New service calculates and notifies delayed GWR train passengers due compensation

Great Western Railway customers delayed by 15 minutes will now be automatically informed of their right to claim compensation.

The train operator’s new automatic delay repay service covers all Advance tickets bought online from GWR and used on GWR services, and automatically calculates and notifies customers who are due compensation.

Advance ticket holders will be notified by email and simply need to log into their delay repay account to accept the claim.

Customers travelling with another train operator as part of their journey will also be notified if that part was delayed.

GWR will not process their claim directly but will provide a link to the relevant operator to find out how to claim delay repay.

Automatic refunds are unique to the railway industry in the UK and part of a phased project to simplify claiming compensation where the technology allows for the ticket type.

Until now, customers looking to make a claim have had to complete an online claim form at GWR.com/delayrepay

The launch of the automatic delay repay service speeds up that process even further for Advance ticket holders, and already exists for customers using pay-as-you-go smartcards.

Lee Edworthy, GWR interim sales and marketing director, said: “This fulfils a promise to our customers to make claiming compensation for any delays of 15 minutes or more even easier.

“We are always looking at ways to improve our service and it’s important that when people are delayed, we proactively notify them and ensure they are adequately compensated for their loss.

“We do all we can to get people to their destination on time, but when things do go wrong customers need to trust in a fair system. This new automatic delay repay service is an extension of our commitment to passengers.”

GWR launched its delay repay scheme in April 2019, since when more than 1.05m claims have been made, totalling more than £17m in compensation.

How much you receive depends on the length of the delay on arrival at your destination and your ticket type and varies from 12.5 per cent to 100 per cent.