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Title: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: grahame on March 12, 2019, 10:07:13 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/delay-repay-15-secured-for-gwr-passengers
Quote Great Western Railway (GWR) passengers will soon be able to benefit from improved compensation for delays, Rail Minister Andrew Jones announced today (12 March 2019). The launch of Delay Repay 15 (DR15) on the franchise, due on 1 April (2019), will enable passengers holding single, return or weekly tickets to claim money back for when services are cancelled or their journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more, whatever the cause. Currently, services need to be delayed by at least 30 minutes on Great Western Railway services for compensation to be paid. However, DR15, which is being rolled out across the country, will allow passengers to claim back compensation worth 25% of the single fare for delays of between 15 and 29 minutes to their journey. Monthly and longer season ticket holders will remain on their existing compensation scheme for the time being as this provides compensation through season ticket discounts. Rail Minister Andrew Jones said: Reliability is our top priority but it is right that when things go wrong, people are compensated fairly and quickly. Now, with the launch of DR15 on GWR, even more passengers will be entitled to claim if their services are delayed. Passengers on GWR make an estimated 105 million journeys every year. This announcement coincides with the biggest upgrade of the Great Western route since Brunel started work on the line more than 175 years ago. More than £5 billion is being invested in the Great Western route – including £2.8 billion on electrification – to deliver better services and new trains with thousands more seats. Mark Hopwood, Managing Director at GWR, said: We do all we can to get people to their destinations on time, but when things do go wrong customers need to trust in a fair system that easily compensates them for the delay. The introduction of Delay Repay is just that, and has been a key aspiration of GWR for some time. Alongside the introduction of new trains, and modernised infrastructure, I am delighted that we are able to continue to make the improvements we know our passengers want to see. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: SandTEngineer on March 12, 2019, 10:12:14 Crikey, they are going to be paying out a lot of money then. Lots of trains easily get delayed more than 15 minutes between Reading and Paddington purely down to sheer congestion (and thats going to get worse).
Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: bobm on March 12, 2019, 10:24:30 Also on GWR website (http://www.gwr.com/delayrepay)
Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: JayMac on March 12, 2019, 10:30:19 About time too!
I note the start date. Let's hope it's not a joke. ;) :P ;D I also note Mark Hopwood's comment that introducing the scheme was "a key aspiration for some time." Given it was a direct award franchise agreement, with intention to be introduced by September 2016, this key aspiration has taken over two and a half years to sort out. I think both GWR and the DfT should answer questions as to why it took so long. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: ray951 on March 12, 2019, 10:58:43 Note that it doesn't apply to Monthly and longer season ticket holders who continue with the current scheme.
Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: IndustryInsider on March 12, 2019, 11:10:49 Note that it doesn't apply to Monthly and longer season ticket holders who continue with the current scheme. Oh goody. I can continue doing my graphs! :) I wonder if, on some poorly performing routes, weekly season tickets might now offer better value? Excellent news that Delay Repay 15 is being introduced though. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: ChrisB on March 12, 2019, 11:35:05 I'm assuming that this will cover *all* delays, like other TOCs on DR15 - not just those "within cause of the railway".
I also hope that GWR have upped the personnel emplyed to administer this scheme as if I'm right, claims will more than double. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: grahame on March 12, 2019, 11:37:46 I'm assuming that this will cover *all* delays, like other TOCs on DR15 - not just those "within cause of the railway". No need to assume. It says Quote whatever the cause Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: ChrisB on March 12, 2019, 11:39:19 In the press release, it does; on their website, it doesn't.
Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: ChrisB on March 12, 2019, 11:43:48 Mark Hopwood has started emailing their customers. Something not yet mentioned elsewhere is
Quote We are continuing discussions about compensation arrangements for monthly or longer season tickets holders. The current arrangements will continue for the time being and season ticket holders will retain their existing renewal discounts. We will then move season ticket holders to Delay Repay as performance improves, and I will keep you informed Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: grahame on March 12, 2019, 11:51:05 A further point from the website (which I had wondered about) ...
