Delay repay - am I eligible?

[XmaX]

I was going to Heathrow from Cambridge yesterday, and I had an advance GA-only ticket booked to Tottenham Hale, after which I intended to use the tube (with Oyster) to get to LHR. Due to snow, GA announced that their tickets were also permitted on Great Northern, and given the serious delays GA network had faced, I opted to take an earlier train from Cambridge to Kings Cross instead.

As it turned out, this train got a bit delayed on departure due to some problems with linking two trains, and then stopped at Stevenage. I ended up at Kings Cross roughly 50 minutes after the scheduled arrival, and about 25 minutes after the scheduled arrival of my original train to Tottenham Hale. The train I took was obviously delayed and eligible for delay repay (which the train driver said confirmed a few times during the trip). But am I allowed to claim delay repay? If so, who do I claim it from - GA or Great Northern?

Ironically, my original GA train was one of the very few GA trains from Cambridge that day which departed and arrived on time - and it was just on the other side of the platform in Cambridge, so I could have jumped when I saw the Great Northern train delayed...

 

[robbeech]

It's worth an email to GA to explain the situation and see what they say i think. I don't think it would be possible to give you a solid answer here.

 

[yorkie]

I'd say GA as the delay should go to the company who initially caused the delay. If everything had been running on time you would never have taken GTR.

However arriving in Kings Cross 25 minutes after booked arrival at Tottenham Hale equates to a delay in reality of only around 10 to 15 minutes, so it is not clear if there is any entitlement. But could be worth asking.

 

[najaB]

I ended up at Kings Cross roughly 50 minutes after the scheduled arrival...

You arrived 50 minutes after you expected to, based on the train that you caught. To my mind you have a valid claim.

 

[bb21]

..., based on the train that you caught. ...

... which is not the train he was contracted on.

Food for thought.

I won't repeat what I think as my opinion on this type of scenario was explained in detail in this thread. I can only echo what robbeech said.

 

[najaB]

.. which is not the train he was contracted on.

Food for thought.

I fully understand your position, however in this case he was basically told "Contract is out the window." It's true that his arrival was only 25 minutes later than originally expected, but his journey at least 50 minutes longer. I suppose it depends on if Delay Repay is specifically compensation for late arrival or for an extended journey.