Know your rights when your train is delayed: everything you need to know

What exactly are your rights as a train passenger?

In short, these are your rights:

• Money back: Get up to 100% of your ticket price back in the event of a delay.*
• Assistance: The right to free food, drinks and a hotel overnight stay.
• Choice: Choose an alternative route or your full money back.

In the Netherlands you get 100% back from 60 minutes of delay. On the high-speed line (Intercity Direct), faster thresholds apply: 50% from 15 minutes and 100% from 30 minutes. Outside the Netherlands you get 50% back for a delay of 60 minutes or longer.

What does European law say?

Many people know they have rights when a flight is delayed, but did you know there's a similar European law for trains? This is EU Regulation 2021/782. In the Netherlands you usually get 100% of your money back for a delay of 60 minutes or longer. However, across Europe as a whole it's arranged a little differently.

The moment you start running late, the clock ticks in your favour. The most important milestones are:

• From 60 minutes of delay: The carrier must help you. This often means free drinks and a snack. On top of that, you have a choice: continue your journey as soon as you can, or cancel your journey and claim your full ticket price back.
• 60 to 119 minutes of delay: You're entitled to compensation of 25% of your ticket price.
• 120 minutes of delay or more: You get 50% of your ticket price back.

Does the delay mean you need an overnight stay because there are no more trains running? Then the railway company must arrange and pay for your hotel and the transport to get there. In this article you'll find more information on the EU rail regulations.

What must a carrier arrange for you?

Railway companies have a duty of care. That means they can't simply leave you to your fate. They're required to:

• Always provide you with the most up-to-date travel information.
• Offer help and extra attention to passengers with a disability.
• Communicate clearly about how you can submit a complaint and which body you can turn to if you can't resolve it together.

A delay en route: your choices

The moment you start running late, the carrier must inform you about the situation and, if necessary, arrange replacement transport. Is the delay expected to be longer than 60 minutes? Then the choice is yours:

1. Continue your journey: You continue your journey as quickly as possible via the planned route or an alternative route.
2. Travel later: You choose another date that suits you better to make the journey after all.
3. Money back: You cancel the journey. You get the amount of your ticket (or the unused portion) back. If necessary, you're also entitled to a free ticket back to your original point of departure.

Help and assistance (from 60 minutes)

If you have to wait more than an hour, you're entitled to assistance. The carrier must offer you the following:

• Meals and drinks (in proportion to the waiting time).
• A hotel overnight stay and transport to your sleeping place if your train is stranded at night.
• Reimbursement of the costs of informing the people waiting for you.

Your rights with NS

In the Netherlands we've actually got things pretty well sorted. NS applies the 'Money back for delays' scheme. The nice thing about this is that NS is often more lenient than European legislation. For domestic journeys, for example, you often get compensation from as little as 30 minutes of delay.

In the Netherlands you're often entitled to compensation sooner than you think. Whether you travel with a single ticket, an e-ticket or your OV-chipkaart (with or without a season ticket): the rules apply to everyone.

Curious how this works exactly for your specific situation or season ticket? Then check our in-depth article on what you're entitled to with NS.

Students too: don't leave your money on the table

Do you travel with a student travel product (a weekday or weekend season ticket) and think you miss out? That's not true. With a student travel product too, you're entitled to compensation for a delay. Because you don't pay per journey, NS works here with fixed amounts:

• €2.32 for a delay of 30 to 60 minutes (the 50% scheme).
• €4.64 for a delay of 60 minutes or more (the 100% scheme).

So even though your journey doesn't cost anything extra on paper, that fixed compensation is simply there for you. Per delay it may seem like little, but over a whole academic year it really adds up.

Curious how this works exactly for your specific situation or season ticket? Then check our in-depth article on what you're entitled to with NS.

When are you not entitled to compensation?

You usually don't get compensation if the delay is caused by:

• Extreme weather conditions: Think of a severe storm where train traffic is halted for safety reasons.
• Major strikes: Provided these are announced well in advance and are beyond the carrier's control.
• People on the track: Situations that NS or another carrier has no influence over.
• Engineering works: if the works are already planned, you usually aren't entitled to compensation. But if they're unplanned or run longer, then you often are. In this article on compensation for delays due to engineering works on the track we tell you more.

Please note: The carrier does have to be able to prove this. We often hear that claims are wrongly rejected under the heading 'force majeure'. We always check the official data to see whether you're still simply entitled to that compensation. Read more about this in our article on delays in bad weather conditions.

How do you claim your compensation?

Let's be honest: claiming from NS is often more frustrating than the delay itself. You have to fill in, down to the minute, which train you took, what time it was due to depart, what time you actually arrived and exactly how much delay you incurred. Are you off by a few minutes, or can't you remember which of the three trains it was again? Then your claim is rejected without mercy.

That's exactly why Trein-Vertraging.nl exists. We take the guesswork out:

1. Scan your OV-chipkaart: In our app you immediately see which journeys from recent months you can still get money back for. No fuss looking up dates and times from memory.
2. We fill in the claim correctly: We link your journey to the official delay data from ProRail and NS, so every minute of delay is right. That way your claim isn't rejected for an incorrectly entered time.
3. No win, no fee: Only if the claim is successful do we charge a small commission. Get nothing? Then you pay us nothing either.