Cancellations and refunds
Train strikes and planned disruption: refunds and compensation
Independent site, not a train company or claims service. You claim only through your operator’s own form.
Type when your train was due in the timetable of the day and when it arrived: the tool shows the delay that counts and what it pays.
Delay counted on the timetable of the day
Delay that counts
45 min
| Compensation | £9 |
| Late against the normal timetable | 75 min |
| Not counted | 30 min already in the day’s timetable |
On a strike day, or when engineering work or forecast bad weather replaces the normal timetable, two rules decide what you get back. First, if the train you booked is cancelled or rescheduled after you bought the ticket and you decide not to travel, condition 30 of the national Conditions of Travel gives a full refund with no fee, whatever the type of ticket; you notify it within 28 days of the day you meant to travel. Second, if you travel, Delay Repay is counted against the timetable in place on the day of travel, as shown in journey planners and on station screens, not against the usual timetable. A train that the strike timetable already showed arriving 30 minutes later than normal is not 30 minutes late; only minutes beyond the day's timetable count. Season ticket holders depend on their operator's terms: some, such as Transport for Wales, accept Delay Repay claims for strike days, while TfL services exclude strikes from their delay refunds. The Rail Ombudsman does not look at complaints about strike action itself.
Refund if you give up on a disrupted trip
Refund
£45
| Administration fee | £0 |
| Tell the retailer by | 23 November 2026 |
| Paid within | 14 days of agreement |
Schemes and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
The timetable of the day
Condition 32.1 of the Conditions of Travel counts the delay from the arrival planned by the timetable in force on your day of travel. Where a replacement timetable is in force, for planned engineering, urgent repairs or bad weather expected, compensation is based on that replacement timetable. Operators publish such changes as soon as they can, and the timetable becomes the one journey planners show.
| Normal arrival | Arrival in timetable of the day | Actual arrival | Delay that counts | Single of £24, Northern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:10 | 09:10 | 09:40 | 30 min | £12 |
| 09:10 | 09:40 | 09:40 | 0 min | £0 |
| 09:10 | 09:40 | 10:25 | 45 min | £12 |
| 09:10 | 09:40 | 11:00 | 80 min | £24 |
Refunds when the strike changes your train
A strike often cancels trains or moves them. If the train you meant to take is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled after you bought the ticket, and you decide not to travel, condition 30 gives a full refund of the unused ticket with no administration fee. This covers Advance tickets, which are otherwise non-refundable. Under condition 28.4, a train likely to be more than 60 minutes late also lets you use the ticket on a later date with comparable restrictions.
Refund if you give up on a disrupted trip
Refund
£45
| Administration fee | £0 |
| Tell the retailer by | 23 November 2026 |
| Paid within | 14 days of agreement |
Season tickets on strike days
A season ticket holder who stays at home has made no late journey, so Delay Repay alone pays nothing. What happens next is up to each operator: Transport for Wales states that season holders who bought from it can claim Delay Repay for days they could not travel because of industrial action; South Western Railway asks season holders who abandon a disrupted journey to claim it as a delay of 120 minutes or more. Look at your operator's page and its terms before the 28 days run out. A season you no longer need can be handed back under Part G of the Conditions, as the season refund page explains.
What the Ombudsman will not look at
The Rail Ombudsman lists strike action among the subjects it cannot investigate, alongside public policy on how the railway is run. A dispute about how your claim was handled on a strike day, a refund refused or an amount paid on the wrong band, is about the operator's service and its commitments; whether that falls within its remit is for the Ombudsman to decide when you submit it. Complaints about the strike itself go to neither the operator's Delay Repay team nor the Ombudsman.
London's own services
The Elizabeth line and London Overground follow Transport for London's refund rules, which exclude delays caused by strikes, planned works, weather and security alerts. National Rail operators running into London follow their own Delay Repay schemes on the same days.
Check before you travel
On a strike day, look up your train in a journey planner the evening before and on the morning itself: that is the timetable your delay will be measured against. If your train has gone from it, the refund or the later-date options above apply.