HC Deb 08 December 1998 vol 322 cc130-1W
Mr. Baker

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much was paid in compensation payments, and to how many individual passengers, by each train operating company in the last year for which figures are available.[62894]

Ms Glenda Jackson

Under the franchise agreement, each franchise operator must have a Passenger's Charter which provides for compensation for day ticket holders whose journey are delayed, and for season ticket holders who suffer poor performance over a period. At the start of the franchises these terms were at least as favourable as British Rails; since then, a number of operators' terms have tightened, either through negotiation with Franchising Director or at an operator's own commercial initiative. Operators have varying Charter compensation terms and information about payments belongs to each operator. The Franchising Director has the contractual right to inspect records, to ensure compliance, but they are not maintained on a comparable basis across all TOCs.