Clare McCaffrey is making a bold promise to give rail passengers refunds if their trains are even just two minutes late.

She’s just been appointed the Fenchurch Street rail operator c2c’s first permanent commercial director.

Her role is to develop and expand passenger products as part of the company’s renewed 15-year franchise, including discounted advance tickets and the c2c Live app.

Clare, having switched to the rail industry from a major car hire firm, is already working on plans to introduce automatic compensation for passengers when trains are delayed for as little as two minutes on the network with 26 stops across East London and South Essex.

But that’s not much of a risk serving commuters on the Fenchurch Street-to-Southend run. The National Express subsidiary operator has topped the UK rail industry’s puctuality league table four years running, getting 97.5 per cent of its trains arriving on time, as well as the monthly punctuality tables at 98.8pc.

Clare, who joins the company after six years as sales and marketing director for Hertz car rental, is also planning to offer season ticket-holders with add-on benefits and products, still under wraps.