Advance Retimed - Rights

[Huntergreed]

I currently hold an advance ticket (1st class) from Euston to Carlisle valid on Friday 24th October as below:

15:02 Euston - Stafford
16:47 - Stafford - Carlisle

By sheer luck, I have checked the timetable for Friday to see that the 15:02 service no longer exists (retimed to 14:59). I had absolutely no notification through from Avanti about this.

I have a couple of questions:

1) As the service has been retimed, is my ticket only valid on the retimed service at 14:59 service, which would then connect onto my original itinerary at Stafford?

2) If no to (1), am I only entitled to take a train which will allow me to connect onto my original service at Stafford, or am I allowed to take any service to my destination (for instance; the 15:30 direct from Euston to Carlisle).

Thanks

 

[Belperpete]

How do you know that it has been retimed? Is the 1459 a substitute service?

If I were in your shoes, I would be asking what has happened to my seat reservation?

 

[Huntergreed]

How do you know that it has been retimed? Is the 1459 a substitute service?

It was the Holyhead service - exact same calling pattern and headcode, just 3 minutes earlier.

If I were in your shoes, I would be asking what has happened to my seat reservation?

I’ll be doing that once I confirm what I’m entitled to travel on!

 

[Belperpete]

It was the Holyhead service - exact same calling pattern and headcode, just 3 minutes earlier.

I’ll be doing that once I confirm what I’m entitled to travel on!

Are you assuming that the 1502 has been retimed just because the 1459 has the same destination and calling pattern?

I suspect that officially they have cancelled the 1502, and the 1459 is an additional service added as a replacement. In which case, you will have lost your reservation, and should have the same rights as any other case of a cancelled train.

However, if they have retimed the 1502, so it is the same train and your reservation has been maintained, then they would likely expect you to catch that train. Particularly if, as I suspect may happen, it actually leaves at its original time. Don't forget that passengers are supposed to check for short notice timetable changes.

Did you buy your tickets direct from Avanti? If you bought them from another retailer, then you are unlikely to receive a notification. If you did buy them direct from Avanti, and haven't received any notification, then that might suggest that the 1502 hasn't been officially cancelled.

 

[greatkingrat]

RTT shows it as a VAR service, so it has just been amended, rather than cancelled and replaced with a new service.

 

[jfollows]

Avanti has done this to me in the past (https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/avanti-west-coast-timetable.226709/page-7#post-5548866), altered a train to depart a few minutes earlier than when booked, and couldn’t be bothered to tell me either, despite the booking being made directly with them.
I just caught the retimed service, and would not have assumed I could do otherwise.
However if I’d turned up at the last minute and missed the train I’d have expected them to put me on the next service and pay Delay Repay.