Low Delay Repay Calculation

[andy33gmail]

On Wednesday 8th July 2026, I was travelling from Kings Cross (KGX) to Littleport (LTP) using tickets split at Hitchin.

I wanted to see Cambridge South, so I boarded a train at Kings Cross which arrived there almost on time, and alighted with the intention of catching the following service on the same route.

The intended train was cancelled, and the one after spectacularly late, which delayed me by 1-2 hours (next hourly train, and it was late).

I took a train to Cambridge North whilst I waited (because why not) and boarded the next available Great Northern (GN) service to LTP. Which to be absolutely clear, was the same train I would have been able to use if I had just waited at Cambridge South

I entered the 3 legs accurately - expecting it would have had the same result as if I had started the journey later, and arrived on the same train as I actually did - i.e. £43.20 return fayre, 1-2 hours late, 50% of the return fayre paid.

It's just come through now, as only £5 compensation

If this is correct - so be it. But I wanted to check
-----

Hi Andrew, Thank you for your Delay Repay claim received by us on 08/07/2026. We have reviewed your claim(s) and can confirm the following: Journey Details Departure date & time: 08/07/2026 19:18 Arrival date & time: 08/07/2026 21:14 Departing station: [KGX] London Kings Cross Arriving station: [LTP] Littleport Changing at station: N/A Ticket Type: selfprint-return Ticket Price: £42.30 Decision: Approved We have confirmed that the delay you experienced was between 60 - 119 minutes and that you are entitled to £5.00 in compensation. Your claim was processed using ticket information already held on file. Award Amount: £5.00 Your claim has been approved. £5.00 will be credited to your PayPal Account within 14 days.

Yours sincerely Great Northern Delay Repay Team For more information, please visit: Delay Repay FAQs Please click this link to read our email policy https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/contact-us/terms/

 

[tatitiliti]

On Wednesday 8th July 2026, I was travelling from Kings Cross (KGX) to Littleport (LTP) using tickets split at Hitchin.

I wanted to see Cambridge South, so I boarded a train at Kings Cross which arrived there almost on time, and alighted with the intention of catching the following service on the same route.

The intended train was cancelled, and the one after spectacularly late, which delayed me by 1-2 hours (next hourly train, and it was late).

I took a train to Cambridge North whilst I waited (because why not) and boarded the next available Great Northern (GN) service to LTP. Which to be absolutely clear, was the same train I would have been able to use if I had just waited at Cambridge South

I entered the 3 legs accurately - expecting it would have had the same result as if I had started the journey later, and arrived on the same train as I actually did - i.e. £43.20 return fayre, 1-2 hours late, 50% of the return fayre paid.

It's just come through now, as only £5 compensation

If this is correct - so be it. But I wanted to check
-----

Hi Andrew, Thank you for your Delay Repay claim received by us on 08/07/2026. We have reviewed your claim(s) and can confirm the following: Journey Details Departure date & time: 08/07/2026 19:18 Arrival date & time: 08/07/2026 21:14 Departing station: [KGX] London Kings Cross Arriving station: [LTP] Littleport Changing at station: N/A Ticket Type: selfprint-return Ticket Price: £42.30 Decision: Approved We have confirmed that the delay you experienced was between 60 - 119 minutes and that you are entitled to £5.00 in compensation. Your claim was processed using ticket information already held on file. Award Amount: £5.00 Your claim has been approved. £5.00 will be credited to your PayPal Account within 14 days.

Yours sincerely Great Northern Delay Repay Team For more information, please visit: Delay Repay FAQs Please click this link to read our email policy https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/contact-us/terms/

Their (junior) team are absolutely useless processing manual claims. Frequently have had to phone them afterwards.

Give them a call and request a review of the claim - they’ll send you cashable rail vouchers by post. You can always try ‘resubmit claim’ too using this reference number and you’ll get a more senior member of the team reprocess it.

I’d phone them first though because they’ll leave a note on the claim explaining the situation (most notably the split ticket as they’ve clearly messed this up):

0345 026 4700

 

[sheff1]

They have confirmed your delay as 60-119 mins and a return ticket price of £42.30. Such a delay entitles you to compensation of 50% of the cost of your return ticket(s).

