CrossCountry pays Delay Repay only once you reach your destination 30 minutes or more late, whatever caused the delay; there’s nothing for a 15-29 minute delay. You get 50% of a single fare for 30-59 minutes and 100% from 60 minutes. On a return it’s 25% and then 50% of the return fare, and up to the whole return if either leg is more than two hours late. Claim within 28 days on CrossCountry’s Delay Repay claim site.
CrossCountry Delay Repay at a glance
| CrossCountry | |
|---|---|
| Scheme | DR30: pays from 30 minutes late |
| Time limit | 28 days (Passenger Charter) |
| Claim online | CrossCountry Delay Repay portal |
| Rules page | CrossCountry’s Delay Repay page |
| Automatic claims | None described |
CrossCountry is privately run by Arriva. The government’s public ownership timetable doesn’t give a transfer date for it.
What DR30 means, and why CrossCountry pays less for short delays
Most UK train companies run DR15, which starts paying at 15 minutes. CrossCountry runs DR30, which has no 15-29 minute band. From 30 minutes up, the bands are the same as everyone else’s.
| Delay at destination | DR15 operator (e.g. GWR, Avanti) | CrossCountry (DR30) |
|---|---|---|
| 15-29 min | 25% of a single | Nothing |
| 30-59 min | 50% of a single | 50% of a single |
| 60-119 min | 100% of a single | 100% of a single |
| 120+ min | 100% of a single | 100% of a single |
We haven’t found any official announcement of CrossCountry moving to a 15-minute threshold.
Am I eligible for CrossCountry Delay Repay?
You can claim if:
- you reached the destination on your ticket 30 minutes or more late;
- a CrossCountry train caused the delay (if another operator caused it, CrossCountry passes the claim on and tells you);
- you claim within 28 days.
CrossCountry pays regardless of the reason for the delay, with some exceptions:
- you knew about the delay before you bought your ticket (for example, engineering works that were already advertised);
- an emergency timetable was in force, in which case delays are measured against that timetable;
- you bought a weekly or monthly season ticket when disruption was already known.
You can claim on someone else’s behalf, as long as the claim is in the passenger’s name.
How much will I get on a single, return or season ticket?
| Delay at destination | Single | Return | Season ticket |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-59 min | 50% | 25% | 50% of one journey |
| 60-119 min | 100% | 50% | 100% of one journey |
| 120+ min | 100% | 100% | 100% of one journey |
On a return, 25% of the return fare is the same as 50% of the delayed leg, and 50% of the return is the full value of that leg. If either leg is more than two hours late, CrossCountry pays up to the full return.
Season tickets. CrossCountry divides the season price to get the value of one journey:
| Season ticket | One journey = price divided by |
|---|---|
| Weekly | 10 |
| Flexi Season | 16 |
| Monthly | 40 |
| Quarterly | 120 |
| Annual | 464 |
CrossCountry’s charter adds that individual calculations may differ. In the 120+ minute band it pays 100% of one journey, where GWR pays 200%.
Worked example. A £100 weekly season (a made-up price to show the maths) is worth £10 a journey. A 25-minute delay pays nothing, a 40-minute delay pays £5 and a 75-minute delay pays £10.
How to claim CrossCountry Delay Repay, step by step
- Register or log in on CrossCountry’s Delay Repay claim site.
- Enter the journey: stations, date and the scheduled departure time.
- Add your ticket. Upload a photo or scan. For a smartcard, upload an image of the card and enter its 18-digit number.
- Choose how to be paid: bank transfer (BACS), card (not every card type or issuer is supported) or National Rail Travel Vouchers. CrossCountry warns that some online-only banks may not accept BACS payments, so pick card or vouchers if yours is one of them.
- Submit within 28 days.
CrossCountry’s Passenger Charter says valid claims are settled within 20 days, and the money can then take up to 10 more days to reach you. The website currently warns of higher-than-usual volumes, so allow extra time before chasing.
Prefer paper? Use CrossCountry’s Delay Repay form.
Split tickets, open returns and journeys with other operators
CrossCountry routes are long and often involve changes, so this matters more here than on most operators.
Split tickets. CrossCountry’s Passenger Charter says that if you hold a combination of tickets for one journey, it compensates you for the whole journey. National Rail condition 14.2 makes such combinations valid as long as the train calls at the station where you switch tickets. Include every ticket in the claim.
