Today, I have received the update below from the MD of South Western Railway about the Special Compensation Scheme they are running for their customers who were affected by the industrial action on our network in December 2019.

Dear Nikki,

I’m writing to update you on the Special Compensation Scheme we are running for our customers who were affected by the industrial action on our network in December 2019.

We are pleased to announce that we have now started contacting customers who we’ve been able to determine as eligible for compensation under the scheme. At the same time, we also have our dedicated service team in place who will be able to offer support about the scheme by phone or via our webform. 

Additionally, the December 2019 Strike Compensation Scheme eligibility checker is now live. This useful tool allows our customers to check whether their journey/route is eligible for compensation. https://compensation.southwesternrailway.com

The main compensation scheme will run in two phases. We have now launched Phase One and have started the process of contacting customers who we’ve been able to determine as eligible for compensation under the scheme.  We will contact season ticket holders (valid for a month or longer) for whom we hold complete sales records and accurate contact information, typically those customers who purchased a season ticket through our website or at one of our stations. We are aiming to compensate as many customers as possible during this phase so it will take several weeks to complete.

In Phase Two, all customers who have not already been contacted but who travelled with us during the industrial action in December will be able to apply for compensation by submitting their details through our online system. We will be launching Phase Two when Phase One is complete and we will be using a wide variety of communications channels to spread the message about the scheme. In addition to posters and announcements on our trains and stations we’ll also be using digital channels to reach as many customers as possible even if they are not currently travelling with us due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Child season tickets will also be included in this process however in Phase One, claim details will only be sent to a parent/guardian where we have that information, all other child season tickets will need to be claimed during Phase Two.

I hope this update is useful and I will keep you informed as the scheme progresses.