The Office of Rail Regulation is launching an inquiry into ‘excessive profiteering by rail firms’ after allegations that they have ‘pocketed tens of millions of pounds’ for delayed and cancelled trains, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association has said.
The TSSA rail union recently claimed that ‘less than 10% of the £184 million paid out to the private operators last year by Network Rail ever found its way back to frustrated passengers’.
The ORRÂ said it plans to investigate ‘consumer awareness of current refund rights and compensation arrangements and the extent to which consumers exercise their rights’.
Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA rail union, welcomed the inquiry:
“The present compensation scheme is little more than licensed larceny by the private train operators. The passenger gets mugged twice, first when his or her train is delayed and secondly when he then has to pay the train firm compensation for that delay via taxpayer funded Network Rail.
“But when he tries to get his money back, he is told the train has to be two hours late to get a full refund. Rail firms get compensation when a train is more than five minutes late. This is a rigged system which operates behind closed doors in Whitehall.
“We want to see transparency, how much the private firms get from Network Rail and then how much they pay the passenger.”
