Train Cancelled and You Didn't Travel: Refund, Not Delay Repay

Who Refunds You: Whoever Sold the Ticket

Return the unused ticket to the retailer or train company you bought it from, and you get a full refund with no administration fee (National Rail Conditions of Travel, condition 30.1). That's the train company's own website or app, a ticket office, or a retailer: a ticket bought from Trainline or another app is refunded by that retailer.

The money goes back the way you paid. If you bought the ticket at a ticket office just before you meant to travel, you should get the refund there and then (condition 30.4).

When You Get a Full Refund

You decided not to travel because the train you meant to catch was cancelled, delayed or rescheduled after you bought the ticket, or because your seat reservation wasn't honoured. It also applies if you set off, couldn't finish the journey because of a delay or cancellation, and went back to where you started (condition 30.1).

A delay or cancellation on any leg means a full refund of every ticket you held for that journey, split tickets included (condition 29.2). A normal refund, when you just change your plans, can cost up to £5 in admin fees; this one costs nothing.

A train taken out of the timetable before 22:00 the evening before still counts for this refund: it was cancelled or rescheduled after you bought the ticket. Strike days work the same way: see Delay Repay on strike days.

Ask Within 28 Days

Ask within 28 days of the day you meant to travel, giving the date, time and station you would have set off from (condition 30.2). Once your refund is agreed, it should be paid within 14 days, and the target is to deal with every claim within a month (condition 30.3).

A Refund or Delay Repay, Not Both

If you decide not to travel and take the full refund, you can't also claim Delay Repay for that journey (condition 33.5). Which one you get depends on what you did:

• You went anyway, on a later train: claim Delay Repay for how late you reached your destination. See Delay Repay for a Cancelled Train.
• You gave up and didn't travel, or went back to where you started: ask for the refund.

All your options when a train is cancelled, including other companies' trains and getting stranded: Train Cancelled? What Are My Rights.

Advance, Return and Season Tickets

• Advance: normally non-refundable, but this refund covers every ticket except Season Tickets, so an Advance ticket is refunded in full too. See Delay Repay on an Advance Ticket.
• Return: if you didn't make the outward journey, return the unused ticket for a full refund. If you did travel, each late journey is its own Delay Repay claim: see Delay Repay on a Return or Open Return Ticket.
• Season Ticket: not covered by this refund. National Rail says Season Tickets have their own compensation process when disruption stops you travelling. See Delay Repay with a Season Ticket.

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

• National Rail Conditions of Travel (30 July 2026)
• National Rail: compensation and refunds
• National Rail: Season Tickets
• CrossCountry: Delay Repay
• Great Northern: Delay Repay
• LNER: Delay Repay
• Northern: Delay Repay
• Southeastern: 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.