3 Providing information and compensation
to delayed passengers
13. Successive surveys conducted by Passenger
Focus, an independent public body set up by the Government to
protect the interests of rail passengers, indicate that passengers
remain dissatisfied with the information they receive when their
train has been delayed and the rail industry has acknowledged
that communication is a priority issue. The Association of Train
Operating Companies has set up a working group to investigate
how to improve communication with passengers, and has recently
issued good practice guidelines to help Train Operating Companies
provide better information to passengers during service disruption.
There is still a need to improve the way drivers on driver-only
operated services communicate with customers.[28]
14. Passengers who are delayed by service disruption
may be eligible for compensation from their Train Operating Companies.
These companies have a variety of compensation regimes but the
Department is harmonising these arrangements under the new Delay/Repay
system being introduced with new franchises.[29]
It is unclear, however, what proportion of eligible passengers
actually claim compensation, or are even aware of their rights,
as Train Operating Companies do not collect this data. Although
the proportion was likely to vary between companies, National
Express East Anglia, a large company which operates a Delay/Repay
scheme, estimated that 30% of eligible passengers on its services
claimed compensation.[30]
15. Compensation terms are set out in each Train
Operating Company's Passenger Charter but very few passengers
are likely to read this document. Four long distance operators,
East Midlands Trains, National Express East Coast, First Transpennine
Express and Virgin Trains, provide compensation claim forms to
passengers on board services that are delayed, but there is no
way of telling whether this happens on all relevant services.
Other companies collect passengers' details on heavily delayed
trains so that they can contact them later, while some operators
provide compensation forms on request.[31]
16. There is no incentive for Train Operating
Companies to help passengers claim the compensation for which
they are eligible. The Department does not monitor how much Train
Operating Companies pay out in compensation for delays, nor does
it monitor how effectively Train Operating Companies advertise
their compensation arrangements.[32]
Compensation may take the form of a cash refund, a travel voucher
or a season ticket extension and may include goodwill payments
not required by a train operator's Passenger's Charter. While
it did not collect the data centrally, and not all Train Operating
Companies were able to supply information, the Association of
Train Operating Companies estimated that, in 2007-08, the combined
value of cash refunds, travel vouchers and goodwill payments issued
by train operators was around £9 million.[33]
17. In 2007-08, the British Transport Police
recorded nearly 1,900 attacks by passengers on rail staff across
the network, of which 40% occurred in the London South area. There
can be no justification for assaults on rail industry staff under
any circumstance, but passengers who are delayed may be more likely
to vent their frustration on rail staff. While this has happened
in a number of instances, the number of such incidents is not
separately available and there is currently no discernable pattern
to these attacks.[34]
28 Qq 29-30, 33-37, 51; C&AG's Report, paras 3.1,
3.3 Back
29
Qq 124-126; C&AG's Report, paras 3.11-3.12 Back
30
Qq 62-68; Ev 15 Back
31
Qq 65-68, 76-79; Ev 15 Back
32
Qq 55-58, 69-70, 73-74 Back
33
Ev 15 Back
34
Qq 80-82; Ev 16 Back
|
