Delay Repay on charter trains

[Spurs]

Hiya again,

On Wednesday I took the scheduled 14:45 departure from London St. Pancras via Luton to Sheffield. This wasn't a regular service, but a charter train booked through Thomas Cook which was available exclusively to Tottenham Hotspur FC members and season-ticket holders travelling to that evening's League Cup semi-final. The train was delayed by 32 minutes, arriving in Sheffield at 17:25 as opposed to the scheduled time of 16:53. The train was from East Midlands Train stock, and was operated on their line and I presume by their staff - no reason was given for the delay. The return ticket, for travel on this service and on the 23:15 departure from Sheffield with a scheduled arrival time at St. Pancras via Luton of 02:06 (actual time arrive 01:58), cost £25. As I understand it, I would ordinarily be entitled to compensation of £6.25 for this delay in the form of National Rail vouchers. Does this still apply for the charter train service, and if so should the compensation be requested from Thomas Cook or from East Midlands Trains?

 

[221129]

Hiya again,

On Wednesday I took the scheduled 14:45 departure from London St. Pancras via Luton to Sheffield. This wasn't a regular service, but a charter train booked through Thomas Cook which was available exclusively to Tottenham Hotspur FC members and season-ticket holders travelling to that evening's League Cup semi-final. The train was delayed by 32 minutes, arriving in Sheffield at 17:25 as opposed to the scheduled time of 16:53. The train was from East Midlands Train stock, and was operated on their line and I presume by their staff - no reason was given for the delay. The return ticket, for travel on this service and on the 23:15 departure from Sheffield with a scheduled arrival time at St. Pancras via Luton of 02:06 (actual time arrive 01:58), cost £25. As I understand it, I would ordinarily be entitled to compensation of £6.25 for this delay in the form of National Rail vouchers. Does this still apply for the charter train service, and if so should the compensation be requested from Thomas Cook or from East Midlands Trains?

Unlikely I would have thought.

 

[bb21]

I can't see a reason why it would not apply, although it is slightly unusual so I am not sure. Was it booked as a return ticket or as part of some sort of package?

It can't hurt to give it a try.

 

[Spurs]

Unlikely I would have thought.

Oh well, thanks anyway.

I can't see a reason why it would not apply, although it is slightly unusual so I am not sure. Was it booked as a return ticket or as part of some sort of package?

It can't hurt to give it a try.

It was booked as a return ticket through Thomas Cook Sport, as a deal only available to Tottenham supporter who had purchased tickets to the match through THFC. The two businesses have a partnership so they were able to cross-reference the details to make sure only those who had match tickets could buy the train tickets, because THFC had paid to subsidise them. So it was effectively booked as an add-on the the match ticket, albeit through a separate company, rather than as a package as such or an entirely standalone item.

 

[221129]

B5. Transport Delays
Transport delays sometimes occur. We work closely with the transport operators and overseas offices to
make sure any delay is as short as possible. When a delay occurs we will try to make sure refreshments or
meals are provided when appropriate. We will not do this ourselves as such arrangements will normally be the
responsibility of the airline/train operator. If you have taken out our recommended holiday insurance or a
comparable policy you should have cover against delays.

Taken from the T&Cs of Thomas Cook Sport.

D9. Circumstances Beyond Our Control
Except where we say differently elsewhere in these conditions, we cannot pay any compensation, reimburse
expenses, or cover losses for any amount or otherwise accept responsibility if, as a result of circumstances
beyond our control, we have to change the arrangements you have booked with us after your Arrangements
start, or we, or our suppliers, cannot supply your arrangements, as we, or they, had agreed, or you suffer any
loss or damage of any description. When we refer to circumstances beyond our control, we mean any
situation that we, or the supplier in question, could not foresee or avoid, even after taking all reasonable care.
This particularly applies where circumstances beyond our control lead to the cancellation of Events or to the
rearrangement or re-scheduling of Events so that they do not coincide with your other Arrangements and we
are unable to change your Arrangements or you are unable to take any changed Arrangements we can offer – see section A above for further details. Such changes or cancellations of Events at the request of, for
example, sports associations, police or other local authorities, television/radio broadcasters will be a
circumstance beyond our control. Circumstances beyond our control will also usually include, but are not
limited to; war, terrorist activity, civil unrest, industrial dispute, vandalism, road traffic accidents/congestion,
bad weather (actual or threatened) a

 

[LowLevel]

Delay Repay is for National Rail services - this was a private charter where EMT were operating the train on behalf of someone else. You weren't actually a direct customer of EMT on this occasion. No different to a rail tour.

 

[yorkie]

Hiya again,

On Wednesday I took the scheduled 14:45 departure from London St. Pancras via Luton to Sheffield. This wasn't a regular service, but a charter train booked through Thomas Cook which was available exclusively to Tottenham Hotspur FC members and season-ticket holders travelling to that evening's League Cup semi-final. The train was delayed by 32 minutes, arriving in Sheffield at 17:25 as opposed to the scheduled time of 16:53. The train was from East Midlands Train stock, and was operated on their line and I presume by their staff - no reason was given for the delay. The return ticket, for travel on this service and on the 23:15 departure from Sheffield with a scheduled arrival time at St. Pancras via Luton of 02:06 (actual time arrive 01:58), cost £25. As I understand it, I would ordinarily be entitled to compensation of £6.25 for this delay in the form of National Rail vouchers. Does this still apply for the charter train service, and if so should the compensation be requested from Thomas Cook or from East Midlands Trains?

