St Erth to Plymouth service cancelled from 18:00 for the rest of the day

Anonymous54678 · 17 Jul 2026

Apologies in advance if I have included any unnecessary information.

Initially, the departure boards showed the train as delayed, but as time went on we started getting concerned. Eventually, we found out the actual reason was a rail safety inspection.

I contacted GWR to ask what my options were, but they weren’t particularly helpful. They simply told me to wait for the 21:44 service, which was still showing as on time on the departure boards, although I suspected it would also end up being cancelled.

They then told me to use the station help point. Unfortunately, that wasn’t any more useful. The staff there just repeated information we already knew, kept speaking over us, and eventually gave me GWR’s phone number, which I had already called.

I phoned GWR again and they once again advised me to wait for the 21:44 service, insisting it was still running on time. I then asked a specific question. If that train was ultimately cancelled and I booked an Uber from St Erth to Plymouth, would GWR reimburse the full cost? Their response was that they would have to review the circumstances afterwards and couldn’t guarantee reimbursement. They did, however, confirm that reasonable bus and coach costs would be reimbursed.

Based on the information we had, several of us booked the 21:35 National Express coach from St Erth to Plymouth.

While we were waiting, we spoke to the driver of another train, who told us that a special train (the posh sleeper one) heading to London Paddington would be arriving around 21:55, running approximately 15 to 20 minutes late, and would stop at Plymouth.

At that stage, we didn’t want to risk missing our National Express coach in case the Paddington train also got delayed, so we went to the coach stop. When we got there, we discovered the coach itself was running around two hours late. That meant we had enough time to return and board the Paddington train instead, which is what I ended up doing.

I’m currently on that train now and would appreciate some advice on what I can claim back.

Can I claim reimbursement for the sandwich and water I bought from SPAR while waiting?
Can I claim back the £10 National Express ticket, even though I ultimately didn’t use it?
Given everything that happened, is there anything I could have handled differently? What would you have done to maximise what GWR is likely to reimburse or compensate?
If I had booked an Uber from St Erth to Plymouth costing around £260, would GWR have been legally obliged to reimburse it, or would that depend on the circumstances?

I’d be interested to hear both the practical advice and the legal position from anyone who’s been through something similar.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jul 2026 ==

Also, if this helps, we’ll reach Plymouth (our final destination) after midnight, which is technically the next day.

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WesternLancer · 18 Jul 2026

Anonymous54678 said:
Apologies in advance if I have included any unnecessary information.

Initially, the departure boards showed the train as delayed, but as time went on we started getting concerned. Eventually, we found out the actual reason was a rail safety inspection.

I contacted GWR to ask what my options were, but they weren’t particularly helpful. They simply told me to wait for the 21:44 service, which was still showing as on time on the departure boards, although I suspected it would also end up being cancelled.

They then told me to use the station help point. Unfortunately, that wasn’t any more useful. The staff there just repeated information we already knew, kept speaking over us, and eventually gave me GWR’s phone number, which I had already called.

I phoned GWR again and they once again advised me to wait for the 21:44 service, insisting it was still running on time. I then asked a specific question. If that train was ultimately cancelled and I booked an Uber from St Erth to Plymouth, would GWR reimburse the full cost? Their response was that they would have to review the circumstances afterwards and couldn’t guarantee reimbursement. They did, however, confirm that reasonable bus and coach costs would be reimbursed.

Based on the information we had, several of us booked the 21:35 National Express coach from St Erth to Plymouth.

While we were waiting, we spoke to the driver of another train, who told us that a special train (the posh sleeper one) heading to London Paddington would be arriving around 21:55, running approximately 15 to 20 minutes late, and would stop at Plymouth.

At that stage, we didn’t want to risk missing our National Express coach in case the Paddington train also got delayed, so we went to the coach stop. When we got there, we discovered the coach itself was running around two hours late. That meant we had enough time to return and board the Paddington train instead, which is what I ended up doing.

I’m currently on that train now and would appreciate some advice on what I can claim back.

Can I claim reimbursement for the sandwich and water I bought from SPAR while waiting?

Can I claim back the £10 National Express ticket, even though I ultimately didn’t use it?

