UK: Trainline has launched a ‘Fair Play on Delay Repay’ campaign, calling on the government to give third party ticket retailers access to systems which would enable them to offer ‘one-click’ Delay Repay for compensating passengers whose trains are late.
Trainline said around 26% of rail passengers bought their tickets via independent apps and websites rather than from train operators, but they were forced to navigate a ‘bureaucratic and inconsistent’ manual process to claim Delay Repay compensation. Research commissioned from YouGov by Trainline found that 29% of passengers said they failed to claim the compensation to which they were entitled for delayed journeys in 2025, while 43% of claimants described the process as frustrating and time-consuming and 58% said their most recent claim had taken 6 min or more to complete. Trainline estimated that passengers could be missing out on £80m each year as a result.
‘With years of innovation and industry co-operation, we’ve made huge progress in simplifying ticket buying, but compensation must be just as easy when journeys are disrupted’, said Trainline CEO Jody Ford. ’Passengers want rail reform that focuses on what matters to them, and one-click Delay Repay is a practical change the industry and government can do together.’
Trainline is inviting other rail retailers and passenger groups to join its campaign.
Chair of the Independent Rail Retailers association Anthony Smith said allowing independent retailers to offer one-click Delay Repay was ’a simple deliverable reform that would make compensation easier to access and ensure passengers aren’t penalised for where they chose to buy their ticket’.
Campaign for Better Transport CEO Ben Plowden said ‘too many people’ missed out on Delay Repay, ’simply because the process is unclear or time-consuming. Making compensation easy and consistent would help rebuild confidence in the railway and show passengers that their time and money are valued.’
A DfT spokesperson told Rail Business UK that ‘millions of passengers do successfully receive Delay Repay, with most publicly owned operators offering a one-click service. Our reforms are also making ticketing simpler throughout your journey – from rolling out more contactless tech at stations and trialling pay-as-you-go fares, to making it simpler to claim Delay Repay, including through our upcoming GBR app.’