Open returns. Paid on the return bands like any other return.
Missed connections and other operators. Delay is measured at your final destination (National Rail condition 32.1). If a late CrossCountry train makes you miss a connection, claim from CrossCountry. If another company’s train made you miss your CrossCountry service, claim from that company instead; if you send it to CrossCountry, it forwards the claim and tells you.
Cancelled trains, strikes and engineering works
Cancelled train, you still travelled: claim based on when you actually reached your destination. If that’s 30 minutes or more late, you’re covered. National Rail condition 28.3 normally lets you take one of the two trains before or after the cancelled one with the same operator.
Cancelled train, you didn’t travel: claim a refund from the retailer instead. Delay Repay is compensation when you travel and arrive late; a refund is for a journey you didn’t make because the train was cancelled or badly delayed. You can’t have both for the same journey.
Strikes. CrossCountry has no strike-specific Delay Repay rule. National Rail says a strike delay that reaches the operator’s threshold, 30 minutes for CrossCountry, can be claimed as Delay Repay. If a strike cancels or reschedules your train, you can take a fee-free refund or change instead. Watch for emergency timetables, as CrossCountry measures delays against them.
Engineering works. If the works were advertised before you bought your ticket, CrossCountry won’t normally pay.
Quirks specific to CrossCountry
- 30-minute threshold rather than the 15 minutes most operators use.
- Whole-journey compensation on split tickets, set out in the Passenger Charter.
- Online-only bank accounts may reject BACS payments.
- Smartcard claims need a picture of the card and its 18-digit number.
- The 28-day limit is in the Passenger Charter rather than on the Delay Repay web page.
If your CrossCountry claim is refused
Check the reason. The usual ones are a delay under 30 minutes at your destination, a delay caused by another operator, disruption you knew about before buying, or a claim made after 28 days. If the problem was the evidence, reply through your account with a clearer ticket image or the missing ticket. If CrossCountry’s final answer doesn’t settle it, you can take the complaint to the Rail Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is free and independent. You can go to it once the operator has sent a final response (sometimes called a deadlock letter), or once 40 working days have passed since your complaint, and you must do so within 12 months of the final response. Its decisions bind the train company but not you, according to the Office of Rail and Road.
To compare CrossCountry with other operators, see our Delay Repay guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does CrossCountry pay Delay Repay for a 15-minute delay?
No. CrossCountry runs the 30-minute version of Delay Repay, so there's no payment for a delay of 15 to 29 minutes. Compensation starts once you're 30 minutes or more late at your destination.
How much does CrossCountry pay for a 30-minute delay?
A delay of 30 to 59 minutes pays 50% of a single fare, or 25% of a return fare, which is half the value of the delayed leg.
How much does CrossCountry pay if my train is an hour late?
From 60 minutes you get 100% of a single fare, or 50% of a return (the full value of the delayed leg). If either leg of a return is more than two hours late, CrossCountry pays up to the whole return fare.
How long do I have to claim CrossCountry Delay Repay?
28 days. CrossCountry's Passenger Charter counts from the date of the delay. Count from the day you travelled to be safe.
How long does CrossCountry Delay Repay take to pay?
CrossCountry's Passenger Charter says valid claims are settled within 20 days, then the money can take up to another 10 days to arrive. Its website currently warns that it is handling more correspondence than usual.
Can I claim CrossCountry Delay Repay on split tickets?
Yes. CrossCountry's Passenger Charter says that if you travel on a combination of tickets, it compensates you for the whole journey. Include every ticket when you claim.
Why didn't CrossCountry pay me when another operator would have?
Most train companies pay from 15 minutes, but CrossCountry pays from 30. A 20-minute delay on GWR or Avanti earns 25% of a single; the same delay on CrossCountry earns nothing. From 30 minutes up, the percentages are the same.
Sources
- CrossCountry - Delay Repay
- CrossCountry - Delay Repay claim portal
- CrossCountry - Passenger Charter (April 2026)
- CrossCountry - Delay Repay paper form
- National Rail Conditions of Travel (July 2026)
- National Rail - Industrial action
- Office of Rail and Road - The Rail Ombudsman
Checked 25 October 2026.