Trackside

Delay RepayHow to claim Delay Repay when your train is late

Trackside Plus watches the trains you track. When one arrives late enough for its operator's Delay Repay scheme, or is cancelled, Trackside puts every detail your claim needs on one page, with a link to your operator's own claim form. You then submit the claim yourself: Trackside can't submit claims for you.

Last updated 17 October 2026

What is Delay Repay?

Delay Repay is the compensation scheme most train operators in Great Britain use when your journey arrives late. You claim from the operator that ran your train, usually on a form on its website, with your ticket and journey details. Each operator runs its own scheme, so the rules, the amounts and the evidence they ask for differ. National Rail's compensation and refunds page explains the options and links to each operator.

How late does my train need to be?

It depends on the operator. Most use one of two common versions of the scheme:

  • Delay Repay 15 pays from 15 minutes late: usually 25% of the single fare for 15 to 29 minutes, 50% for 30 to 59 minutes and 100% for 60 minutes or more.
  • Delay Repay 30 pays nothing under 30 minutes, then usually 50% for 30 to 59 minutes and 100% for 60 minutes or more.
  • A few operators have schemes of their own, such as Merseyrail and London Overground from 30 minutes, and Grand Central from 60.

In Trackside's list, these operators use 15 minutes: Southern, Gatwick Express, Thameslink, Great Northern, Great Western Railway, Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, Southeastern, South Western Railway, c2c, Northern, TransPennine Express, West Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway, Transport for Wales, Greater Anglia and Chiltern Railways. These use 30 minutes: ScotRail, LNER, CrossCountry, Lumo, Hull Trains and Caledonian Sleeper. Trackside checked each operator's threshold on its own website in September 2026. Operators can change their schemes, and return tickets, season tickets and long delays are treated differently from one operator to the next, so check your operator's own terms before you claim. Trackside's percentage is a guide, not a promise of payment.

How can I prepare a Delay Repay claim with Trackside?

  1. Track your train, or set it as one of your commuter trains. Trackside's My Autopilot watches the trains you track.
  2. Open Trackside at some point after you arrive. My Autopilot judges your train on its actual arrival time at your destination, as recorded by National Rail, and needs the app to be opened within about three hours of that arrival. A forecast on a departure board never creates a claim on its own.
  3. Open the claim in My Claims, or tap Claim Delay Repay on the train's page. You can start a claim yourself from a delayed train's page, too.
  4. Enter what you paid for your ticket. Trackside asks for the real price before it shows any amount, and never uses an estimate.
  5. Copy the details Trackside has gathered, such as the operator, the journey, the times and the delay, each ready to paste.
  6. Submit the claim yourself on your operator's own claim form, which Trackside links to, with your ticket.
  7. Mark it Claimed, then Paid when the money arrives. Trackside keeps a running total of what you've claimed back.
Trackside's My Claims screen: My Autopilot on, £46.95 claimed back from 5 paid claims with 1 awaiting payment
My Claims: claims paid and awaiting payment, with a running total. Example figures from the app.
Trackside's train screen: the 11:25 to Kings Norton, cancelled because of a fault on a train, with a Claim Delay Repay (100%) button
A cancelled train, with its Claim Delay Repay button.

What Trackside can't do

  • It can't submit a claim for you. There's no system for apps to submit claims, and some operators, such as East Midlands Railway and Southern, don't accept claims made by anyone other than the passenger.
  • It can't see your claim on the operator's system. Claimed and Paid are what you tell it.
  • It doesn't know your ticket, so it can't decide whether you're owed money. Your operator decides that, and how much.
  • It only spots delays automatically on trains you track. For anything else, start a claim yourself.

Trackside isn't connected with, or endorsed by, National Rail or any train operator.

Is the Delay Repay helper free?

No. The Delay Repay helper is part of Trackside Plus, £2.99 a month with no free trial. You can always claim directly from your operator without Trackside.