Govia to face £73m legal claim over overcharged fees

Rail giant Govia Thameslink Railway – which operates the Gatwick Express and Thameslink, as well as Great Northern and Southern services – will face up to £73m in legal claims after being sued for overcharging rail journeys.

Set to be filed this week at the Competition Appeal Tribunal by consumer campaigner Justin Gutmann, the class action asserts that over 3 million passengers were overcharged for their London journeys, as they were not granted access to boundary fares.

Suing also South Western and South Eastern, Gutmann is asking for £93m worth of compensation, saying that London Travelcard holders did not have enough boundary available for purchase.

“This claim is the latest step in my campaign to stamp out routine overcharging of millions of passengers by some of Britain’s top rail operators,” said Gutmann. “The failure of these companies to make boundary fares more freely available is scandalous and has been going on for years. It’s a practice that needs to stop – and passengers who have overpaid deserve compensation.”

Boundary fares offer discounts to those that own a London Travelcard, to avoid customers paying their Oyster card fees as well as the rail fare for the overlapping parts of the journey.

“We are aware of this proposed claim. Should the claim progress, we will make our submissions to the tribunal in due course,” a Govia Thameslink Railway spokesperson told the Evening Standard.