Seat Guarantee Scheme

Changes to seat reservations on Intercity services.

EMR Intercity seat reservations are currently unavailable on services from 1 April 2026 while we transition to our new Aurora fleet. Wheelchair and bicycle reservations can still be made in the usual way.

Seat Guarantee Scheme

We know how important your reserved seat is - especially when you're looking forward to a comfortable journey. If you're travelling with East Midlands Railway and your reserved seat isn’t available, we’ll do our best to find you an alternative. If that’s not possible, our Seat Guarantee Scheme ensures you receive compensation to reflect this.

What you can expect

If your reserved seat isn’t available and our onboard team can’t find another one for you, you may be eligible for compensation:

  • Single ticket: You’ll receive up to 75% of the ticket value
  • Return ticket: You’ll receive up to 37.5% of the ticket value
  • First Class downgrade: If you’re moved to Standard Class, we’ll compensate the difference between the First Class fare and the Standard fare

Making a claim

If your seat isn’t available, speak to the Train Manager. If they are not able to find you another seat, let us know by filling out the form below and we’ll take care of the rest.

Important to know

  • This scheme only covers seat reservations not being honoured if you had a reservation booked for your journey.
  • You can only claim compensation up to the value of your journey - so if you were delayed and have claimed compensation for this, this will be taken into account when processing your claim.
  • We aim to respond within 5 working days, but during busier times it may be up to 20 working days for your claim to be processed.

Want to know more about our commitments to you? Take a look at our Passenger’s Charter.

Need help?

We’re here to help. Visit our FAQs to find answers to common questions or get in touch with our team.

FAQs

Yes, you can claim compensation with any ticket type as long as you had a reservation booked for the train you took.

If the seat you have reserved is not available, don't worry, our staff will find you an alternative seat. If there are no other seats available, we will compensate you for the inconvenience through our Seat Guarantee scheme.

Did you have a seat reservation booked for your journey?

You are not eligible for compensation within our Seat Guarantee scheme without a booked reservation. You can get in touch with the Customer Service Centre here.

Were you able to sit in your reserved seat?

You are not eligible for compensation within our Seat Guarantee scheme. You can get in touch with the Customer Service Centre here.

Your contact details
Your journey details
Any additional information relevant to your claim.

E-ticket - provide an image of your e-ticket which displays the QR code. If you purchased an e-ticket online and your barcoded ticket can no longer be loaded within your retailer’s app, you will have received a PDF copy of your ticket on email at the time of purchase. Please use this to verify your ticket for a Seat Guarantee claim.

Paper ticket - provide an image of both your ticket and reservation coupons.

Smartcard ticket - provide an image of your Smartcard with the full Smartcard number clearly visible.


One file only.
8 MB limit.
Allowed types: gif, jpg, jpeg, png, pdf.
16 MB limit per form.
We can pay compensation via BACS or PayPal.
How do you want to be paid?

Please provide your account name, 8 digit account number and 6 digit sort code, or the email address linked to your PayPal account for payment.

If you don't want to provide these details, please leave your phone number so we can contact you to arrange any compensation due.