{"id":1913,"date":"2019-03-10T19:50:24","date_gmt":"2019-03-10T19:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/?p=1913"},"modified":"2019-08-05T14:00:47","modified_gmt":"2019-08-05T13:00:47","slug":"rail-bosses-3-8m-war-chest-from-unspent-fund-to-compensate-passengers-in-north-after-timetable-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/?p=1913","title":{"rendered":"“Rail bosses’ \u00a33.8m war chest from unspent fund to compensate passengers in North after timetable chaos”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rail bosses’ \u00a33.8m war chest from unspent fund to compensate passengers in North after timetable chaos <\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[from the\nYorkshire Post, 8th March 2019]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transport bosses are to hand out \u00a33.5m in free tickets and discounted fares to compensate rail passengers across the North who suffered during last year\u2019s timetable chaos, The Yorkshire Post<\/em> can reveal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six million\npounds of central government funds were allocated to compensate regular\nnorthern commuters caught up in the widespread delays and disruption, but\nnearly two-thirds – \u00a33.8m – remains to be spent because uptake was lower than\nanticipated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passengers across the North suffered weeks of delayed or cancelled trains after the May timetable change, prompting The Yorkshire Post<\/em> and other northern newspapers to issue an unprecedented call to action in a day of joint front page editorials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a\nmillion hours were lost and the economic impact was estimated at a minimum of\n\u00a338m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A leaked\ndocument seen by this newspaper sets out how Rail North, the public body which\nmanages the North\u2019s two biggest rail operators, now plans to hand out \u00a31m each\nin ticket giveaways for customers of Northern and TransPennine Express. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another \u00a31m\nwill be allocated to offer discounted travel to parts of the North hardest hit\nby the disruption and a further \u00a3500,000 to encourage season ticket holders to\nmove to smart ticketing with sweeteners of up to \u00a350 per person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials hope\nthe special compensation schemes, which have yet to be made public, will\nencourage rail passengers to return to the parts of the North dependent on\ntheir tourist or leisure industries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barry White, Chief Executive of Transport for the North, said: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis further phase of compensation recognises the impact on passengers and businesses caused by the disruption experienced by passengers and is designed to help those areas hardest hit by last year\u2019s events and encourage people back onto trains. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur hope is it will bring direct benefits to a wide range of people and businesses across the North through a rolling programme of initiatives.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Labour MP Paula Sherriff, representing Dewsbury, welcomed the compensation and said she hoped the schemes would \u201cgo some way to get people back using our railways\u201d. But she criticised the continuing poor performance of rail services and called for \u201cproper accountability\u201d, adding: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c Local people overwhelmingly want us to take back control of our railways.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And Northern\nPowerhouse Partnership director Henri Murison said the scheme represented a\nmissed opportunity to extend rail discounts for 16 to 18-year-olds to make it\neasier for young apprentices in the North to get to work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millions unspent in compensation fund <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly four\nmillion pounds was left unspent from a government fund to compensate northern\nrail passengers for last year\u2019s timetable chaos because uptake of the scheme by\nregular passengers was \u201cfar lower than anticipated\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A leaked document seen by The Yorkshire Post<\/em> reveals the discussions by northern transport leaders over how best to make amends to rail passengers and get them back on trains after the disastrous events of summer 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The failure to\ncomplete a vital piece of infrastructure work in the North West on time meant\nthe May timetable in the North was re-drawn at short notice, resulting in\ndelays and cancellations across the board due to a lack of properly trained\ndrivers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As passengers\nstruggled to get to work on time or home to their families amid mounting anger\nat the rail industry, a compensation scheme for season ticket holders and\npassengers travelling three or more days per week was unveiled by the\nGovernment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document seen by The Yorkshire Post<\/em> says \u00a36m was allocated by the Department for Transport for compensation, but while large numbers of season ticket holders took up the offer, for other passengers the uptake was \u201cfar lower than anticipated\u201d, meaning \u00a33.8m of the funding remains to be spent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as a\ndesire to compensate customers, the document produced by Rail North, which\nmanages operators Northern and TransPennine Express, says the scheme aims to\nstimulate travel to leisure and tourists markets that suffered last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials also\nwant to promote a return to rail travel due to the damage done to the\nreputation of rail travel. For Northern, \u00a31m in leisure tickets are to be given\naway through an online offer, with around 50 per cent in the areas with the\nworst disruption and the remainder spread around