Many Irish Rail customers are not receiving the compensation to which they are entitled when their train is delayed or cancelled.
Last year, the company received applications for compensation for about 0.03% of journeys, despite 0.07% of trains being delayed by more than an hour — one of the main conditions for a refund. Others are cancellations and seats not being available for customers who had reserved them.
In total, Irish Rail paid out just under €126,000 in customer refunds last year, up from €110,000 in 2015, according to figures released under freedom of information.
Customers made more than 12,510 applications for compensation, but Irish Rail did not specify how many were granted.
Rail Users Ireland, a campaign group, claimed customers were not being adequately informed on trains or at stations about their right under EU law to refunds when trains are delayed or cancelled. The inconvenience involved in obtaining refunds from Irish Rail deters people from applying, the group said.
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Customers who bought a ticket online can apply for a refund over the phone, but those who paid for one at a station must fill out a form and post it to the company.
Rail Users Ireland said €126,000 was “a very small number versus the 40m journeys a year, which points to people just not bothering to make a claim”.
Irish Rail confirmed that not all customers who are entitled to refunds apply for them. Information about the refund rules is available online and at large stations,
it said. The company “plans to put in place further station information”.
“Customers who book online — an increasing majority — do not need to fill out a form, but can contact us online for refunds,” Irish Rail said. “In the case of major delays, we arrange for customer service personnel to meet trains at their destinations to distribute refund forms.”
In 2015, 2.7% of commuter, 3.2% of inter-city and 2.8% of Dart services were not on time, which is defined as being within 10 minutes of the correct time, or five for the Dart.
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Compensation is payable only if a train is delayed by more than an hour, in which case 50% of the value of the journey is paid in vouchers, or 25% in cash.
If the journey is delayed by more than two hours, the whole value is paid in vouchers, or 50% in cash. A refund can be given when a reserved seat is not available and no other seat is available.
Full refunds are available for cancelled trains, of which there were 268 last year.