Train bosses deny 'rip-off' claim
Rail bosses have denied claims that train companies are ^ripping-off^ passengers by tens of millions of pounds a year over compensation for late and cancelled trains.
According to the Transport Salaried Staffs^ Association (
TSSA» ), the operators were paid ^167 million by Network Rail during 2013-14 for delays caused by track, signal and other infrastructure failures, for which the taxpayer-funded company is responsible.
But train operators only handed over an estimated ^50 million to passengers.
The union called for a ^fundamental change^ to the rules, saying that train operators automatically get compensation if a service is five minutes late. But passengers can only claim a partial refund if a train is 30 minutes late, and a full refund if it is one hour behind time or more. But a spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents operators and Network Rail, said: ^Passenger compensation is completely unrelated to the rail regulator^s scheme where payments between Network Rail and operators are designed to discourage delays and encourage punctuality.
^When delays occur it disrupts people^s journeys and can put them off travelling altogether, hitting train company revenues and the amount operators pay back to the Government for investment in the railway. Payments between operators and Network Rail reflect this. Passengers are at the heart of what we do and the rail industry wants to provide an even more reliable and efficient service.
^Despite more journeys being made punctually, compensation paid to passengers under the Delay Repay scheme has increased by ^10million in the last year. Payments are increasingly generous and easy to apply for and are made regardless of the cause of a delay.^
Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA union which uncovered the figures in Network Rail papers, said: ^We have to stop this rip-off. If billionaires like Sir Richard Branson at Virgin get compensation when their trains run five minutes late, passengers should.^
He called for passenger refunds to be fundamentally reformed ^because the dice is loaded against passengers in favour of the private rail firms^.
The TSSA^s figures relate only to nine rail operators which have signed new franchise deals. These include Cross Country trains, which operates some services in the peninsula and paid out compensation amounting to ^1.2million in 2013-14.
First Great Western, which runs services from the Westcountry to London, said: ^Broadly speaking the compensation agreements in place with Network Rail accurately reflect the additional costs incurred by infrastructure not being available to keep our customers moving ^ such as the cost of running bus replacements, diversionary train routes, and the cost of making our tickets available on other train operators^ routes, as well as refunding passengers^ tickets where they are unable to travel.^
A spokesman added: ^There are a number of safeguards in place which guard against profiteering from compensation arrangements for these kinds of disruption.^ This includes our profit share agreement with the Department for Transport, which is designed to ensure profit over the level anticipated in the original franchise agreement is returned to Government.^
