Network
PASSENGER compensation given under the Delay Repay scheme passed the £100 million mark for the first time, in 2022-23. This compares with £89.5m in 2019-20, the last full year before COVID.
Long-distance operators, which are more likely to be affected by weather-related and infrastructure problems, and whose per passenger fares are higher, paid out the most.
Three of those long-distance operators are largely responsible for the 13% increase in pay-outs.
While a number of operators paid less (a notable improver was Greater Anglia, whose new trains have now bedded in), the increase compared with pre-COVID is largely accounted for by Avanti West Coast (payments rose by 63% compared with its Virgin West Coast predecessor), Great Western Railway (up 39%), and LNER (up 9%).
At GWR, Delay Repay changed to include season tickets from April 2021, although season ticket renewal discounts continued in a transitional period until 2022.
Payments are made irrespective of whether the fault lies with the train operating company (TOC - for example, a failed train or poor station work) or Network Rail (signalling, points, weather, suicide).
Department for Transport research shows that people
