Aylesbury commuter train service announces new more customer-friendly refund scheme

Chiltern Railways has halved the time it takes for customers to be entitled to a full refund for their rail fare.

It has cut the time from 30 minutes to 15, meaning customers will be compensated if their train is more than a quarter of an hour late.

Chiltern Railways states refunds will be given regardless of the time of day or reasons for the delay.

The new scheme has been named Delay Repay, previously customers could only claim refunds after 30 minutes in instances when the long wait was linked to something the rail service could control.

Previously for customers to be entitled to a refund regardless of the situation, they had to be stuck waiting for over an hour.

Customers using a season ticket will be refunded the value of the single delayed journey.

A Chiltern Railways spokesman said: “Customers with a monthly or longer season ticket that started on, or before 30 April 2022, will still be eligible for a discount when they renew their season ticket if we have failed to meet our published targets for punctuality and/or reliability as per the previous compensation scheme.

"This applies on the first renewal only and remains in place until 29 April 2023.”

Chiltern Railways also announced it is using a new automated system to calculate and process refund claims.

It is designed to speed up the refund process and assist season ticket holders by saving preferred payment methods.

More information is available on the Chiltern Railways website.

Eleni Jordan, commercial and customer strategy director for Chiltern Railways, said: “As well as being committed to delivering a safe, punctual, efficient service, we want to ensure that quick and convenient refunds are issued to our customers in the event of service disruption.

“If our customers have been delayed on their journey, we do not want any further delay to the compensation they are owed.

“We are proud to introduce the Delay Repay 15 scheme alongside our new, automated refund system which allows customers to process their claim in just a few clicks.”