Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with train operating companies on the compensation payable to people when trains are cancelled but do not cause a delay of over an hour.

The Secretary of State meets train operating companies regularly to discuss a range of issues.

The majority of train operating companies on Department for Transport franchises currently offer the Delay Repay scheme which provides compensation for delays to journeys from 30 minutes, whatever the cause of the delay or cancellation. In addition, four train operating companies offer compensation for delays of 15 to 29 minutes. The Department has had a number of discussions with franchises about extending Delay Repay, including to offer compensation for delays from 15 minutes.

The minority of franchises that have not yet introduced Delay Repay, including Arriva Trains Wales, set out their compensation arrangements in their Passenger’s Charter. These include discounts for holders of monthly and annual season tickets, if performance falls below a pre-determined threshold. For other passengers, compensation of no less than 50% of the ticket price is payable for delays of 60 minutes or more, and some of these train operators also offer compensation for delays of 30 to 59 minutes; this compensation is generally not payable for delays outside the control of the rail industry.

The Arriva Trains Wales franchise is managed by the Welsh Government under the 2006 Welsh rail devolution arrangements. The next Wales and Borders franchise has been let by the Welsh Government under the new Welsh rail devolution arrangements. Transport for Wales has announced that they will introduce Delay Repay for delays of 15 minutes or more from January 2019.