Given everything that happened, is there anything I could have handled differently? What would you have done to maximise what GWR is likely to reimburse or compensate?

If I had booked an Uber from St Erth to Plymouth costing around £260, would GWR have been legally obliged to reimburse it, or would that depend on the circumstances?

I’d be interested to hear both the practical advice and the legal position from anyone who’s been through something similar.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jul 2026 ==

Also, if this helps, we’ll reach Plymouth (our final destination) after midnight, which is technically the next day.

This thread might be better in the disputes section of the forum perhaps.

What was the time of your original intended train departure? The time of the train you intended to get when you turned up at the station. Its departure time from st erth and scheduled arrival time at Plymouth.

What sort of ticket did you have, how much did it cost?

Did you buy your ticket before you became aware of the disruption and delays?

I would think you are probably entitled to Delay Repay money according to the standard formula which relates to how long you’ve been delayed for and what GWR pay eg after 15 minutes or 30 minutes or one hour delay etc.

Anything else would be a request for a goodwill payment from customer services.

Is there any refund for an unused national express ticket? If so claim that.

See the GWR delay repay claim web pages. Note you have to claim within a set period of time. Might be 21 days. So you can afford to wait for other views on your questions from the forum but be mindful of any deadline.

They have a responsibility to get you to your intended destination before the end of the night or arrange overnight accommodation. they did the former. But you can’t just book a taxi if your choice and be entitled to get them to claim it.
You have to get the railway operator to authorise that before you do it. They may for example have a contract with a local taxi firm that costs them less than paying for your choice of taxi

But in practice this can be difficult to do if you are at an unstaffed station late in the evening.

Your starting point on the legal position is the railway National Conditions of Travel.
Worth a read. They are in plain English easy to read and understand. Not acres of small print. See the bit relating to delays / cancellations of services.

185143 · 18 Jul 2026

I'd have thought regarding the National Express ticket, you'd be able to claim a refund from them given the length of the delay and you took an alternative (ie. a train).

Essexman · 18 Jul 2026

All you are entitled to is delay repay based on your arrival time at Plymouth.
GWR said there would be a train and there was, although late.

Pemberton · 18 Jul 2026

With regards to point 4, Uber don't operate in St. Erth.

Anonymous54678 · 18 Jul 2026

WesternLancer said:
This thread might be better in the disputes section of the forum perhaps.

What was the time of your original intended train departure? The time of the train you intended to get when you turned up at the station. Its departure time from st erth and scheduled arrival time at Plymouth.

What sort of ticket did you have, how much did it cost?

Did you buy your ticket before you became aware of the disruption and delays?

I would think you are probably entitled to Delay Repay money according to the standard formula which relates to how long you’ve been delayed for and what GWR pay eg after 15 minutes or 30 minutes or one hour delay etc.

Anything else would be a request for a goodwill payment from customer services.

Is there any refund for an unused national express ticket? If so claim that.

See the GWR delay repay claim web pages. Note you have to claim within a set period of time. Might be 21 days. So you can afford to wait for other views on your questions from the forum but be mindful of any deadline.

They have a responsibility to get you to your intended destination before the end of the night or arrange overnight accommodation. they did the former. But you can’t just book a taxi if your choice and be entitled to get them to claim it.
You have to get the railway operator to authorise that before you do it. They may for example have a contract with a local taxi firm that costs them less than paying for your choice of taxi

But in practice this can be difficult to do if you are at an unstaffed station late in the evening.

Your starting point on the legal position is the railway National Conditions of Travel.
Worth a read. They are in plain English easy to read and understand. Not acres of small print. See the bit relating to delays / cancellations of services.

I had an Off Peak Day return from St Ives to Plymouth which changes at St Erth. We reached St Erth at 18:50 and the 18:59 service from St Erth to Plymouth was cancelled and all subsequent trains from that station.

Only at around 20:30 when it was apparent that the trains have been definitely cancelled, another train driver told us about the secret sleeper train.

I bought the ticket several weeks ago before I was aware of the disruption.

Yes I’ll be using delay repay for sure but I need more to be honest. It was in the middle of nowhere.

Paid £9 for the actual train ticket.

