GWR Delay/Repay

[theclockender]

Hi

I applied for delay/repay from GWR as the 19:06 from Paddington to Didcott (I was going to Maidenhead) was delayed on the 22nd June.

GWR declined it saying this train was run by Northern Railways and I need to claim from them. I appealed as I assumed it was mistake as I didn’t know that Northern ran trains from Paddington. It has been declined again for the same reason…does anyone know if Northern run out of Paddington for some specific trains? I’ve claimed before for delays on the fast train to Maidenhead and never had this issue before.

Thanks for any insights

 

[jfollows]

The 19:06 to Bedwyn was cancelled at Paddington on Monday 22 June. And isn’t booked to call at Maidenhead anyway. I think it was booked to call there on 22 June, though, it had a VSTP schedule before being cancelled.

No, there are no trains operated by Northern at London Paddington.

You could use the attachment here when pursuing this claim, assuming it was the 19:06 to Bedwyn you were planning on using.

 

[pwharley]

Apart from GWR, the only other operator to use Paddington was Chiltern, but that (solitary) service has ceased.

As you've appealed the rejection and had this nonsense about Northern repeated back to you, I suggest you raise the matter with the Rail Ombudsman.

Rail Ombudsman

The Rail Ombudsman is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. We offer a free, expert service to help sort out unresolved customer complaints about Service Providers within the rail industry.

www.railombudsman.org

 

[jfollows]

I suggest you identify the correct train first, though.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se.../0000-2359?stp=WVSC&show=all&order=wtt&toc=GW shows today’s GW trains which call at Maidenhead. However on 22 June there were other booked calls I believe, including the 19:06 before it was cancelled. It ran to a VSTP “very short term plan” schedule which was probably changed on the day (actually the schedule was implemented 24 hours earlier, on Sunday afternoon).

 

[SECR 65]

1K26 1906 London Paddington to Bedwin Bedwyn was booked to call at Maidenhead (as far as I can see), and was indeed cancelled. https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:W35146/2026-06-22/detailed#allox_id=0

It was not, however, booked to call at Didcot Parkway.

My first thought was that somehow GWR have got confused with a different 1K26, but the only others I can find were operated by TPE, SE, and GA.

Oddly, when using Railcam, I am unable to find the 1K26 we are looking for at all. This seems very strange as it appears on RTT. Would this be a reason why GWR's delay repay people can't find the train - or am I just being incompetent?


For the benefit of the OP, these four digit codes I am using (called Train IDs or 'headcodes') are used by the railway industry to identify specific trains. They are often repeated across different parts of the country, but not usually in the same area at the same time.

 

[theclockender]

1K26 1906 London Paddington to Bedwin was booked to call at Maidenhead (as far as I can see), and was indeed cancelled. https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:W35146/2026-06-22/detailed#allox_id=0

It was not, however, booked to call at Didcot Parkway.

My first thought was that somehow GWR have got confused with a different 1K26, but the only others I can find were operated by TPE, SE, and GA.

Oddly, when using Railcam, I am unable to find the 1K26 we are looking for at all. This seems very strange as it appears on RTT. Would this be a reason why GWR's delay repay people can't find the train - or am I just being incompetent?


For the benefit of the OP, these four digit codes I am using (called Train IDs or 'headcodes') are used by the railway industry to identify specific trains. They are often repeated across different parts of the country, but not usually in the same area at the same time.

The 19:06 to Bedwyn was cancelled at Paddington on Monday 22 June. And isn’t booked to call at Maidenhead anyway. I think it was booked to call there on 22 June, though, it had a VSTP schedule before being cancelled.

No, there are no trains operated by Northern at London Paddington.

You could use the attachment here when pursuing this claim, assuming it was the 19:06 to Bedwyn you were planning on using.

Ah sorry, just assumed it was going to Didcott as that is normally where the fast trains to Maidenhead end up. Though I just used the time of departure and Maidenhead on the claim so hopefully nothing turns on this.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jul 2026 ==

Apart from GWR, the only other operator to use Paddington was Chiltern, but that (solitary) service has ceased.

