Passengers whose trains are delayed by more than 15minutes will be able to claim compensation from Greater Anglia from April 1 under a new scheme agreed with the Department of Transport.

The threshold for the Delay Repay compensation scheme is being reduced from 30mins to 15mins – giving anyone whose train is delayed for that length of time the ability to claim back 25% of the single fare for their journey if they are delayed.

This means that passengers, who take over 80million journeys a year on the Greater Anglia network, will be able to claim back 25% of the single fare, irrespective of the cause of the delay. Existing compensation arrangements already exist for delays of 30mins or over.

Greater Anglia was determined to introduce Delay Repay 15 as soon as possible after Chris Grayling, secretary of state for transport, announced in October 2016 that it should be rolled out to all rail franchises.

Passengers can now claim compensation online, by email or by hard copy form. Compensation can be transferred directly into a bank account, as credit on a credit card, by voucher, PayPal or as a charitable donation.

This latter option was introduced by Greater Anglia last summer following feedback from passengers and has already raised over £8,000 for The Samaritans.

Rail minister Andrew Jones said: “Our top priority is ensuring passengers see the reliable and punctual services they expect. But when things do go wrong it’s only right that they are compensated fairly and quickly.

“This is why the launch of DR15 on Greater Anglia is important news for passengers, providing them with better compensation if their services are delayed.”

Jamie Burles, managing director for Greater Anglia, said: “We’re delighted to be able to provide better compensation, with the launch of Delay Repay 15 from next month and we are sure it will be welcomed by our customers.

“We’ve worked in close partnership with the Department for Transport to offer this significant benefit during the existing franchise as soon as possible, meeting our customers’ aspirations to see this upgrade earlier than expected.”

The latest punctuality figures for Greater Anglia showed that just over 90% of trains run to time.