Avanti West Coast paid passengers £21.5m in compensation over 12 weeks this summer, as disruption pushed up refunds on an operator already responsible for more than a quarter of Britain’s railway compensation bill.

Payments reached £9.3m in the four weeks to 25 July, almost matching Avanti’s annual profit in each of the previous two years. Another £12.2m followed over eight weeks. Under post-pandemic contracts, however, operators receive Department for Transport fees while taxpayers bear ticketing profits or losses, including refunds.

Official figures put compensation across the railway at £150m in 2024–25, up 8% on the previous year. Avanti accounted for £40.5m, about 27%. It paid more than £50m in 2025–26 and is expected to exceed £70m this financial year. Most operators have yet to publish this year’s payments.

The bill reflects more than deteriorating journeys: higher fares, greater awareness of compensation rights and increasingly automatic payments also contribute. Long-distance passengers have stronger financial incentives to claim, with more expensive tickets and greater scope for delays reaching the 60-minute threshold for full refunds.

During July’s heatwaves, fewer than half of Avanti trains ran on time; passengers were delayed by an average of 19 minutes, Office of Rail and Road figures show. The peak payment period also included several hours of disruption caused by a large herd of cows on the tracks.

Avanti apologised and said it was working with industry partners to improve reliability. It said it was directly responsible for only 23% of delays between May and August, attributing the remainder to Network Rail, other operators and external causes, including trespassers. It offers automatic delay repay for journeys delayed by at least 15 minutes.

Avanti and GWR pay 25% compensation after 15 minutes, an earlier threshold than many long-distance operators. GWR paid £29.7m in 2025; LNER, whose threshold is 30 minutes, paid £28m and supplied no updated financial figures.

GWR attributed this year’s increase largely to repeated heatwaves affecting trains and infrastructure, including track defects, points failures, speed restrictions and cooling problems. It also said it had increased publicity for claims.

Across Great Britain, passengers submitted 9.1m claims in 2026, nearly 10% more year on year; 80% were approved. Department research suggests only about half of disrupted passengers claim, although satisfaction with the process and outcomes is increasing. Most operators resolve more than 99% of claims within 20 days.

Avanti is due to enter public ownership next year as part of Great British Railways. The department says it is tackling disruption and promises a simpler compensation service, available wherever passengers buy tickets.