Quote Delays are calculated against the planned, advertised timetable so compensation is not usually offered during periods of pre-planned engineering works and when replacement bus services are used. At what point does it move from "advertised" and "pre-planned" to something on which compensation is payable? T-12 ?? A bit woolly about a train that was already scheduled to be later than the published regular timetable, but is then significantly late even on that new schedule. Also a bit ambiguous about busses - I'll assume that means during pre-planned engineering, but it could be read as buses at any time. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: JayMac on March 12, 2019, 11:51:29 Mark Hopwood has started emailing their customers. Something not yet mentioned elsewhere is Quote We are continuing discussions about compensation arrangements for monthly or longer season tickets holders. The current arrangements will continue for the time being and season ticket holders will retain their existing renewal discounts. We will then move season ticket holders to Delay Repay as performance improves, and I will keep you informed And if performance doesn't improve...? Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: ChrisB on March 12, 2019, 11:58:00 At what point does it move from "advertised" and "pre-planned" to something on which compensation is payable? T-12 ?? At the point of service. The timetable scheduled to run on any particular day at start of service. I can accept that compensation is a problem with the use of buses, but if the train is simply diverted? Sorry, a timetable is easily determined, and thus compensation due if over 15 late on the revised timetable should be paid. And if performance doesn't improve...? Oh, generrally, it is from figures I've seen. And as this is likelty only once all stock is correctly in place, it will. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: IndustryInsider on March 12, 2019, 11:59:41 Greater Anglia are introducing Delay Repay 15 on the same date. The quicker it applies to all franchises the better of course.
Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: JayMac on March 12, 2019, 12:07:38 Greater Anglia are introducing Delay Repay 15 on the same date. The quicker it applies to all franchises the better of course. And Greater Anglia are applying the pro-rata Delay Repay compensation to Season Tickets too, despite their own performance issues. I get the feeling that GWR have stalled full introduction because they know their performance has been (and in many cases continues to be) woeful. They've probably lobbied the DfT hard to ensure profits aren't affected. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: ChrisB on March 12, 2019, 12:11:39 AS most performance issues weren't caused by GWR but the DfT, I can understand that.
Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: grahame on March 12, 2019, 12:22:07 At what point does it move from "advertised" and "pre-planned" to something on which compensation is payable? At the point of service. The timetable scheduled to run on any particular day at start of service.So heavy snowfall blocks the Bedwyn turn back at lunchtime and it's announce that it's unlikely to open for 36 hours - then compensation due for that afternoon's delays but not on the following day? I guess you just fight through as best you can on that following day, or don't travel and ask for your ticket to be refunded. Example also applies to incidents such as the sea wall at Dawlish, or when that stone train got derailed near Witham and wasn't put back for a couple of days. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: ChrisB on March 12, 2019, 12:24:39 Indeed, assuming that modification to following day's timetable is announced before close of service.
I'm suspecting that a "advise is not to travel" disruption might cover their a*ses too. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: a-driver on March 12, 2019, 13:59:25 Mark Hopwood has started emailing their customers. Something not yet mentioned elsewhere is Quote We are continuing discussions about compensation arrangements for monthly or longer season tickets holders. The current arrangements will continue for the time being and season ticket holders will retain their existing renewal discounts. We will then move season ticket holders to Delay Repay as performance improves, and I will keep you informed And if performance doesn't improve...? Performance will improve. You do one of two things...... 1. Pad out the timetable of the worst performing services, or 2. Remove the service. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: IndustryInsider on March 12, 2019, 14:18:35 Performance will improve. You do one of two things...... 1. Pad out the timetable of the worst performing services, or 2. Remove the service. Neither of which are generally allowed under the terms of the SLC. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: JayMac on March 12, 2019, 14:20:22 Now, I can be as cynical as the next man, but slowing services or removing them isn't straightforward.
The vast majority of timetabled services are prescribed by the franchise agreement's Service Level Commitment. That includes the number of services that must run, their stopping pattern, and the maximum time they are allowed for their journey. Edit: II beat me to it, and more succinctly. :D Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: rogerw on March 12, 2019, 14:42:11 The "advertised timetable" raises an issue in respect of when this applies. I am booked to travel from Waterloo to Trowbridge on 7 April on the 1215 departure. At the time of booking (31/01) this was advertised as a through train. I have checked today (26 days in advance) and it is still advertised as a through train. Now many of you know that the line through Bath is closed that day with no trains from Westbury but this is still not reflected on this service. I don't know what the arrangements will be for my train and can only guess at this stage. Whatever happens my journey will be delayed. Can the railways really cop out by changing the advertised timetable this late in the day. Do they really expect members of the public to continually check the times of the trains that they are booked on?
Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: ChrisB on March 12, 2019, 14:48:35 Valid point.
THere is a good argument that any delay should be measured against the timetabled service at the time of your booking - this is what you have in effect contracted for. Whether processes exist for the TOC to know this at the time of delay? If there does, then that ought to be the way it is calculated - unless they advise you in advance & allow a change/cancellation to your booking. Of course, you get nothing if a flight gets its scheduled changed, so the argument could be, why trains? Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: stuving on March 12, 2019, 15:27:51 The "advertised timetable" raises an issue in respect of when this applies. I am booked to travel from Waterloo to Trowbridge on 7 April on the 1215 departure. At the time of booking (31/01) this was advertised as a through train. I have checked today (26 days in advance) and it is still advertised as a through train. Now many of you know that the line through Bath is closed that day with no trains from Westbury but this is still not reflected on this service. I don't know what the arrangements will be for my train and can only guess at this stage. Whatever happens my journey will be delayed. Can the railways really cop out by changing the advertised timetable this late in the day. Do they really expect members of the public to continually check the times of the trains that they are booked on? If you go to the disruptions summary page (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/184755.aspx) (for which I gave a link yesterday elsewhere), it says this for 7th April under SWR: Quote Saturday 9 March to Friday 3 May We can confirm that the timetable will be running as shown in the journey planner. To view these services, you can use the National Rail Enquiries Journey Planner And in NRE's Future engineering work page for SWR on 7th April it says nothing about work between Westbury and Bristol. For GWR, however, the work is listed and the summary page says it is correctly being shown. The EAS is pretty clear too: Quote GWR SERVICES BETWEEN PADDINGTON AND BRISTOL AND EAST-WEST FREIGHT SERVICES TO RUN VIA BADMINTON. GWR AND SWR SERVICES BETWEEN BRISTOL AND WEYMOUTH / PORTMOUTH / WATERLOO TO TERMINATE AT / START FROM WESTBURY. NO ACCESS TO / FROM SPM VIA NORTH SOMERSET JCN. TRAINS MUST NOT BE STABLED OVER, AND NO TRAIN MOVEMENTS PAST, PM632 AND PM343. NO ACCESS TO BRISTOL EAST DEPOT BETWEEN 0001 SATURDAY AND 0500 MONDAY. FREIGHT SERVICES AMENDED AND RETIMED. WORK = PLTR RIVER AVON VIADUCT, PLTR TROWBRIDGE. That looks like a rather serious system failure, in whatever bit of the system is supposed to spot that SWR use that stretch of track. It's quite a thorough failure - the OJP shows SWR trains running (as trains) while GWR ones in between them are buses. You probably should complain to SWR - it may not have been their fault initially, but the should have twigged by now (and it is their train). Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: grahame on March 12, 2019, 19:46:35 Consumers Association (https://press.which.co.uk/whichstatements/which-responds-as-gwr-and-greater-anglia-passengers-set-to-get-delay-repay-15/) on delay repay:
Quote Which? responds as GWR and Greater Anglia passengers set to get Delay Repay 15 12 March 2019 Alex Hayman, Which? Managing Director of Public Markets, said: “It is good to see Great Western Railway and Greater Anglia passengers have improved rights of getting compensation after suffering train delays, however many passengers will still find themselves facing a time-consuming and complicated process to get the money they are owed and some may not claim at all. “All train companies should offer Delay Repay 15 and make compensation automatic for all passengers so they no longer have to jump through hoops to get what they are owed.” Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: eXPassenger on March 12, 2019, 19:52:06 Quote “All train companies should offer Delay Repay 15 and make compensation automatic for all passengers so they no longer have to jump through hoops to get what they are owed.” How does he propose to identify the passengers on that service for an automatic payment? Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: Surrey 455 on March 12, 2019, 21:45:47 Quote “All train companies should offer Delay Repay 15 and make compensation automatic for all passengers so they no longer have to jump through hoops to get what they are owed.” How does he propose to identify the passengers on that service for an automatic payment? SWR want you to use a smartcard to tap in and out. Later this year they will bring in automatic delay repay based on when you tapped in and out. I don't know how it will work because if my train is delayed, I will not tap in. I will go for a coffee or beer instead until one of my apps tells me that my delayed train will soon arrive or depart. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: ChrisB on March 13, 2019, 14:57:23 What he said! Would work for Advances on any type of ticket/smartcard, but I don't think it's being thought through very well otherwise
Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: eXPassenger on March 13, 2019, 16:59:22 What he said! Would work for Advances on any type of ticket/smartcard, but I don't think it's being thought through very well otherwise Even on advances it would not work if the passenger had bought the ticket over the counter and the TOC would only know that it had sold the ticket, not that the passenger had travelled on the train. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: a-driver on March 16, 2019, 18:05:16 Now, I can be as cynical as the next man, but slowing services or removing them isn't straightforward. The vast majority of timetabled services are prescribed by the franchise agreement's Service Level Commitment. That includes the number of services that must run, their stopping pattern, and the maximum time they are allowed for their journey. Edit: II beat me to it, and more succinctly. :D But we are still running on HST timings so I would have thought they could.... and they did admit to it happening on an undercover TV program Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: Surrey 455 on March 27, 2019, 21:55:57 Quote “All train companies should offer Delay Repay 15 and make compensation automatic for all passengers so they no longer have to jump through hoops to get what they are owed.” How does he propose to identify the passengers on that service for an automatic payment? SWR want you to use a smartcard to tap in and out. Later this year they will bring in automatic delay repay based on when you tapped in and out. I don't know how it will work because if my train is delayed, I will not tap in. I will go for a coffee or beer instead until one of my apps tells me that my delayed train will soon arrive or depart. What he said! Would work for Advances on any type of ticket/smartcard, but I don't think it's being thought through very well otherwise SWR have now launched their automatic delay repay. Looks like I am going to have to get into the habit of touching in and out at my local station. It seems that they will email me with what they think my delay is but I have the option of correcting it if necessary. That seems a good move. From South Western Railway (https://www.southwesternrailway.com/contact-and-help/refunds-and-compensation/delay-repay/automated-delay-repay) Quote Automated Delay Repay (ADR) is our new way of claiming compensation for season ticket holders using our Touch smartcard and if you've purchased an Advance ticket through southwesternrailway.com. We're introducing ADR in March 2019. How does Automated Delay Repay (ADR) work? For Touch smartcard season ticket holders ADR will track your journey and train based on when you tapped in and out using your Touch smartcard. If we think you have experienced a delay of 15 minutes or more a claim will be generated and appear in your delay repay account. If you haven't opted out for ADR notifications you will receive and email alert every time this happens. You then have the option to accept, decline or amend the claim based on your actual journey experience. If you have an Advance ticket the system will generate a claim if there is a delay of 15 minutes or more on the train you booked to travel on. To be eligible for ADR, you'll need to have bought your Advance or Touch smartcard season ticket at southwesternrailway.com. How do I use ADR? Create an account at delayrepay.southwesternrailway.com Opt in to Automated Delay Repay Tap in and tap out whenever you travel Our system identifies if your train was delayed, and creates a claim on your behalf To be eligible for Automated Delay Repay you need to have purchased either Advanced tickets or Touch smartcard season tickets through our website. To do this you will first need to sign up for My Account. Please note the email address for My Account & Delay Repay need to match. If you already have My Account, please ensure you’re using the same email address for Delay Repay. Do I have to use ADR? ADR is an opt-in system so will only create claims on your behalf if you sign up. If you've opted in to ADR, you can still create claims yourself using the online form. Do I have to tap in and tap out for ADR? Yes, without this data we will not be able to determine whether your journey was delayed or not. I don't want to switch to a Touch smartcard - can I still use ADR? Unfortunately due to technology restrictions we are not able to offer paper ticket users ADR. In the future we hope to be able to support ADR across other digital tickets. If you want to get a Touch smartcard find out more here. Can I still make claims myself? Absolutely - ADR is just one part of the scheme. If ADR detects that you've made a claim for a service you were on, it won’t automatically raise one for you. Similarly, if you make a claim for Delay Repay on a service and ADR has already generated a claim we will let you know. Is ADR quicker than Delay Repay? ADR claims are generated within 2-3 days of travel. This allows us to receive both your tap data and notifications of all delays. In most instances this is the fastest way to make a claim. ADR has sent me a claim that isn't correct. What can I do? If the delay band is incorrect you can amend the claim from your customer account. If you weren't delayed, you can decline the claim. What if I've made a claim on behalf of someone else? If you made claims in your account on behalf of someone else, with details that differed from yours, these claims will still appear in your new account, but will have your details associated with them. In future we will only accept claims from the account holder. What if I haven't signed up for a Delay Repay account? If you have previously made a claim but didn’t sign up for or verify your account, you can still see previous by entering your unique claim reference number and postcode in the “View a Previous Claim” section. If you did not provide a verifiable email address or any email address when making a claim, you will no longer be able to access any previous claims. What happens if I made a recent claim on the old Delay Repay system? Please note that any claims made before today which have yet to be processed, your “old” account area will still be accessible through a link on the new account pages. Once these claims have been completed and any payment made, they will appear in your new account. All appeals submitted from now onward will be managed through the new system in the usual way. