Proposal to remove 15 Minute Delay Repay - what could be done instead?

[flitwickbeds]

Another thought on this. I think I'd like to see a return of Charter Discounts on season tickets instead of Delay Repay, i.e. a discount on renewal for overall poor performance over the period of the ticket. Moving to DR for these was just an attempt to reduce payouts because some people couldn't be bothered to claim, and also creates the possibility of fraud because people claim to have travelled on services they have not, and with a paper season ticket (which most are) there isn't generally any evidence either way.

But the problem is it's then only (annual?) season ticket holders who benefit from this - and only if they renew.

 

[Bletchleyite]

But the problem is it's then only (annual?) season ticket holders who benefit from this - and only if they renew.

It was always offered for monthly and longer. I see no reason it couldn't be offered for weekly too.

It would be an option for the season ticket holder to receive the same sum as money or e-vouchers if not renewing, with the percentage calculated against the cost of the season they held. Most seasons are renewed, however. Not many people do a one-off month of travel. Certainly much easier to put one claim in than several.

 

[VT 390]

I think this just creates additional complexity - and therefore cost administering the scheme - and it’ll create a load of aggro for people making journeys where some services take just below a cutoff point and some are just over. Calder Valley into Manchester and Leeds for example where there are loads of different call patterns

Complexity would be reduced if this were implemented as part of a new single centralised Delay Repay system which should not raise the administration costs, after the initial set up, should not increase as unlike delay lengths which can be questioned the journey time is whatever the (public) timetable is so would be very easy to automate.
When a journey falls just past each threshold of journey length it would be no more frustrating for passengers than the current setup where you can just miss out on the next delay repay level or that you can be delayed by the same time on 2 different operators where operator 1 offers delay repay for that delay length when operator 2 does not.

 

[35B]

But the problem is it's then only (annual?) season ticket holders who benefit from this - and only if they renew.

Precisely. If the season just lapses, nothing is due - and the impact of specific delays is often more tangible than general under-performance

 

[The exile]

Another thought on this. I think I'd like to see a return of Charter Discounts on season tickets instead of Delay Repay, i.e. a discount on renewal for overall poor performance over the period of the ticket. Moving to DR for these was just an attempt to reduce payouts because some people couldn't be bothered to claim, and also creates the possibility of fraud because people claim to have travelled on services they have not, and with a paper season ticket (which most are) there isn't generally any evidence either way.

The problem with that is that it does not accurately reflect whether a particular traveller is affected or not. It may be (for example) that I have no option but to travel at a time that involves the first service to be cancelled if there’s a problem. The rest of the day’s performance might be perfect meaning that the fact that I’m delayed by 30 minutes three days a week gets no recognition.

 

[sheff1]

It is however available in all major cities and surrounds, plus local taxi firms now mostly have apps and these can be found quickly with a Google.

It's not in rural areas, but most rail journeys are not in rural areas.

At least you now accept Uber is not ubquitous. Of course most journeys are not in rural areas but many are and blithe advice to "book a Uber/taxi" ignores them.

Nobody in this thread is proposing removal of the option for a TOC to arrange a taxi for you. Just that offering the option to arrange your own is going to be, for most passengers, more expedient, and so as it reduces effort by the TOC why not simply allow it with guaranteed reimbursement as SWR do?

When you said "here" I assumed you meant the forum, not this specific thread.

Separate from the taxi question, posters have said they don't claim DR for 15 min delays and hence they support it's withdrawal. Others have argued for withdrawal of all DR or reduction in the amounts because, for whatever reason, they don't like it.

What we must surely agree on is that "you can book one if you want, send the receipt in and we will consider it" is not acceptable at all. Either "book one and it will be reimbursed" (with any conditions e.g. a cap on reimbursement made totally clear and explicit), or "you must wait for us to arrange one", but I prefer the former being an option and I suspect most people who use smartphones to the best of their functional ability (which is most people now, certainly almost everyone aged under about 45 to 50) and who have a credit card (which is a fairly large proportion of the population) will too. And if those people do that, fewer people who prefer the TOC to arrange have to wait in a queue (virtual or physical). What's not to like?

I can agree with this.

My concern is that TOCs say they will pay DR if you are delayed but then often turn down perfectly straightforward claims for a few pounds, coming up with all sorts of spurious reasons why they have rejected them -"we have no record of that train", "you could have caught the train at XXXX" (on which your ticket was not valid or you needed to be a clairvoyant to see it would arrive earlier than the one you were on) etc etc.
If they quibble over such a small amount can they be trusted to swiftly pay out taxi claims for multiple time the amount ? I have my doubts, and we all know there is no effective Regulator to come down on them like a ton of bricks if they don't

 

[mike57]

At least you now accept Uber is not ubquitous. Of course most journeys are not in rural areas

I would add that proportionally, you are more likely to be heavily delayed or not be able complete your journey due to earlier delays if you are travelling in rural areas due to the earlier finish times of services, and in the more remote locations the sparse service to start with

My concern is that TOCs say they will pay DR if you are delayed but then often turn down perfectly straightforward claims for a few pounds, coming up with all sorts of spurious reasons why they have rejected them

During the period 2018 - 2020 I had to make a lot (sometimes up to 6 per week) of claims due to issues at Northern and TPE. My experience was that about 1 in 5 resulted in further correspondance. Given that all the information about train running is stored online this just seemed to me to be deliberate 'sludge' on the part of the TOC.

My strongly held view is that going forwards all ticketing, delay repay and arrangements to complete journeys should be operated by GBR. Passengers are not interested in which company operated their trains, and having one authority and organisation would avoid situations like I experienced in York where there were no TPE staff but LNER staff were on the ground. At a local level all the passenger facing staff should work for GBR, and if a passenger has a valid ticket then they make what ever arrangements need to be made for them to complete their journey. No hiding behind the 'Its another ToC wall'. All fare revenue, and I assume delay repay and things like taxi costs are now passed back to the DfT.