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Delay Compensation

Did you experience a train delay of 60 minutes or more during your Interrail trip? If so, you may be eligible for monetary compensation for the inconvenience caused. Read more about this in our policy below or use the form to apply for compensation.

 

Interrail Passes can be used by Europen citizens and residents only. If you don't live in Europe, you can use a Eurail Pass. You can request delay compensation for Eurail Passes here.

                                                                                                                     

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Make a request

 

To ensure your request is processed efficiently, please provide all the relevant documents, such as screenshots of the journeys related to the affected travel days (within the app), reservations, and proof of train delay or cancellation. If your request involves seat reservations, please submit it within two months after the date of departure.  

  

This form supports a maximum of 5 delays. If you experienced more than 5 separate delays, please complete the request form again.

 

Version 3.0: July 2023

 

Did you experience train disruption whilst travelling with some of our rail passes? We are sorry to hear that! The rail network in Europe is complex and unfortunately sometimes trains are cancelled or do not make it to their destination on time. To compensate you for the inconvenience sustained as a result of this disruption, Eurail B.V. has set up a dedicated policy and we will be happy to review your case. Please read on for more information. 

 

Delay compensation Policy

 

This policy applies to delays sustained while travelling with a railway company participating in Interrail Pass products, including long-distance, regional and urban/suburban services, and buses operated by railway companies, performed within or outside the territory of the European Union. Child Passes, due to being free of charge, are not entitled to monetary compensation.

 

Compensations for delays whilst travelling with benefit partners or non-railway companies participating in the Pass network are not covered by this policy. You may, however, qualify for compensation according to the individual terms and conditions of those carriers, and therefore we encourage you to check the details with the provider of the service concerned.

 

1. When am I entitled to delay compensation?

A delay is the difference between the time you were scheduled to arrive and the time of your actual or expected arrival. You qualify for delay compensation if you have experienced a delay of at least 60 minutes or more during your journey. In case of a missed connection as a result of delay or cancellation of one or more previous services, the length of the sustained delay depends on the Contract of Carriage* (see below) you are travelling with. Eurail B.V. may reimburse additional costs due to a travel disruption, in addition to delay compensation.

 

2. How much compensation am I entitled to?

The compensation for sustained delay amounts to €12 for delays between 60 and 119 minutes and €24 for delays of 120 minutes or more (excl. reservations or other costs incurred). Compensations shall be paid in the form of money – in euro, through bank transfer. The maximum compensation amount is limited to 50% of the Pass price.

 

3. Reimbursement of additional costs incurred due to a delay

You may also be eligible for a reimbursement of additional expenses incurred as a result of the sustained train disruption. This reimbursement would solely encompass unavoidable costs incurred in order to reach the original destination, and follow the criteria set in article 18 of the EU Passenger Rights and Regulations.

 

4. How do I submit a request?

 

You can submit a request for compensation by filling out the form on this page.

  • Mobile Pass
    If you have a mobile Pass, please provide us with a screenshot of the ticket for the travel day(s) you incurred in the train delay/cancellation and any other supporting documentation. The tickets of the travel days can be found by going to the "My Pass" section and clicking on "show ticket" for that/those day(s). Please make sure you send a screenshot of all the Passes you are requesting a compensation for.
  • Paper Pass
    If you have a paper Pass, please attach copies of your Pass, Travel Diary, and any other supporting documentation.
  • Extra documents of additional costs
    In case you are eligible for reimbursement, please attach copies of all necessary supporting documents, such as invoices for additional expenses including accommodation, transportation or food. 

Please note that you have to address your request for compensation within three months of the end of the last day of validity of your Pass.

 

5. Further reading

Our delay compensation policy is based on Regulation (EU) 2021/782 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2021 on rail passengers’ rights and obligations (recast), the General Conditions of Carriage for Rail Passengers (GCC-CIV/PRR) and Interrail's Conditions of Use.

Contract of Carriage

The Interrail Pass (or Rail Pass Ticket) that you have on your phone or you hold in your hand is the embodiment of a contract of carriage between you and the carriers participating in the Interrail portfolio. For trains requiring mandatory reservations, the Rail Pass Ticket and the Reservation Ticket together constitute your Contract of Carriage.

 

For the Contract of Carriage to be deemed valid, however, certain rules should be respected as defined in the Conditions of Use. For example, for a mobile Pass ticket, a travel day needs to be activated and a journey needs to be added to the Pass.

 

One contract or multiple contracts of carriage?

