A COMPENSATION scheme has been agreed between Transport for the North and rail operator Northern to reimburse passengers who suffered from disruption to services during the summer.

The negotiations between the two organisations has resulted in the compensation offer being offered beyond the existing season-ticket holder scheme.

It allows regular travellers who do not hold season tickets to claim compensation for the disruption and inconvenience they suffered. This is the first scheme of its kind in the UK to be introduced and to open for claims.

The move comes just days after a review of the chaos caused by the timetable changes was announced by the government.

A spokesman for Transport for the North said: "We are pleased to confirm that an agreement has now been reached with Northern on how this scheme will operate. Northern have launched a web page explaining how the scheme will work and how those entitled to compensation can make their claims.

"This is part of the overall compensation package that was agreed between Transport for the North and the Department for Transport in the Summer.

"It is anticipated that the regular travellers scheme will be ready to accept compensation claims from Tuesday, October 9 and will remain open for a period of eight weeks. The existing claim window for season ticket holders will be extended to match the same end date."

In terms of eligibility, the same qualifying routes and time periods being used for season ticket holders will be applicable including providing evidence that passengers regularly used the affected routes before and after the May timetable changes.

The spokesman added: "It is important to note that, for this scheme, the eligibility criteria allows customers to have had flexible travel patterns across a number of weeks, such as two days one week and four the next – to provide an average of 3 journeys per week.

Further details on eligibility and how claims will be validated will be on the Northern website.

Northern’s webpage launches today explaining how the scheme will work, Transpennine Express will follow at a later date and Transport for the North will announce this once the date is finalised.

Anyone wanting to check to see whether they qualify for compensation should visit www.northernrailway.co.uk/compensation