Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2018 to Question 169712 on Railways: Franchises, whether his Department has any requirements in place to ensure that applications for delay repay or other compensation provisions are (a) user friendly and (b) not unreasonably burdensome.

The majority of Department for Transport (DfT) franchisees are now under a contractual obligation to ensure that the claims process is user- friendly and not unreasonably burdensome: they are required to use all reasonable endeavours to make passengers aware of their right to claim compensation, by means such as making appropriate announcements on trains and making claims forms readily available, including on the franchisee’s website. The Government already requires new franchises to use technology to inform passengers pro-actively that they are entitled to claim, using Apps, email and onboard announcements.

The Department will also continue to monitor and report on TOCs’ performance in making the claim process easier for passengers. In March this year, research conducted by Transport Focus on behalf of the Department for Transport highlighted that passenger satisfaction with the claim process has increased and that claims are also being dealt with more quickly, with 67% now resolved within two weeks compared to 48% in 2016. [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rail-delays-and-compensation-2018]