TRAIN operator c2c has paid out £120,000 in total to local commuters since its automatic compensation scheme went live a year ago.
c2c customers became the first regular travellers in the country to receive automatic compensation when the scheme was launched in February 2016. Because the compensation is paid automatically, passengers don’t need to fill out any forms or make a claim and the payments are made even if their journey has been delayed for a few minutes.
c2c, which is owned by Trenitalia, is the only train operator in the country currently to offer automatic compensation to all its customers.
The Automatic Delay Repay (ADR) scheme is available for any commuter who uses a c2c Smartcard, which works in the same way as the Oyster card with users simply tapping in and out at the beginning and end of their journey. Almost half of c2c annual season ticket holders currently use the Smartcard instead of a paper ticket, which is more than any other UK train operator.
c2c Managing Director Julian Drury said: “Our passengers made 2.4 million journeys last year with the knowledge that should they be delayed, they will receive compensation via the ADR scheme.
“c2c is one of the most punctual rail operators in the country and while we do our best to get our passengers to their destination on time, if we fail we will make sure we give them the money they are owed.”
The amount of compensation that passengers automatically receive increases with the length of their delay. For example, compensation for delays of as little as two minutes start at 3p increasing by a further 3p for every additional minute’s delay up until 29 minutes. If delayed by more than 30 minutes, customers receive 50% of the price of their single journey.
Not ALL it’s customers! Unlike oyster cards these just ain’t that smart. Railcard users still have to buy a paper ticket or use oyster, as the smartcards can’t handle the discounts.