COMMUTERS are considering a mass compensation claim for the thousands they have spent on taxis, hotels and childcare as a result of the rail chaos.

Beleaguered passengers are hopeful they can use the Consumer Rights Act after a Surrey commuter reached an out-of-court settlement with Southern this week.

Passengers can claim for some compensation for late trains through the delay repay system but cannot claim for the costs of the likes of taxis, hotels and childcare which have resulted from the ongoing problems.

The Association of British Commuters (ABC), which is also taking the Government to court over their handling of the crisis, said a group claim was another measure they were considering.

Emily Yates, co-founder of ABC, said: “There are lots of people calling for this, especially those who are self employed. I have heard from some self employed people who have lost as much as £5,000 this last year.

“We are at the early stage and have been speaking to lawyers. It is not going to be an easy thing to do but we are looking into it.”

ABC is hoping to use the precedent set by commuter Sergei Cristo, who this week reached an out-of-court settlement with Southern after suing the company.

He said that because of cancellations and delays there were overcrowded trains in 2014 - before the current strikes - which meant he was unable to board his commuter service and could not get to work.

Mr Cristo, who commuted from Earlswood in Surrey to London Bridge, had his case thrown out by a district judge at Reigate County Court last year. But he successfully appealed the decision in October and, after weeks of talks, the case was eventually settled out of court.

He has been unable to comment on the outcome because of a confidentiality agreement. And ABC hope to use the Consumer Rights Act, which came into force for rail users in October.

It gives protection to customers when a service that they have paid for has “not delivered with reasonable care and skill”.

It also states that information provided before the purchase is made – for instance that they will be transported from one place to another - is binding.

It comes as strikes by Southern Railway train drivers are set to go ahead next week, causing a fresh wave of travel chaos for hundreds of thousands of passengers.

Aslef confirmed there will be three 24-hour walkouts in the bitter dispute over driver-only trains on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, despite being urged by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to call off the action.

The minister cited a report by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) which he maintained confirmed that Southern Railway’s plans for driver-controlled trains were safe.

Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union strongly disputed the report.

The Transport Secretary has asked for the rail regulator to draft a national safety framework to improve the way trains are dispatched, saying he expects the unions to be fully involved. Mr Grayling said: “Aslef should call off its strike. There are no grounds for it to go ahead. The independent rail regulator has confirmed that driver-controlled trains are safe.”