Passengers lost at least 3.6m hours to significantly delayed journeys in the past year, according to research from Which?.

As rail fares are expected to rise by an average of 3.4% from 2 January, Which? found that across all train companies under franchise, almost 7.2 million passenger journeys in the past year were affected by delays of at least 30 minutes.

This lost time adds up to more than 400 years, and that doesn’t even include delays of less than 30 minutes or more than 2 hours.

Analysis of data from rail regulator ORR found that Virgin Trains East Coast was the train company with the highest percentage of significant delays, with almost 4% of all its passenger journeys delayed between 30 minutes and two hours.

It was followed by Virgin Trains West Coast and Grand Central.

Under Delay Repay, which most operators have now signed up to, compensation should be paid for delays of 30 minutes or more.

However, despite the high number of delays, separate Which? research shows there are still real issues in passengers receiving this money.

Two in five commuter passengers said they weren’t told of their rights to compensation the last time they were delayed by an amount of time that would qualify for compensation.

This rose to more than half of leisure passengers surveyed who qualified.

Which? managing director of public markets, Alex Hayman, said:

‘Passengers have told us about the serious impact train delays can have on their lives, and our analysis shows just how long passengers spent stuck on, or waiting for, trains that are very late or don’t even turn up at all. ‘This is made even more infuriating when they struggle to claim the compensation they may be owed. The progress to date is simply not good enough.

He added:

“If train companies can’t simplify unnecessarily complex claims systems for delayed customers, then the government must press for automatic compensation to be introduced across the industry so that people can get the money they are owed.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

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