Rail, coach, ferry, and cruise compensation service
Air passengers have claim companies competing for their business. Rail, coach, ferry, and cruise passengers mostly have nothing, even though the EU has passenger-rights regulations for all four modes and the UK, and several other jurisdictions, run delay-repay schemes with real money attached.
Same business as the airline version: check eligibility, draft the letter, charge a flat fee. Less competition, because fewer people know these regimes exist.
The job
A customer tells you what happened: a train three hours late into Lyon, a ferry cancellation that stranded them overnight, a cruise that skipped two ports. You run the eligibility check for the applicable regime (EU 1371/2021 for rail, 1177/2010 for sea, 181/2011 for coach, plus national delay-repay schemes), and generate a citation-backed claim letter the passenger sends themselves.
Cruise claims deserve special attention: the sums are larger, the contracts are messier, and passengers are usually claiming against a well-lawyered operator. The engine keeps you inside what the regulations actually support.
Who it suits
Same profile as the airline blueprint. If you’re in Europe or the UK, this is arguably the better starting point because the field is emptier.
Startup cost and tools
| What | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Engine calls per client | ~$2.10 | Eligibility check ($0.10) plus claim letter ($2.00) |
| Payment + intake page | $0–$45/mo | Same stack as the airline blueprint; run both from one site |
Engine prices are the live public catalog prices, the same sheet agents pay. No subscription is required to use them.
The licensing question
Identical posture to the airline blueprint: flat-fee self-help document preparation, no contingency, no representation. The customer signs and sends. Verify local consumer-services rules first.
How the engine does the heavy lifting
One eligibility endpoint covers rail, coach, ferry, and cruise regimes; the letter endpoint produces a citation-locked claim document.
/api/rights/check$0.10Rail/Coach/Ferry/Cruise Compensation Eligibility Check/api/rights/letter$2.00Citation-Locked Transit Compensation Claim Letter/api/transit/delays-history$0.08Historical Delay PatternsYour first customer in 30 days
- Learn the shape of the four regimes by running ten test checks (commuter rail delay, international rail, ferry cancellation, cruise itinerary change).
- Pick a niche to start: UK delay-repay commuters and EU international rail are the highest-volume lanes.
- Put the rail service on the same site as your airline service if you run both. "Delayed? Any mode, one place" is a clean pitch.
- Post one plain-language explainer where delayed passengers actually complain (commuter forums, cruise communities). Answer questions honestly and let the service sell itself.
Hand this to your assistant
This blueprint has a machine-readable page with the current endpoints, prices, and setup steps. Paste this into Claude, ChatGPT, or any assistant that can fetch a URL:
Machine page: https://pulse.theaslangroupllc.com/fieldguide/rail-cruise-compensation.json
Start this one
The engines are pay-per-call, no subscription. Agents pay per call over x402 (USDC on Base or Solana). If you're a human, get a starter key: it takes about a minute, includes a $0.25 trial balance, and tops up by card (Stripe) or USDC. No crypto wallet required. Prefer email? Write to info@theaslangroupllc.com with the subject "Starter key: rail-cruise-compensation" and we'll provision one by hand, usually the same day.
The Field Guide book, with all 75 blueprints expanded, is in progress. The hub is free either way.