As you say, it was a Thomas Cook charter train, so any compensation arrangements would be through them, and not any of their suppliers.

Thomas Cook do not offer Delay Repay.

You are correct that, had you booked an East Midlands Trains service, which was 30+ minutes late, you would have been entitled to Delay Repay, as EMT do indeed offer Delay Repay.

It is, therefore, worth considering this when comparing fares in future.

 

[deltic]

Hiya again,

On Wednesday I took the scheduled 14:45 departure from London St. Pancras via Luton to Sheffield. This wasn't a regular service, but a charter train booked through Thomas Cook which was available exclusively to Tottenham Hotspur FC members and season-ticket holders travelling to that evening's League Cup semi-final. The train was delayed by 32 minutes, arriving in Sheffield at 17:25 as opposed to the scheduled time of 16:53. The train was from East Midlands Train stock, and was operated on their line and I presume by their staff - no reason was given for the delay. The return ticket, for travel on this service and on the 23:15 departure from Sheffield with a scheduled arrival time at St. Pancras via Luton of 02:06 (actual time arrive 01:58), cost £25. As I understand it, I would ordinarily be entitled to compensation of £6.25 for this delay in the form of National Rail vouchers. Does this still apply for the charter train service, and if so should the compensation be requested from Thomas Cook or from East Midlands Trains?

£25rtn seems a bargain to me - how many other football clubs charter trains these days

 

[MikeWh]

Another aspect is that the sole purpose of this charter was to see the match and I'm sure half an hour delay didn't have any effect on your ability to get in the ground in good time.

 

[TheEdge]

On a vaguely related note I accepted an RTV a few days ago and the issuing company was West Coast Rail Company. I assume isn't Virgin so there must be some situations where they pay out.

 

[Flying Snail]

Hiya again,

On Wednesday I took the scheduled 14:45 departure from London St. Pancras via Luton to Sheffield. This wasn't a regular service, but a charter train booked through Thomas Cook which was available exclusively to Tottenham Hotspur FC members and season-ticket holders travelling to that evening's League Cup semi-final. The train was delayed by 32 minutes, arriving in Sheffield at 17:25 as opposed to the scheduled time of 16:53. The train was from East Midlands Train stock, and was operated on their line and I presume by their staff - no reason was given for the delay. The return ticket, for travel on this service and on the 23:15 departure from Sheffield with a scheduled arrival time at St. Pancras via Luton of 02:06 (actual time arrive 01:58), cost £25. As I understand it, I would ordinarily be entitled to compensation of £6.25 for this delay in the form of National Rail vouchers. Does this still apply for the charter train service, and if so should the compensation be requested from Thomas Cook or from East Midlands Trains?

Did you get to the ground on time to see the match?

 

[First class]

On a vaguely related note I accepted an RTV a few days ago and the issuing company was West Coast Rail Company. I assume isn't Virgin so there must be some situations where they pay out.

Those ARE Virgin vouchers.

Doesn't say West Coast Rail Company says West Coast Trains Limited.

 

[TheEdge]

Those ARE Virgin vouchers.

Doesn't say West Coast Rail Company says West Coast Trains Limited.

Probably did actually! It would make much more sense.

 

[Spurs]

Taken from the T&Cs of Thomas Cook Sport.

That's a shame, but thanks for finding that

Delay Repay is for National Rail services - this was a private charter where EMT were operating the train on behalf of someone else. You weren't actually a direct customer of EMT on this occasion. No different to a rail tour.

As you say, it was a Thomas Cook charter train, so any compensation arrangements would be through them, and not any of their suppliers.

Thomas Cook do not offer Delay Repay.

You are correct that, had you booked an East Midlands Trains service, which was 30+ minutes late, you would have been entitled to Delay Repay, as EMT do indeed offer Delay Repay.

It is, therefore, worth considering this when comparing fares in future.

Okay, slightly annoying but I'll bear it in mind, thanks In this case the deal was good but there was no choice anyway as the last public train out of Sheffield was too early to reliably catch after the game.

£25rtn seems a bargain to me - how many other football clubs charter trains these days

Not many as far as I know. Coaches are pretty common but the trains seem a fairly recent thing. Probably quite expensive and only worth it for clubs with large away followings in circumstances like this where there was no way for fans to get home that night using public transport.

Another aspect is that the sole purpose of this charter was to see the match and I'm sure half an hour delay didn't have any effect on your ability to get in the ground in good time.

True - just a couple less pints in the pub beforehand

Did you get to the ground on time to see the match?

Yep, although outrageously it sounds like there'd have been nothing we could do if we hadn't!

 

[Tetchytyke]

£25rtn seems a bargain to me - how many other football clubs charter trains these days

Chelsea do it as well, and their charter trains are heavily subsidised too. They always used to hire the Pretendolino, not sure what they use now.