Comprehensive compensation package agreed for passengers in the north of England affected by the recent rail disruption.
Rail passengers in the north of England affected by the recent rail disruption will benefit from a comprehensive compensation package agreed at a Transport for the North board meeting in Manchester today (28 June 2018), following a recommendation from the Department for Transport.
The package will see:
- season ticket holders on the worst affected Northern services in Lancashire, Cumbria and Greater Manchester, who experienced disruption before and after the May timetable change, will be eligible to receive a cash payment equivalent to up to 1 month’s travel — this will be in addition to the standard existing compensation passengers are entitled to
- season ticket holders in other parts of the north that have been badly affected since the introduction of the May timetable will be eligible to receive a cash payment equivalent to 1 week’s travel — this will also be in addition to the standard existing compensation passengers are entitled to
- marketing campaigns for the tourist areas affected by the disruption, such as Blackpool and the Lake District, will be funded as part of the package
Further measures are expected to be agreed shortly.
Rail Minister Jo Johnson said:
Rail passengers have experienced unacceptable disruption and, while we have started to see some improvements, many people are still not getting the service they expect. We are doing everything we can alongside Transport for the North and Northern to improve the service, but it is absolutely right that passengers should be compensated for the disruption they have suffered.
This comprehensive package, together with the steps we are taking to get services running and the independent inquiry we announced earlier in the month, should go some way towards putting right the problems we’ve seen.
The costs of the package will be met in full by the industry, and passengers will start receiving payments from early July.
A temporary timetable is in operation on parts of Northern’s network until 29 July, with the full timetable introduced following that. This temporary timetable has brought more stability, helping passengers to plan ahead. The Lakes Line is also due to start running Northern services again from Monday.
Earlier this month, the government announced an independent inquiry into what went wrong, in order to ensure these problems do not happen again. If Northern is found to have been negligent, the government will not hesitate to take tough action.
