Elizabeth line compensation payouts soar in delay misery for London commuters

The number of delay payments was up a staggering 55% on the same period a year earlier.

The Elizabeth line

The Standard

Twenty-two operators recorded an increase in delay compensation claims closed.

In London, the Elizabeth line saw an 89% rise to 8,155 payouts.

London Overground was up 69% to 8,161 payments.

The biggest increase, though, was at London North Eastern Railway (LNER), a jump of 125% to 278,065 cases.

The second largest rise was East Midlands Railway, up 115% to 238,897 payouts.

Greater Thameslink Railway saw an increase of 52% to 413,199, Avanti West Coast of 48% to 724,352 and Southeastern of 36% to 258,929.

A Transport for London spokesperson said: “The Elizabeth line is the UK’s single busiest railway service, around 78 million journeys were made during the reported period, with just 8,155 delay compensation claims closed during this time.

“Fewer than 0.01 per cent of claims were closed in comparison to journeys made.

“The figures include Period 3 (31 May to 27 June), when Elizabeth line delay compensation claims rose significantly compared with other reporting periods.

“During this period, extreme heat warnings led to temporary speed restrictions across parts of the rail network that impacted the Elizabeth line and the London Overground.

“Flooding within the Heathrow Airport complex also caused significant disruption to Elizabeth line services."

However, Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden said: “Delay Repay claims are ballooning because Labour think they know best.

“It is taxpayers who are paying and passengers who are suffering from rising disruption, cancelled trains and mounting delays.”

A wildfire ripped along rail tracks in Walthamstow in July

London Standard

A spokesperson for SWR said: “Unfortunately, the impact of extreme heat and a number of specific infrastructure and trespass incidents in the early summer is well documented and it is only right we compensate our customers for the disruption to their journeys.

“Recent performance has improved, as we deliver South Western’s clear plans to improve customer services, fixing the fundamentals across trains, tracks, timetable and team to make journeys more reliable.”

It recently published its Improving Your Railway plan, acknowledging recent challenges and setting out its short, medium and long-term plans to deliver a more reliable railway.

Passengers on South Western Railway have suffered delays and cancellations

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LNER has automated Delay Repay.

Customers who book directly with LNER benefit from One-Click Delay Repay where compensation is automatically worked out and a payment link is sent to them.

The most popular delay compensation scheme is the national Delay Repay which covers all ticket types and passengers can make a claim for delay compensation whatever the cause of disruption.

There are two systems, Delay Repay 30 for services 30 minutes or more late, and Delay Repay 15, for those running 15 minutes or more behind schedule.

They offer different levels of compensation dependent on the length of delays.