How to claim compensation when your train is delayed or cancelled

If you do experience cancellations or delays on your journey, what can be done about it? Here's our guide to claiming compensation you might be owed.

Transcript

00:00Whether it be down to industrial action, passenger numbers slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels or weather-related disruption,

00:07the number of rail compensation claims paid out has gone up.

00:10So if your journey is affected, what can you do?

00:12Getting your refund can depend on the operator you travelled with,

00:15but usually passengers are entitled to a refund of 25% of the cost of a single ticket

00:21if arrival at their destination is delayed by between 15 and 29 minutes.

00:25If they arrive between 30 and 59 minutes late, this goes up to 50%.

00:30A full single-ticket refund is entitled for delays of an hour,

00:33and a full return-ticket refund for more than two hours.

00:36This can be claimed up to 28 days after the date of travel.

00:40Rail companies complain they're made to take the blame for delays outside of their control,

00:44like weather and infrastructure issues which are Network Rail's responsibility.

00:48A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group representing train operators said they apologise to everyone affected,

00:54adding, when train delays or cancellations do occur, it's important that customers know how to claim for compensation.

01:00We've taken steps to simplify this process,

01:02and the Office of Road and Rail Data confirms that 99.5% of all delay compensation claims were closed within 20 working days.

01:10And now, on the 17th July, the King's Speech saw Parliament officially opened,

01:14with the new government's laws laid out.

01:16Included was an overhaul of the UK rail network,

01:19bills to bring train operators into public ownership,

01:22and to create new public-body Great British Railways to oversee the rail network will all be introduced.

01:27On the whole, it's a fairly ambitious plan that's not massively new.

01:32It's something that Labour's proposed before under Jeremy Corbyn,

01:37but it's had a lot of popularity over the years, so it's something they're sticking with this time around.

01:42So it's all about making things completely passenger-focused, completely about the people.

01:50There's no market competition for these companies, really.

01:54You can't go to another train company to get the same line, generally.