Missed advanced connection with passenger assistance?

[phoenix1589]

I'm hoping I don't need to know, but if someone has passenger assistance booked for changing trains and miss a connection to an advanced ticket, are they allowed to travel on the next train / how do they evidence this for the train or any inspection during the journey?

My parents have assistance booked for Larbert to Leeds, changing at Edinburgh tomorrow. The itinerary has an 11 minute transfer.

No split tickets, just advanced single from Larbert to Leeds for each of them.

 

[Watershed]

If the connection is missed due to train disruption there is an automatic entitlement to take the next train operated by the same company - likely CrossCountry in this case.

If the connection is missed because the Passenger Assist staff don't turn up, or are late, then clearly the rail industry would still be at fault and would be expected to allow the passengers to take the next available train. You'd hope common sense would be exercised in such a case (since it may well be a breach of the Equality Act not to accept the ticket on a late train) but just in case, I'd suggest asking to go to the ticket office to get the tickets endorsed.

If the connection is missed because it's not enough time for your parents to make the change, bearing in mind the nature of their accessibility requirements, I'm not sure that would be regarded as the rail industry's fault. 11 mins should be enough to change at Edinburgh in most cases though - albeit even a relatively small delay (3 or 4 mins) may put that connection at risk.

Your parents may prefer to take an earlier train to Edinburgh to give them more time. This generally isn't an issue on the connecting ScotRail element of a wider Advance ticket.

 

[ainsworth74]

And finally, just to add to the excellent advice above, for future journeys you might want to consider using a ticket website that allows you to specific additional interchange time over and above the required minimum interchange time. For instance you could add an extra ten minutes which would ensure that you'd always get at least twenty minutes to change at Waverley.

The Forum's site has this facility under the advanced options (other Trainsplit powered sites are available with the same functionality!).

 

[phoenix1589]

Thanks both.

You'd hope common sense would be exercised in such a case

Yes, how many times has that not happened!

If the connection is missed because it's not enough time for your parents to make the change, bearing in mind the nature of their accessibility requirements, I'm not sure that would be regarded as the rail industry's fault

The assistance is more for navigation and support than because of a mobility issue. If assistance and inbound train are on time, I wouldn't expect any issue with the 11 minutes.

The Forum's site has this facility under the advanced options

For this ticket, online purchasing was an issue but having seen that option it's useful to know about for the future!

 

[etr221]

My view is that, with assistance having been booked for the change, it is down to those providing the assistance to ensure the connection is made, or deal with the situation if it isn't (including obtaining authorisation for travel on alternative train).

 

[styles]

11 mins should be enough to change at Edinburgh in most cases though - albeit even a relatively small delay (3 or 4 mins) may put that connection at risk.

If the passenger requires use of a ramp and lifts, this can get a bit trickier at Waverley. The lifts on certain platforms can have long queues of people with suitcases. That said, last time I was there with a wheelchair user we booked the passenger assist option for help transferring trains, and the staff member was great at getting us to the front of such queues. In fact without her I suspect we might've missed our connection. Well worth considering for some connections.

 

[Dirty_Mac]

If the passenger requires use of a ramp and lifts, this can get a bit trickier at Waverley.

Thankfully I don't think either train often uses platforms 8/9

 

[phoenix1589]

My parents inbound train was 5 minutes late, and their Leeds train had a last minute platform change. Luckily the passenger assistance were waiting when they arrived and they just made their connection!