Anger as refunds for late trains set to be cut

UK rail commuters could be hit by proposals to make “delay repay” less generous, according to reports.

Delay repay is a nationwide scheme which allows rail passengers claim compensation for disrupted services, allowing commuters to claim for cancelled trains or services facing delays of 15 minutes or more.

However, the Government has been discussing raising the threshold for customers to claim under the scheme, from 15 minutes to half an hour, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

The amount passengers can claim for impacted trains varies between train companies, and other factors can include the type of ticket bought and the length of delay.

Different companies operate different criteria with the scheme, with most currently allowing customers to claim for journeys delayed by 15 minutes or more. Government sources have indicated that discussions have taken place to increase this tariff to half an hour, per The Sunday Telegraph.

Senior rail industry officials confirmed that plans to raise the delay repay threshold have long been mooted, but the move may be controversial, following miserable conditions for commuters who have endured reduced services, overcrowded trains, and multiple days of industrial action.

The latest official statistics show the lowest proportion of rail services reaching their destinations within 15 minutes of their planned schedules since records began.

In the third quarter of 2022-23, train cancellations soared to a record level, with 4.5 per cent of services cancelled. Delay compensation claims in July-October increased by a third between 2018 and 2022, from 0.71 delay claims per planned train to 0.94.

The amount of money paid out by train companies has varied wildly in recent years as commuting patterns were upended by the pandemic. Figures up to 2021-22 show compensation in England and Wales peaked at £89,407,000 in 2019-20, before collapsing in 2020-21 to £6,384,000, and then bouncing back to 39,707,000 in 2021-22.

Louise Haigh, the shadow transport secretary, criticised the Government over the proposals on Delay Repay.

“Shambolic services are failing passengers and instead of demanding better, the Conservatives want them to pay the price,” she told the Sunday Telegraph. “The message is clear - under the Conservatives, our failing rail services are here to stay.

“The next Labour government will put passengers back at the heart of our railways, and build the infrastructure fit for the century ahead.”