Alternative options for 10 November

[JBuchananGB]

On 8 October my daughter bought a ticket to travel on 10 November from Southport to London Euston.
She now has the ticket with the itinerary
Dep. Southport 8.24am Arrive Wigan Wallgate 8.55am
Dep. Wigan North Western 9.10am Arrive London Euston 11.11am
The ticket is an advance purchase single valid only on the booked train from Wigan to London.
When she booked the ticket, i.e. on 8 October, this itinerary was valid.

On 3 November, the latest strike day, there was a 9am departure from Southport to Wigan, which would then have enabled her to catch the next Virgin train from Wigan to London, on which her advance ticket would have been valid, as the reason for catching the later train was the disruption caused by the strike.
At the moment the journey planners are not showing any trains from Southport to Wigan on 10 November, and the best route is the 8.28 to Liverpool Central, then walk to Lime Street for train to London.
Would this route be acceptable using the ticket she holds?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

On 8 October my daughter bought a ticket to travel on 10 November from Southport to London Euston.
She now has the ticket with the itinerary
Dep. Southport 8.24am Arrive Wigan Wallgate 8.55am
Dep. Wigan North Western 9.10am Arrive London Euston 11.11am
The ticket is an advance purchase single valid only on the booked train from Wigan to London.
When she booked the ticket, i.e. on 8 October, this itinerary was valid.

On 3 November, the latest strike day, there was a 9am departure from Southport to Wigan, which would then have enabled her to catch the next Virgin train from Wigan to London, on which her advance ticket would have been valid, as the reason for catching the later train was the disruption caused by the strike.
At the moment the journey planners are not showing any trains from Southport to Wigan on 10 November, and the best route is the 8.28 to Liverpool Central, then walk to Lime Street for train to London.
Would this route be acceptable using the ticket she holds?

If there is disruption which would otherwise entirely prevent you from completing your journey, any train company in a position to assist you complete your journey, is obliged to do so.

Practically speaking, if you contact Virgin Trains on Twitter they may specifically authorise the route via Liverpool in advance. Alternatively it may simply be a case of asking station staff on the day, and if that fails, to ask the staff onboard the train.

That being said, as far as I can tell, an Advance where the first train is cancelled effectively becomes a walk-up ticket valid for immediate travel only, subject to the route/TOC restrictions which the Advance had. As Liverpool is an appropriate "Routeing Point" for Southport to London, I don't see why you couldn't take the train to Liverpool and then change (even without specific permission from Twitter/staff etc.).

Don't forget that your daughter will be eligible for Delay Repay from Northern if she ends up arriving into London 30 or more minutes later than scheduled when booking - if this happens (as would almost certainly happen unless the train to London magically made up 19 minutes vs the planned arrival time!) then the amount payable would be at least 50% of the (single) ticket, or alternatively a single ticket valid for travel on Northern from any one station on the Northern network to any other station on the Northern network.

If you have any difficulties I'm sure we'll be happy to advise.

 

[JBuchananGB]

I found a message on Northern's Facebook which said that, as regarding holders of advance tickets for longer journeys involving connections with their trains on strike days, that the long distance operators would accept such tickets on the day before and the day after, i.e. on 9 & 11 November in this case.
That is no help for my daughter who actually wants to travel to London on the 10th.
Maybe she should ask Virgin for advice.

 

[gray1404]

I would wait and see what services or buses Northern provides out of Southport on Saturday. They are taking their time confirming though. If there is nothing suitable and she needs to be in London by that time then going via Liverpool. Sometimes Northern arranges for ticket to be valid on Arriva buses but the Southport to Wigan bus takes ages.

 

[DelW]

I'd suggest that if your daughter travels via Liverpool, she prints and carries a copy of the itinerary showing that as the journey planner's best equivalent to the booked journey. It might help if her routing is queried along the way.

 

[Starmill]

Strike timetables have now been published here. There is no Northern service to Southport. Am I right in thinking that this is a first? The number of services running seems to be decreasing over time.

I would say the best advice is to speak to the staff at Southport on arrival and they will likely advise travel via Liverpool.

The 375/385 Arriva North West bus routes from Southport to Wigan are also an option. Take a snack though, as when I did it the journey took two hours.

 

[JBuchananGB]

I think I will have to drive her to Rainford, to catch the 8.28 from there to Wigan. Then she will be able to catch her booked train from Wigan North Western.

And I think this is the first time there has been no Northern service at Southport on strike days, I have monitoring it closely knowing that my daughter was going to have a problem.

 

[Starmill]

I think I will have to drive her to Rainford, to catch the 8.28 from there to Wigan. Then she will be able to catch her booked train from Wigan North Western.

And I think this is the first time there has been no Northern service at Southport on strike days, I have monitoring it closely knowing that my daughter was going to have a problem.

I wouldn't do this unless you get confirmation that the ticket will be accepted for the Rainford to Wigan journey. The ticket examiner might try to charge again for that part of the journey.

If you do that you won't get any compensation for the cost of driving, or be entitled to Delay Repay. Of course if the arrival time is crucial then this is perhaps the best way.

 

[gray1404]

Staff at Southport are useless at many things off the Merseyrail network. I'd just travel via Liverpool by default.

 

[Starmill]

Staff at Southport are useless at many things off the Merseyrail network. I'd just travel via Liverpool by default.

It depends on your priorities. The OP hasn't told us whether their priority is for their daughter to arrive on time or to get compensation for the disruption that has been caused to her travel plans.

 

[JBuchananGB]

I will discuss the options with her. My expectation is that she will want to get to London as per original booking. The £3.90 for a ticket from Rainford to Wigan would not be an impediment to her.

 

[JBuchananGB]

She rang me to discuss the options. She has a lunch appointment in London, does not want to be late. Via Rainford seems favourite. Thanks for all the advice

 

[Llandudno]

Do you think the Kirkby-Rainford-Wigan train will operate on a Northern Strike day?

Bit risky if you ask me?

 

[Kite159]

Do you think the Kirkby-Rainford-Wigan train will operate on a Northern Strike day?

Bit risky if you ask me?

Looking at the strike timetable, the Kirkby - Wigan service is roughly hourly with a couple gaps during the day

 

[JBuchananGB]

It’s shown in the published strike timetable for 10 November.

 

[Starmill]

Do you think the Kirkby-Rainford-Wigan train will operate on a Northern Strike day?

Bit risky if you ask me?

The timetables are posted on the page linked to here:

Strike timetables have now been published here. There is no Northern service to Southport. Am I right in thinking that this is a first? The number of services running seems to be decreasing over time.

I would say the best advice is to speak to the staff at Southport on arrival and they will likely advise travel via Liverpool.

The 375/385 Arriva North West bus routes from Southport to Wigan are also an option. Take a snack though, as when I did it the journey took two hours.

 

[Kite159]

I suspect with the line to Bolton & via Swinton reopened, the control has decided to focus the services on those services as the rough 2hourly Wigan - Southports weren't well used?

 

[gray1404]

I too would not rely on the service from Rainford running 100% to plan.

 

[Kite159]

It might be worth keeping an eye out in case those Kirkby services get cancelled, to carry on driving to Wigan so your daughter can catch the Virgin service.

 

[JBuchananGB]

A postscript. I dropped her off at “Rainford Junction” today (as it is referred to on highway signs and the signal box) and she boarded the 8.28. Her Southport ticket was accepted by the guard.

I should perhaps in the Nostalgia thread. My daughter had never seen a semaphore Signal before, and was intrigued by the way the train pulled up at the signal box, and the driver handed over the token for the single line from Kirkby!