Next steps on Greater Anglia delay repay claim

[williamn]

Back on 15 Sept I travelled from Lewes to Saxmundham, and was delayed by over an hour due to the cancellation of the 09.16 from Ipswich and subsequent late running of the next service. Oddly my delay repay was rejected as Greater Anglia said a delay on Thameslink was the culprit and referred me to them. There may have been a slight delay but it didn't affect my connections and I was on the 08.00 from Liverpool Street to Ipswich.

I appealed the decision and ignored the invitation from Thameslink to apply to them. However the '10 working days' to review my claim that Greater Anglia promised has now passed. My application is still listed as under review. What are my next steps?

 

[speedy1]

Keep persisting through any customer service channel. 2 or 3 escalations seems to be becoming quite standard unfortunately

 

[Coleridge]

Back on 15 Sept I travelled from Lewes to Saxmundham, and was delayed by over an hour due to the cancellation of the 09.16 from Ipswich and subsequent late running of the next service. Oddly my delay repay was rejected as Greater Anglia said a delay on Thameslink was the culprit and referred me to them. There may have been a slight delay but it didn't affect my connections and I was on the 08.00 from Liverpool Street to Ipswich.

Is it possible that the "slight delay" to the Thameslink service pushed you below the minimum connection time somewhere en route? If so, that might complicate the claim.

 

[williamn]

Is it possible that the "slight delay" to the Thameslink service pushed you below the minimum connection time somewhere en route? If so, that might complicate the claim.

Just looked it up, it was 6 mins late. I was connecting from Farringdon to Liverpool Street on the Elizabeth Line so it didn't affect me.

 

[AlterEgo]

Just looked it up, it was 6 mins late. I was connecting from Farringdon to Liverpool Street on the Elizabeth Line so it didn't affect me.

That's probably fouled a minimum connection time then, which is why this is happening.

 

[williamn]

That's probably fouled a minimum connection time then, which is why this is happening.

Am I right in understanding that you calculate these by adding:
First station minimum connection time + fixed link time + second station minimum connection time?

 

[Farigiraf]

Am I right in understanding that you calculate these by adding:
First station minimum connection time + fixed link time + second station minimum connection time?

Farringdon has an MCT of 8 minutes and Liverpool Street has an MCT of 15 minutes. Assuming you took the EL and not the tube, 'Fixed link' times don't exist for Elizabeth line services as they are timetabled National Rail services. If your itinerary involved a connection at Liverpool Street of 20 minutes or less, then officially you "couldn't" have made the connection to the GA service to Ipswich due to that Thameslink delay. That means that the only delay GA is officially responsible for is the (presumably small) delay of the Ipswich-Lowestoft service you ended up taking.

 

[williamn]

Farringdon has an MCT of 8 minutes and Liverpool Street has an MCT of 15 minutes. Assuming you took the EL and not the tube, 'Fixed link' times don't exist for Elizabeth line services as they are timetabled National Rail services. If your itinerary involved a connection at Liverpool Street of 20 minutes or less, then officially you "couldn't" have made the connection to the GA service to Ipswich due to that Thameslink delay. That means that the only delay GA is officially responsible for is the (presumably small) delay of the Ipswich-Lowestoft service you ended up taking.

The connection time on my itinerary at Liverpool Street was 22 minutes, so presumably Anglia is still liable?

 

[Haywain]

The connection time on my itinerary at Liverpool Street was 22 minutes, so presumably Anglia is still liable?

It's pretty difficult to say without knowing your full planned itinerary. However, I don't see why you'd be bothered which company pays your claim as long as one of them does

 

[williamn]

It's pretty difficult to say without knowing your full planned itinerary. However, I don't see why you'd be bothered which company pays your claim as long as one of them does

I'm not bothered, I just didn't want to start a fruitless claim with Thameslink if they're not responsible!

Full itinerary:

Board the 05:42 service to Brighton (Southern).

You'll arrive at Brighton at 05:59 Leave the train here.

Board the 06:09 service to Cambridge (Thameslink).

You'll arrive at Farringdon at 07:26 Leave the train here.

Board the 07:35 service to Abbey Wood (Elizabeth line).

You'll arrive at London Liverpool Street at 07:38 Leave the train here.

Board the 08:00 service to Norwich (Greater Anglia).

You'll arrive at Ipswich at 09:07 Leave the train here.

Board the 09:16 service to Lowestoft (Greater Anglia)

You'll arrive at Saxmundham at 09:52

 

[Watershed]

Ok, so that will be the reason the system has 'blamed' Thameslink - the minimum connection time at Farringdon was no longer met, so in GA's eyes the delay is Thameslink's fault.

Of course that ignores the fact that whilst one particular connection may have been missed, there would have been an Elizabeth line service just 3 mins behind which would have got you to Liverpool Street in plenty of time to meet the minimum connection time there. So in other words, the missed connection at Farringdon was immaterial to your overall journey.

I would appeal it with GA explaining the above.

 

[Farigiraf]

Full itinerary:

Board the 05:42 service to Brighton (Southern).

You'll arrive at Brighton at 05:59 Leave the train here.

Board the 06:09 service to Cambridge (Thameslink).

You'll arrive at Farringdon at 07:26 Leave the train here.

Board the 07:35 service to Abbey Wood (Elizabeth line).

You'll arrive at London Liverpool Street at 07:38 Leave the train here.

Board the 08:00 service to Norwich (Greater Anglia).

You'll arrive at Ipswich at 09:07 Leave the train here.

Board the 09:16 service to Lowestoft (Greater Anglia)

You'll arrive at Saxmundham at 09:52

With a 6 minute delay on arrival into Farringdon you still had enough time (factoring in the MCT) to make the 07:41 Elizabeth line service which arrived into Liverpool Street at 07:44. That would've given 16 minutes for the change at Liverpool Street which is enough time as the MCT is 15 minutes. GA's the one at fault here.

 

[williamn]

Thanks for your advice all - I have already appealed but with no reply in the 10 day time frame promised, so will now follow up with customer relations.