Annie Mole's, webmaster of Going Underground, daily web log (blog).
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Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Tube Delay Refund Record
TfL pays five million quid in three years
I often wondered how many people used the Customer Charter refund for delays on the Tube and now I know. Yesterday figures were released which showed a record number of claims for delays on the London Underground. The total number of claims almost doubled from 261,725 in 2004 to 447,626 last year.
The Metropolitan line had the highest number of complaints last year, with 97,773 passengers applying for refunds, up from 60,853 in 2004 - but down from 111,504 in 2005.
The Central line was also poor with 92,336 refunds last year, compared with 58,783 in 2004, and surprsingly the Northern line was third on the list with 56,805 claims, compared with 29,755 two years before. Perhaps delays are such an everyday occurance on the Misery Line that it becomes a normal part of the journey and regular commuters can't be bothered.
The number of refunds claimed from commuters using the Piccadilly line more than doubled, from 25,282 in 2004 to 51,619 last year.
The Waterloo & City line was the only line to show a fall - but that's probably because it wasn't running for much of the time and was closed for five months.
Stephen Hammond, MP for Wimbledon and the Conservative transport spokesman who uncovered the figures said they showed the Mayor was not delivering value for money.
He said: "Ken Livingstone talks a great deal about his £10billion investment plan for London transport. These figures show just how little he has achieved with all that money. The Mayor's council tax precept keeps on rising and fares have gone through the roof but commuters' journeys just get worse."
According to the Evening Standard TfL were unavailable for comment. I would urge people to keep claiming when they get delayed. Less than half a million claims in a year is still a drop in the ocean considering there were 971 million passenger journeys in 2005/2006. This year I've already received £20 from the Customer Charter refunds for delays on the District Line and it's not even two months into the year. It takes about three minutes to make your claim and at the moment the refunds have come back within a few weeks.
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