Cancelled Train

[dave87016]

Apologies if this is in the wrong thread, but before I contest the response from Northern I hope someone on here can give me a exact answer and amount

I recently bought ticket from Darwen - Clitheroe on the Saturday I was staying at my friends in Clitheroe and we was going to do the loco hauled tour de france specials the next day I bought my tickets online with T.O.D option as Clitheroe doesn't have T.O.D I picked them up from Darwen on my way to my friends the tickets were Clitheroe - Doncaster via Sheffield with a Railcard £24:50 each for a off peak return with a railcard

My 10:44 departure from Clitheroe and the next 3 services were all cancelled due to train crew issues, so we had to pay £25 for a taxi to Blackburn and go via Burnley so in total £25 for taxi and £49 for train tickets is quite hefty anyway the response I got from Northern were about staffing issues etc and a paltry £6:50 RTV I feel that is an insult

Can anyone please let me know exactly how much I should have been given in RTV as a apology and as per the Delay Charter

Thanks in advance for any help provided

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Northern's Passengers Charter states 50% of the price paid for that journey (for a delay of over an hour).

You paid £24.50 for the return ticket, making £12.25 for one leg. 50% of that is £6.125, so £6.50 is above that and therefore (technically) generous.

 

[yorkie]

• Did you use the Help Point at Clltheroe?
• Did anyone answer?
• If so, what did they advise?
• What did other passengers do?
• Was there no alternative transport provided, and do you know when was the first available departure (of any sort, train or bus)?

You would, by the sound of it, been well over an hour late, so this applies:

http://www.northernrail.org/northern/passengerscharter/ifthingsgowrong

If a delay to a Northern service adds an hour or more to your journey, we will offer you National Rail travel vouchers to the value of at least 50% of the fare you paid for that journey. The vouchers are available for use on Northern and other train operators' services. This also applies to weekly season ticket holders.

Whether or not that's 50% of the Return ticket, or 50% of half of a return ticket, is unclear.

I'd go back to them and say that this is not appropriate, give them a few more days and if they don't give you appropriate compensation, contact Passenger Focus

 

[dave87016]

They put on a rail replacement bus but said it would take around 45 minutes before it came and I would have missed the loco hauled service from Man Picc so I got a taxi from Clitheroe to Blackburn

 

[yorkie]

They put on a rail replacement bus but said it would take around 45 minutes before it came and I would have missed the loco hauled service from Man Picc so I got a taxi from Clitheroe to Blackburn

So if we assume you'd have been 1 hour late at your destination (as you'd have missed the train, and it's an hourly service, right?), I think the compensation is technically correct (taking half of the value of a return ticket), however I think you'd have a case for saying it should reasonably be half of the return ticket, so £12.25 each, instead of the £6.50 you actually got, but I am not sure you will get anywhere with that.

Maybe Northern will give you one of their complimentary passes if you're lucky. Good luck!

 

[maniacmartin]

Other TOCS such as East Coast have covered their backs a bit more with return tickets, but Northern's wording is a bit sloppy. My opinion of the wording above is that you should have been paid £12.25 each, however I doubt you'll be able to get Northern to agree.

As for the cost of the taxi, you can write that off, unless a member of railway staff specifically authorised it.

 

[bb21]

I agree that the sloppy wording meant that an argument could be made for a higher amount to be paid out, as maniacmartin said.

That said, if Northern refuse to budge, I doubt you will be backed up by Passenger Focus, as it is quite cheeky to claim that the entire value of the return ticket should be used as the basis for calculating your compensation for that leg only, unless specifically set out as such, such as with the Delay Repay scheme which Northern do not operate.

You can ask Northern to compensate you for your taxi fare, however there is not much you can do if they say no, but you don't get what you don't ask for. Northern also have no obligation to enable you to catch a specific type of traction. I would however expect a small amount of goodwill gesture to be forthcoming considering the length of the delay you suffered. Be sure to explain to them exactly the circumstances. I must say I would also be more than a little disappointed if nothing came of it.