The delay in providing compensation to Arriva's beleaguered rail customers is yet another example of shabby treatment of people who have had to endure appalling train services in West Yorkshire for far too long.

Those who bought Metro cards and were not able to use them on the many occasions when their trains failed to turn up should not have to wait to be compensated. Nor should passengers whose working and private lives have been disrupted by unreliable services.

They will not be able to take any comfort from the news that services are expected to be back to normal by May. That means a long, hard winter of disruption lies ahead for them.

Travellers on the Wharfedale line between Bradford and Ilkley have particular reason to feel aggrieved as their services begin to feel the effects of the revised (i.e., drastically reduced) timetable introduced by Arriva to accommodate its now-notorious shortage of drivers.

It is appalling that on so many occasions during the day and evenings they should be expected instead to board coaches which will inevitably take a great deal longer. Small wonder that last night many regular commuters seemed to have made alternative arrangements.

West Yorkshire travellers have been badly let down by Arriva. The fact that the revised timetable might prove more reliable than the old one is small consolation if it includes so few trains.

The very least Arriva could now do is speed up its compensation deal, if only as a way of saying sorry.