Avanti West Coast paid out £20m in ‘delay repay’ passenger refunds this summer

Intercity train operator’s compensation bill likely to top £70m this financial year amid rise in claims across network

Avanti West Coast paid out more than £20m to passengers in just three months this summer in refunds for disrupted journeys on Britain’s main intercity rail network.

The intercity operator paid out almost as much in a four-week period to 25 July – £9.3m – as its annual profits for each of the past two years. It repaid a further £12.2m in the subsequent eight weeks.

The “delay repay” compensation bill for slow-running or cancelled services has been spiralling upwards across the railway network in recent years, according to official figures, with Avanti the biggest payer – although never before at this scale.