Claim Compensation For Delays To Your Train Journeys

Delays, cancellations, engineering works and overcrowding are a sad fact for commuters in London and while there is little that can be done about the distinct lack of seats, personal space or the rather dubious body odour of some passengers I've had the disatisfaction of being squeezed next to, you can definitely do something about having your journey disrupted courtesy of Transport for London.

Thanks to a press release from the London Assembly Liberal Democrat Group, I can confirm that millions of Londoners are missing out on compensation from TfL. Figures show that a staggering 10.5 million commuters failed to claim compensation in 2010, after facing excessive delays on the London Underground. It is worth remembering that ALL passengers are entitled to compensation under the TfL Customer Charter, when they face a delay of more than 15mins, waiting for a tube/train, when the delay is the fault of TfL.

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, revealed that "more than 14 millon tube passengers suffered delays of 15 minutes or more for the 12-month period ending in January, despite more than 11 million qualifying for compensation under the TfL London Customer Charter, less than 400,000 people actually received any compensation last year."

Commenting on the figures Caroline Pidgeon said: “It must be the Mayor’s top priority to tackle these excessive delays, until the Mayor tackles this problem it is vital that everyone who is entitled to compensation actually receives what they are entitled to.”

With the cost of travelling around the capital at an all time high, one feels a certain standard should be maintained, failure to reclaim the cost of your delayed journey, smacks of apathy and a blind acceptance to pay over the odds for a substandard service, frankly we deserve better. While accidents and bad weather conditions can present a variety of issues, these should be dealt with promptly causing as little disruption to commuters as possible, while most people are unhappy with London Underground services, in particular, if you overlook the opportunity to claim compensation for disruptions to your journey, then you can't really complain...can you?

For full details of the TfL Customer Charter and how to quality for compensation visit:

Photo: Mackenzie London