. In the aftermath, Mr Grayling ordered the rail firms involved to launch compensation schemes, but many passengers complained of a lack of information about how to claim back fares.

But now the emergence of the emails has raised serious questions about whether officials in Mr Grayling’s department were attempting to hinder efforts to make details of the GTR scheme more widely known.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph last night, Daisy Cooper, a Liberal Democrat candidate in St Albans, who obtained the exchanges, said that they undermined “any trust” in the DFT.

Last night a spokesman for GTR said that passengers affected by disruption had been encouraged to apply for compensation.