Maria Miller, MP for Basingstoke, has welcomed the Government decision to extend the rail delay compensation scheme to include shorter delays.
The “Delay Repay” scheme, designed to help passengers delayed by 30 minutes or more to claim compensation, will be extend to include 15 minute delays. The changes will happen first on Govia Thameslink services, and will then be rolled out to all other lines across the country, starting with the new South Western franchise, due to commence in mid-2017.
Under the new “Delay Repay 15” scheme, passengers will be able to claim 25% of the cost of the single fare for delays between 15 and 29 minutes, with the existing compensation thresholds applying for delays of more than half an hour.
Maria said: “This is a welcome move. Clearly, what passengers want above all else is a reliable train service, with trains running on time. But it is important that when things go wrong they get proper compensation, and that it is as easy as possible to make a claim.”