Train ticket refunds with GWR | Apply for a refund on unused tickets | Great Western Railway

When you buy your ticket from GWR and you don’t travel, you can:

apply for a refund
change your ticket

If your journey was with GWR and you were delayed by 15 minutes or more, you should apply for Delay Repay compensation.

Bought your ticket from another retailer? Please ask them for details of how to apply for a refund or change your ticket. We can only help with tickets bought from GWR.

Apply for a train ticket refund

Can I apply for a train ticket refund?

You can apply for a refund if you didn’t travel and you either:

bought an Anytime, Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak ticket from GWR
bought a ticket from GWR and your journey was cancelled or disrupted and you chose not to travel

Good to know before you apply

We can only process a refund if the ticket is unused and you bought your ticket from GWR.com, the GWR app, or a GWR station (ticket office or ticket machine).
Your claim must reach us within 28 days of the ticket's expiry date.
Advance tickets are non-refundable, unless you didn’t travel because your train was delayed or cancelled. If you travelled and your journey was delayed, apply for Delay Repay compensation.
We’ll charge a £5 administration fee each application, unless your train was delayed or cancelled.
We’ll normally process a refund within 28 days of submitting a claim.
You might prefer to change your ticket – Anytime, Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak tickets can be changed free of charge.

How to apply for a train ticket refund

To apply for a refund, you'll need to fill out an online form on our refund portal. To do this you'll have to login or register if you've not used it before.

Apply for a refund

What happens next?

Once your refund has been processed, you’ll receive an email confirming the amount that’s been credited to your payment card.
It can take up to 10 days from receipt of the confirmation email for the credit to appear on your statement.

Changing your train ticket

When you buy your ticket from us and you can’t travel because your plans change, we can change your ticket up to the date of departure.

It’s free of charge to change Anytime, Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak tickets.
We may apply a £10 administration fee to change an Advance ticket.

Find out more about how to change your ticket.

Our guarantees

If you have to stand for your whole journey because either your reserved seat or an alternative seat was not available, you can apply for compensation.

Find out more about our seat guarantee.
In the unlikely event that you buy a ticket from one of our self-service machines, and then find a cheaper one for the identical journey, you may be entitled to a refund for the difference.

Get in touch with our Customer Support team
Our compensation schemes do not limit or exclude your legal rights to compensation for losses as a consumer, where GWR was at fault under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

You can't recover the same money twice. But you may be able to recover up to the price of your ticket if you can prove that a service has not been delivered with reasonable care and skill.

If you think you are due extra compensation, please get in touch. We will need details of your journey, a copy of your ticket, and proof of any costs you paid.

Get in touch with our Customer Support team

FAQs

If you have any more questions have a look at our compensation and refund FAQs.

Need help with something else?

We want you to be happy with your journey. If you can't find what you want to know here or in our FAQs, get in touch with our Customer Support team and let us know how we can help you.

Train ticket refunds