Is this eligible for delay repay?

[JamesDrew]

I was making a journey today from Euston to Marston Green via Birmingham International with an off peak return ticket scheduled as follows:

11:38 London Euston


Avanti West Coast

12:45 Birmingham International


+ Change, 6 minutes transfer time


12:51 Birmingham International


West Midlands Trains


12:54 Marston Green

Unfortunately the train from Euston arrived at Birmingham International at 12:53, meaning I’d missed the connection and would have needed to wait until 13:21 for the next train to Marston Green, hence arriving 1/2 hr later than scheduled.

I ended up taking a taxi for the last leg so as not to be late for an appointment.

I’m curious as to whether this is eligible for delay-repay as I would have arrived 1/2 hr late if I’d waited for the next train? (I should add, I’m more interested in the principle than making any claim for a refund, even if that is possible).

Many thanks
James

 

[jfollows]

No, Delay Repay is for actual versus scheduled times, as you know, and you can’t claim for hypothetical times like this. I say can’t but obviously you could, but you’d be lying to do so, not really advised.

 

[JamesDrew]

Thanks, that’s helpful. However ‘as you know’ is incorrect as I didn’t know, which is why I was asking! And I don’t have any intention of making a fraudulent claim.

So, if I had caught the later train would that situation then have become a delay repay scenario? Thanks again.

 

[jfollows]

Thanks, that’s helpful. However ‘as you know’ is incorrect as I didn’t know, which is why I was asking! And I don’t have any intention of making a fraudulent claim.

So, if I had caught the later train would that situation then have become a delay repay scenario? Thanks again.

Absolutely, the comparison is between your actual arrival time and the scheduled arrival time, and Delay Repay paid accordingly. Apologies for my assumption.

 

[Belperpete]

What time did you actually arrive at Marston Green by taking the taxi? If it was more than 15 minutes later than your scheduled arrival time, it may still be worth submitting a claim.

Note that it is not unknown for TOCs to ignore the delay time that you specify, and to do their own calculation based on actual train times.

 

[JamesDrew]

What time did you actually arrive at Marston Green by taking the taxi? If it was more than 15 minutes later than your scheduled arrival time, it may still be worth submitting a claim.

Note that it is not unknown for TOCs to ignore the delay time that you specify, and to do their own calculation based on actual train times.

I took the taxi to my final destination (which was a 15 minute walk from Marston Green station) so ended up arriving at a similar time to my original plan of train to Marston Green and then walking.
On this occasion time was more important than saving a few £ so I mitigated the missed connection by taking a taxi.

 

[Belperpete]

The other option is to email Avanti Customer Services to say that due to the late running of their train, you were forced to abandon your train journey at Birmingham International, and would like a refund of that part of the ticket price and your taxi fare. I suspect that the value of the ticket refund would be minimal, and any refund of the taxi fare would be discretionary. However it is worth pointing out the delay repay that you would have been entitled to if you had finished your journey by train, and they may offer something based on that. You may not get anything , but if you don't ask, you certainly won't get.

 

[JamesDrew]

Thanks for this, though I won’t be making any request for any refund. My initial post was intended to mainly query how delay repay works- as the Avanti train from Euston was only 8 minutes late arriving at Birmingham International and I wasn’t sure whether the knock on effect of missing a connection counted for delay repay purposes when the initial delay was so short.