How do the costs of delay/repay compare to the cost of reducing delays?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

https://www.gwr.com/help-and-support/refunds-and-compensation/delay-repay

In the four weeks from 2nd to 31st March 2025, there were 107,097 Delay Repay claims of which 83% were approved.  The total value of the compensation was nearly £2 million pounds.

If the delayed journeys caused by cancellations could be - say - halved, how much would it cost?  Looking at the immediate economics of today's cancellation of two round trips on the Swindon to Westbury line, how much is paid out in delay / repay, how much revenue is lost because people don't even book, and how much extra is paid out for taxis and bus drivers for rail replacement services?

Looking beyond the immediate daily cost, how much damage is done to the railway being people's standard choice to make the journey and its reputation?  What is the cost of that over months and years?

I would line to see Delay/Repay costing just a tenth of the current level - not because I don't like the scheme, but is should be the exception that things go so wrong that they get some of their money back.  Each refund - over 22 thousand of them every week - represents a failure to deliver a published service, and a loss of faith / significant delay for a member of the public.

Put in another way - how far would over £20 million pounds per annum go to getting us a reliable GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) service?

[bobm]

What would be useful is a breakdown of that figure.

Delay Repay does not only cover cancellations but also delays to services that do run.   These could be caused by a multitude of reasons, delays caused by other GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) trains, delays caused by other companies trains, freight trains, passengers, trespassers, weather - things that investing more money is unlikely to solve.

The figures also show what GWR paid out - some of it may be for delays caused by other Train Operating Companies which led to missed GWR connections etc.

[TaplowGreen]

What would be useful is a breakdown of that figure.

Delay Repay does not only cover cancellations but also delays to services that do run.   These could be caused by a multitude of reasons, delays caused by other GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) trains, delays caused by other companies trains, freight trains, passengers, trespassers, weather - things that investing more money is unlikely to solve.

The figures also show what GWR paid out - some of it may be for delays caused by other Train Operating Companies which led to missed GWR connections etc.

Delay/Repay is all ultimately funded by the taxpayer however isn't it?

[grahame]

What would be useful is a breakdown of that figure.

Indeed

Thirteen periods at £2 million per period is £26 million, so by saying £20 million for GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to spend on sorting out its and area problems still leaves £6 million for paying out for the remaining problems.   Yes, GWR will be paying out for problems originating elsewhere ... but then others will be paying for problems originating in GWR territory.

But you're right, BobM, all we can make is a slightly informed estimate as we ask the question(s).

[CyclingSid]

The not so visible cost is deterring those who see how unreliable a service is and don't travel by that means.

Did (momentarily) think of going to Weymouth. But it is not a cheap day out from Reading, and the added bonus of not knowing where I might be stuck has put me off the idea.

[Electric train]

If the delayed journeys caused by cancellations could be - say - halved, how much would it cost?  Looking at the immediate economics of today's cancellation of two round trips on the Swindon to Westbury line, how much is paid out in delay / repay, how much revenue is lost because people don't even book, and how much extra is paid out for taxis and bus drivers for rail replacement services?

When the delay is attributed to Network Rail ie Schedule 8 payment that money comes out of NR^» (Network Rail - home page)'s revenue, so it hits what NR earns from the track access charge, worse case it hits the renewal budge which means less older infrastructure replaced; it can also hit the maintenance budget.

The real cost is higher than the figure quoted for the compensation payment the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) has loss of profit which is one thing that goes away under public ownership also there are TOC and NR overhead costs which will be greatly reduced under public ownership.