Different train, Same Time.

[TrainTube]

So today at Grantham I was due to get the 15:16 LNER service to Kings Cross, this had come from Leeds at 14:15.
However there were delays on the ECML and my train was delayed by 10 mins.
However a LNER service from York came just after 15:16, being delayed also. I asked the staff at Grantham whether I was allowed to board this train as it was the same time as my advance (it actually made an additional call at Peterborough aswell), and they said unfortunately no.
However the guard on the Azuma let me on, and got to Kings Cross earlier than my advance service!
I wanted your thoughts on this, was the guard a legend and let me on when I shouldn't have been or were the station staff wrong about not being allowed on. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[pdeaves]

As your train wasn't cancelled (and actually wasn't delayed that long) station staff were officially right and the guard did you a favour.

 

[EssexGonzo]

Depends on whether you look at this from the railway's or the paying customer's perspective.

On the one hand: according to the rules, the station staff were correct as the rules say you shouldn't have been allowed on a different train, even though the lateness was the railway's fault. Rules are rules.

On the other hand: the Azuma guard was showing great customer empathy in allowing you to board a train run by the same company departing at the same time (as your booked service) to the same destination. That's the sort of service we'd rightly expect from any customer-centric, commercial organisation. I really don't see how he was doing you a favour given the service shortfall relating to the booked train. In my view, he was doing the right thing and deserves recognition as such.

 

[30907]

The OP may now have discovered that their train was held at its Peterborough stop for the Leeds service to overtake and was +17 at KGX.
I presume, though, that it was lightly loaded and they had a comfortable trip.