Commuter is suing rail company Greater Anglia over delayed trains

Ellen Manning

A commuter is embroiled in a legal battle with a rail company after becoming frustrated with “continually” delayed trains.

Seph Pochin sued Greater Anglia over delays that he said added up to nearly 28 hours over 12 months – with one 100-minute delay.

According to the BBC, a warrant has now been issued for bailiffs to seize Greater Anglia property after it failed to pay him £350 compensation for delays to his journeys between his home in Halesworth, Suffolk and Ipswich.

<em>Delays – Seph Pochin said he had suffered constant delays (Pictures: PA)</em>
Delays – Seph Pochin said he had suffered constant delays (Pictures: PA)

Mr Pochin reportedly made 500 journeys between February 2017 and February 2018 and recorded 183 delays, ranging from one minute up to the 100-minute delay.

According to the BBC, the situation prompted him to lodge a case at the small claims court under the Consumer Rights Act 2016 to “highlight the regular deficiencies with the service”.

MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO

Following his claim, Mr Pochin and Greater Anglia agreed to mediation in September but after the rail company failed to provide dates to meet, Mr Pochin pursued the case, resulting in the train operator being ordered to pay him £350 in compensation.

When the rail company refused to pay up, Mr Pochin reportedly paid for a warrant to be served on Greater Anglia to seize assets worth the amount he was due.

<em>Dispute – Greater Anglia has reportedly confirmed it is in a legal dispute with Mr Pochin</em>
Dispute – Greater Anglia has reportedly confirmed it is in a legal dispute with Mr Pochin

A Greater Anglia spokeswoman said: “We are unable to comment about Seph Pochin’s legal case as legal proceedings are still ongoing.”

The rail company said it has not received a warrant relating to the case.

It said according to the industry performance measure, Public Performance Measure, just under 90% of Greater Anglia trains were on time in the last month and on average 23% of delays are directly attributable to Greater Anglia due to incidents such as train faults.

According to the company, it is spending more than £5 million improving its trains reliability and the Norwich to Great Yarmouth line and Ipswich to Lowestoft line – which Mr Pochin travels on – are being upgraded by Network Rail to make the train service more reliable.