Fair Play Campaign for Workers Who Travel by Rail

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21 February 2014 | Updated 01 January 1970

The Office of Rail Regulation’s study released this morning shows three quarters of rail passengers are unaware of compensation and refunds rights when trains are delayed or cancelled.

As the consumer law enforcement authority for the railways, the regulator conducted an independent study to see if rail passengers across Britain are aware of their consumer rights and how to exercise them. The survey shows that:

Over 75% of rail passengers 'do not know very much' or 'nothing at all' about their rights to a refund or compensation when trains are delayed or cancelled

Passengers believe that train operators could do more to promote compensation rights awareness - 74% of the study participants said that train companies do 'not very much' or 'nothing at all' to proactively provide information about compensation when there are delays

Passengers also suggested more effective ways of raising awareness, such as prominently displayed compensation information on websites; posters at stations; information on the back on tickets; automated claims processes; and compensation in cash or vouchers that can be used online.

Ticket and compensation information

This year, the regulator will oversee the development of a code of practice on the provision of ticket retail information, which will be in place by the end 2014. The Code will be intended to provide clarity on what information passengers can expect from their train companies, including information on the different types of fares, any restrictions that apply and key terms and conditions, such as compensation and refund rights.

Office of Rail Regulation chair Anna Walker said:

”We want to see that passengers are treated fairly, receive the quality of service they pay for and when this is not the case, can hold their service providers to account. Our research suggests that simply putting information on a website or only making it available on request, is not sufficient to help consumers be aware of or exercise their rights. Britain's rail industry needs to be more transparent and proactive in providing information. This includes data on passenger compensation. ORR will work with industry to develop a code of practice for train companies which will be in place by next year, setting out what ticketing information should be provided to customers to help them make informed choices.”

Report Extract: Understanding the reasons for exercising or not exercising their Refund and Compensation Rights

Fewer than one in ten of the survey respondents had made a refund or compensation claim. The main barriers to claiming given were not being clear on how to make a claim and not being confident of a successful outcome. Nine in ten of those survey respondents who had previously made a claim said that the main reason for claiming compensation was due to their train being delayed.

The passenger compensation report can be downloaded here

Current data not current

The most current data obtained by ORR from 2010/11 shows that a total of nearly £10.2m was paid out in compensation to passengers by 11 train companies.

At this time, data on compensation across the rail industry including the amount of compensation paid out and frequency or number of claims is not consistently captured, reported or published by all train companies.

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 21 February 2014

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