Belperpete
Established Member
- Joined
- 17 Aug 2018
- Messages
- 3,690
In a recent thread, a passenger who had bought tickets for travel between Oxford and Halifax via XC decided to travel instead via London due to disruption. He bought new tickets for travel via London, and got his old tickets refunded:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-destination-today-via-original-route.269655/
Fortunately he made the cross-London connection, but it set me thinking - what would his rights have been if he hadn't? If for example, the 1730 had been further delayed on its way to Paddington, so that he missed the train from Kings Cross. Or if he had arrived at Paddington only to find that the tube was not running? Ignoring any rights he may have had through his old tickets, what would his rights for assistance in getting back to Halifax have been had he missed the cross-London connection?
The situation is clear when you buy your tickets in advance, and are unaware of any disruption, then you are entitled to a connection that meets the minimum connection time, and to assistance if that connection is not made. However, in this case, at the point that he bought his ticket for the late-running 1730, it was well after its scheduled departure time. What are your rights to assistance in completing your journey if you buy your ticket after a train's scheduled departure time? (NB: it is possible to buy a ticket from some TVMs without selecting a particular train)
Even though you knew the train was running 45 minutes late when you bought the ticket, and should already have left, are you still entitled to a connection based on its scheduled arrival time at destination? Or are you entitled to assume that the train will arrive at destination the same 45 minutes late, and provided there is still the required connection time, you are entitled to the connection?
Or if you buy your ticket at say 1810, and the next scheduled departure is say 1830, are you only entitled to any connection based on the time that train is scheduled to arrive at Paddington? Would that apply even if at the time you buy the ticket the 1830 has also been advertised as delayed?
Would the fact that he bought the tickets in two separate transactions affect his rights? I am assuming that a journey planner would have disallowed the 1730, and so not found a valid connection.
I often have to buy my tickets after departure, as there is no way to buy them beforehand, and I could easily see myself in a similar kind of situation.
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-destination-today-via-original-route.269655/
Fortunately he made the cross-London connection, but it set me thinking - what would his rights have been if he hadn't? If for example, the 1730 had been further delayed on its way to Paddington, so that he missed the train from Kings Cross. Or if he had arrived at Paddington only to find that the tube was not running? Ignoring any rights he may have had through his old tickets, what would his rights for assistance in getting back to Halifax have been had he missed the cross-London connection?
The situation is clear when you buy your tickets in advance, and are unaware of any disruption, then you are entitled to a connection that meets the minimum connection time, and to assistance if that connection is not made. However, in this case, at the point that he bought his ticket for the late-running 1730, it was well after its scheduled departure time. What are your rights to assistance in completing your journey if you buy your ticket after a train's scheduled departure time? (NB: it is possible to buy a ticket from some TVMs without selecting a particular train)
Even though you knew the train was running 45 minutes late when you bought the ticket, and should already have left, are you still entitled to a connection based on its scheduled arrival time at destination? Or are you entitled to assume that the train will arrive at destination the same 45 minutes late, and provided there is still the required connection time, you are entitled to the connection?
Or if you buy your ticket at say 1810, and the next scheduled departure is say 1830, are you only entitled to any connection based on the time that train is scheduled to arrive at Paddington? Would that apply even if at the time you buy the ticket the 1830 has also been advertised as delayed?
Would the fact that he bought the tickets in two separate transactions affect his rights? I am assuming that a journey planner would have disallowed the 1730, and so not found a valid connection.
I often have to buy my tickets after departure, as there is no way to buy them beforehand, and I could easily see myself in a similar kind of situation.