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: IndustryInsider on July 09, 2019, 20:48:11 Let's hope GWR don't have to deal with too many crooks like this:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7205697/Bedlington-fraudster-Gary-Thompson-avoids-jail-train-ticket-Delay-Repay-fraud-worth-40-000.html Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: grahame on July 22, 2019, 06:44:07 From The Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/21/train-passengers-missing-millions-compensation-claim-process/)
Quote Train passengers are missing out on millions of pounds in compensation for delays to their journeys because the refund process is too complicated, the travel watchdog has found. A report by Transport Focus published today said that as much as £100m went unclaimed in 2017/18 in train delay compensation, as just 35% of passengers submitted claims. This is despite punctuality on Britain’s rail network falling to a record low in 2018, with more than eight million passenger journeys held up by at least 29 minutes according to consumer group Which? Some people do not claim compensation because they are not aware they are entitled to it, while others believe it is not worth the effort. The watchdog is calling on train companies to make the process quicker and easier for passengers. This includes providing choices about how claims can be made and payments sent, and doing more to promote how and when passengers can claim, such as by making announcements on trains. It also urged firms to establish more automated compensation schemes. The watchdog is calling on rail passengers to “make their voice heard” by applying for compensation every time they experience a delay that is eligible for compensation. Article continues talking about methods of claiming and making it easier and indeed automatic. I note that data is prior to GWR introducing Delay Repay and over a year old, and talks about improvements in claim rates. Personally, I would love to see claim rates increase and total claim amounts decrease with a significant and lasting improvement in reliability. Once again on Saturday, I found myself at a local event (Melksham's "Party in the Park") promoting train travel, but with 9 out of 16 trains supposed to service the town that day cancelled - the third day in 7 we have suffered cancellations. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: Steve Bray on July 22, 2019, 12:27:44 I disagree that the claims process is complicated. For me though, the issue is the low refund that you receive for a 15 minute delay (although I appreciate all journeys are different)
For instance, I pay around £270 for my monthly season ticket. If I get particularly annoyed by a 15 minute delay, I will make a claim, but I receive around £1.70 or £1.80 which isn't a great deal. If there was a minimum payout of say £5, then I would claim more often. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: Celestial on July 22, 2019, 12:56:21 I'm interested (and these are not hypothetical questions either) as to how DR works in the following situations:-
1. I want to catch the train at 0900. I see it is running 20 mins late, so arrive at the station and buy a ticket 10 mins before it is due. The ticket is timed at 0910. The train ends up being 20 mins late. Am I entitled to DR even though I bought the ticket after the train was due. 2. Similar to 1, but the train is cancelled, so I turn up and buy a ticket in time for the 0930. I'm still delayed for 30 mins, though again the ticket time would suggest I wasn't. 3. I want to catch a train from A to C via B. I see that the train that connects at B for C is cancelled, so delay my departure from A by 30 minutes so as not to wait at B too long. (The National Rail app has shown me that the connection is cancelled, and makes it clear that the earlier train has no connection, so I might as well have another cup of tea at home.) Thank you. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: Fourbee on July 22, 2019, 13:55:04 AIUI any delay is worked out against the intended journey; I have definitely seen text along the lines of "you must arrive at the station in time for your intended service", but I cannot see that now on any of the public webpages. It might be under the terms and conditions you agree to when submitting an online claim (anyone about to submit a DR claim who can check?!), but is not mentioned on the paper claim form (if it ever was).
Obviously with a smartcard the touch-in time will be used so that by definition rules out delaying your journey to the station - poignant for SWR smartcard season holders who are on the delay repay scheme, unlike GWR season ticket holders (on any medium who are still on Passenger Charter). Any ticket purchase timestamped after the service you intended to catch has left is going to be rejected/based on the next service you were able to catch IMO. Which is all a bit customer unfriendly really, when you could be at home/pub/somewhere else rather than clicking your heels on a windswept platform. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: Celestial on July 22, 2019, 14:10:57 That's interesting, thank you. It will be very customer-unfriendly if that is the case, although I can see why the rule might be there.
