Customers who are delayed by 15 minutes or more on a TransPennine Express service can claim compensation
TransPennine Express (TPE) has announced that from Sunday 2 February 2020 customers who are delayed by 15 minutes or more will be entitled to compensation.
Delay Repay 15 (DR15) is a further extension of the current Delay Repay compensation that customers receive, when their train is delayed by 30 minutes or more.
Customers who are delayed by 15 minutes or more will be able to claim back 25% of their ticket price for a single ticket, 12.5% of their ticket price for a return ticket and season ticket holders will also be able to claim compensation should their train be delayed.
Leo Goodwin, Managing Director for TransPennine Express, said: “The last few months have been difficult for customers, and I am truly sorry to anyone who has experienced disruption as a result of this. We have been working hard to stabilise services since the start of the year and performance has improved. We will be reintroducing a number of services throughout February that we temporarily removed from our Liverpool to Edinburgh route.
“Earlier this month, we launched a compensation scheme for season ticket holders affected and I’m pleased to also launch Delay Repay 15 for our customers so that they can be reimbursed when things don’t go to plan.
“Customers who board our services expect them to run on time and when things go wrong, and they get delayed, we believe they should be appropriately compensated.“
Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “TransPennine Express’ performance in recent months has been unacceptable and we understand how deeply frustrating this is for passengers.
“That’s why it’s welcome to see the introduction of Delay Repay 15 as part of this Government’s commitment to improving compensation, ensuring passengers get the redress they deserve when things go wrong.”
David Sidebottom, director at the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “We have been calling for Delay Repay 15 compensation after the months of unacceptable disruption TransPennine Express passengers have had to endure. Passengers will now want to know when TransPennine Express will reintroduce the promised timetable and improve day to day punctuality and reliability.
“Transport Focus research found just 35 per cent of passengers who were eligible claimed compensation for their journey. So, it’s now important that TransPennine Express actively encourages passengers to claim and makes it quick and easy to do so.
“When things go wrong train operators must ensure every eligible passenger knows about compensation and how to claim. To make their voice heard passengers must claim every time and Make Delay Pay.”
