Proposals to remove 15-minute Delay Repay

[Adam Williams]

I want to know why a TOC requires my address or phone number to process these claims? What does my address or phone number have to do with processing the original claim? Of course I can understand address if someone wants vouchers (or cheque in Avantis case), but then request the address when the person confirms how they wish for reimbursement to be claimed. It feels like most TOCs are just data mining at this point with the personal details requested (none of which relevant to actually claiming) and at times trying to demand signing up for systems.

It's a combination of trying to get a bunch of data for future fraud accusations and I genuinely think a lot of it is about making the UX as poor as possible to dissuade people from claiming and waste as much of their time as possible.

The article in the OP acknowledges that the experience is so poor today that vast amounts of funds go unclaimed such that making it easier is suddenly a "revenue risk" that has to be managed by taking away some of the benefits of the DR scheme.

 

[Falcon1200]

Where does the money paid out as Delay Repay come from? Surely it just increases the cost oi running the railway over and above what it is already, and with the railway under state control the pressure will be on, even more, to reduce that cost. Having said that it should not be abolished but in the interests of fairness, only apply to delays within the railway's control?

(Having the great benefit of a staff pass I do not receive Delay Repay, no matter how massive the delay!)

 

[Richardr]

For 15-30 minute delays, rather than offering compensation in the form of bank transfer (or similar), instead they should offer one time use rail vouchers which can be redeemed online via any ticket seller (not just at ticket offices). This then keeps the money in the rail industry and people can put the funds towards future purchases. Store credit is a common compensation method in other industries for reimbursing people for more minor issues.

I suspect that the number of people claiming delay repay and not intending to travel again on the railways isn't too many.

 

[800Travel]

I think increasing the minimum qualifying delay, or introducing a minimum qualifying claim amount, would be a bad thing. An earlier example suggested a minimum claim of €4, so say it was £4. If someone is travelling on a cheap ticket, it doesn’t mean a delay is any less inconvenient for them. Additionally, cheaper tickets are often likely to be linked to shorter journeys, or tickets purchased further in advance. If someone is booking further in advance, it is less likely to be a spontaneous trip for which flexibility may be greater. Additionally, if it is a shorter journey, a delay could, arguably, be more inconvenient. 15 minutes delay on a 10 minute journey is likely more inconvenient than 15 minutes on a 4 hour journey.

 

[island]

For 15-30 minute delays, rather than offering compensation in the form of bank transfer (or similar), instead they should offer one time use rail vouchers which can be redeemed online via any ticket seller (not just at ticket offices). This then keeps the money in the rail industry and people can put the funds towards future purchases. Store credit is a common compensation method in other industries for reimbursing people for more minor issues.

I have little confidence in the industry being able to make such a credit system work, although once GBR is fully deployed, that may change.

Partially unrelated, how long before they cut delay repay on split tickets and only let you reimburse one ticket? Because I can genuinely see that coming in if the current actions are anything to go by.

It would not at all surprise me if this happened.

 

[Snow1964]

I think increasing the minimum qualifying delay, or introducing a minimum qualifying claim amount, would be a bad thing. An earlier example suggested a minimum claim of €4, so say it was £4. If someone is travelling on a cheap ticket, it doesn’t mean a delay is any less inconvenient for them. Additionally, cheaper tickets are often likely to be linked to shorter journeys, or tickets purchased further in advance. If someone is booking further in advance, it is less likely to be a spontaneous trip for which flexibility may be greater. Additionally, if it is a shorter journey, a delay could, arguably, be more inconvenient. 15 minutes delay on a 10 minute journey is likely more inconvenient than 15 minutes on a 4 hour journey.

At the moment, it is a percentage of fare paid, in chunky increments based on 15, 30, 60, 120 minute delay.

Its not like it is £1 for every 2 minutes, (or similar basis), so current system is not ideal to cover the inconvenience factor either.

To be honest in my opinion, if general reported on time target is within 3 minutes, having a minimum 10 times this is far too long. Should be more like paid out if 3 times the target (3 x 3min = 9 minutes), not excessive 10 times.

 

[D1537]

Partially unrelated, how long before they cut delay repay on split tickets and only let you reimburse one ticket? Because I can genuinely see that coming in if the current actions are anything to go by.

To be honest, I'm already surprised that this is allowed anyway. I mean, I'm not complaining that I got 100% of four tickets back recently when the first three parts went without a hitch, but ...