the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile for\nfellow Yorkshire operator TransPennine Express, \u00a31m in e-vouchers will be given\naway, entitling the recipient to \u00a325 off leisure or season tickets, in an offer\nfocused on the Easter and Spring period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The firm is\nusing its customer database to identify passengers who travelled during periods\nof disruption, so that they are first in line to get the vouchers. A key part\nof the scheme, according to the leaked document, is a series of targeted\nmeasures focused on those areas hit hardest by the disruption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Precise details\nare still being worked out but could include offers for short-distance weekend\nleisure trips or for specific markets including half-price weekend tickets on\nthe Lakes Line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And a separate\nelement will see \u00a3500,000 used to encourage season ticket holders to migrate to\nsmartcards, an aim in-keeping with Transport for the North\u2019s ambition to create\nan integrated transport system across the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is\nexpected to result in a value of between \u00a325 and \u00a350 per season ticket holder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last summer, a\nreport by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership set out how more than a million\nhours have been lost by railway users in the North as a result of the timetable\nchaos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its Director\nHenri Murison welcomed the compensation schemes but questioned whether an\nopportunity had been missed to extend proposed rail discounts for 16 to\n18-year-olds to be available for the North\u2019s apprentices at peak times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany of those starting in the world of work as apprentices are having to pay the same to travel at peak times as those who in senior leaderships roles, and many of those same leaders I know would rather this financial help did long-term good for the Northern Powerhouse after the damage of the summer of rail chaos.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The new scheme received a mixed reaction from Yorkshire MPs whose constituencies have been blighted by the poor performance of local rail services. Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake, a Tory, said: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clearly good news that compensation is being offered to those who have suffered…however, compensation should have been extended directly to TransPennine customers who lost out through delays on cancellations east of the Pennines, rather than being focused on the North-West.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.yorkshirepost.co.uk\/news\/exclusive-rail-bosses-3-8m-war-chest-from-unspent-fund-to-compensate-passengers-in-north-after-timetable-chaos-1-9639771<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rail journey times \u2018no better than in the early 80s\u2019, report claims <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A report into the state of rail services in West Yorkshire\nhas claimed journey times on some routes were \u201cno better than in the early\n1980s\u201d, despite significant investment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report from West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA)\nsaid while improvements have been made since the May 2018 timetable crisis, it\nwas still \u201cdisappointed\u201d with the standard of service provided to rail\ntravellers in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Service frequency on Harrogate, Calder Valley and Wakefield\nhad not yet reached required levels, while evening and Sunday services on some\nlines were still not up to scratch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report added that it expected to see \u201csignificant\nalterations\u201d to take place when a reviewed timetable is introduced in May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It stated: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe May 2019 timetable change can be seen on Northern as an incremental step towards delivering the improvements planned for December 2017 and December 2019. While they represent significant progress, shortfalls remain. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn general, these \u2018gaps\u2019 are in line with expectations given the known infrastructure constraints especially around Leeds and Manchester, though others, such as in evening or Sunday services as well as first and last trains, are disappointing. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlso disappointing is that improvements to journey times have yet to be delivered on several routes; notably, on the Calder Valley Network Rail has recently invested around \u00a3150m and delivered significant line speed improvements, despite which some journey times are no faster than they were in the early 1980s. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWYCA is continuing to bring pressure to bear to maximise what can be delivered on current infrastructure, to understand what further measures are required to deliver these services in full \u2013 and to obtain a commitment to carrying these out.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.yorkshirepost.co.uk\/news\/rail-journey-times-no-better-than-in-the-early-80s-report-claims-1-9637195<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rail bosses’ \u00a33.8m war chest from unspent fund to compensate passengers in North after timetable chaos [from the Yorkshire Post, 8th March 2019] Transport bosses are to hand out \u00a33.5m in free tickets and discounted fares to compensate rail passengers … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,75,18],"tags":[57,76,62],"class_list":["post-1913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-northern-rail","category-tfn","category-tpe-services","tag-northern-rail","tag-tfn","tag-tpe-services"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1914,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913\/revisions\/1914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}