If you've bought and collected a ticket well in advance then of course there is no issue, nor if you are on a line where you can only buy on board. I guess if you buy on the app before your original train is due to depart then that will be ok too. The only claim I have put in was accepted and paid within 5 working days. I did take photos of the departure screen too showing the delay, in case they questioned it (they didn't) though this only seems to work on some types of screen as on others the flickering makes it impossible to take a photo. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: grahame on July 23, 2019, 09:42:38 Delay Repay is ... better, IMHO, than what has gone before but as this thread is showing, "better" does not necessarily mean good.
I worry at the amount of resources that goes into bulking the system out for relatively small repayments, the time taken by claimants to get small amounts back (with no compensation to those claimants for the time they have to put in to get money back which is now theirs by right), and the catches and "gotchas" round the whole system. I documented my journey from Milton Keynes to home in Melksham a couple of weeks back where I arrived in good time to pick up my planned public transport, was 90 minute late home due to a public transport failure, but not eligable for any compensation / repayment. Here's the map of my journey - this is a photo of the network poster that's on display at Chippenham Station showing my route from Milton Keynes to Melksham. (http://www.wellho.net/pix/mkmkmap.jpg) I was at the designated Milton Keynes Central stop around 15 minutes before my service was due, but as no ticket issuing facilities are available there (they're on the bus) I was not able to get my ticket in those 15 minutes. The service arrived on time, but then after unloading a gentleman in a wheelchair, the wheelchair ramp would not stow away and the bus just sat looking like this ... (http://www.wellho.net/pix/mkmkdis.jpg) ... though with the driver trying time and again to get it to stow, on the basis of "if at first you don't succeed". Then phoning for advise. Then deciding that the service needed to be cancelled - next service due 30 minutes later, but delayed an extra 15 minutes because the new driver chose to help his colleague with the broken ram for a while, and also took a personal needs (smoking) break. Net result - connection at Bicester which should have made even off the second bus failed. Which meant that a run across at Oxford to the ongoing train failed which ... resulted in an arrival at Chippenham on the train that followed the TransWilts service into there! And TransWilts services are infrequent to say the least. Chance of "Delay Repay" even for a delay that was nearly 2 hours, using services advertised on the railway's network map? Zero. "That's bus" and "you didn't buy your ticket ahead of time". Having written the above - I remain in some doubt as to the whole "compensation culture" ethos; I will claim more on principle to help add financial weight to the encouragement to public transport operators to provide the service they "promise" in their timetables, and on the basis of which people choose to travel with them. Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: johnneyw on August 24, 2019, 12:36:08 I have to give credit where it's due with the way GWR handled my delay repay. All processed and confirmed in just a few days. There seems to be a system in place that works.
Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: CMRail on August 24, 2019, 12:55:29 There needs to be an improvement for those travelling with a monthly or annual season ticket - a discount trigger doesn’t cut it. Spending thousands a year to save a little bit off the next purchase isn’t exactly a good system.
Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: IndustryInsider on August 24, 2019, 13:10:37 Yes, mostly very positive, especially the speed at which claims are processed. The quicker it extends to apply to monthly and longer seasons the better.
Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: paul7575 on August 24, 2019, 13:12:39 There needs to be an improvement for those travelling with a monthly or annual season ticket - a discount trigger doesn’t cut it. Spending thousands a year to save a little bit off the next purchase isn’t exactly a good system. Almost every other delay repay scheme does include longer term seasons, and users then have to claim for individual disrupted journeys at a pro rata fare for each single disrupted journey. Discounts against passenger charter punctuality and reliability figures, and void days are then removed. For some reason GWR decided against this. Paul Title: Re: Delay Repay 15 comes in on GWR on 1st April 2019 Post by: Oxonhutch on August 24, 2019, 14:59:44 I have an annual season ticket and for the past five years ( :-[) have recorded the arrival times of my morning trains into Paddington. On a 30 minute delay - the old weekly system - I am well ahead with the 5% (last year 10%) rebate I have enjoyed for each of those years. Even with 15 minutes, DR would not have benefitted me.
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