As you've appealed the rejection and had this nonsense about Northern repeated back to you, I suggest you raise the matter with the Rail Ombudsman.

https://www.railombudsman.org/en[/

http://

 

[jfollows]

You need to point out that although the 19:06 isn’t booked to call at Maidenhead in the timetable, on this particular day it was amended to add a Maidenhead call prior to the train being cancelled. GWR quite probably looked at the regular timetable, as did I initially, rather than the precise details from the day itself. This train is normally first stop Twyford.

 

[theclockender]

Apart from GWR, the only other operator to use Paddington was Chiltern, but that (solitary) service has ceased.

As you've appealed the rejection and had this nonsense about Northern repeated back to you, I suggest you raise the matter with the Rail Ombudsman.

Rail Ombudsman

The Rail Ombudsman is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. We offer a free, expert service to help sort out unresolved customer complaints about Service Providers within the rail industry.

www.railombudsman.org

For the vast sums involved they do seem to make it hard to claim.

My get a moment I’ll contact the ombudsman

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jul 2026 ==

You need to point out that although the 19:06 isn’t booked to call at Maidenhead in the timetable, on this particular day it was amended to add a Maidenhead call prior to the train being cancelled. GWR quite probably looked at the regular timetable, as did I initially, rather than the precise details from the day itself.

Ok…thanks, I’ll add that to my next message

 

[AlterEgo]

You cannot refer a matter to the Rail Ombudsman until the train company issues a deadlock letter or the matter is 40 working days old. Go back to GWR and raise a complaint, the ombudsman cannot help you at this stage.

For the vast sums involved they do seem to make it hard to claim.

My get a moment I’ll contact the ombudsman

 

[SECR 65]

Has the WTT (working timetable - basically the long term regular service) 1K26 been removed from the system, and a VSTP (very short term planning - basically emergency service) replacement been put in, and this is why I cannot find the train on Railcam? If I as an enthusiast can't find the train, then could the GWR delay repay people be having the same issue?

 

[jfollows]

Has the WTT (working timetable - basically the long term regular service) 1K26 been removed from the system, and a VSTP (very short term planning - basically emergency service) replacement been put in, and this is why I cannot find the train on Railcam? If I as an enthusiast can't find the train, then could the GWR delay repay people be having the same issue?

It depends on where you look.
https://charlwoodhouse.co.uk/ has all the information I attached above, and there are other sites containing historic information on train running.
I suspect GWR just looked at the regular timetable and dismissed the appeal because the 19:06 doesn’t call at Maidenhead in it. They seem incented to reject claims, so this was probably good enough for their purposes.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

then could the GWR delay repay people be having the same issue?

I don't think that excuses the total lack of knowledge of English rail geography in asserting that Northern operate trains from Paddington.

Assuming the OP is a regular traveller, he may have noticed that the Bedwyn train, had it not been cancelled, was not the regular commuter 387 but an IEP 800.

 

[theclockender]

I don't think that excuses the total lack of knowledge of English rail geography in asserting that Northern operate trains from Paddington.

Assuming the OP is a regular traveller, he may have noticed that the Bedwyn train, had it not been cancelled, was not the regular commuter 387 but an IEP 800.

Thanks I will go back and raise a complaint with GWR and be more specific. The ice cream this will pay for better be good.

Apologies I’m not 100% what 387 vs IEP 800 is - I assume normal train vs. Intercity 125 (as I would describe them)

Thanks for all your help

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jul 2026 ==

Received a reply within a couple of hours:

Thank you for contacting us at Great Western Railway regarding your Delay Repay claim.

I'm sorry to hear your claim has been passed to Northern, I understand this may be frustrating.

Upon checking the journey, the system that our Delay Repay team use, is showing the 19:06 service as operated by Northern. Northern Trains don't use London Paddington so I'm uncertain why it's showing as this. This will be a system error so I do apologise. It's clear we operated the service.

I have now sent an email over to our dedicated Delay Repay team explaining the situation with a request for your claim to be appealed. Once they have received and reviewed this, they will contact you directly with an update on the decision. We do have to ask that you allow up to 28 days to hear from them as this is industry standard, however, this may be a lot quicker.


How their system shows someone else operated their train is beyond me but let’s see what they come back with.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Jul 2026 ==

And just like that they authorised the payment…thanks everyone