Yes, they did have a responsibility to get me there before the night. But I got to Plymouth at 00:30 which was the next day technically. I just want to know legally, is there anything I need to be aware of in the future ? And of course I’ll read the document you’d mentioned.

But something I want to know is can I take them to small claims court, etc.

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Pemberton said:
With regards to point 4, Uber don't operate in St. Erth.

Actually it did, there was a 20 minute wait and the Uber was £270 to Plymouth

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jul 2026 ==

Essexman said:
All you are entitled to is delay repay based on your arrival time at Plymouth.
GWR said there would be a train and there was, although late.

I arrived the next day though technically. It was 00:30 on 18th July. I was supposed to reach my hotel in the 17th.

WesternLancer · 18 Jul 2026

Anonymous54678 said:
I had an Off Peak Day return from St Ives to Plymouth which changes at St Erth. We reached St Erth at 18:50 and the 18:59 service from St Erth to Plymouth was cancelled and all subsequent trains from that station.

Only at around 20:30 when it was apparent that the trains have been definitely cancelled, another train driver told us about the secret sleeper train.

I bought the ticket several weeks ago before I was aware of the disruption.

Yes I’ll be using delay repay for sure but I need more to be honest. It was in the middle of nowhere.

Paid £9 for the actual train ticket.

Yes, they did have a responsibility to get me there before the night. But I got to Plymouth at 00:30 which was the next day technically. I just want to know legally, is there anything I need to be aware of in the future ? And of course I’ll read the document you’d mentioned.

But something I want to know is can I take them to small claims court, etc.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jul 2026 ==

Actually it did, there was a 20 minute wait and the Uber was £270 to Plymouth

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jul 2026 ==

I arrived the next day though technically. It was 00:30 on 18th July. I was supposed to reach my hotel in the 17th.

I don’t think the next day arrival has any bearing on it but that’s a significant delay by any standards. It’s the duration of the delay that’s pertinent aiui. You must have been circa 3 hours delayed?

I’d think you have recourse to pursuing customer services for a bit more than your ticket cost but suspect not a legal right to that.*

If you do have other legal rights it may be you should hold off submitting delay repay so wait a day or two for advice here on that aspect. But don’t miss the delay repay deadline.

I might be wrong but I have the idea that small claims court claims have to relate to actual loss. So maybe that would be your refreshments and coach ticket. Circa £15. Is that worth the time involved in claiming?

See what others here think on all this.

•Edit. Post 8 confirms you do have rights in respect of this.

AlterEgo · 18 Jul 2026

Anonymous54678 said:
I had an Off Peak Day return from St Ives to Plymouth which changes at St Erth. We reached St Erth at 18:50 and the 18:59 service from St Erth to Plymouth was cancelled and all subsequent trains from that station.

Only at around 20:30 when it was apparent that the trains have been definitely cancelled, another train driver told us about the secret sleeper train.

There's nothing secret about it, it's a normal service train. Was it not on the board?

Anonymous54678 said:
I just want to know legally, is there anything I need to be aware of in the future ? And of course I’ll read the document you’d mentioned.

But something I want to know is can I take them to small claims court, etc.

For the cost of the food, you have a right to that under the PRO:

Guidance on regulation No 1371/2007 on rail passengers' rights and obligations

www.gov.uk

As set out in article 18, in the event of a delay, passengers must be kept informed of the situation by the railway undertaking or by the station manager including current estimated departure and arrival times as soon as such information is available.

In the case of delays over 60 minutes, the passenger shall be offered free of charge:

meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time if these are available on the train or station or can be reasonably[footnote 1] supplied

You should certainly claim that from GWR.

As regards the coach ticket - well, you ended up not using it and the train ran so it's less clear what your entitlement is here, but it's certainly worth asking them given they said they would reimburse. I would expect them to pay you for it.

Anonymous54678 said:
I arrived the next day though technically. It was 00:30 on 18th July. I was supposed to reach my hotel in the 17th.

Nothing turns on this, it's not a line of argument that will get you anywhere.

DelW · 18 Jul 2026

Just to add a little more info', according to RTT the 21:44 to Plymouth did run, albeit almost an hour late and leaving St Erth a quarter of an hour behind the sleeper.

Segedunum · 18 Jul 2026

AlterEgo said:
There's nothing secret about it, it's a normal service train. Was it not on the board?

