Jo Johnson has announced that passengers travelling with Northern (Arriva Rail North) will benefit from Delay Repay for delays of 15 minutes from December 2018.

Currently, passengers can claim compensation if their train is at least 30 minutes late. However, from the end of the year, the scheme will allow for claims half of that.

This means passengers who are delayed between 15 and 30 minutes can claim 25% of the single fare back.

Department for Transport and Transport for the North are now working with Northern to finalise commercial terms before this is implemented.

Delay Repay 15 minutes, or DR15, was first introduced on Govia Thameslink Railway in 2016 and is being rolled out across all other DfT franchises as contracts come up for renewal.

What did the officials say?

Mr Johnson said:

Passengers deserve a reliable train service, and when things do go wrong it is vital that they are compensated fairly.

Extending ‘Delay Repay’ to cover 15 minute delays is a major boost for Northern passengers and we are committed to working with train companies across the network to make it as easy as possible for passengers to claim their rightful compensation.

We are investing in the biggest rail modernisation programme since Victorian times to deliver the improvements that passengers want – more space, and faster, more frequent services. Improving compensation for delays is a key part of this.

Mark Powles, Commercial Director, Northern said:

We welcome the introduction of ‘Delay Repay 15′ later this year. We are putting in place the right measures to make it as easy as possible for our customers to claim compensation for delays to their services.

David Hoggarth, Strategic Rail Director for Transport for the North, said:

This will be a welcome step forward for passengers who are inconvenienced by delays and is in addition to the previously announced special industry compensation package for those most disrupted by the May timetable changes. Our focus remains on ensuring the train operators and Network Rail continue to improve performance for passengers.

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