Greater Anglia improves compensation for journey delays

Greater Anglia said punctuality figures showed just over 90% of its services ran on time

Passengers on Greater Anglia trains are to be allowed to claim compensation for delays of 15 minutes or more.

At present, customers are only eligible for money back if their journey is delayed by at least half an hour.

The deal agreed with the government means people will be able to claim back 25% of the single fare, regardless of the cause of the delay, from 1 April.

Derek Cox from the Anglia Rail Users Group said he was "delighted" at the news after "years of campaigning".

"Customers of Greater Anglia will finally be entitled to the same compensation rights as passengers of other rail companies across the UK," he said.

Delay Repay 15 (DR15) was first introduced on Govia Thameslink in 2016 and the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, promised it would be rolled out to other franchises.

Conservative MP for Colchester Will Quince and Sandy Martin, , the Labour MP for Ipswich, were among those to welcome the news in posts on Twitter.

Greater Anglia said latest punctuality figures showed just over 90% of its services ran on time and efforts were being made to improve this further.

Seph Pochin received payment from Greater Anglia after suing the company over delays

Managing Director Jamie Burles said: "[Improved compensation] is all part of a wider transformation of train service standards in East Anglia that sees us bringing in a complete fleet of brand-new trains across our entire network over the next two years, with the first new trains due in service later this year."

A survey by the independent transport watchdog Transport Focus ranked Greater Anglia among the bottom five rail operators in the UK for overall customer satisfaction, out of 25 train companies.

One commuter sued the firm over "appalling" delays and eventually received a cheque for £462 after a court threatened to send in bailiffs to seize its assets.