Many Sussex commuters are in line for cash worth 15 days' free travel as compensation for rail chaos which followed the Hatfield disaster.

Holders of monthly or longer season tickets from Connex South Central, Connex South Eastern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services can claim back the value of 15 days' travel.

The announcement follows nationwide disruption which followed the derailment of a GNER train at Hatfield on October 17, in which four people died.

After the crash, thought to have been caused by a faulty rail, Railtrack announced urgent engineering works which caused widespread delays. Severe weather made the problem worse.

The cash, part of a national £50 million deal, covers the period of disruption from October 15 to November 11.

It will be funded jointly by Railtrack, train companies and the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority and is the biggest rail compensation deal ever offered.

George Muir, director-general of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said today: "No amount of compensation can make up for the delays and inconvenience passengers have experienced since the tragic Hatfield accident.

"But we hope this package goes some way to letting them know that we recognise the frustration they are experiencing."

Mr Muir said that although some people were already getting their compensation, others might have to wait several weeks.

"We aim to pay as quickly as possible, but would ask everyone to be patient."

As expected, the package, as expected, only covers passengers with monthly or longer period season tickets.

Passengers with weekly or daily tickets will have to enclose proof of travel and details of the journey and delay experienced to qualify for normal refunds under each train company's Passengers' Charter.

There has already been some criticism of this arrangement because some passengers have thrown away tickets which they would now have to reproduce to get compensation.

Mr Muir said today that in the exceptional circumstances passengers could produce a letter from their employers showing that they normally travelled to work by train.

ATOC said the level of disruption had been evaluated for each route and that local arrangements would generally allow compensation to be made by cheque or credit card refund.

Passengers will be told through local announcements whether, instead of a monetary refund, they can choose additional days' extensions to season tickets but in some cases this will not be possible.