Delayed journey - abandoned final ticket, what can I claim?

[trainophile]

Moderator note: Split from

Delay repay - Split Ticket, Multiple Operator Delays and Cancelled Trains

Hi, I've got a delay repay situation I'm not sure how to claim. The overall planned journey was 9:29 Ilkeston to 13:53 Windermere, open return, 2 tickets (ILN->MAN, MAN->WDM) as I needed to stay over in Man on the return. 9:29 ILN, change in Sheffield, arrive 11:35 at MAN for the 11:50 to WDM...

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I’m currently in a similar situation having abandoned my original collection of Northern Advance tickets Southport to Scarborough, after a late arrival at Manchester Vic caused a connection to be missed, which would have a knock on effect due to further cancellations, so I bought a MCV-SCA e-ticket two minutes before the TPE arrived.

Presumably I claim the whole journey from Northern even though it was a signal problem!

 

[mangyiscute]

I’m currently in a similar situation having abandoned my original collection of Northern Advance tickets Southport to Scarborough, after a late arrival at Manchester Vic caused a connection to be missed, which would have a knock on effect due to further cancellations, so I bought a MCV-SCA e-ticket two minutes before the TPE arrived.

Presumably I claim the whole journey from Northern even though it was a signal problem!

If you're delayed and using advance tickets, you are always entitled to take the next train to your destination on the toc you were gonna travel with, even if you were using split tickets, as long as you are observing minimum connection times, which I think is 5 mins at Manchester Victoria.

The biggest issue is when TOCs will incorrectly forward delay repay cases to another TOC, and then it bounces back and forth as both claim they aren't responsible

 

[trainophile]

My journey was all on Northern, four Advances Southport>Man Vic>Leeds>Hull>Scarborough. Incidentally the information (can’t actually remember where but it must have been NRE) stated Northern ticket acceptance for TPE tickets, but nothing reciprocal was stated so I assumed I had to stick with Northern.

Upon researching my options I realised I was going to get to Leeds to find three consecutive hourly Northern trains to Hull cancelled. There was no joy via changing at York either, if sticking to Northern. This left me little option other than buy a TPE ticket, or get to Scarborough at 18:41 instead of 14:41.

Bit of a shambles all round. If it wasn’t for Realtime Trains I’d have ended up with a nightmare journey.

 

[yorkie]

I’m currently in a similar situation having abandoned my original collection of Northern Advance tickets Southport to Scarborough, after a late arrival at Manchester Vic caused a connection to be missed, which would have a knock on effect due to further cancellations, so I bought a MCV-SCA e-ticket two minutes before the TPE arrived.

Presumably I claim the whole journey from Northern even though it was a signal problem!

No; your situation was different as although you could have chosen to use the original ticket and claimed DR as appropriate, you chose not to travel on the final ticket.

If you choose not to use any particular ticket, due to disruption, such as the train itself is delayed or cancelled or you are delayed on a valid connection into that train, and if you choose not to travel/use the ticket, you are entitled to a full refund on the unused ticket(s).

In reality, if you do not obtain a refund on the unused ticket, a delay repay claim instead would almost certainly be accepted, but technically as you did not actually complete the journey and chose not to use the final ticket, I don't think that would actually be correct.

If your aim is to maximise compensation, your best bet is not to obtain any replacement tickets, and stick to the original itinerary; if connections are missed, follow any instructions from staff to board appropriate alternative trains (and if you are ever told you can't take an alternative operator, then ask the staff on that train anyway, where applicable/relevant, as they have the discretion to say yes) and put in a DR claim for the original tickets, without buying new ones.

Of course there is nothing to stop you deciding not to use any particular tickets, obtaining refunds on those, and purchasing other tickets, if you wish, but doing so can reduce your compensation entitlements.

 

[trainophile]

Thanks for splitting it onto a new thread, sorry I did consider that but thought the similarity was enough.

Just for the record I’m only in Scarborough for two nights, so not arriving until 18:00 wasn’t really an option. The claim is a difficult one, I have claimed delay repay on the basis that had I stuck to what was left uncancelled for the Northern services relevant to my tickets, I would have reached my destination over three hours late.

As I had two minutes at Victoria to decide what to do before the TPE arrived, I hastily bought an e-ticket (yes I will use them in some circumstances!) and as it was checked on both trains (changed at York, it was the Saltburn train from Manchester Airport) I was glad I didn’t have to mess around with tricky explanations.

As for asking the guard before boarding, it relies on being able to find him or her in the available time frame, with luggage preventing dashing along the platform, and if they had said no I wouldn’t have had time to buy an e-ticket, which I believe has to be purchased before the departure time from your boarding station.

Luckily I’m only £21 out of pocket, and if Northern accept my claim I should get £13 back. If they reject it so be it.

I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect someone to arrive at their destination three hours later than they bought tickets for. No doubt someone will say that’s a chance you take with Advance tickets, and I agree to an extent, but when there’s an alternative that gets you there on time most people would choose to do that.

The irony is that I only booked Northern because of TPE’s unreliability!