Delay Repay rules
Delay Repay on a return ticket
Choose the operator, type the return fare and the minutes late on each leg: the tool adds both legs and stops at the price of the ticket.
LNER would pay
£24
25% of the return fare paid
| Scheme | Delay Repay 30, from 30 min |
| Band applied | 30–59 min |
| From 60 min late | £48 |
| Claim by | 23 November 2026 (28 days left) |
Estimate from the scheme LNER publishes, read on 26 October 2026. The operator checks the train you were on and decides the claim.
Delay Repay on a return ticket is worked out leg by leg. The return fare covers two journeys, so each journey is treated as half of it, and the share for the delay band applies to that half. With a Delay Repay 15 operator, a late outward leg pays 12.5% of the return fare from 15 minutes, 25% from 30 minutes and 50% from 60 minutes; if one leg is two hours late or more, most operators refund the whole return. When both legs are late, you claim each journey and the amounts are added, up to the price of the ticket. The National Rail Conditions of Travel set the same logic for the minimum from 60 minutes: 50% of the price of the late portion, or 50% of the whole fare if both legs were delayed. Two singles bought instead of a return are compensated as two separate tickets, each on its own price, which sometimes pays more for the same delay.
Delay Repay on a return ticket
You would get
£48
| Share of the return fare | 75% |
| Outward band | 30 min and over |
| Return band | 60 min and over |
| Capped at | £64 |
Schemes and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
How each leg is valued
Take a return bought for £80 with a Delay Repay 15 operator. The table shows what one late leg pays, and what two late legs pay together. The figures come from Southern's bands; the calculator above uses the bands of the operator you pick.
| Outward late | Return late | Paid | Share of the fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 min | on time | £10 | 12.5% |
| 45 min | on time | £20 | 25% |
| 70 min | on time | £40 | 50% |
| 45 min | 45 min | £40 | 50% |
| 70 min | 70 min | £80 | 100% |
| 125 min | on time | £80 | 100% |
A return or two singles?
On many long-distance routes a single costs little less than a return, and on some, two singles cost the same as a return. When that is the case, two singles are better protected: each single is a ticket on its own, so a 45-minute delay on one of them pays half of that single, not a quarter of a return. Take a route where the return is £80 and each single £40: a 45-minute outward delay pays £20 on the return and £20 on the single. The figure is the same here because the single is exactly half. The gap appears with the 120-minute band, where one leg of a return can refund £80 but a single at most £40, or when the single costs more than half the return.
Delay Repay on a return ticket
You would get
£22.50
| Share of the return fare | 25% |
| Outward band | 30 min and over |
| Return band | none |
| Capped at | £90 |
Off-Peak and Anytime returns
The type of return does not change the arithmetic. An Off-Peak return is compensated on the Off-Peak price you paid, an Anytime return on the Anytime price. If a railcard reduced the fare, the reduced price is the base. Advance tickets are sold as singles, so a trip made of two Advance tickets is two singles for Delay Repay, with the rules on our Advance and railcard page.
Claiming both legs
- Claim the outward journey within 28 days of that journey, with the ticket details and the scheduled departure.
- Claim the return journey within 28 days of the return, quoting the same ticket. Some forms let you add the second journey to the first claim.
- If the operator refuses the second claim because the ticket was already used for a claim, point out that the two legs are separate journeys and that the total stays under the price paid.
The time limit page gives the last day for each leg, and our claim guide covers what to send.
When a leg is cancelled
If the outward train was cancelled and you gave up the trip, you are owed a full refund of the unused return, without a fee, under condition 30 of the Conditions of Travel. If you began the journey but could not complete it and went back to your starting station, the same full refund applies. You cannot take the refund and Delay Repay for the same journey. The cancellation refund page covers it.