Rail Regulator publishes passenger delay compensation claims data

Official statistics released for the first time today by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) show there were around 3 million compensation claims made for rail delays between April and mid-October 2018, of which 84% were approved and 92% were closed within 20 working days.

15 out of 23 train operators were above the national average of 92% in closing compensation claims within 20 working days, however Hull Trains (31.8% closed), TransPennine Express (45.7% closed) and South Western Railway (70.3% closed) fell considerably short of these timescales. Great Western Railway also fell short at 76% although has now significantly improved its claims processing rate.

Disruption caused by the May 2018 timetable changes resulted in an overall increase in delay compensation claims particularly among passengers travelling on Northern, TransPennine Express and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), with the latter receiving over 1 million claims, all of which (99.9%) were closed within 20 days. Greater Anglia and Southeastern also closed over 200,000 claims during this period with a response rate within 20 days of 99.7% and 100% respectively.

Stephanie Tobyn, Deputy Director, Consumers at ORR said:

"This is the first time ORR has published data on the important area of delay compensation. Passengers have rightly made claims for these journeys and it is good to see that train companies, in the main, are responding to these promptly."

"ORR will be meeting with all train companies later this month to review the current timescales for compensation claims, particularly where these are below target."