Chiltern Railways Delay Repay: How to claim compensation for late trains

For delays of 15 minutes or more, Chiltern Railways will refund travellers a percentage of their ticket cost. This is part of Delay Repay, a national scheme that makes train operating companies responsible for compensating travellers if their services are delayed or cancelled.

While it is a national scheme, the rules with each operator are slightly different. For example, Chiltern Railways offers compensation on journeys with delays of 15 minutes or more, while for some others this threshold is higher.

You can get a Chiltern Railways refund for delayed or cancelled trains up to 28 days after the date of travel. If your journey is delayed, and you submit a successful Chiltern Delay Repay claim, your Chiltern Railways compensation will be paid as either a bank transfer, cheque, refund, rail vouchers, or a donation to charity.

To calculate the amount due, operators work out the difference between the scheduled and real arrival times. When planned engineering works or holidays cause changes to train times, pre-published, amended timetables will be used instead. The refund you receive will also vary based on the cost of your original ticket and the type of ticket you have.

The easiest way to submit a Chiltern Delay Repay application is online through the Chiltern Railways Compensation page.

All you have to do is log in to the Chiltern Railways website or create an account, and follow the instructions on the form. You will be asked to provide key information such as length of delay, ticket type, date of travel, and how you would like to be reimbursed.

If you would prefer to submit a paper form, you can download one at the bottom of this page and post it to the address on the form, along with the tickets you are claiming compensation on. Alternatively, you should be able to collect the form at any staffed Chiltern station.

If you have any further queries, contact Chiltern Railways here. All Delay Repay claims are processed by the train operators that you travel with, so you should not contact Trip.com about your Chiltern Delay Repay case.

The size of your Chiltern Railways compensation will depend on the length of your delay and the ticket type you were travelling with:

For Chiltern Railways Season Ticket holders, if your journey is delayed, you will be refunded the proportionate cost of the price of your Season Ticket. This means that your refund is worked out based on an estimated number of single journeys taken during the Season Ticket’s duration, as follows:

• Annual Season Tickets - 464 Single journeys
• Six-monthly season ticket - 240 single journeys
• Quarterly Season Tickets - 120 Single journey
• Monthly Season Tickets - 40 Single journeys
• Weekly Season Tickets - 10 Single journeys

Photo by Geof Sheppard

Not all Chiltern Delay Repay claims are successful, but there are ways to increase the chances that your compensation will be paid.

Avoid these common issues:

• Submitting your claim more than 28 days after your journey
• Not providing sufficient proof of purchase (remember: if you are travelling with a paper ticket, do not put your ticket through the ticket barrier at the end of the journey)
• Providing evidence that is not valid for the journey you claimed
• Claiming for a journey that was not delayed by more than 15 minutes
• Claiming Delay Repay from Chiltern Railways when the delay was caused by a different operator

If you’re still confused about whether you’re entitled to claim Chiltern Delay Repay, get in touch with Chiltern Railways here.

If you completed your journey but were delayed by more than 15 minutes, you will be able to apply for Chiltern Delay Repay. However, for passengers who were forced to abandon a journey or weren’t able to start it, you might be able to apply for a refund from the retailer who sold you the ticket. This is different to the equivalent of a full refund you can claim through Delay Repay in cases of delays of an hour or over for Single and Season tickets.

• Check the details of the journey you booked and make sure it is these timings that you provide on your Chiltern Delay Repay form (not the journey you ended up taking after the delay).
• Always check if there were planned engineering works on your day of travel, as you may be ineligible for a Delay Repay refund if an amended timetable was in operation.
• Make sure all details you provide are accurate, as making a mistake in the dates or costs of your ticket can delay or deny your refund.
• Always provide a high-resolution scan or photograph of your ticket(s) and passes.