Delay Repay rules
Delay Repay on Advance tickets, railcard fares and split tickets
Type the price you actually paid, after the railcard discount: the calculator applies the band of the operator that ran the late train.
Avanti West Coast would pay
£27.50
100% of the single fare paid
| Scheme | Delay Repay 15, from 15 min |
| Band applied | 60–119 min |
| From 120 min late | £27.50 |
| Claim by | 23 November 2026 (28 days left) |
Estimate from the scheme Avanti West Coast publishes, read on 26 October 2026. The operator checks the train you were on and decides the claim.
Delay Repay on an Advance ticket, a railcard fare or a split ticket is worked out on the price you paid, not on the full fare for the route. An Advance single bought for £27.50 that arrives 64 minutes late with Avanti West Coast pays £27.50, the whole fare, because the 60-minute band refunds 100% of a single. With a railcard, the base is the fare after its discount, usually a third off. Advance tickets are sold as singles and tied to a booked train, so the rules of the National Rail Conditions of Travel on disruption matter more than usual: if the booked train is cancelled, condition 28.3 normally lets you take one of the 2 trains before or after it with the same operator, and since 20 September 2026 many operators also accept tickets on another company's train leaving within 2 hours. If the disruption makes you give up the trip, condition 30 gives a full refund, even on a ticket that is otherwise non-refundable.
Fare with the railcard
You pay
£36
| Discount | 33.3% |
| Saving | £18 |
| Minimum fare | £12 |
1-year card can be bought until the day before the 26th birthday, 3-year card until the day before the 24th.
Schemes and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
The price paid is the base
Every scheme pays a share of the price paid for the ticket. That makes Delay Repay on cheap tickets small in pounds but identical in proportion. The table compares the same 40-minute delay with Avanti West Coast on three fares for the same trip.
| Ticket | Price paid | 40 min late | 70 min late |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anytime single | £96 | £48 | £96 |
| Same with a railcard | £64 | £32 | £64 |
| Advance single | £27.50 | £13.75 | £27.50 |
When the booked train is cancelled
An Advance ticket is valid only on the train booked, which is why disruption needs care. Under condition 28.3 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel, when a service is cancelled after you bought your ticket you will normally be allowed to travel on one of the 2 trains before or after it with the same operator; where trains are much less frequent, the operator provides another option. Since 20 September 2026, a scheme announced by the Department for Transport also lets passengers of 17 operators use another participating company's train leaving within 2 hours of the cancelled one. The cancelled train page explains both.
Which trains can I take after a cancellation?
Another operator’s train leaving
16:15 to 20:15
| Same operator | 2 trains before or after |
| Scheme in force since | 20 September 2026 |
| Operators taking part | 17 |
Giving up the trip
If the train you meant to take is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled and you decide not to travel, condition 30 gives a full refund of the unused ticket without an administration fee, and that includes Advance tickets. If you had started and went back to your departure station because of the disruption, the same refund applies. You must tell the retailer or operator within 28 days of the day you intended to travel. What you cannot do is get a refund and claim Delay Repay for the same journey.
Split tickets
A journey made on two or more tickets, each covering part of the route, is valid as long as the train calls at the station where the tickets change (condition 14.2). For Delay Repay, what counts is the delay at the destination of your journey. Claim with every ticket you held for that journey: the operator values the claim on the tickets it judges covered the delayed part, and if only one did, its answer should say which price it used. Our split ticketing page explains the rule and the saving.
Small fares, simple habits
- Note the price after any discount: the e-ticket or the booking email shows it.
- If you bought on the operator's own website, look for an automatic claim email first, listed on the automatic Delay Repay page.
- Keep the booking until the claim is paid, even for a fare of a few pounds.
First Class Advance and seat reservations
A First Class Advance ticket is compensated on its own price like any other. If the train runs without the first class accommodation shown in the timetable, or it is full, condition 31.1 adds a separate right: a refund of at least the difference between your first class ticket and the cheapest standard walk-up fare on that service, claimed within 28 days from the company you travelled with.