The Department for Transport considered the impact of HS2 on the West Coast Main Line rail corridor in the Supplement to the October 2013 Strategic Case for HS2. The increase in peak-time seats on Birmingham services associated with HS2 (the Phase 2 “Y“ shaped network) was estimated at 97% compared to today’s capacity. HS2 was also estimated to increase PM-peak, standard-class seats from Euston from 15,869 to 39,566 across all Intercity West Coast (ICWC) services.

Phase 1 (London to West Midlands) of HS2 is scheduled to open to passengers in 2026, Phase 2a (West Midlands to Crewe) in 2027, and the rest of Phase 2 (Crewe to Manchester and West Midlands to Yorkshire) in 2033. The project remains on time and on budget.

The compensation figures for all Train Operating Companies operating Delay Repay covering the years 2009-10 to 2014-15 are published on the GOV.UK website, and a copy of the full figures is provided in the attached document. Overall figures are below. Figures for the 2015-16 financial year for all Train Operating Companies are expected to be published on the GOV.UK website later this year.

Amounts in £ (000s)

2014-15 - 25,623

2013-14 - 22,608

2012-13- 12,603

2011-12 - 8,021

2010-11 - 3,256

2009 -10 - 2,981

On 13 October 2016 the Secretary of State for Transport announced an improved compensation scheme for passengers if their train is more than 15 minutes late. We will implement the policy in the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise, which includes Southern, within months. Following its introduction on GTR services, ‘Delay Repay 15’ will then be rolled out across the network starting with the new South Western, West Midlands and South Eastern franchises. All franchise competitions let by the Department for Transport (DfT) will include requirements to introduce this policy and the DfT is exploring opportunities to roll this out for all DfT franchises during this Parliament.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) is leading the industry’s response to the Office of Rail and Road’s recommendations following the Which? super-complaint, and we are discussing this with them as they lead efforts to raise standards.

Actions already taken by the RDG include:

• the launch of a coordinated rail industry communications campaign to raise customer awareness of their right to and how to claim compensation; and

• an update to the National Rail Enquiries website to direct customers from the front page to full details about compensation and links to claim forms and specific information for every train company

The Department for Transport requires bidders for new franchises to put forward proposals to make the compensation process swift and simple.

The Department for Transport has not made an estimate of unclaimed compensation. The Office of Rail and Road considered this issue in its response to the Which? super-complaint on passenger compensation and has committed to working with the industry to agree a set of indicators that will show how the take-up of compensation is changing over time.

We are also working with the industry as it develops improvements to make the compensation process as easy for passengers as possible, including further automation. A number of train companies have already introduced fully automated compensation and other are planning to do so.