 

[andy33gmail]

Their (junior) team are absolutely useless processing manual claims. Frequently have had to phone them afterwards.

I’m embarrassed to say I’m not doing much better than them, bit of confirmation bias. Admittedly 5 out of my last 6 journeys were eligible, so it becomes hard to keep track!

on 1st July, despite the complication of the break of journey, they awarded £10.70 for the journey described above, citing 30-59 minutes (which I ought to verify as it feels wrong):

​ Delay Repay Compensation​

Hi Andrew, Thank you for your Delay Repay claim received by us on 01/07/2026. We have reviewed your claim(s) and can confirm the following: Journey Details Departure date & time: 01/07/2026 19:18 Arrival date & time: 01/07/2026 21:14 Departing station: [KGX] London Kings Cross Arriving station: [LTP] Littleport Changing at station: N/A Ticket Type: selfprint-return Ticket Price: £42.30 Decision: Approved We have confirmed that the delay you experienced was between 30 - 59 minutes and that you are entitled to £10.70 in compensation. Award Amount: £10.70 Your claim has been approved. £10.70 will be credited to your PayPal Account within 14 days.

8th July was in fact a “normal” journey, for which they are awarding £5 for a 60–119 minute delay:

Hi Andrew, Thank you for your Delay Repay claim received by us on 08/07/2026. We have reviewed your claim(s) and can confirm the following: Journey Details Departure date & time: 08/07/2026 19:18 Arrival date & time: 08/07/2026 21:14 Departing station: [KGX] London Kings Cross Arriving station: [LTP] Littleport Changing at station: N/A Ticket Type: selfprint-return Ticket Price: £42.30 Decision: Approved We have confirmed that the delay you experienced was between 60 - 119 minutes and that you are entitled to £5.00 in compensation. Your claim was processed using ticket information already held on file. Award Amount: £5.00 Your claim has been approved. £5.00 will be credited to your PayPal Account within 14 days.

Yours sincerely Great Northern Delay Repay Team For more information, please visit: Delay Repay FAQs Please click this link to read our email policy https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/contact-us/terms/

Am I going to make better progress carefully scrutinising the services & resubmitting via the form, or calling and negotiating?

 

[CyrusWuff]

On Wednesday 8th July 2026, I was travelling from Kings Cross (KGX) to Littleport (LTP) using tickets split at Hitchin.

I wanted to see Cambridge South, so I boarded a train at Kings Cross which arrived there almost on time, and alighted with the intention of catching the following service on the same route.

The intended train was cancelled, and the one after spectacularly late, which delayed me by 1-2 hours (next hourly train, and it was late).

I took a train to Cambridge North whilst I waited (because why not) and boarded the next available Great Northern (GN) service to LTP. Which to be absolutely clear, was the same train I would have been able to use if I had just waited at Cambridge South

I entered the 3 legs accurately - expecting it would have had the same result as if I had started the journey later, and arrived on the same train as I actually did - i.e. £43.20 return fayre, 1-2 hours late, 50% of the return fayre paid.

It's just come through now, as only £5 compensation

If this is correct - so be it. But I wanted to check
-----

Hi Andrew, Thank you for your Delay Repay claim received by us on 08/07/2026. We have reviewed your claim(s) and can confirm the following: Journey Details Departure date & time: 08/07/2026 19:18 Arrival date & time: 08/07/2026 21:14 Departing station: [KGX] London Kings Cross Arriving station: [LTP] Littleport Changing at station: N/A Ticket Type: selfprint-return Ticket Price: £42.30 Decision: Approved We have confirmed that the delay you experienced was between 60 - 119 minutes and that you are entitled to £5.00 in compensation. Your claim was processed using ticket information already held on file. Award Amount: £5.00 Your claim has been approved. £5.00 will be credited to your PayPal Account within 14 days.

