Yippeee! Southeastern to start paying decent compensation for rail delays
By Rebecca_H | Wednesday, June 22, 2011, 18:04
Disgruntled Tunbridge Wells commuters finally had something to smile about today with the announcement that our local train operator Southeastern will start to offer compensation to passengers experiencing delays from next week.
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Tunbridge Wells commuters soon to be eligible for compensation from Southeastern if they experience delays
After a miserable winter when communters were hit particularly hard with thousands of trains cancelled or badly impacted by the snow and ice, the news that season ticket holders will be entitled to a refund of 50 per cent of the equivalent fare if their journey is delayed by 30 minutes or more seems to have been well-received in general by locals.
Passengers whose trains are held up for an hour or longer would be paid the full single price fare, under the so-called "delay-repay" scheme.
Greg Clark MP today said: "Rail passengers feel they have had a very raw deal over the past few years so this will provide some very welcome relief.
"During the terrible problems experienced by commuters over the winter, the thing that most people complained about was the unfair compensation scheme for season ticket holders, whereby they only received a five per cent discount on renewal if performance targets were met."
The move brings Southeastern in line with other national operators in terms of compensation policy.
What do you think about the plans?
Comments
Not quite as great as it first appeared as apparently Southeastern won't be offering nice juicy cash or credit card refunds to those people experiencing delays, rather it'll be in the form of rail travel vouchers. Which if you are season ticket holder isn't really all that exciting - unless you manage you collect 100's of them before you next renew your annual pass I suppose.
By ClaudiaTW at 13:23 on 23/06/11
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