18 Dec 2018

Transport for Wales (TfW) is pleased to announce that it is moving to the “Delay Repay” scheme to compensate customers for unexpected delays and cancellations.

Customers who experience a delay or cancellation on a TfW service can claim through the new scheme.  Compensation will now be based on the time the customer should have arrived at their final destination station, when they have been delayed by 30 minutes or more.

And in the future TfW has committed to compensating customers who experience a 15-minute delay.  

The improved scheme will make it easier for all TfW rail passengers to claim their compensation through offering a wider choice of repayment options, including bank transfer, Paypal and charity donation.

Customers will also benefit from a quicker response to their claim, as claims will now start to be processed within 48 hours of receipt.  A system providing online access to customers’ individual claim history will allow customers to know exactly what’s happening with their claim and when it is complete.

Customers who experienced delays in the Autumn period are reminded that they are entitled to compensation provided they submit a claim within 28 days, along with a copy of their ticket.  

Head of Customer Experience for TfW, Barry Lloyd welcomed the change stating:

“Our customers deserve a punctual service they can be proud of and if we don’t deliver that, then we should make it as easy as possible for them to get their money back.

“People don’t want to see us splitting hairs or pointing fingers over what caused their delay because ultimately the impact on them is the same.

“Adopting Delay Repay will make life a lot simpler for our customers to get compensation if things do go wrong on their journey.”

TfW has also significantly improved fleet availability over the past few weeks and from Monday 17^th December they now have enough trains available to reinstate all services.  Operational teams are able to ensure that the right trains are now in the right place to deliver a full service for rail passengers, particularly on routes such as the Valley Lines, Conwy Valley, Cambrian line and West Wales. 

James Price, Chief Executive Officer of TfW, said:

“We would like to thank all our customers for their patience at this difficult time.  Through the hard work and dedication of our staff, who have worked over 1000 hours overtime, through the day and night, we are pleased to have improved our fleet availability and reinstated services.” 

Alison Thompson, Chief Operating Officer for Network Rail in Wales and Borders, said:

“We apologise for the recent disruption passengers have experienced and want to thank people for their patience over the past few weeks.  We have worked with Transport for Wales to get services running normally as quickly as possible”.