Delay repay - arrival in different station

[redreni]

I'm a bit unsure what I can / should put on my delay repay form after being delayed on my way to Bromley.

My ticket was from Dartford to Bromley North route "not London" although my actual journey was from Slade Green to Bromley North.

My planned journey was:

dep Slade Green 11.56
arr Lewisham 12.25
dep Lewisham 12.29
arr Grove Park 12.38
dep Grove Park 12.43
arr Bromley North 12.48

The forum's ticketing site did give me the above itinerary when I queried Slade Green to Bromley North, however it is not the itinerary that was issued with the ticket which, as I say, was for Dartford to Bromley North. (I was in a hurry and didn't have time to set advanced options to force an itinerary from Dartford using the above trains). But it is a valid itinerary that observes the minimum change times, even though Lewisham would have been a bit tight. It would have been a cross-platform transfer.

In the event, when my train departed Charlton it went straight ahead to London Bridge via Greenwich instead of going left towards Blackheath and Lewisham. I was wearing headphones so can't rule out that an announcement may have been made, but my understanding is there were no trains running through Lewisham station at the time due to a signal failure. I tweeted Southeastern asking for advice on routing and they confirmed the routing restriction on my ticket would be waived because of the disruption. On arrival at London Bridge there were no direct trains to Grove Park or Bromley South, so I asked a member of staff for advice and he told me to take a fast train to Swanley and change there, which I duly did. So my actual journey was

dep Slade Green 12.58 (2 minutes late)
arr London Bridge 12.33
dep London Bridge 12.40
arr Swanley 12.57
dep Swanley 13.05
arr Bromley South 13.15
[walking time to Bromley North +10 minutes?]

It took me another 10 minutes to walk to Bromley North, though. So my question is, can I claim for the delay to my arrival at Bromley North including walking time?

My thinking is that

• my ticket was to Bromley North not Bromley South
• due to the disruption the quickest way to reach Bromley North was to take the train to Bromley South and walk
• my arrival at Bromley North was delayed by over half an hour so I should claim at the 30-59 minute rate (25% of a return ticket).

 

[30907]

Had trains been running normally at LBG, you would have reached BMN at 1318.

Assuming you travelled on Saturday last, the relevant trains appeared to run to time - shame you were directed the long way round!.

I would be inclined to quote the booked 1318 arrival at BMN as anything else will complicate matters, and it doesn't affect your claim.

 

[redreni]

Had trains been running normally at LBG, you would have reached BMN at 1318.

Assuming you travelled on Saturday last, the relevant trains appeared to run to time - shame you were directed the long way round!.

I would be inclined to quote the booked 1318 arrival at BMN as anything else will complicate matters, and it doesn't affect your claim.

Yeah, as you can see from the above I only had a few minutes between arriving at London Bridge and the Swanley train leaving. The "next fastest to" boards weren't showing anything to Grove Park so I got the impression the disruption through Lewisham was worse than perhaps it was, and I didn't really have time to look at alternatives after being advised to take the Swanley train.

In fairness it was no hardship going up to Swanley and back since the trains were at least air conditioned, unlike any of the Metro trains I used that day.

I agree it would be much more straightforward to claim on the basis of Slade Green - London Bridge - Grove Park - Bromley North arriving exactly 30 minutes late. It doesn't sit easily since that's not the journey I actually made. I'd be less concerned about doing it if somebody could assure me that the claim for the actual journey I made, including walking time to Bromley North, would be technically valid? In that case, I couldn't be accused of seeking to gain anything if I followed your suggestion of making my claim in a way that's easier for them to process.

 

[andythebrave]

If it's any use, late last year I travelled from Bedfordshire via Kings Cross, Edinburgh and Glasgow to Hillfoot only for a total power failure in the west of Glasgow leading to completion of the journey on foot from Anniesland (that's a long walk with a case and sore feet).
Scotrail eventually paid up for the whole journey based on the time I hobbled past Hillfoot station.