Missed Connections on Advance Ticket with itinerary

[Robbouk]

Hi everyone,

I have a question about the following statement:

"Where you are using a Ticket valid on a specific train service or train services (such as an “advance” Ticket) and you miss a service because a previous connecting train service was delayed, you will be able to travel on the next train service provided by the Train Company with whom you were booked without penalty."

If I were to be on a through advance ticket with an itinerary that changes operators, for example for the first train is EMR and the second is Hull Trains - if the EMR is delayed and I miss my Hull Trains connection, which is their last service of the day, would I be able to board the next service to my destination even though it's LNER, or would I be expected to wait overnight for the next Hull Trains service?

I assume if I had booked 2 separate advances then I would have no claim to travel on LNER, but if I had booked and the connection was a part of the itinerary I always assumed another operator could accept it in this situation?

Thanks.

 

[Benjwri]

Your rights in this case are unchanged regardless of whether you are using a single or multiple tickets. According to the NRCOT condition 28.2, if you have been left stranded (i.e. a delay has made you miss the last train your ticket is valid on), it is the duty of any operator to help you get to your destination. Therefore you should talk to station staff and ask to be rerouted onto an LNER service. If they say no, which they shouldn't, you should buy a ticket valid for the LNER service and travel. You can then contact EMR and claim this ticket cost off them quoting both NRCOT and PRO.

If you miss a connection and will be delayed by more than an hour (Even if there is a train 2 hours later for example), EMR has an obligation to reroute you under PRO. Unfortunately they also like to pretend this doesn't exist, so you might have a tough time getting them to. In this case you should speak to EMR first, as only they have to reroute you. If they say no again you could buy a ticket and claim it back, however train companies are very bad at acknowledging this rule and you may have to go as far as court.

The key point here is you will never be totally stranded. Operators are obliged not to do so and do stick to this, regardless of if you are travelling with them or they caused the delay. If there are no further trains they will try source a taxi, and if this isn't possible should put you up in a hotel and endorse travel the next morning.

 

[Robbouk]

Thanks @Benjwri very useful. This didn't happen directly to me, as I had a super off peak, but the guard on our delayed EMR said similar to you but people were denied boarding the LNER service and the ones that did got charged a new ticket even though there were no later Hull Trains as the last one had left. In any case it seemed really poor customer experience to me. The guard just said they have no ticket acceptance with Hull Trains.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jul 2024 ==

They did however have ticket acceptance with EMR because of other disruption which made it seem even more bizarre.

 

[Benjwri]

Thanks @Benjwri very useful. This didn't happen directly to me, as I had a super off peak, but the guard on our delayed EMR said similar to you but people were denied boarding the LNER service and the ones that did got charged a new ticket even though there were no later Hull Trains as the last one had left. In any case it seemed really poor customer experience to me. The guard just said they have no ticket acceptance with Hull Trains.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jul 2024 ==

They did however have ticket acceptance with EMR because of other disruption which made it seem even more bizarre.

Yes unfortunately not all staff follow or are aware of these rules. In such cases the passengers should submit a complaint to LNER and claim the ticket cost that they had to pay back from EMR. They are also able to claim Delay Repay.

 

[Robbouk]

Thanks, I'll let them know. I thought it sounded wrong.

 

[Benjwri]

Thanks, I'll let them know. I thought it sounded wrong.

No worries, as mentioned above that should quote Condition 28.2 of the NRCOT:

Where disruption prevents you from completing the journey for which your Ticket is valid and is being used, 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.

 

[redreni]

No worries, as mentioned above that should quote Condition 28.2 of the NRCOT:

Where disruption prevents you from completing the journey for which your Ticket is valid and is being used, 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.

Unfortunately LNER seems to have some difficulty understanding the difference between:

- we'd rather not do x

and

- we cannot reasonably do x.

The latter would get them out of their obligation under NRCoT 28.2, but the former doesn't.

It seems lost on them that, if they've got room to accommodate passengers on their train after fleecing them for a new ticket, then they also would have had room to accommodate those same passengers without fleecing them for a new ticket.