 

[whoosh]

I'm really surprised to see how many people in this thread, who know how to 'delay repay', but not bother over small amounts of money, or small amounts of time that reach the trigger point to be able to delay replay.
I've never claimed delay repay before this week and was pleased to have found it quite straightforward. I'll be getting back a whole one pound!
For not much longer work than making this post!

National Rail Operators that do not currently offer 15 minute delay repay include:

LNER (30 minutes)
Cross Country (30 minutes)
Caledonian Sleeper (30 minutes)
Cross Country (30 minutes)
Heathrow Express (30 minutes, worded as delay repay unsure if it is delay repay or compensation)
LNER (30 minutes)
Lumo (30 minutes)
ScotRail (30 minutes)

Elizabeth Line (30 minutes, compensation not delay repay)
Grand Central (60 minutes, compensation not delay repay)
London Overground (30 minutes, compensation not delay repay)
Merseyrail (30 minutes, compensation not delay repay)

Spot who's got class 180s.

 

[ChilliSauce]

Spot who's got class 180s.

Every ticket comes attached to a fire extinguisher ....with a note "maybe required on route"!

 

[VT 390]

Partially unrelated, how long before they cut delay repay on split tickets and only let you reimburse one ticket? Because I can genuinely see that coming in if the current actions are anything to go by.

To be honest, I'm already surprised that this is allowed anyway. I mean, I'm not complaining that I got 100% of four tickets back recently when the first three parts went without a hitch, but ...

I could see this happening but they would have to change the wording for delay repay to avoid people disputing split claims.
Currently most operators delay repay pages, along with the National Rail Delay Repay page, use some form of the phrase when your journey is delayed.
If they removed split ticket options for delay repay. They would have to remove the work journey as a journey can consist of multiple services. Instead more focus would need to be on the word ticket.
Also, stopping split claims could increase the number of claims as currently you can only make a valid claim on split tickets for the delay at your final destination station, not the split points. With these changes passengers could make individual claims for each split part of the journey.

 

[markymark2000]

It's a combination of trying to get a bunch of data for future fraud accusations

That'd be like Tesco asking for your address at self checkouts so they can get data to catch you if you happen to steal an item.

I also believe breaks the code of practise (see below) as it's not proportionate and there is no information anywhere on why it's needed. Infact in my formal complaint to TPE, they just said "your data is protected" and lark along that line, and refused to state why the data was needed other than "it's needed to process the claim" (which I am sure may even break other data protection laws as they are requesting data that they don't need and refuse to state why they need the information).

https://www.orr.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-03/delay-compensation-code-of-practice.pdf

Licence holders must ensure that the information requirements for Claims are clear, proportionate and not unnecessarily burdensome. The claim form, or accompanying text, must make clear why specific evidence and information is required.

and I genuinely think a lot of it is about making the UX as poor as possible to dissuade people from claiming and waste as much of their time as possible.

Which leads back to the ORR and their lack of backbone. See above quote from code of practise about not being unnecessarily burdensome.

To be honest in my opinion, if general reported on time target is within 3 minutes, having a minimum 10 times this is far too long. Should be more like paid out if 3 times the target (3 x 3min = 9 minutes), not excessive 10 times.

Delay repay is not based on TOCs own policy of what counts as on time. It's based on how delayed you are against the timetable of the day. A TOC could say anything within an hour of right time is 'on time', it doesn't affect the eligibility for delay repay.

I suspect that the number of people claiming delay repay and not intending to travel again on the railways isn't too many.

Exactly, so paying a voucher for future travel on small delays would keep the money in the industry which will be far better for them, but without massively affecting passengers.

 

[WelshBluebird]

Don't the facts that longer journeys are usually more expensive, shorter journeys are usually less expensive and what you get from DR depends on what you paid, all together already essentially form a link between journey length and delay compensation?

I've no idea whether I support this or not without seeing the figures. But tend to agree that a 29 minute delay, while meaningful (indeed a 2 minute delay is meaningful) isn't something that requires compensation.

So a half hour journey becoming an hour is just fine then?

f this leads to cheaper rail fares for most then it's a good thing.

It wont.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Feb 2026 ==

The DR scheme represents a transfer of value to the well-organised and sharp-elbowed – a sub-set of the older middle classes, mostly – from the less well informed, the young, and those with busier or chaotic lifestyles who don’t have time/ability to deal with form-filling.

