"As the anticipated delay was more than an hour, she was entitled to be re-routed at the earliest available opportunity"
Does that rule always apply if a delay is going to be over an hour?
Yes.
And do you have to have permission from train staff in advance, or can you just take the next most direct route (regardless of TOC) and you will be in the right if challenged.
Unfortunately the right is severely hampered by the need to obtain ticket acceptance etc. in advance. Of course TOCs frequently refuse to do so, meaning you are left in the invidious position of accepting an unnecessary delay or paying for a new ticket and hoping that the TOC will be cooperative at reimbursing you.
There is an
updated version of the EU Regulation, which comes into effect next June (but not in the UK, for obvious reasons). It contains an automatic right to reroute yourself and recover the reasonable costs of doing so, if the TOC has failed to do so within 100 minutes of the scheduled departure time of the train in question.
A provision like this really should have been in the original Regulation from day 1. Rights are useless if there is no easy mechanism for redress where they're breached!
Waiting for a response on Twitter could take ages.
It's unlikely unless you are tweeting outside of the 'opening' hours for the TOC in question, or there is serious disruption. Ultimately it's still likely to be the 'least worst' option in many circumstances, and giving the TOC an opportunity to arrange alternative transport means they will be liable for the cost of doing so if they fail or refuse to do so.
Also - if you find yourself delayed by 2 hours waiting for a connection at some point in your journey and then decide to abandon travel.
If you abandon your journey because it no longer serves its intended purpose then you are entitled to a full, fee-free refund. If you abandon your journey part way through but still proceed to your destination by alternate means, it's becomes very complex to work out what you're entitled to.
Are you then able to claim delay repay on the basis that you would have been delayed 2 hours if you'd waited around?
You can only claim Delay Repay based on what actually happened.
Or are you expected to go to a travel office and see if they will arrange alternative road transport (I thought they only did that if the very last service of the day was cancelled)
They would normally only arrange specific road transport if the last train of the day is cancelled. However on lines with infrequent services (e.g. the Far North/West Highland Lines) it is more common for replacement transport to be organised for an individual cancellation.
What you can, however, expect, is for there to be ticket acceptance if there are bus services serving the journey in question.
The whole thing is clear as mud!
Exactly how it suits the TOCs!
Can any railway employee (regardless of their TOC) endorse a ticket for travel even if that impacts another TOC without getting the TOC's permission in advance??
Yes. But they may have been told they cannot do so, and therefore refuse to do so.
And if they can..... why isn't there just a simple industry wide rule rather that it relying on the whim of individuals acting differently in each ticket office?
Because that would go against the dogmatic nonsense of having separate TOCs that "compete" with each other. And because nobody with authority in the industry cares.
What does the National Rail Conditions of Travel say about this?
The NRCoT conveniently mention
some of the PRO rights in passing, whilst omit to mention the rather important right to re-routing. Read into that what you will...
You could have but overall it's probably better to allow discretion to be shown rather than have rigid rules. The rigid rules might not be favourable.
Nonsense. As the revised EU Regulation shows, rigid rules could perfectly well be put in place, giving TOCs a set time within which to re-route passengers - or else face liability for whatever passengers are able to arrange for themselves.
