Railways: Passenger's Charter?

[pembrokestephen]

Back when they privatised the railways (spit, boo, hiss), we had this wonderful thing they called the Passenger's Charter, one of whose provisions was that if a journey were delayed by more than a certain amount of time, you could claim back a proportion of the cost of your journey.

It wouldn't surprise me if, in the Glorious Blairite Republic, we'd very quietly lost that provision, but, as I'm sitting here watching the Small One's journey back from London unfold in the usual chaos of delayed trains and broken connections, and it looks like she might miss ANOTHER connection at Carmarthen, I'm wondering if we've got any kind of leg to stand on to go after them for *some* kind of compensation...?

 

[beeboo]

My other half got massively delayed a couple of weeks ago and there was talk of a proportional refund - they didn't make it very easy to get a claim form tho', quelle surprise. I assume that was Passenger's Charter but I don't no the details.

Not very helpful I know...

 

[soulman]

There's a National Rail Condition of Carriage now. While each seperate train company has their own Passengers Charter.

From the Conditions of Carriage -

43 Compensation for delays
If your journey is delayed by circumstances within the control of a Train
Company or a Rail Service Company and as a result you arrive more than
one hour late at your destination station, you will be entitled to
compensation in the form of travel vouchers which may be exchanged or
used in part payment for tickets for any rail journey on the services of the
Train Companies. If your journey involves more than one train service, you
must allow at least the connection time shown in the Great Britain National
Rail Passenger Timetable or five minutes at any other station.
The value of the vouchers you will receive will be equal to 20 per cent of
the amount you paid for your rail journey. If you were using a season
ticket, it will be 20 per cent of the amount you paid for the ticket divided by
the number of days for which your season ticket was valid when you
bought it. This Condition does not apply to season tickets to which
discount arrangements in a Train Company’s Passenger’s Charter applies.
Also it does not apply if you are entitled to a refund in accordance with
Condition 25.
To be eligible to receive this compensation you must make a claim to one
of the Train Companies’ ticket offices within 28 days of completing the
relevant journey, stating the timetable departure time of the train or trains
you intended to use for the journey. You must, at the time you make your
claim, present a ticket (or other authority to travel) which was valid for the
journey.

Basically contact the train company who sold you the ticket and you'll probably get vouchers.

 

[Isambard]

20% isn't very generous is it. Did I read somewhere a few weeks ago that the EU was maybe going to introduce standards similar to those applying to the airline industry?

 

[soulman]

Not sure *generosity* is in the shareholders interests Isambard.

 

[Isambard]

Really? I thought the railway companies only ever thought of us passengers. I read it in a magazine from First.

Seriously though, if there is to be a more "level playing field" then the railways should be under a similar regime to the airlines where the EU lays down a fixed money value; not 20% to be paid in vouchers that can be redemmed for a good that the railway company is providing in the future anyway.

One the railway companies had to (say) start handing out £50 notes per passenger for an hours delay things might just improve all of a sudden.....

 

[soulman]

But under the current railway regime (that's what it's become) railway workers will be held responsible for that 50 quid. It'll come into play when there's a pay deal being negotiated, regardless of what management are creaming off. Collective bargaining would be a real step forward for the railways and for that there would need to be a move towards renationalisation. Can you see that happening?

 

[soulman]

There's always another alternative.Tried and tested in certain places at certain times. I believe the trains ran on time while it lasted.

 

[Isambard]

But railway workers are being held to blame now in an industry that is mostly interested in buck passing. Actually mind I read in the press a few weeks ago that punctuality (within 10 minutes or so) is already at something like 93% and "can't" get any higher.

 

[pembrokestephen]

20% isn't very generous is it. Did I read somewhere a few weeks ago that the EU was maybe going to introduce standards similar to those applying to the airline industry?

No, I think 20% is disgraceful. At that sort of level, train companies are presumably in a position where they can make economic decisions to cancel services or otherwise fail to honour their obligations and the passenger has no recourse beyond claiming back his 20%.

 

[soulman]

But railway workers are being held to blame now in an industry that is mostly interested in buck passing. Actually mind I read in the press a few weeks ago that punctuality (within 10 minutes or so) is already at something like 93% and "can't" get any higher.

I guess the reason it can't get any higher at moment is due to the infrastructure. It needs a real commitment to long term investment not just short term patching up as and when. Like most privatised industries that commitment isn't there as long as there's profits to be creamed off.