Not sure I agree that older people are more likely to use delay repay. In my experience its usually younger people as most schemes are now internet first.

So I’m not a big fan of the scheme, although I can see why it was introduced on the privatised railway, to mitigate criticism of profits being withdrawn whilst train reliability deteriorated.

Let’s see what the eventual proposals are.

I mean its pretty obvious the proposals will be anti passenger because the point of removing it would be to save money.

Partially unrelated, how long before they cut delay repay on split tickets and only let you reimburse one ticket? Because I can genuinely see that coming in if the current actions are anything to go by.

As long as they realise it may not work out the way they want it to.
Ive had many journeys where one ticket ive held had a delay for that leg, but my overall journey wasnt delayed. Generally an effect of journeys that end with a infrequent branch line connection. In the current world I can't claim for them but if it moves to a per ticket thing then those delays become eligible.

 

[thedbdiboy]

With railways returning to state control it is inevitable that the various benefits of privatisation are removed as the government begins to realise their cost.

benefits bribes of privatisation

Run the trains on time and it would work even more fine..

Which of course was supposed to be the whole point of delay refunds, to incentivise punctuality - but the underlying system has become so broken that instead, every day of every week something else goes wrong but 'never mind, you can claim compensation' is used as the catch all excuse rather then a sense of getting to grips with the fundamental fragility of the network.

Delay Repay isn't 'free', it's funded by the taxpayer (even the private sector version because ultimately it was a factor of the state funded contract). It's probably simpler and cost effective to have a less generous delay process, but maintain cheaper fares - and we do have a 'fares freeze' for now.

 

[Sonic1234]

I want to know why a TOC requires my address or phone number to process these claims?

Probably a hangover from when delay repay was claimed by post. I believe the conditions of carriage still state this is the way to make a claim - it's a benefit graciously given to passengers that we're allowed to claim online.

Also, when GTR mess up a claim and you complain they often send a cashable rail travel voucher in the post. Just about when you think your email has been ignored.

If you're not worried about making an appeal for your claims, nothing stopping you putting in a false address.

 

[800Travel]

At the moment, it is a percentage of fare paid, in chunky increments based on 15, 30, 60, 120 minute delay.

Its not like it is £1 for every 2 minutes, (or similar basis), so current system is not ideal to cover the inconvenience factor either.

To be honest in my opinion, if general reported on time target is within 3 minutes, having a minimum 10 times this is far too long. Should be more like paid out if 3 times the target (3 x 3min = 9 minutes), not excessive 10 times.

Yes - the current system is not without its flaws, but certainly must not be further worsened.

 

[Adam Williams]

we do have a 'fares freeze' for now

Do we? If I graph the average Advance purchase price since November 2025, I don't get a flat horizontal line.

 

[py_megapixel]

Don't the facts that longer journeys are usually more expensive, shorter journeys are usually less expensive and what you get from DR depends on what you paid, all together already essentially form a link between journey length and delay compensation?

Yes but a peverse one, surely?

If I'm travelling the length of the country and I have probably planned it in advance, and left some leeway in those plans in case of things going wrong. Arriving half an hour late is annoying but in most cases does little harm.

If I'm making a 10 min suburban journey I might decide to do it on the day, maybe even at a few minutes' notice, if e.g. a friend suggests doing something at the last minute, and a familiar short journey feels less risky which means I leave less leeway. In that case a half-hour delay quadruples my journey time (from 10 mins to 40) and there is a significant possibility that I'm actually late to whatever I was travelling for.

It seems clear to me that a 30 min delay on a long journey is relatively speaking far less of an inconvenience than a 30 min delay on a shorter journey, and yet under the current system the latter is likely to be compensated less, due to being made with a cheaper ticket.

 

[andy33gmail]

A flat rate per minute rather than proportion of fayre is probably fairer, as alluded to above

After all, a 15 min delay on a 30 min journey is probably more annoying than 15 in a 6 hour journey … and yet the latter would pay much more

Given how frequent delays are - tbh once it’s all coming from the same entity - dropping delay repay is just a proxy for fare increases. I’ve often thought it would be simpler for Great Northern to discount their fares by 12.5% but give you a surcharge at the gate line in the eventuality they arrive on time

 

[Egg Centric]

Are you in the market for a bridge?

I’m sure you're being facetious though!

