Rail firms have received over £500m in compensation due to engineering works as travellers face a weekend of travel chaos, The i Paper can reveal.
According to Network Rail, more than 300 upgrade projects will take place across the country, meaning rail firms will be compensated for planned disruption.
While firms receive money for the disruption, passengers will face reduced services and rail replacement buses across the Easter weekend without compensation.
Documents show that the government’s payouts to train companies reached their highest level in at least 12 years in 2023/24.
According to Network Rail documents, train firms received £567m in compensation for planned disruption in 2023/24.
The amount has risen by 62 per cent (£217m) in the last two years and is more than four times higher than in 2011/12, when it was £116m.
Norman Baker, a former Lib Dem transport minister, told The i Paper engineering works are often scheduled for longer than they take, which is pushing up the cost of compensation for taxpayers.
He called for passengers stuck on replacement buses instead of trains to be given cheaper fares and for engineering works not to be scheduled on weekends.
Network Rail said its industrial action in 2022 affected the compensation paid in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
Avanti West Coast passengers have been most impacted by planned disruption, with the firm receiving £106m in compensation from Network Rail.This was followed by Great Western Railway (£69m), Govia Thameslink (£56m) and Cross Country (£45m).
Customers who have to travel this weekend cannot apply for compensation because this is only available for unplanned disruption via the “Delay Repay” scheme.
Services affected this weekend include those running to and from London Euston, London Victoria, Milton Keynes Central and Carlisle.
Baker said engineering works are being scheduled for longer than necessary, with no incentive for firms to get trains running when they finish early.
In 2008, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) fined Network Rail a record £14m for not completing engineering work on time during the New Year period, which led to changes in the allotted time, Baker said.
He said: “What we have to do is to find an incentive to get the trains running. At the moment, the train companies don’t bother because they’re getting paid. Network Rail don’t bother because there’s no skin off their nose. The only people who suffer are the passengers.”
Baker said passengers who have to take replacement busses instead of trains should have their fares reduced by a quarter to a third and called for engineering works to be carried out on evenings or weekends.
He added: “There’s still an assumption in Network Rail that we’re in 1954 when people never travelled at weekends or holidays. They only travelled to work on commuter lines.
“That’s the mindset they have, which is totally wrong because what we’ve seen is, particularly since COVID, the growth in the railway traffic has been on leisure travel, not commuting. Cutting services at bank holiday weekends damages the railways’ growth market.”
He said the UK’s technology also needs modernising so that engineering works can be carried out as quickly as in other countries.
Bruce Williamson of passenger campaign group Railfuture said it would seem fair to reduce fares for those facing replacement services.
Which routes face disruption this Easter weekend?
Here are the most notable projects this weekend.
No trains to and from London Euston and Milton Keynes Central on Saturday 19, Sunday 20 and Monday 21 April and a reduced timetable in place on Friday 18 April Services to and from London Victoria will be disrupted; no Southeastern services will run to/from the station between Friday 18 and Monday 21 April, instead diverted via London Bridge or London Cannon Street; Gatwick Express services will run on a reduced timetable and there will be reduced Southern services to Brighton Trains to Southampton will be diverted via Fareham into Portsmouth between Saturday April 12 to Sunday 20 April; no SWR services will run between Portsmouth and Southampton; GWR services towards Cardiff will divert via Eastleigh and bus replacement services will be in operation between Southampton and Fareham Services on the West Coast Mainline will start and terminate at Carlisle; bus replacement services will be in place between Carlisle, Glasgow, Dumfries and Edinburgh; Caledonian Sleeper services will start and terminate at London King’s CrossHe said: “For a lower-quality service, it would seem reasonable that you would pay less for it.”
Network Rail said it is delivering an £86m investment programme, including a range of improvements.
Helen Hamlin, Network Rail’s director of system operations, said: “The vast majority of the rail network will be open as usual for people wanting to travel over the Easter Bank holiday, but there will be changes to services in some areas, so we’re asking passengers to plan ahead and check before they travel.
“We carry out a large amount of our work over the Easter period as passenger numbers are lower than they typically would be, disrupting fewer journeys, and the two bank holidays either side of the weekend give us a unique opportunity to get more work done whilst keeping disruption to a minimum.”
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