What would have happened if....

[les.]

This post is really hypothetical as in the end everything worked out fine but I was just wondering what would have happened if...and also, should I have received an email informing me of the change.

I have recently been down to spend Christmas with family in Surrey, both for Christmas and then again for the New Year. I travelled from Grimsby and my itinery on my return trip was Oxted to London Victoria a tube across London to Kings Cross, then the 1803 VTEC train to Newark North Gate and finally the 1935 East Midlands train from NNG to Grimsby. Coming back after Christmas (Weds 27th Dec) all went fine and to plan but when I came back yesterday (1st Jan) there was a problem.

I had bought both sets of tickets via the TPE website about a couple of months ago and for my return trip yesterday the tickets were exactly the same itinery. However when I was on the train from KX, I thought I would just check if the train from NNG was on time, only to see that on this occasion the 1935 from NNG only went as far as Lincoln. I gather this was probably beacuse it was a bank holiday but I had been sold tickets to Grimsby on this day when I bought them. As no train guard came to check the tickets on the VTEC train I decided that I would stay on the train until Doncaster and catch the next TPE service from there. Looking at the National Rail app it looked likely that I would have a 50 minute wait at Doncaster and would therefore arrive home about an hour after I should have. However, luckily the train before was delayed by about 15 minutes so I managed to catch that train and arrived home only about 5 minutes or so than I should have.

The questions that I am interested in are..

A) Should I have been informed by email that the 1935 from NNG was only going as far as Lincoln, when it was going to Grimsby when I booked the tickets

B) If I hadn't checked or didn't have access to any app and had got off the train at Newark as planned, where would I have stood in the way of getting home to Grimsby when the connecting train was only going as far as Lincoln with no onward connection from there.

C) If the earlier TPE train had not been late and I had to wait for the following train and arrived home around an hour later than I should have, would I have had a delay replay claim, and who would that have been against.

Sorry it's all a bit longwinded and at the end of the day it didn't matter, but I'm just interested in what would have happened.

 

[najaB]

A) Should I have been informed by email that the 1935 from NNG was only going as far as Lincoln, when it was going to Grimsby when I booked the tickets

It would have been nice, but it's not generally done.

B) If I hadn't checked or didn't have access to any app and had got off the train at Newark as planned, where would I have stood in the way of getting home to Grimsby when the connecting train was only going as far as Lincoln with no onward connection from there.

The railway has an obligation to get you to your destination station, so since it's a staffed station they should have arranged alternative transport for you (provided you had an itinerary showing that there should have been a train to Grimsby).

C) If the earlier TPE train had not been late and I had to wait for the following train and arrived home around an hour later than I should have, would I have had a delay replay claim, and who would that have been against.

EMT since it was their service that had been altered.

 

[les.]

It would have been nice, but it's not generally done.
The railway has an obligation to get you to your destination station, so since it's a staffed station they should have arranged alternative transport for you (provided you had an itinerary showing that there should have been a train to Grimsby).
EMT since it was their service that had been altered.

Thanks for that. The ticket I had was a single for the entire journey, Oxted to Grimsby with a reservation for the 1803 KX to NNG so I'm sure that would have been enough proof to show that there should have been a connecting service to Grimsby.

 

[John @ home]

where would I have stood in the way of getting home to Grimsby when the connecting train was only going as far as Lincoln with no onward connection from there.

The National Rail Conditions of Travel state:

If things go wrong we will, in defined circumstances, refund your Ticket, pay you compensation, make sure you get home by another means of transport or provide you with overnight accommodation. ...

28.1 If disruption prevents you from completing the journey shown on your Ticket, any Train Company will, where it reasonably can, provide you with alternative means of travel to your destination, or if necessary provide overnight accommodation for you.

The railway has an obligation to get you to your destination station, so since it's a staffed station they should have arranged alternative transport for you

Unfortunately http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/LCN/details.html shows that Lincoln ticket office closes at 19:30 on Mondays. les.'s train arrived there at 20:00. It is therefore likely that assistance would need to be sought from a member of staff prior to arrival at Lincoln, or by telephone from East Midlands Trains upon arrival there.

 

[najaB]

The National Rail Conditions of Travel state: Unfortunately http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/LCN/details.html shows that Lincoln ticket office closes at 19:30 on Mondays.

Unless I read the post wrong, @les. asked what would have happened at Newark North Gate which would still have been staffed at 20:00.

 

[les.]

Unless I read the post wrong, @les. asked what would have happened at Newark North Gate which would still have been staffed at 20:00.

Correct. As I would have got off the train at Newark, I am sure that they wouldn't have let me catch the train to Lincoln after I had explained the situation, and I wouldn't have just got on the train myself having seen the destination.