The Rail Pass may look like a single transport document, but it is actually a carnet of multiple transport contracts. Within the meaning of the Rail Pass, journeys using several successive train services that do not require mandatory reservations constitute a single Contract of Carriage or through-ticket.

 

If a segment of your journey requires mandatory reservation or if you book several reservations in a single commercial transaction via Interrail's Reservation Self-Service Portal, then there are different transport contracts in place. And those contracts are not considered through-tickets within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 2021/782. An exception to this rule is when consecutive services are operated by sole railway carriers, in which cases a through-ticket is present.

 

Understanding what constitutes your transport contract with regards to your Interrail Pass is important because it guarantees you a different range of rights granted by the EU passenger law and implies different obligations on the part of the railway carriers.

 

What does this mean in practice?

If a Pass holder travels with a single Contract of Carriage (through-ticket) and misses their connection as a result of the delay or cancellation of one or more previous services, the passenger is entitled to compensation for the entire delay sustained at the final destination of the journey. In addition, the passenger is entitled, free of charge, to assistance of various nature – e.g. re-routing, hotel or other accommodation (in case of missed last connection for the day), transportation to alternative departure point, etc.

 

If the passenger travels under separate transport contracts, then each segment of the journey is considered in isolation. Therefore, plan your journey cautiously when one or more segments of it involve a (high-speed) train which require a mandatory reservation, so that there is sufficient time to go to the other carrier

 

Finally, some train stations are big and transfers may take longer than expected. To benefit from passenger rights, you must respect the official minimum change times shown in the Planner in Interrail's RailPlanner App or as announced by the railway carriers. Combining different segments at your own discretion where the minimum time is shorter than the officially published one may result in non-eligibility for compensations.

Delay Compensation Privacy Policy

Version control: v2.0

Last updated: July 7th, 2021

 

This privacy policy explains how your personal data is used and secured by Eurail B.V. (hereafter “Eurail”), supplied by you through the Delay Compensation form made available on our websites Eurail.com and Interrail.eu. 

What is personal data?

In accordance with the General Data Processing Regulation (GDPR) and Dutch Data Privacy legislation, personal data is considered any information that relates to an identified or identifiable living individual. Different pieces of information, which collected together can lead to the identification of a particular person, also constitute Personal data.

 

Processing of personal data
From the Delay Compensation form that you submit to us, we collect and process the following personal data – salutation (Mr. / Ms.), name, postal address, bank account number, IBAN and Swift / BIC code. Personal data is only collected and processed as necessary for providing our services as outlined in the Interrail Delay Compensation Policy. 

 

What is your information used for?

The personal data that we ask you to fill in the Delay Compensation form is used for settling your request for compensation arising out of train delays, in accordance with the applicable conditions of use of the Pass. Collection and processing of this data is necessary for us to carry out the requested payment, as well as for accounting purposes.

 

How does Eurail protect your information?

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, Eurail has put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information Eurail collects. These include firewall encryption, transfer through secure network connections; limited digital and physical access on a need-to-know basis; and conclusion of data processing agreements with third party data processors, such as digital payment providers and railway companies participating in the Eurail or Interrail Pass Products.

 

Does Eurail disclose any information to third parties?

Eurail does not sell and trade your personally-identifiable data shared through the Delay Compensation Form. Eurail transmits your personal data, shared by you in relation to settling your compensation payment, to trusted third parties, who assist Eurail in carrying out the purposes described above, as long as those third parties agree to comply with this privacy policy. Furthermore, Eurail may also release your information when the release is due by law.

 

Retention and deletion of your personal data

In accordance with Section 3 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), personal details will be kept for no longer than necessary.

 

Settling your compensation payment

Data collected from the Delay Compensation form and processed for the purpose of settling delay compensation payments and the related internal accounting is kept according to the periods prescribed by Dutch legislation, following which all copies of this data are irreversibly disposed of.

Your rights as an owner of the data

Upon your request your personal data can be amended or erased, provided that, this does not conflict with applicable laws. Requests for deletion of your personal data kept by us are handled within 30 days. Please note that erasure of your data may affect our performance of the requested service. Eurail waives all responsibility for rendering any requested services following a requested erasure of your data.

If you want to access, correct, block or erase your personal details, please contact us by mail to the following addresses: privacy@eurail.com adding “Delay Compensation Request (DCR) Data” to the email subject. For any other questions or concerns, please contact our customer service team.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

Any changes to and updates of this Privacy Policy will be published on this webpage. These changes, unless requiring your explicit consent, shall become applicable form the date of publication. While Eurail undertakes to inform you about major policy changes it is your responsibility to periodically review this page..