POLITICIANS have welcomed the news rail passengers in Braintree and Witham will be entitled to compensation if their train is delayed by just 15 minutes.

Both James Cleverly and Priti Patel have expressed their delight at Greater Anglia's decision to sign up to the Delay Repay 15 scheme.

The rail franchise currently only offers passengers a refund once their journey has been delayed by at least 30 minutes.

However, those delayed between 15 and 29 minutes when travelling on Greater Anglia trains will now be entitled to 25 per cent compensation of the fare, irrespective of the delay.

The change comes weeks after lobbying from both Mr Cleverly and Ms Patel, who had written and met with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling in a bid to push for change.

Reacting to the news, Braintree's Mr Cleverly said: "I am pleased that Greater Anglia have now reached an agreement with The Department for Transport to introduce Delay Repay 15 (DR15) compensation on Greater Anglia.

"I will of course continue to work alongside colleagues and Ministers with the industry to ensure that it operates an effective service for my constituents and the businesses which it serves and who rely on it."

Witham's Ms Patel added: "I am delighted that Delay Repay 15 will be introduced for Greater Anglia passengers next month. We have been waiting a long time for this announcement and I have been working hard to encourage Greater Anglia and the Department for Transport to reach an agreement on this scheme.

"This announcement will be a welcome relief for commuters and, in addition to the £1bn investment in new rolling stock due to be introduced on the line later this year, is another step forward in improving our rail service on the Great Eastern Main Line."

The Delay Repay scheme will be launched by Greater Anglia on April 1. Customers can claim compensation online, by email or by hard copy form.

Jamie Burles, Managing Director for Greater Anglia said: "We’re delighted to be able to provide better compensation and we are sure it will be welcomed by our customers.

"It’s all part of a wider transformation of train service standards in East Anglia that sees us bringing in a complete fleet of brand-new trains across our entire network over the next two years, with the first new trains due in service later this year. We’re fully focused on improving punctuality and reliability, in collaboration with Network Rail, but customers will now be able to claim compensation for any delays of 15 minutes and over, when things do go wrong."