Whilst things may be working a little different at the moment due to how the operators are funded, normally in these situations with prolonged bad weather the operators do quite well financially so they don't begrudge a bit of delay repay to the 30% of eligible passengers that actually apply for it. You tend to find them being fast to pay out in these situations because there will be a high number of claims and it isn't worth the hassle of rejecting them when they'll be recovering all those costs (and considerably more) from Network Rail anyway.
Good to see them getting on with it with the right result though, something we are seeing less and less from all operators.
Whilst it’s good to hear of a prompt and satisfactory outcome for customers, the Schedule 8 performance regime is all about damage to FUTURE business (called Marginal Revenue Effect) not cash paid out in refunds, Delay Repay, taxis or whatever.
There should be no doubt that the industry’s current difficulties with delays, cancellations, overcrowding, restricted timetables, bus replacement, industrial action, etc. will be really hammering medium term reputation and people’s willingness to use trains again.
‘Performance’ is never just about ‘the last train you were on’. And most people don’t really worry about whether it was an internal or external cause. They simply remember the last couple of missed games, interviews, flights or whatever and reach for the car keys.
