Went Another Way: Can You Still Claim Delay Repay?

When You Can Still Claim

The National Rail Conditions of Travel measure Delay Repay at your destination, against the timetable in place on the day (conditions 32.1 and 33.1). They don't say you have to finish on the train you planned. So if your train was cancelled or late and you got there another way, the delay is the time you arrived compared with when your planned train was due.

• The next train on the same route: counts. This is the usual case.
• Another company's train: counts. When your train is cancelled, ticket acceptance usually lets you use your ticket on it: see Ticket Acceptance.
• A replacement bus: counts, measured when the bus gets you there. See Rail Replacement Buses and Delay Repay.
• The Tube, a bus or walking to another station: counts. The delay is measured when you reach your destination station.
• A taxi: the delay still counts. The taxi fare is a separate request to the train company: see Train Cancelled and You Got a Taxi.

Train stopped short of your station? See what you're owed if your train terminated early. Finished by lift, or got off before the station on your ticket? See Finished by Lift, Taxi or Bus, or Got Off Early.

What to Put on the Claim Form

Give the train you planned to catch: its departure time and the stations on your ticket. Then give the time you actually reached your destination. If the form asks why you were late and your planned train didn't run, choose cancelled.

• Great Northern, Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express say they need the time of the train you took if a cancellation delayed you, so give that too.
• West Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway and Northern ask you to enter the journey you originally planned to take.
• South Western Railway works out the delay as if you caught the next available train from your origin, even if you took a later one.

The amount depends on how late you arrived, not on the route you took.

Which Company to Claim From

Claim from the company that ran the train you planned to catch, even if another company got you there. TransPennine Express puts it plainly: the claim "should be claimed from the train company that you were scheduled to travel". The Conditions of Travel also say that any company whose trains you used should pass a claim to the right one (condition 32.1).

A journey with a change is one claim, to the company whose delay first made a difference: see Delay Repay for a Missed Connection.

Which Trains Your Ticket Covers

• Your own company's trains: if your train is cancelled after you bought the ticket, you can normally travel up to two trains before or after it with the same company (condition 28.3).
• Other companies' trains: since 20 September 2026, when your train is cancelled you can use your ticket on a train run by any company in the ticket acceptance scheme, leaving up to 2 hours before or after it, on a direct or reasonable route. Show your original ticket to staff on board.
• Delays: ticket acceptance is for cancellations, not delays. If your train is only late, ask staff before you board another company's train. They sometimes arrange acceptance on the day.
• Missed connection: if a late train makes you miss a booked train, you can take that company's next train (condition 9.4).

Which companies take part, and what to show staff: Ticket Acceptance When Your Train Is Cancelled.

Earlier Trains, Later Trains and Extra Fares

You Took an Earlier Train

If you arrived before your planned train was due, there is no delay to claim. LNER says it doesn't pay when you take an earlier train that isn't disrupted after a cancellation, and Transport for Wales looks at earlier trains case by case.

You Chose to Travel Later

If your planned train ran on time and you chose to go later, the delay is measured against the train you caught, so there is only a claim if that train was late.

You Paid an Extra Fare

A Tube fare or another company's ticket isn't added to Delay Repay. Ask the train company's customer relations team to cover it; it decides case by case. If a Transport for London (TfL) delay made you pay a higher fare on another route, TfL may refund the difference.

You Didn't Travel

If you gave up, or went back to where you started, you get a full refund with no admin fee instead of Delay Repay (condition 30.1). See Train Cancelled? What Are My Rights.

How Railhop Works It Out

1. Tell Railhop the train you planned to catch. Give the stations and roughly when. Railhop finds the train you planned to catch, how it really ran from National Rail's data, and how late you were when you reached your destination.
2. Railhop fills in the train company's claim form. In the Railhop app, or with Railhop's browser extension on a computer, Railhop opens the claim form of the company that ran your train and fills it in for you, with your journey, your ticket and your details.
3. Check it and press submit. You check the claim and press submit on the train company's own form, within 28 days of travelling. The claim names the train you planned to catch. The train company pays you directly. Railhop never submits a claim for you.

Paid by contactless or Oyster? Your TfL statement shows where you really touched in and out, even at another station: see Delay Repay with Contactless and Oyster. More on how Delay Repay works.

Questions

Related Questions

Sources

• National Rail Conditions of Travel (30 July 2026)
• National Rail: ticket acceptance
• Department for Transport: new scheme to help stranded rail passengers (14 September 2026)
• Great Northern: Delay Repay
• LNER: Delay Repay
• South Western Railway: Delay Repay
• TransPennine Express: Delay Repay
• West Midlands Railway: Delay Repay

Train company terms checked 6 October 2026. Terms change: if something here doesn't match the train company's own page, the company's page is right. Tell us and we'll fix it. Railhop fills in the train company's own claim form, and you check it and submit it yourself. Railhop is not affiliated with any train company, TfL or National Rail.