The first open call on the sleeper in the London direction appears to be Totnes (pick-up only until then) - so Plymouth won't have shown on the departure screen, though the train itself should have.

AlterEgo · 18 Jul 2026

Segedunum said:
The first open call on the sleeper in the London direction appears to be Totnes (pick-up only until then) - so Plymouth won't have shown on the departure screen, though the train itself should have.

Makes sense, thanks.

Coleridge · 18 Jul 2026

Anonymous54678 said:
I had an Off Peak Day return from St Ives to Plymouth which changes at St Erth. We reached St Erth at 18:50 and the 18:59 service from St Erth to Plymouth was cancelled and all subsequent trains from that station.

Paid £9 for the actual train ticket.

Do you mean that you were using the return portion of an off-peak day return from Plymouth to St Ives? £9.75, with your 16-25 Railcard?

Benjwri · 18 Jul 2026

Anonymous54678 said:
Actually it did, there was a 20 minute wait and the Uber was £270 to Plymouth

Just as an fyi for future if you're in a similar situation, Uber 'operates' anywhere in the UK, and will give you a price for it and estimated time, but the chances of a driver being willing to take you that far at that time are pretty much zero. Much better calling local taxi firms.

simonw · 18 Jul 2026

Anonymous54678 said:
I had an Off Peak Day return from St Ives to Plymouth which changes at St Erth. We reached St Erth at 18:50 and the 18:59 service from St Erth to Plymouth was cancelled and all subsequent trains from that station.

Only at around 20:30 when it was apparent that the trains have been definitely cancelled, another train driver told us about the secret sleeper train.

I bought the ticket several weeks ago before I was aware of the disruption.

Yes I’ll be using delay repay for sure but I need more to be honest. It was in the middle of nowhere.

Paid £9 for the actual train ticket.

Yes, they did have a responsibility to get me there before the night. But I got to Plymouth at 00:30 which was the next day technically. I just want to know legally, is there anything I need to be aware of in the future ? And of course I’ll read the document you’d mentioned.

But something I want to know is can I take them to small claims court, etc.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jul 2026 ==

Actually it did, there was a 20 minute wait and the Uber was £270 to Plymouth

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jul 2026 ==

I arrived the next day though technically. It was 00:30 on 18th July. I was supposed to reach my hotel in the 17th.

You are entitled to delay repay. You can go to the small claims court, but you'd lose.

The fact that you arrived the next day is irrelevant.

A nicely worded letter to gwr, might get you some compensation but as goodwill

WesternLancer · 18 Jul 2026

I assume given the length of the delay the repayment would be 100%if the full return ticket price. But I ve not checked that.

Easy for the op to check if course

Anonymous54678 · 18 Jul 2026

DelW said:
Just to add a little more info', according to RTT the 21:44 to Plymouth did run, albeit almost an hour late and leaving St Erth a quarter of an hour behind the sleeper.

View attachment 207848

This is false because there it didn’t happen

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jul 2026 ==

This is sooo good. Really good resources. Thank you very much!

simonw · 18 Jul 2026

Anonymous54678 said:
This is false because there it didn’t happen

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jul 2026 ==

This is sooo good. Really good resources. Thank you very much!

If you were on the sleeper, how do you know there wasn't a train later?

MikeWh · 18 Jul 2026

Have you asked National Express to refund the coach ticket given the two hour delay?

DelW · 18 Jul 2026

simonw said:
If you were on the sleeper, how do you know there wasn't a train later?

I was wondering that too

Tom · 18 Jul 2026

Anonymous54678 said:
This is false because there it didn’t happen

It definitely did run. The industry doesn’t make up stuff like that.

Trainman40083 · 18 Jul 2026

Tom said:
It definitely did run. The industry doesn’t make up stuff like that.

Ah yes. The 21.35 train from Penzance, that ran 61 minutes late

30907 · 18 Jul 2026

DelW said:
Just to add a little more info', according to RTT the 21:44 to Plymouth did run, albeit almost an hour late and leaving St Erth a quarter of an hour behind the sleeper.

View attachment 207848

Wrong date. The OP hasn't chosen to tell us when they travelled but it was a few days back.