Well the money comes from somewhere. So if it remains "in the system" then it should either make fares cheaper than they should otherwise be or alternatively mean less taxpayer subsidy. Either of which is a win for most people. However there is a theoretical chance it will cause revenue to fall by people not taking so many trips. Which is why I would need to see the numbers to have a settled view.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Feb 2026 ==

So a half hour journey becoming an hour is just fine then?

It's not about whether it's "fine" it's about whether it's something that egregiously bad enough to "deserve" compensation. This is a value judgement to which there is no right answer but mine is "no".

This does not mean I won't claim the compensation when there is such a system. Indeed, I really enjoy claiming delay repay and sometimes arrange journies to increase the likelihood of it. But it's possible to play a game while disliking it (see also socialists practicing tax avoidance or libertarians claiming PiP or whatever).

 

[ChilliSauce]

If they removed split ticket options for delay repay. They would have to remove the work journey as a journey can consist of multiple services. Instead more focus would need to be on the word ticket.
Also, stopping split claims could increase the number of claims as currently you can only make a valid claim on split tickets for the delay at your final destination station, not the split points. With these changes passengers could make individual claims for each split part of the journey.

That I think raises a very Intresting point .. My example: The customer makes a journey from Gatwick to Leeds with a ticket split at Peterborough. The customer arrives Peterborough on-time and the journey to Leeds then continues on-time ..

However the service from Peterborough to Leeds is then delayed on route so arrives Leeds 31L .. So under the "new arrangements" the delay repay claim would be limited to only the Peterborough / Leeds sector of the journey, because that was the bit that was actually delayed on a ticket valid only between Peterborough and Leeds .

However had the punter simply bought a through ticket from Gatwick to Leeds and not bothered with this splitting the delay repay would of been calculated on the complete journey being undertaken.

It might be viewed that the correct approach is being taken going forwards where the customer chooses to buy split tickets ..

 

[OneOfThe48]

Well the money comes from somewhere. So if it remains "in the system" then it should either make fares cheaper than they should otherwise be or alternatively mean less taxpayer subsidy.

It would be the latter - the money they don’t pay out for DR will just be used to reduce subsidies. Cost cutting is a big priority for the DfT

 

[sheff1]

Move to all smart ticketing with gate and onboard scanning and auto delay repay will work fine.

Good luck with that one. When I went through the barrier at Leeds today there were 3 departures to Sheffield within 10 mins. The one I caught was so crowded that ticket scanning was impossible.

I never bother with 15 minute delay repay myself as it's too much of a rigmarole without enough reward.

£25 seems a worthwhile amount to me for which I am quite happy to spend less than 2 mins claiming.

 

[Egg Centric]

It would be the latter - the money they don’t pay out for DR will just be used to reduce subsidies. Cost cutting is a big priority for the DfT

Sounds like good news then, given the state of the country's finances.

Am curious where those who take a different view think the cut off should be (personally I'd be ok with 1 hour*). Is 15 minutes right or should it be even shorter? 5 minutes?** And is this based on a holistic view of the situation like mine or purely considering Delay Repay in isolation?

*Caveat that repeated delays on a regular commute are a different kettle of fish and half an hour feels right there

**I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here, btw. But an hour really isn't that big a delay for an occasional journey and half an hour on a commute is again something that feels liveable with

 

[johntea]

Delay Repay is one thing but the nightmare of trying to get a taxi / alternative transport sorted in the cases where you miss a last connection due to a delay can be much more stressful!

I once arrived at Wakefield to be told East Coast (whoever the operator was at the time) had been delaying paying their taxi contract so the drivers refused to take any jobs!

Luckily I’m only a 20 minute taxi from there so I could pay it out of my own pocket at the time and complain to customer services but I would have been rather stuck had the journey and fare been higher for example

 

[JonathanH]

I have thought before, regardless if the lowest category is 15+ minutes or 30+ minutes, that the delay repay categories should be amended by even just 1 minute to 29-58, 59-118 and 119+. I would consider something like this to potentially be a good balance between removing the 15-29 delay repay category but still offering a decent delay repay scheme for passengers.

Yes, following a cancellation on a route with a half hourly frequency, the following trains will often be deemed to be a 29 minute delay due to arrival times being rounded down, which is not a true reflection of the delay.

 

[father_jack]

App based PAYG check in check out then.

Good luck with that one. When I went through the barrier at Leeds today there were 3 departures to Sheffield within 10 mins. The one I caught was so crowded that ticket scanning was impossible.

