29 minutes or 30? CrossCountry and Trainline/Real time trains disagree. Advice on appeal please

Hi all, I'd appreciate some advice.

On 20 July 2026, my original 15:19 York to Edinburgh Advance Single (Standard Class) was cancelled. I requested and received a refund through Trainline, so I'm not disputing that cancellation or refund.

I still needed to travel, so I bought a replacement for the 15:36 CrossCountry service from York to Edinburgh via Trainline after the cancellation. I chose CrossCountry because the service originated in Plymouth and avoided the disruption affecting trains from London King's Cross. I also chose First Class so I could get a seat and work. Those were my own decisions, and I'm not suggesting CrossCountry is responsible for the £165 cost.

The replacement journey used three split tickets (no Railcard, no change of train):

• York → Darlington: Advance Single First, XC Only (£42.80)
• Darlington → Morpeth: Anytime Day Single First, Any Permitted (£37.50)
• Morpeth → Edinburgh: Anytime Day Single First, Not Newcastle (£84.70)

The train was due into Edinburgh at 18:10. Shortly before arrival, the Train Manager announced we would arrive at 18:40. The train stopped at 18:40, I got off shortly afterwards, and Real Time Trains also shows an 18:40 arrival.

After the journey, Trainline emailed me saying "£82.50 is waiting for you" and specifically said "Your journey to Edinburgh (Waverley) was delayed by 30 minutes." And directed me to submit a Delay Repay claim with CrossCountry. I entered all three split tickets, but CrossCountry rejected the claim because they calculated the arrival as 18:39, making the delay 29 minutes instead of 30.

I've since read that Delay Repay may use TRUST timings, which could explain the one-minute discrepancy.

Is this worth appealing? I know that I was delayed by at least 30 mins, more if you include the time I stepped off the train, but not sure how to dispute their data.

I've attached , CrossCountry's rejection, the Trainline email and the Real Time Trains screenshot and a life360 screenshot showing me in Waverly station from 18.43

Why did you buy new tickets? Your existing ones were perfectly valid to take the next available LNER train.

What time did you purchase the new tickets exactly?

This isn't really relevant to my question or issue I don't think but here is the details.

My original ticket (15.19) was standard class and was for LNER. I purchased it at 11.56 am on the 20th of July. It was cancelled shortly after and the refund arrived at 04.30 this morning. I'm aware once the train was cancelled that ticket would have been eligible for any other LNER Edinburgh train, but they were all getting cancelled or getting huge delays - 90 mins etc.

The new ticket was cross country and was first class. I purchased it at 13.45 pm. I needed to change operator to avoid the ongoing delays and cancellations happening (so changed to a train that was coming from Plymouth to avoid getting a train that was going through kings cross where the issues were) and I needed to get a seat and a table to work. When booking there were so seats reservations other than on a first class carriage.

A seat would not have been guaranteed if I kept my original ticket and jumped on the next train to Edinburgh. In fact it was standing room only and chaos. I'm not disputing the cost of £165 if the train has arrived on time I'm disputing that it was 30 mins delayed. The choice to spend £165 to get me out of a sticky situation was my own choice.

mckizz said:

This isn't really relevant to my question or issue I don't think but here is the details.

My original ticket (15.19) was standard class and was for LNER. I purchased it at 11.56 am on the 20th of July. It was cancelled shortly after and the refund arrived at 04.30 this morning. I'm aware once the train was cancelled that ticket would have been eligible for any other LNER Edinburgh train, but they were all getting cancelled or getting huge delays - 90 mins etc.

The new ticket was cross country and was first class. I purchased it at 13.45 pm. I needed to change operator to avoid the ongoing delays and cancellations happening (so changed to a train that was coming from Plymouth to avoid getting a train that was going through kings cross where the issues were) and I needed to get a seat and a table to work. When booking there were so seats reservations other than on a first class carriage.

A seat would not have been guaranteed if I kept my original ticket and jumped on the next train to Edinburgh. In fact it was standing room only and chaos. I'm not disputing the cost of £165 if the train has arrived on time I'm disputing that it was 30 mins delayed. The choice to spend £165 to get me out of a sticky situation was my own choice.

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So, you are entitled to appeal the length of delay finding. However, you've purchased your ticket after that XC train became delayed and after you were aware of disruption, so if they review this manually and notice the time of purchase you should be aware they can strike out your claim entirely.

AlterEgo said:

So, you are entitled to appeal the length of delay finding. However, you've purchased your ticket after that XC train became delayed and after you were aware of disruption, so if they review this manually and notice the time of purchase you should be aware they can strike out your claim entirely.

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When I booked the 15.36 it was expected to arrive at York on time. There was no delay on Trainline when I booked. There may have been delays to the train but it was not displayed when I booked.

mckizz said:

When I booked the 15.36 it was expected to arrive at York on time. There was no delay on Trainline when I booked. There may have been delays to the train but it was not displayed when I booked.

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This may be something else you will need to take up with XC if they refuse the claim, but the train was some 25 minutes late already at 1345. It would have had the new arrival times showing on Trainline in red just below the booked/scheduled times; that comes directly from the same data as Realtimetrains and it seems inconceivable that it would not be displayed (I have checked, and it's showing accurate delays on services running today when going to the booking flow). That may well be their view if it goes to manual review, but regardless, if you just send the Realtimetrains screenshot this should be enough to get them to accept the delay was 30 minutes. Just be mindful they may have further objections!

The agreed industry system shows 18:39, 29 late.

greatkingrat said:

The OP booked the tickets at 1156, so what was showing at 1345 is irrelevant. At 1156 the train was between Yate and Cam & Dursley, it was 2 minutes late, but I don't think that is a significant delay, and with 8 minutes dwell at New Street, there was no reason not to think the train would be on time at York

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That’s not how I’m reading it, he booked the original tickets at 1156 but then booked another set at 1345

mckizz said:

The new ticket was cross country and was first class. I purchased it at 13.45 pm.

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Sorry, yes you are correct.

mckizz said:

Is this worth appealing?

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Definitely. I'd be pointing out that apart from having experienced the delay yourself, they even told you that you had been delayed by the relevant amount of time.

1D53 said:

The agreed industry system shows 18:39, 29 late.

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Darwin says +30 arrival, which is what delay repay should be calculated against as it is the passenger-facing real-time running information system.

1D53 said:

The agreed industry system shows 18:39, 29 late.

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Agreed by whom ?


Here we see a delay of 30 mins:

MrJeeves said:

Darwin says +30 arrival, which is what delay repay should be calculated against as it is the passenger-facing real-time running information system.

View attachment 208106

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and the ticket retailer also confirmed a 30 min delay.

sheff1 said:

Agreed by whom ?

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Every operator who holds a Track Access Contrsct considering it's in Part B of the Network Code.

1D53 said:

Every operator who holds a Track Access Contrsct considering it's in Part B of the Network Code.

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But completely irrelevant for passengers and delay repay

Companies such as XC and LNER regularly try this on and deny legitimate claims on this basis; it's normal - albeit atrocious - behaviour that you can expect from them.

Providing the delay wasn't known at the time of booking, you are entitled to a delay based on a 30-min delay; ask XC if you are "in deadlock" as that would entitle you to go to the Rail Ombudsman at that point (otherwise you have to wait until 40 working days have passed)