Split ticket advance singles - LNRW stikes

I've got a journey booked for Saturday evening from Bristol TM to Northampton, via Birmingham New Street, booked on the 19:00 Cross Country from Bristol-New Street and then 20:36 London Northwestern from New Street-Northampton, with split ticket advances, split at Cheltenham Spar and Birmingham.

Now the 20:36 has been cancelled due to the strikes effecting LNRW on Friday/Saturday, with the last train out of New Street the 17:06. London Northwestern are offering no alternative except a refund or travel on an earlier service, but Cross Country are saying I wouldn't be able to travel on an early service to make that connection, their customer service on twitter saying "I am under the impression as your journey is starting with us the tickets are only valid on your booked services."

I thought that split tickets should be treated in the same way as a single through ticket, so that if one leg of the journey is cancelled, then the whole journey effectively is. I've had no issues in the past when certain legs of split tickets have been cancelled due to disruption, but don't know it strikes are treated differently.

Your interpretation is correct - the automatic right you have in the event of a cancellation, to take the 2 trains before or after, applies to your entire journey if any leg of your journey is cancelled.

Split tickets don't change anything in this regard, it is still one journey under the NRCoT. Any other application would render the 2 before/after rule meaningless in situations such as yours.

If you prefer to leave Bristol at the booked time rather than earlier, you still have the right to insist on alternative transport to get you to Northampton that evening. The fact that the strike has been announced/notified in advance also does not change anything in this regard, you still have a contract to travel to Northampton and WMT are bound by it.

Avanti are still running services normally, so you could be put onto one of their trains as far as Rugby or Milton Keynes and then in a taxi from there to Northampton.

Alternatively, if staff on the ground refuse to arrange alternatives then I would suggest taking the above route and then claiming back your reasonable expenses (i.e. a taxi) from WMT afterwards.

Would LNWR's obligation to facilitate onward travel be removed as the strikes mean an amended timetable is in place, without evening services, so it isn't the same as normal cases of disruptions.

Couple more messages from my exchange with Cross Country on twitter, saying no ticket easements are in place and split tickets are all separate (when I tried to make the point that they should be treated as one!)

"Have you spoken to your point of purchase to see if you can amend the tickets?"

"That would only apply with travelling earlier on their services though. As I said, we haven't been advised that we are allowing passengers to travel on earlier services of ours with advance tickets because of industrial action affecting another train operator. You are welcome to check again later in the week just incase anything changes."

"Split tickets are treated as individual tickets to my knowledge. Therefore if you have an advance single ticket for our service, it is only valid on the booked train. If you feel this should be different you would need to speak to the ticketing team who you purchased the tcikets from for them to explain the terms and conditions of split tickets and how their strike action affects journeys you have booked with other train operators."

The Crosscountry train before your booked 19:00 service is the 18:33 to Newcastle.
That should get you to BHM at 19:55; there's a 20:21 Avanti West Coast service which should get you to Milton Keynes at 21:17.
From there, as Watershed says, it's a taxi to Northampton. (I suspect you won't be the only person seeking to get there)
Hopefully, station staff will arrange one, otherwise pay for it yourself and claim it back.

pwharley said:

The Crosscountry train before your booked 19:00 service is the 18:33 to Newcastle.
That should get you to BHM at 19:55; there's a 20:21 Avanti West Coast service which should get you to Milton Keynes at 21:17.
From there, as Watershed says, it's a taxi to Northampton. (I suspect you won't be the only person seeking to get there)
Hopefully, station staff will arrange one, otherwise pay for it yourself and claim it back.

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Would that not require ticket acceptance to be in place between Avanti and LNWR to be able to use the Avanti? Which I assume won't be in place during strike disruption.

cizza said:

Would LNWR's obligation to facilitate onward travel be removed as the strikes mean an amended timetable is in place, without evening services, so it isn't the same as normal cases of disruptions.

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They are obliged to get you there regardless of any amendments they may make to the timetable after booking. They cannot unilaterally cancel the contract that comes into force when you buy a ticket. They remain obliged to provide alternative transport under condition 28.2 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel, as well as Article 18(3) of the Passenger Rights and Obligations Regulations.

cizza said:

Couple more messages from my exchange with Cross Country on twitter, saying no ticket easements are in place and split tickets are all separate (when I tried to make the point that they should be treated as one!)

"Have you spoken to your point of purchase to see if you can amend the tickets?"

"That would only apply with travelling earlier on their services though. As I said, we haven't been advised that we are allowing passengers to travel on earlier services of ours with advance tickets because of industrial action affecting another train operator. You are welcome to check again later in the week just incase anything changes."

"Split tickets are treated as individual tickets to my knowledge. Therefore if you have an advance single ticket for our service, it is only valid on the booked train. If you feel this should be different you would need to speak to the ticketing team who you purchased the tcikets from for them to explain the terms and conditions of split tickets and how their strike action affects journeys you have booked with other train operators."

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You don't need to amend your tickets, they remain valid as they are.

Condition 14 of the NRCoT permits you to make one journey using multiple tickets, so they are not individual journeys.

The NRCoT clearly state that you will be allowed to take the 2 trains before or after in the event of a cancellation, and make no exclusion as to this applying only to the cancelled portion/leg of your journey. Any such exclusion/limitation would need to be stated in the contract to be enforceable.

I totally appreciate wanting to get written confirmation from the TOC as to the validity of your ticket, but unfortunately the social media team of a TOC is often the worst possible source for accurate information. They are given little if any training on ticket validity or related rules, and so just make it up as they go along. Better to stay silent than to remove all doubt...

cizza said:

Would that not require ticket acceptance to be in place between Avanti and LNWR to be able to use the Avanti? Which I assume won't be in place during strike disruption.

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There has been unadvertised ticket acceptance with Avanti during the previous round of WMT strikes. I would assume the same is in place this time.

In any event, condition 28.2 of the NRCoT requires all operators that can assist you, to do so. This obligation is not limited to your booked operator and so Avanti would be obliged to accept your ticket (independent of any acceptance arrangements) if they provide a means for you to get towards your destination when you would otherwise be stranded.