Avanti reduced timetable – passenger experiences

[Watershed]

I suppose this has been asked on here a million times - if you book leg A (advance, TOC 1), leg B (advance, TOC 2) then leg 3 (advance, TOC 3) and one leg delays you, is your ticket still good for the later trains even though they aren't the ones you should be on assuming you use the same TOC as originally booked?

Yes - provided you allow the relevant minimum interchange time between each train (journey planners will of course do this automatically).

 

[Howardh]

Yes - provided you allow the relevant minimum interchange time between each train (journey planners will of course do this automatically).

Thanks - assumed so. I suppose if I got back to Crewe late, had an advance on Northeren but was too late, I would have to ask the Avanti or TfW guard on the last service if they could carry me but be prepared to pay and expect delay repay from the late leg?

 

[Watershed]

Thanks - assumed so. I suppose if I got back to Crewe late, had an advance on Northeren but was too late, I would have to ask the Avanti or TfW guard on the last service if they could carry me but be prepared to pay and expect delay repay from the late leg?

If you held the LNR/WMR/TfW ticket to Manchester, which would be my recommendation, you'd be entitled to catch a TfW service anyway.

As for Avanti, if you would be stranded without them - e.g. you held a Northern only Advance and an LNR/WMR only ticket to Crewe, and had missed the 21:48 which is the last Northern-only connection to Bolton - then they would be obliged to assist. This could mean accommodating you to Manchester if they have space on their train, without charging you anything extra.

In all cases, you'd be entitled to Delay Repay based on your actual vs booked arrival time in Bolton.

 

[dingdinger]

Seems to be cash only in the shop again. Becoming a regular occurrence. Dark ages!

 

[CharlieSpotted]

Seems to be cash only in the shop again. Becoming a regular occurrence. Dark ages!

I was able to pay contactless on my recent journeys to/from Edinburgh recently.

 

[dingdinger]

I was able to pay contactless on my recent journeys to/from Edinburgh recently.

Apparently can order online and collect but coffee machine also broken! Perhaps I am unlucky

 

[RGM654]

In August I booked Avanti Euston to Waverley (one way, with my return a few days later on the sleeper booked previously).

On 13th August they emailed me saying (in part)

"If your train is no longer running in the new timetable, you can use your existing ticket to travel on the Avanti West Coast service before or after your original booked train. Any seat reservations you have will no longer be valid. You can view our new timetable by clicking below.

"Alternatively, you can claim a full, fee-free refund from your point of purchase if you no longer wish to travel."

In fact my train was still scheduled to run, except for a slightly earlier departure and an extra stop at Milton Keynes, thereafter on its original schedule. What was not clear was whether in that situation my seat reservation would be valid. I decided to request a refund and re-booked on the East Coast.

Weeks went by and I began to wonder whether I should chase Avanti and whether I would be out of luck, on the basis that my original train would (probably) have run. Then at long last on 11th October they emailed me to say that they were giving me my refund, and it reached my credit card account on 13th.

Credit where it's due.

 

[paul1609]

And just how common are those? I've rarely, if ever, come across one.

I don't think there's any other 4-track mainline out there that has such limited hours of 4-track operation (being limited to a 2-track railway for 38% of the week, plus closures on top), let alone higher engineering allowances on Sundays. Frankly, the tail seems to be wagging the dog, with WCML run for the convenience of the engineers, rather than passengers.

Isnt that as a result of the EPS limits where the trains are travelling at higher speeds through the same curve as they would elsewhere?

 

[185]

Thought this the most relevant forum to mention this on. I'm seeing hundreds of abandoned Avanti passengers with valid Avanti tickets for trains that have been deleted today ie not cancelled before 2200 yesterday, these were trains in the system earlier on. This train I'm on is like a Noah's Ark of abandoned Avanti and XC passengers.

The recent planned cancellation deletion nonsense is bad enough and downright wrong & should be gross breach of contract BUT this unplanned cancellation deletion behaviour goes far beyond that and needs dealing with by the DfT now. They knew there was industrial action and still left all the trains showing. The decision to pull all their trains at tea-time is unforgivable.

 

[gazzaa2]

They caused a huge knock on effect to other tocs last night. LNR was a complete mess.

 

[dk1]

Apart from the above issues & industrial action, Avanti where sent into chaos by major signalling issues yesterday. They where never going to recover from that with the severely reduced recourses available.

 

[Seehof]

I actually had an Avanti train driver (and good friend) say to me that “they were in absolute mess and no way of getting out of it before next year at the earliest”.

 

[londonmidland]

Avanti are warning of short notice changes to their services tomorrow (Monday the 24th) as a result of multiple incidents, which have caused significant disruption to their services today.

 

[MarkWi72]

Their staff hate them too. really felt for them today on one of the 'stuck' trains near Rugby.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

London Midland service from Crewe to Euston. Used to be a nice journey, cheaper, reliable and not that much slower than some of the Crewe-Euston Avanti's.

Not sure what you or I were travelling on but that certainly was never my experience on the regular 0746 Euston to Crewe. Cheap I'll give you, not the rest.

 

[AndrewE]

This potential passenger might get the bare minimum of an experience tomorrow - or the rest of this week: the Class 9s run alternately to Edinburgh or Preston, one train an hour is supposed to run to Glasgow - at least it calls at Crewe - and Manchester and Liverpool get one each. Truly 4 trains an hour out of Euston.
I wonder how many of them will actially run? And when the much vaunted progressive return to a full timetable will start?
A

 

[dk1]

Their staff hate them too. really felt for them today on one of the 'stuck' trains near Rugby.

I can only consider my own opinions & if I was now employed by them instead of the mighty Virgin group then I’d be pretty peeved off. It’s so demoralising these days.

 

[AndrewE]

This potential passenger might get the bare minimum of an experience tomorrow - or the rest of this week: the Class 9s run alternately to Edinburgh or Preston, one train an hour is supposed to run to Glasgow - at least it calls at Crewe - and Manchester and Liverpool get one each. Truly 4 trains an hour out of Euston.
I wonder how many of them will actially run? And when the much vaunted progressive return to a full timetable will start?
A

Correction: Liverpool doesn't get one. A Stafford starter connects out of the Manchester train (S stop.)
Except that one return trip from Liverpool has been cancelled already today...
Manchester gets (should get) 2 an hour, presumably because of the noise Andy Burnham has made.