Delay repay: LNR > Avanti

[PacerFacer]

Hi there.

Another delay repay question, I'm afraid as I've always been bad at claiming (but this ticket was late notice and quite expensive, so it'd be good to reclaim some of it!).

On Monday, 27 April I was booked to travel from Bushey at 10:26 on a London Northwestern train, get off at Milton Keynes at 11:15, get on an 11:24 Avanti service to Manchester Piccadilly arriving 13:05.

This was booked through the Trainline, which seems to have booked by combining two singles - Bushey to Tring and Tring to Piccadilly.

The 10:26 was cancelled and the next train going via the same route was an hour later on the same times - I caught this and travelled to Manchester Piccadilly. There was a train in between but the route was via Euston.

How much of the trip can I claim and would I have to go to both train companies or just LNR, whose train was the one that got cancelled.

Thanks!

 

[JBuchananGB]

Claim from LNR combined cost of both tickets.

 

[yorkie]

There were two northbound trains from Bushey at 10:26 on 27/04; one terminating at Watford Jn and the other continuing to Milton Keynes, but terminated at Bletchley. Both did run.

What actually happened on the day and what were you advised to do?

 

[PacerFacer]

Oh!

It was the latter I was booked on. I definitely looked at either the Trainline app or the National Rail one and it was flagged as cancelled. Maybe because the final leg of the train's schedule was cancelled the app made it appear as if the whole train was off? Hard to reconstruct now.

I didn't get my ticket checked on the whole journey and it worked on the gates, so it wasn't challenged by any rail staff.

I applied for the refund from LNR after JBuchananGB's post - looks like it's quite likely I'll get rejected!

 

[Vexed]

I can see the Milton Keynes service was amended to terminate at Bletchley at 10:10. I'm not sure how Trainline and National Rail would present this. Would Trainline have sent you a notification on your phone saying your booked train was cancelled for the booked stops?

 

[Belperpete]

Oh!

It was the latter I was booked on. I definitely looked at either the Trainline app or the National Rail one and it was flagged as cancelled. Maybe because the final leg of the train's schedule was cancelled the app made it appear as if the whole train was off? Hard to reconstruct now.

I didn't get my ticket checked on the whole journey and it worked on the gates, so it wasn't challenged by any rail staff.

I applied for the refund from LNR after JBuchananGB's post - looks like it's quite likely I'll get rejected!

A claim for a refund should be rejected as you travelled. However, you should be entitled to claim delay repay, based on what time you would have arrived at Manchester had you caught your original train.

 

[yorkie]

Oh!

It was the latter I was booked on. I definitely looked at either the Trainline app or the National Rail one and it was flagged as cancelled. Maybe because the final leg of the train's schedule was cancelled the app made it appear as if the whole train was off? Hard to reconstruct now.

Just to confirm, I have checked, and you would have easily made the connection, had you sought - and been given - advice on this forum or from anyone knowledgeable, e.g. a member of West Midlands Trains staff with access to the timetable, as follows:

Planner - Results - FastJP

fastjp.com

10:26 Bushey - Watford Jn (West Midlands Trains)
10:38 Watford Jn - Milton Keynes (West Midlands Trains)
11:24 Milton Keynes - Manchester Picc (Avanti)

All the above ran, within a few mins of scheduled time, and you would have arrived at 13:11.

If you chose not to depart Bushey at the originally scheduled time, simply on the basis that the direct train was not continuing to MKC, despite the fastest itinerary to MKC being to change at Watford Jn, without being advised to do that, then it could be argued that West Midlands Trains aren't liable to pay Delay Repay for that choice.

In future, if you see a Trainline message saying that the train is cancelled, I recommend you seek assistance on this forum, and if you make it clear you are travelling right at that moment, and what your booked itinerary is, and what tickets are held, there is a good chance that we could advise you accordingly.

I didn't get my ticket checked on the whole journey and it worked on the gates, so it wasn't challenged by any rail staff.

Yes, although your train did run, and you would have been able to change at Watford Jn onto the faster service to get to MKC earlier, I would say that because Trainline simply told you the train was cancelled, you should be allowed on the next available WMT/Avanti services with the single change at Milton Keynes.

However, I wouldn't say you are entitled to compensation from West Midlands Trains; they could reasonably argue that had you sought advice from them, they would have said to take the booked train and change at Watford Junction.

As the cancellation of the Milton Keynes stop was clearly known before your train departed Bushey, then I would assume/hope that an announcement was made at Watford Junction advising anyone for Milton Keynes to change there for the following faster WMT service.

I applied for the refund from LNR after JBuchananGB's post - looks like it's quite likely I'll get rejected!

A refund would definitely be rejected, if that's what you applied for, but WMT might provide Delay Repay if they don't realise that you could have made the connection (which probably depends on their Delay Repay system) or if they feel sorry for you being mis-advised by Trainline.

In future, you may wish to consider booking through the forum's site, rather than Trainline, and if there are any hints of a delay, feel free to ask for advice on here (I can't guarantee anyone would see it in time, but there is a good chance).