AlterEgo · 18 Jul 2026

30907 said:
Wrong date. The OP hasn't chosen to tell us when they travelled but it was a few days back.

What's led you to that conclusion? All of this happened yesterday, and the OP references events in progress right as they were writing it; they hadn't even arrived in Plymouth yet.

DelW · 18 Jul 2026

30907 said:
Wrong date. The OP hasn't chosen to tell us when they travelled but it was a few days back.

The final sentence of post #1, posted at 00:13 this morning (Sat 18th), says "we [will] reach Plymouth (...) after midnight". Why would that be written in future tense if it was some days ago?

Also, if this helps, we’ll reach Plymouth (our final destination) after midnight, which is technically the next day.

Last edited: Today at 00:13

gray1404 · 18 Jul 2026

I would say a refund from National Express due to the delay to their service. Delay repay from GWR. A separate customer service complaints regarding the length of the delay and if they would be willing to issue a good will gesture perhaps in the form of a complementary tickets or rail travel vouchers plus the receipts for reasonable expenses on water and food.

I am disappointed that they didn't offer to book a taxi for you given the severe disruption.

Anonymous54678 · 19 Jul 2026

DelW said:
The final sentence of post #1, posted at 00:13 this morning (Sat 18th), says "we [will] reach Plymouth (...) after midnight". Why would that be written in future tense if it was some days ago?

Because I wrote the post on 17th July 11 pm

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Trainman40083 said:
Ah yes. The 21.35 train from Penzance, that ran 61 minutes late

It didn’t, I’m sure of it.OMG THEY ATE LYING. I just checked Trainline and it shows that all the trains actually ran from St Erth to Plymouth. None of them did!!! Can you please let me know where you checked that the trains actually ran ?

flitwickbeds · 19 Jul 2026

Anonymous54678 said:
Because I wrote the post on 17th July 11 pm

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Jul 2026 ==

It didn’t, I’m sure of it.OMG THEY ATE LYING. I just checked Trainline and it shows that all the trains actually ran from St Erth to Plymouth. None of them did!!! Can you please let me know where you checked that the trains actually ran ?

It was an hour late so ran AFTER the train that you got on (the Sleeper). So you wouldn't have seen it at St Erth.

I don't use Trainline so not sure if they retrospectively show train running times/cancellations.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk is one site (screenshotted above) we use to check the history of specific trains at specific stations on specific dates.

Mcr Warrior · 19 Jul 2026

RealTimeTrains site shows the following on Friday... (These are timings from Penzance).

1750 GWR service to London Paddington departed on time.
1813 XC service to Birmingham NS cancelled. (Ran from Par).
1850 GWR service to Plymouth cancelled.
1915 GWR service to Exeter cancelled. (Ran from Par).
2015 GWR service to Plymouth cancelled.
2135 GWR service to Plymouth departed 61 minutes late (2236).
2145 GWR service (Night Riveria) to London departed 26 minutes late (2211).

Falcon1200 · 19 Jul 2026

Anonymous54678 said:
I just checked Trainline and it shows that all the trains actually ran from St Erth to Plymouth. None of them did!!!

Is Trainline a real time system linked to the railway's own systems, or just a journey planner? As above, Realtime Trains is exactly what its name suggests, and clearly shows the trains that did and did not run.

Trainman40083 · 19 Jul 2026

Anonymous54678 said:
Because I wrote the post on 17th July 11 pm

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Jul 2026 ==

It didn’t, I’m sure of it.OMG THEY ATE LYING. I just checked Trainline and it shows that all the trains actually ran from St Erth to Plymouth. None of them did!!! Can you please let me know where you checked that the trains actually ran ?

I can say, I would never trust Trainline. I've heard of people getting messages that their train was cancelled, and they actually ran . What you sometimes get, is a slight change in diagram, certainly where there is disruption. Some systems show the train cancelled. I had an example of that in Derby, on the passenger information screens. On one screen, it show d my train (say the 10.10 Derby to Nottingham) was cancelled, right underneath the same train was running on time. In that case, it was cancelled from Cardiff to Birmingham (part journey) , but ran from Birmingham to Nottingham via Derby.

St Erth to Plymouth service cancelled from 18:00 for the rest of the day

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