If you decided not to travel
You can get a refund for the unused ticket from wherever you bought it, without an admin fee, when the cancellation or delay is the reason you didn't go. This includes Advance tickets, which normally can't be refunded.
If you travelled on a later train
Claim Delay Repay from the train company whose train was cancelled. Your delay is how late you reached your destination compared with the train you meant to catch. If that's 15 or 30 minutes or more, depending on the company, you can claim.
You can't claim both
A refund and Delay Repay are alternatives for the same journey. Pick the one that fits what you did.
Refund rules changed in April 2026
For tickets bought from 1 April 2026, the Office of Rail and Road says refunds once a ticket's validity has started are generally limited to disruption or exceptional circumstances. You must ask within 28 days of the ticket expiring, and an admin fee of up to £5 can apply unless the refund is because of disruption.
See what you can claim with the compensation calculator.
Sources: National Rail, ORR: know your rail rights.