Claiming Delay Repay Without a Paper Ticket

What Counts as Proof of Your Ticket

The claim form asks for proof of the ticket you travelled on, and each train company sets what it accepts. Depending on the ticket, that's usually one of these:

• A photo or scan of a paper ticket. c2c asks for one showing the ticket number, journey and price paid.
• An e-ticket: an image of its barcode or QR code, or its ticket number. Great Northern, Thameslink, Southern, Gatwick Express, c2c and Greater Anglia take the number.
• A collection reference for a ticket collected from a machine: c2c and Greater Anglia take it.
• A Smartcard number: Key card at the four GTR brands, Touch Smartcard at GWR and South Western Railway, and the Smartcards of c2c, Greater Anglia, Northern and ScotRail.
• A booking confirmation or receipt, at some companies only (below).
• Your TfL journey history, if you paid by contactless or Oyster: see Delay Repay with Contactless and Oyster.

A seat reservation isn't a ticket. East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway and Stansted Express ask for a photo of your ticket for travel, not your seat reservation.

Lost Your Paper Ticket?

Look for another record of the same ticket. If you bought it online or in an app, the booking confirmation and the ticket number are usually still in your email or the app. Some companies accept these instead of the ticket:

• GWR accepts a ticket receipt.
• Great Northern, Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express accept a booking confirmation or receipt showing the date, ticket type and price.
• Lumo accepts your full booking confirmation or your booking reference.
• South Western Railway accepts, for an eTicket, the booking confirmation showing the booking reference and price paid.
• Transport for Wales accepts a screenshot of your booking confirmation email if you can't provide a barcode ticket screenshot.

Others want the ticket itself. Southeastern asks for a photo of the actual ticket you used and doesn't accept receipts or booking confirmation emails. West Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway and Stansted Express ask for your ticket for travel, not a receipt.

Proof the company doesn't accept is a common reason for a refusal. If that happens, see Delay Repay Claim Rejected. Claims are due within 28 days of the journey, so if you have no record at all, ask the company what it will accept well before then.

Keep Your Paper Ticket After You Travel

Take a photo of a paper ticket before you reach the barrier. Chiltern Railways says to keep your paper ticket to support your claim and not to put it through the ticket barrier, and TransPennine Express asks you to keep hold of your tickets after you travel.

East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway ask you to cut a paper ticket in half or deface it before you photograph it, unless it's still in use, such as a Season Ticket. West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway don't accept pencil or digital lines.

E-Tickets and Tickets From Apps

An e-ticket is proof on its own: an image of the barcode or QR code, or its Unique Ticket Number where the form asks for one. LNER's form takes e-tickets (QR code), paper tickets and Smartcards.

A ticket bought from Trainline or another app is claimed from the train company whose train delayed you, with the same e-ticket or booking.

Smartcards, Contactless and Oyster

With a Smartcard, the card number is the proof: GWR, South Western Railway, Northern, c2c, Greater Anglia and ScotRail take it on the claim. Northern takes it instead of a ticket image.

Told you didn't use your ticket because it wasn't scanned or tapped? See Delay Repay Claim Rejected.

Contactless and Oyster have no ticket at all. Your TfL journey history, showing where you touched in and out and the cost, is the proof. Southeastern and South Western Railway don't accept card payment statements that don't show the time of travel or the journey. Check your statement and Railhop finds every delay on it.

What Each Train Company Accepts

From each company's own Delay Repay pages. The claim form shows what it takes today.

How Railhop Helps

Railhop shows the claim-by date for every delay it finds, and the app reminds you 3 days before it runs out. More on how Delay Repay works.

Questions

Sources

• c2c: Delay Repay
• Chiltern Railways: Delay Repay
• East Midlands Railway: Delay Repay
• Great Northern: Delay Repay
• Greater Anglia: Delay Repay
• GWR: Delay Repay
• LNER: Delay Repay
• London Northwestern Railway: Delay Repay
• Lumo: Delay Repay
• Northern: Delay Repay
• South Western Railway: Delay Repay
• Southeastern: Delay Repay
• Stansted Express: Delay Repay
• Transport for Wales: 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.