Connections at Grantham

[trainfanatic]

Hi,

My wife is travelling from Sleaford to Dundee and return on advance singles next Tuesday and returning on the Saturday using a disabled railcard. The connection time at Grantham is 11 minutes. Rather than risk missing her connection at Grantham, is it permissible if I drove her to Grantham thus not using the portion fron Sleaford to Grantham. This is not a split ticket, the origin is Sleaford, while the destination is Dundee. Will she be stopped at the gates in Grantham?

The only other alternative is for her to catch a (1 hour) earlier train from Sleaford.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MCR247]

11 minutes will be fine as the platforms are next to each other, and no driving her to Grantham is not valid, and the barrier staff could stop you and charge you for a new ticket

 

[trainfanatic]

What are the implications if the Sleaford train is late arriving at Grantham?

 

[MCR247]

She will be able to get the next available trains

 

[ChrisCooper]

What are the actual tickets she has? I would assume advanced tickets would only be from Grantham to Dundee, with a standard ticket from Sleaford to Grantham. If this is the case you could drive her to Grantham as she would have a ticket from Grantham to Dundee.

If though she has a single advanced ticket from Sleaford to Dundee though, she will have to travel as booked. If though the train is delayed arriving at Grantham they will have to honour her tickets on a later service at no extra charge (the only downside is that she might not get her reserved seat). If on seperate tickets they should do that too but some suggest they don't have to.

 

[MCR247]

What are the actual tickets she has? I would assume advanced tickets would only be from Grantham to Dundee, with a standard ticket from Sleaford to Grantham. If this is the case you could drive her to Grantham as she would have a ticket from Grantham to Dundee.

What makes you say that?

 

[trainfanatic]

As I stated in the original post, she holds a ticket origin Sleaford destination Dundee. I think to avoid any potential issues, she will catch the earlier train from Sleaford. it's only an hour, and if she were to catch her original train from SLE and she did miss her connection at GRA, then that is also an hours wait. It's a no brainer really.

I have actually noticed that a lot of trains SLE to GRA run late. This may be due to the extent of track renewal work Boston/Skegness and hence TSR's.

 

[scotsman]

As I stated in the original post, she holds a ticket origin Sleaford destination Dundee. I think to avoid any potential issues, she will catch the earlier train from Sleaford. it's only an hour, and if she were to catch her original train from SLE and she did miss her connection at GRA, then that is also an hours wait. It's a no brainer really.

I have actually noticed that a lot of trains SLE to GRA run late. This may be due to the extent of track renewal work Boston/Skegness and hence TSR's.

Does the ticket only have a reservation coupon from Grantham - Dundee? If so, she would be permitted to get any reasonable train (there's been big debates on this before on what trains you can use - feel free to trawl through them) to catch one at Grantham. Even so, if she missed the train from Grantham with an 11 minute connection she would be permitted to travel on the next available train.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

She has a ticket for travel from Sleaford to Dundee, so she'll be taken from Sleaford to Dundee.

If the Sleaford-Grantham leg of the rail journey is delayed, she'll be taken onwards on the next service.
If you drive her to Grantham and your car is delayed, then she's stranded.

 

[MrPosh]

I thought I would register to give you my views on this.

If you travel from Sleaford, the change at Grantham will be easy - certainly easier than negotiating the often unmanned gates at Grantham (not to mention the traffic on market day).

However, be careful - my mother-in-law is completely wheelchair bound and travels from Metheringham to Sleaford and back once a week. Although this isn't the same service as Grantham and despite the fact that she always lets them know which train she'll be on, they regularly turn up without the ramps (not a problem if your wife is not wheelchair bound). It might be best to get some confirmation from EMT that there will be ramps on board.

Also, allow yourself a good ten minutes to get to platform 2 at Sleaford if she can't use the bridge

 

[MCR247]

deleted

 

[blacknight]

I suggest you contact EC assisted travel number 08457 225225 & get your wife as a booked as passenger requiring assistance that way your wife will be taken off & put on by staff at Grantham.
Wouldn't advise travelling into Grantham an hour earlier as metal bench seats in waiting room are not that nice to sit in for long period of time, also there are no toilet facilities on northbound platforms at Grantham & even with lifts its still along walk to toilets located at northend of platform 1.

 

[71B]

or just drive her to Dundee....

 

[trainfanatic]

Thanks for the replies. Just to clarify a couple of things....my wife is not wheelchair bound or suuffers anything that affects her mobilty. She suffers from a very mild form of Epilepsy (petit mal) which is controlled by medication.

Until quite recently she used to travel alone from here to Johannesburg and back...no problem.

The 09h07 EMT service this morning was 9 minutes late leaving SLR. This does not fill me with confidence!

Chatting to the driver of the 10h04 to Skeg, there remains a 50mph speed limit between Boston/Skeg, but having said that, the 10h03 SLR to GRA was on time! Go figure!!

EMT staff at SLR says she can travel on the 08h11 as her reservations are between GRA and EDI.