Yours sincerely Great Northern Delay Repay Team For more information, please visit: Delay Repay FAQs Please click this link to read our email policy https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/contact-us/terms/

It looks like they've calculated Delay Repay based on the price of an Off-Peak Day Return between Cambridge South and Littleport (£9.90.)

The logic presumably being the delay was self-inflicted by breaking your journey at Cambridge South given there was no/minimal delay between Kings Cross and Cambridge South.

A look at Realtime Trains shows the 1918 from Kings Cross (the departure shown in the email) as cancelled, with the 1948 departure arriving at Littleport 31 minutes late.

 

[andy33gmail]

It looks like they've calculated Delay Repay based on the price of an Off-Peak Day Return between Cambridge South and Littleport (£9.90.)

The logic presumably being the delay was self-inflicted by breaking your journey at Cambridge South given there was no/minimal delay between Kings Cross and Cambridge South.

A look at Realtime Trains shows the 1918 from Kings Cross (the departure shown in the email) as cancelled, with the 1948 departure arriving at Littleport 31 minutes late.

That link is a fantastic, thank you

Yep; I automatically assumed the one they screwed up was the split journey (self inflicted delay) - although clearly I'm claiming for the delay beyond the results of that intention(!)

I've resubmitted the 8th as is - since they agree with the delay I submitted but disagree with the amount (19:18 was cancelled, 19:48 arrived at 22:08 - so 89 minutes I believe?)
I've resubmitted the 1st as per my genuine original intention - 19:18 to CMS then 20:39 CMS to LTP - i.e. the train behind the one I started on - ignoring what I actually did. RTT doesn't seem to go back this far?

 

[MrJeeves]

RTT doesn't seem to go back this far?

It doesn't, unless you pay for extended history. These links should help:

1T56 London Kings Cross → Kings Lynn · 1 Jul 2026 — Darwin Browser

Full operating history of UK National Rail service 1T56 (London Kings Cross → Kings Lynn) on 1 Jul 2026, operated by GN. This service has completed. Replay every Darwin message, forecast, platform change and delay on an interactive timeline.

darwinbrowser.com

1T58 London Kings Cross → Kings Lynn · 1 Jul 2026 — Darwin Browser

Full operating history of UK National Rail service 1T58 (London Kings Cross → Kings Lynn) on 1 Jul 2026, operated by GN. This service has completed. Replay every Darwin message, forecast, platform change and delay on an interactive timeline.

darwinbrowser.com

It looks like they've calculated Delay Repay based on the price of an Off-Peak Day Return between Cambridge South and Littleport (£9.90.)

The logic presumably being the delay was self-inflicted by breaking your journey at Cambridge South given there was no/minimal delay between Kings Cross and Cambridge South.

For the record, GTR have never done this for any of my claims over the past 3 years, including one after OP's claim was submitted! Delay repay has always been paid to be on the full value of the ticket regardless of the length of journey being made.

I could guess that they are clamping down on the amount of money they pay out on the basis of the huge number of claims that have been submitted recently, but I don't see any reason that they are entitled to take this approach. If I have an overdistance ticket which is cheaper, maybe they should pay out against the value of the point-to-point ticket instead!

 

[Watershed]

It looks like they've calculated Delay Repay based on the price of an Off-Peak Day Return between Cambridge South and Littleport (£9.90.)

The logic presumably being the delay was self-inflicted by breaking your journey at Cambridge South given there was no/minimal delay between Kings Cross and Cambridge South.

A look at Realtime Trains shows the 1918 from Kings Cross (the departure shown in the email) as cancelled, with the 1948 departure arriving at Littleport 31 minutes late.

Of course there isn't any provision for reducing Delay Repay based on a fare not paid, it is based on the fare paid even if the journey is broken. So they are effectively making this up.

 

[andy33gmail]

I talked to their customer service today;

My circuitous one via South we agreed was correct; they had paid £10.60 from a £42.30 return for a delay approaching an hour

The resubmission “obviously wrong” one in my first post came through just now. A straight KGX to LTP was approved since, £16.70 . So I guess with the original £5 is 50% . Interestingly the lady on the phone at lunchtime already knew it was approved