Transport User Voice – April 2019 – Case study

26 March 2019

South Western Railway – all delay and no repay?

Mr W boarded the 00.05 South Western Railway (SWR) train to Alton from Waterloo on 25 March. This service was delayed due to a fault with the doors, which resulted in him getting home just after 4am.

Mr W had a Super Off-Peak day travelcard for travel on 24 March 2018, valid until 4.29am the next day.

This delay affected many passengers, so taxis were sourced for all passengers to get them home. Due to his arrival in the middle of the night, his next day at work was also affected. 

Mr W submitted a Delay Repay claim. However, this was rejected on the basis that he should have waited at Woking station from 2.24am until 7.50am when the first service to arrive into Alton would have been at 8.29am. 

Mr W approached Transport Focus with a view to obtaining a refund of his tickets. Transport Focus approached SWR to understand why the Delay Repay claim was rejected. 

SWR explained that on Mr W’s Delay Repay claim, he stated on his original Delay Repay claim that his journey was on 25 March, however he provided a ticket for 24 March.

In addition, SWR said that the journey was in the early hours of 25 March. However, this would still be classed as 24 March as this is when his ticket was valid and accepted this was a grey area.

SWR went on to award Mr W his statutory compensation but declined to offer him a gesture of goodwill.

Mr W was happy with his compensation and thanked Transport Focus for its assistance. 

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