Southern Rail, recently voted third-worst rail operator in the UK, has been taken to task for wasting money on its system of paying refunds for late trains, another subject of recent criticism. A local resident has complained that Southern Rail sends “pointless” letters to inform claimants that their claims are being processed, even though they require e-mail addresses to be provided.
The bemused commuter asks why they do not just get on with processing the claims. He also noted that Southern Rail send out a separate letter for each claim, even where several claims have been sent together. He has just received three letters from Southern Rail, all posted on the same day, each in their own envelope, replying to three claims sent in together. The rail regulator or the local MP can expect to be asked (but only once) in the near future “Given the number of claims that this company probably has to pay out, how much money do they spend on this inefficient process?” The commuter expects the costs all get added to rail fares and commented “What a way to run a railway!”