GREAT Western Railway is set to begin notifying customers who are delayed by more than 15 minutes of their rights for compensation.
It has instated a new Automatic Delay Repay service which will cover all advance tickets bought online and used on GWR services and automatically calculate delays.
Those subject to more than 15 minutes of delay will be notified by the service via email, with the ability to accept the claim through their relevant online account.
The service will also notify those who travel with another train operator for part of their journey if that part is delayed, though GWR will not process those claims directly.
It sees graded compensation for delays, with less half an hour’s worth of delays leading to 25% refund on single tickets, and 12.5% on return and season tickets.
Delays between 30-59 minutes see refunds of 50% on single tickets and 25% for return and season tickets.
Delays of more than an hour will see single tickets fully refunded, and return and season tickets refunded 50%.
All tickets delayed by over two hours will be fully refunded.
GWR interim sales & marketing director Lee Edworthy said: “This fulfils a promise to our customers to make claiming compensation for any delays of 15 minutes or more even easier.
“We are always looking at ways to improve our service and it’s important that when people are delayed, we proactively notify them and ensure they are adequately compensated for their loss.
“We do all we can to get people to their destination on time, but when things do go wrong customers need to trust in a fair system.
“This new Automatic Delay Repay service is an extension of our commitment to passengers.”
The Delay Repay scheme was launched in 2019 for users with pay-as-you-go smartcards, but has now been rolled out to advance ticket holders.
Instead of completing a full online form to process compensation, but automatic refunds, unique to the railway industry, will simplify the process.
A Delay Repay account, provided by Great Western Railway, is needed to sign up to the service.
For more information, visit: delayrepay.gwr.com
