I welcome the announcement that Great Western Railway will be introducing a Delay Repay scheme for passengers. This long-awaited improvement to GWR’s compensation scheme is due to launch on 1st April 2019 and means that customers with single, return or weekly tickets will be able to claim compensation for any delay over 15 minutes whatever the cause. Passengers delayed between 15 and 29 minutes will be able to claim back compensation worth 25% of the single fare and this will rise incrementally to 100% of the full fare for longer delays.
Discussions between GWR and the Department for Transport about extending the new scheme to season ticket holders are ongoing but for the time being, passengers holding monthly or longer season tickets will remain on the current compensation scheme. Season ticket holders will also retain their existing renewal discounts.
One of the issues raised most frequently with me by constituents about GWR is the complexity of the compensation scheme so I am sure the introduction of this new system will be welcome news for passengers. There is still more work to be done to ensure that GWR passengers are getting the reliable services that they deserve but ensuring that people can be compensated quickly and fairly when things go wrong is a step in the right direction.