(Snipped)

@sheff1 @Wallsendmag lives in a sarcastic rail management idealistic world that thinks all the things they are told at conferences and trade shows always work when he implements them. Contrast that to gates seemingly working but not clipping tickets or recording taps because all this dapper new software isn't supported by appropriate investment in hardware.

 

[OscarH]

@sheff1 @Wallsendmag lives in a sarcastic rail management idealistic world that thinks all the things they are told at conferences and trade shows always work when he implements them. Contrast that to gates seemingly working but not clipping tickets or recording taps because all this dapper new software isn't supported by appropriate investment in hardware.

And/or the expensive "dapper new software" is actually crap, and they could have gotten way better for the money

 

[tbtc]

Where does the money paid out as Delay Repay come from? Surely it just increases the cost oi running the railway over and above what it is already, and with the railway under state control the pressure will be on, even more, to reduce that cost. Having said that it should not be abolished but in the interests of fairness, only apply to delays within the railway's control?

Delay Repay is quite a chunk of the subsidy that the railway gets - most recently £136,633,000 a year:

Rail passenger compensation paid by train operating companies

www.gov.uk

Imagine what we could do with that money elsewhere on the railway or wider society?

I'm sure someone will point out that this won't magically be used on some specific project; I'm not claiming it will, but we can't ignore that this is a huge sum of money to be spending each year considering other priorities

Similarly, I'm not saying that being delayed is great/ passengers should suck it up etc, I'm just pointing out that Delay Repay is a chunky ol' chunk of the annual cost of running the railway and that it's not a sacred cow IMHO

Some will obviously say that scrapping it or watering it down to thirty minutes won't mean there's no incentive for TOCs to keep services reliable in future but is there much evidence that introducing a thirty minutes threshold cut delays significantly?

And subsequent evidence that tightening this to fifteen minute thresholds cut delays further?

Great if these improvements in consumer rights delivered quantifiable improvements in time keeping, in which case removing it could have a detrimental effect

But to me it looks like we're paying increasing sums each year with seemingly no cap because previous governments have been too scared to tackle it - it's much more 'popular' to increase the generosity of Delay Repay even though the root causes don't seem to be being tackled

(fair enough if anyone can point to service changes that have been attributed to the savings made from removing the costs of delay repay that this service have created)

 

[Egg Centric]

Delay Repay is quite a chunk of the subsidy that the railway gets - most recently £136,633,000 a year:

Rail passenger compensation paid by train operating companies

www.gov.uk

Imagine what we could do with that money elsewhere on the railway or wider society?

I'm sure someone will point out that this won't magically be used on some specific project; I'm not claiming it will, but we can't ignore that this is a huge sum of money to be spending each year considering other priorities

Similarly, I'm not saying that being delayed is great/ passengers should suck it up etc, I'm just pointing out that Delay Repay is a chunky ol' chunk of the annual cost of running the railway and that it's not a sacred cow IMHO

Some will obviously say that scrapping it or watering it down to thirty minutes won't mean there's no incentive for TOCs to keep services reliable in future but is there much evidence that introducing a thirty minutes threshold cut delays significantly?

And subsequent evidence that tightening this to fifteen minute thresholds cut delays further?

Great if these improvements in consumer rights delivered quantifiable improvements in time keeping, in which case removing it could have a detrimental effect

But to me it looks like we're paying increasing sums each year with seemingly no cap because previous governments have been too scared to tackle it - it's much more 'popular' to increase the generosity of Delay Repay even though the root causes don't seem to be being tackled

(fair enough if anyone can point to service changes that have been attributed to the savings made from removing the costs of delay repay that this service have created)

TBF, eyeballing that chart, looking at the TOCs involved I'd guess the majority of compensation is for quite significant delays.

 

[Magdalen Road]

One commuter’s experience of delays
Data from one annual season ticket's worth of commuting (Jan 25 - Jan 26).
111 commutes (outbound and return) Ely to King's Cross
56 outbound commutes delayed with a total cumulative delay of 533 minutes
37 return commutes delay with a total cumulative delay of 519 minutes. One of the returns was via sardine LNER to Peterborough and then sharing an Uber because it was unlikely multiple trains' worth of passengers would fit on the next EMR or XC.
A grand total of 17.5 hours of commuting delays.

How much delay repay do you think I got for this?