Compensation for Delays

Overview

Each franchised Train Company has a Passenger's Charter which is a guide to the level of service you can expect to receive when using their stations and their train services. If the journey you have made, or are making, is delayed you may be entitled to compensation from the Train Operating Company or service provider.

If a service is delayed and you choose not to travel, you may be entitled to a full refund from the retailer of your Ticket.

Compensation

The compensation offered depends on:

• Operator you travelled or are travelling with,
• Ticket type held,
• Length of the delay against the timetable

Each Train Company will publish the details of their compensation arrangements within their 'Passenger's Charter' and we have compiled a list of direct links at www.nationalrail.co.uk

In addition, the nature of compensation offered will depend on the type of compensatory arrangement that the Train Company has in place according to their franchise commitment. This has been changed and improved over the years as Train Company franchises are renewed or replaced.

Most Train Companies now offer 'Delay Repay' where daily ticket holders as well as 7-Day, Monthly and longer Season Tickets can claim for delayed journeys as and when they occur. A few Train Companies still operate the original Passenger's Charter formula where the arrangements will differ for holders of Monthly and longer Season Ticket holders.

Please retain your train ticket and make a note of your journey as both will be required to support any claim for compensation.

Frequently Asked Questions

We have created a list of frequently asked questions regarding refunds on tickets and compensation rights for rail customers. The list can be found at www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/72098.aspx

Money back for delays

You can find delay repay information and everything you need to know about what you are entitled to, and how to claim online with a scan or photograph of your ticket, on the train company’s website. Some Train Companies allow Season Ticket holders to register their ticket online to make future claims quicker and easier. See www.nationalrail.co.uk/compensation for links to Train Company's delay compensation websites and Passengers' Charters.

Alternatively, most claims can be made by obtaining a form from a staffed station, enclosing the ticket and posting back to the Operator.

Section F of the National Rail Conditions of Travel outlines the minimum offered through Passengers' Charter's but in practise the vast majority of Operators pay more than that.

We’re here to help you on your journey and to get you back on track. You can sign up for automatic alerts about delays and disruption via Facebook Messenger. You can also tweet us too at @nationalrailenq. 

Old style Passenger's Charter compensation applicable to Season Tickets holders

Old style Passenger's Charter still applies to Season Ticket renewals for the following train companies:

• Transport for Wales (for renewal of Season Ticket purchased on or before 13 October 2018 only)
• Chiltern Railways
• Great Western Railway (GWR)

Whilst claiming for delays on daily or weekly tickets remains broadly the same as for Delay Repay detailed above, the formula for Season Ticket holders of one month or longer is different.

Rather than claiming for each and every delay as it occurs, statistics relating to both performance (the number of trains that arrived on time) and reliability (the number of trains that ran without cancellation) are gathered by the train company, independently verified and then measured against the targets set by the Department for Transport. This is measured on a 4-weekly basis and where the train company fails against one or both targets a discount of 5% for each of the failed targets is offered to those renewing their Season ticket.

In addition, on occasions of severe disruption, the train company may choose to totally void the figures for that day (or days) - effectively exclude all of the performance results from any given day(s) and instead offer the customer a whole extra day or multiple days extension to their next renewed Season Ticket. These are known as 'Void Days'.

These statistics are gathered every four weeks by Rail Delivery Group and the renewal discounts and declared Void Days are published below, where you will find the figures for the last 13 periods (equivalent to 52 weeks/1 year). 

Season Ticket renewal discounts and Void Days declared

 

Any enquiries regarding these figures should be raised directly with the Train Company.

If your Train Company is not shown on any of these documents then it operates a Delay Repay compensation formula for Season Ticket holders.