Northern Trains paid nearly £700,000 in compensation for late trains in less than eight months of 2022 – more than the previous two years combined.
Figures obtained from a Freedom of Information request showed the operator paid £694,138 from April 1 to November 12 – including £137,318 for a single four-week period.
That sum, covering less than eight months, is more than the combined paid out for the full previous two years – £606,523 in 2021/22 and £83,116 in 2020/21.
The Delay Repay scheme provides compensation to customers who arrive at their destination station 15 minutes or more later than they should have done because a Northern train was delayed or cancelled.
The operator’s data from April 2022 onwards is broken down into eight, four-week blocks.
The most paid out for a single, four-week period was £137,318 in May 2022, one of two occasions it paid out more than six figures.
The Twitter account @northernBetrail – which says it is managed by several ex-employees of the company – believe the issues stem from poor management, no-rest day work ethos and provide a service that is oversubscribed and under-serviced.
.@northernassist the 07:08 service from Hadfield to Manchester Piccadilly. Leaking train and soaked seats. This service is already oversubscribed and underserviced without having to avoid seats on a morning commute. #NorthernTrains @helenpidd @robertlargan pic.twitter.com/XmpPPc6NHJ
— Lucy Turner (@Lucy_SMTurner) January 31, 2023
Look at these TransPennine cancellation figures (via @helenpidd) for the month of January alone.
— Steve Rotheram (@MetroMayorSteve) January 25, 2023
Some days nearly half of trains being cancelled. It’s been the same for months on end. This failure must end. Strip the franchise. pic.twitter.com/e5uIBfTO4y
They said: “We’re all topping up Northern’s savings, they gain the interest by sitting on your money, charge you an admin fee and then only pay you back a percentage of what you paid them in the first place.”
Sam March, a commuter said: “Since commuting by train this week, 50 per cent of Northern trains I’ve wanted to get have been delayed or cancelled!”
| Ticket type | ||
| Length Of Delay Suffered | Single | Return |
| 15 Minutes to 29 Minutes | 25% of the ticket cost | 12.5% of the ticket cost |
| 30 Minutes to 59 Minutes | 50% of the ticket cost | 25% of the ticket cost |
| 60 Minutes to 119 Minutes | 100% of the ticket cost | 50% of the ticket cost |
| Over 120 Minutes | 100% of the ticket cost | 100% of the ticket cos |
The Cancellations score between April 2021 and March 2022 was 3.3% compared with 1.3% in the
previous year.
According to the Office for National Statistics around one in five adults are disrupted by rail strikes.
Around one in five (19%) of adults in Great Britain said their travel plans have been disrupted by rail strikes in recent weeks.
Of these around half (49%) said this disruption affected their ability to take part in leisure activities.
Main image: https://www.pexels.com/@irem-soyler-53442747/
