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Rail operators pay 16% more compensation claims for lateness


Rail operators paid out more than 1.2m compensation claims over late trains last summer, a 16% increase compared to the previous year, as networks began paying for delays of 15 minutes or more.

Figures released by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) showed that the total number of compensation claims received by rail networks had risen to 1.4m, a 13.2% rise on the previous summer.

The vast majority – 1,196,945 – of these claims were successful and compare to 1,031,413 compensation payouts in the same period in 2018.

The ORR said that a “major reason” for the increase was the lowering of the threshold for paying compensation to 15-minute delays, from 30 minutes.

Separate figures released on Thursday also showed Caledonian Sleeper had the highest passenger complaint rate in the same period with 394 complaints per 100,000 journeys – a 221% rise compared to the same period in 2018.

The £150m fleet of trains, which was introduced in April 2019 with great fanfare, has been beset with numerous problems, from severe delays and botched reservations, to food shortages.

Ryan Flaherty, Serco’smanaging director for Caledonian Sleeper, said: “We are dedicated to enhancing the guest experience and have made great strides in recent months. However, we recognise that during the period where our new trains were introduced there was some disruption which affected guest journeys.”

Southeastern Rail had the highest volume increase of delay compensation claims at 37,597, with over 87,093 claims successfully closed.

Southeastern Rail said punctuality on its services had improved by nearly 10% since 2017 and that complaints had fallen by more than a third over the past year. It said it would compensate passengers “properly and in good time” when they experienced delays.

Robert Nisbet, director of Rail Delivery Group, said train companies were proactively helping customers make claims by advertising on trains and social media: “We know how important it is to passengers that trains run on time and we want them to get the compensation they’re entitled to when that doesn’t happen.”



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