Ability to use a different TOC when delayed

[Wallsendmag]

Just for info , I’m currently sitting in a presentation at the World Passenger Festival in Amsterdam. Various European operators are confirming the need to get a ticket authorised when a connection is missed and the fact that it can only be used on the same company. This isn’t a UK problem it’s affecting the whole of Europe.

 

[Adam Williams]

How do those operators see that need as interacting with their PRO obligations, namely to "continuation or re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to the final destination at the earliest opportunity"?

 

[Watershed]

Just for info , I’m currently sitting in a presentation at the World Passenger Festival in Amsterdam. Various European operators are confirming the need to get a ticket authorised when a connection is missed and the fact that it can only be used on the same company. This isn’t a UK problem it’s affecting the whole of Europe.

In other European countries, I can somewhat understand a need for tickets to be endorsed in order to be travel on other companies in the event of delay. There isn't a unified set of conditions of carriage or TSA-equivalent covering all operators (there's the CIV, but not all tickets are subject to it and not all operators are signatories to it).

But in the circumstances of the British rail industry - with all heavy rail operators other than Heathrow Express coming under the NRCoT, and all being signatories to the TSA - it's frankly unacceptable that there is the rigmarole of one operator purportedly needing permission to re-route a passenger on another.

 

[30907]

2 different issues here:
1. continuing journey with a different operator (eg ES/DB) which is typical on international journeys, delayed or not and
2. continuing with a different operator than originally booked because of delay, which is rarer ATM if you ignore OA operators. Apart from CZ and GB, the only example I can think of involves Thalys/DB.
Which is it?

 

[Egg Centric]

Surely it's fine that they need to endorse so long as they actually immediately and unhesitatingly endorse it in line with their obligations?

(or buy a new ticket with another operator or whatever)

 

[plugwash]

Surely it's fine that they need to endorse so long as they actually immediately and unhesitatingly endorse it in line with their obligations?

There is also the issue of actually dinding staff to perform the endorsement.

 

[Egg Centric]

There is also the issue of actually dinding staff to perform the endorsement.

Very much so. Currently this right is more honoured in the breach than anything else. I'm aware of efforts to make it a bit more adhered to.

I don't have a problem in principle with requiring endorsement though, so long as the regulation is adhered to.

(Amusingly I don't actually agree with the regulation either - I'm a pretty libertarian kinda guy who wants far less regulation. But if we're gonna have this sort of regulation then it should bloody well be adhered to!)