This is off-topic, but there are a lot of people who think Virgin never really wanted the domestic ops (hence why it was actually Aer Lingus doing the flying) - it was all about the slots.
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Northern Rail train late / missed connection
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ab1 said:
You said Bolton to Manchester was off peak day. I had assumed single.. If you got a return there is no refund due whatsoever.
There is no off peak return for that flow. And if there was there would still be no refund due as the admin fee is 10pounds.
I think the OP is referring to the VT MAN-EUS ticket? Not that the answer would be any different.
At the risk of prolonging a pointless discussion, IF they could produce an itinerary for BON-SOU showing the substandard connection at MAN they might have a case worth pursuing, but not otherwise.
At the risk of prolonging a pointless discussion, IF they could produce an itinerary for BON-SOU showing the substandard connection at MAN they might have a case worth pursuing, but not otherwise.
Ah, yes, reading between the lines that is indeed likely.
Yes, in that case a return is £1 more than a single, yet the admin fee is £10.
There is no case, certainly not from Northern (who did not cause a delay tro a valid journey itinerary, and the delay was only 10 minutes which is far short of the 60 minutes required to trigger compensation), and certainly not from XC (whose services they did not use, nor attempted to take a subsequent train, which they may have been allowed to do!) and absolutely not from Virgin Trains (who simply sold them a ticket as none with any value was held).
Of course one of these companies may give out a gesture of goodwill, but that seems highly unlikely (unless the letter is written in a completely different style to the forum posts)
Delay Compensation is available if your journey was delayed by an hour or more.
Flamingo
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Indeed, Northern Rail (who have many failings, but this isn't one of them!) are most generous when it comes to delay compensation, when you compare them to the airline industry or the coach industry.
I'm not sure how long a flight from Manchester to Southampton (assuming such flights exist; if not then your nearest equivalent) or a coach from Manchester to Southampton would have to be delayed for you to get compensation.
If you were delayed on CrossCountry (XC), or indeed Virgin Trains if you went via London, they would compensate you for a delay of only 30 minutes, and compensation would even apply if the delay was entirely outside the fault of the rail industry, let alone XC/Virgin themselves.
Can you imagine a plane or coach company compensating you to the tune of 50% of the cost of a single ticket if you were half an hour late due to, say, vandalism, or an attempted suicide at the airport/on the motorway, or due to congestion caused by other flight/coach operators, etc?
So yes, I agree it is very important to consider the generous delay compensation available when travelling by train. Compensation so generous that some passengers WANT to be delayed.
I am glad we're in total agreement
Compensation for delays is a bit more complex than that. There are broadly two systems in force:-
- 1) Passenger Charter: This is the older, less generous, form for delay compensation. I believe that Northern operate under this scheme. Certain exclusions apply namely most things that are not under the direct control of the railway, e.g. Trespass or vandalism. There are generally higher thresholds for payment of compensation too.
or,
- 2) Delay Repay: This is the newer, more generous, form that is being rolled out to the TOCs as part of their re-franchising agreements. There is a lower threshold to trigger compensation, and, in genera, there are very few, if any, exclusions to the reason
for the delay.
By checking which TOC you are travelling with beforehand you will see which scheme applies to you.
A question for the forum: What happens if your journey is by two, or more, TOCs that operate under different delay compensation schemes, and you are in fact delayed above the minimum threshold?
If you are claiming a delay for the entire journey as one, then the claim goes to whichever company initially caused the delay, and that company's delay compensation terms apply.
In some cases, it may be better to claim for individual tickets separately (ie, as if they were separate journeys).
I posted an example 2 years ago of a theoretical York-Weymouth journey with calculation examples. One of the examples involves a 31 min delay to a York-London train, and a 61 min delay on a London - Weymouth train, however in that specific example I cannot claim for a York-Weymouth journey but could claim for two separate journeys to the respective Train Companies.
So one of the biggest advocates of split ticketing being classed as one journey wants to split that journey up into several smaller journeys when it suits!
Come on Yorkie, you cant have it both ways!
That was quick, thank you. 
I never said I "wanted" that, it's more a case of a statement of fact that a passenger can do that.
A passenger "may" use two or more tickets for one journey, and therefore I firmly believe that a delay claim can be for the whole journey.
However, while the Train Companies generally do (grudgingly) accept that position, I get the impression that they'd rather deal with just the delay on the particular ticket you used on their train. In some cases it's more benefitial to the passenger to go along with that, but that's very much the exception.
It's not me who is saying that delay compensation shouldn't apply for the whole journey; indeed it's some Train Companies saying that.
I am merely saying that in some cases (not many) it may be benefit passengers to go along with that.
The data was made "open" a while back (must be over a year ago now!), as a result several websites allow you to check. If you want to look at the history of a particular service to get an idea how likely it is that a particular train will be delayed, Raildar is your best bet.
bb21
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It is worth noting that these sites (e.g. RTT) will usually throw out the detailed data, detailing exactly when a specific train stopped where, after 7 days because there's little point in keeping it. So anyone looking to make a claim should get a screengrab or a printout as soon as they can, because the RT reports don't lie.
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DelayRepay
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It hardly seems worth the hassle...
Oh I can think of one family that used to pay for all their travel (in RTVs) using CC++B as their information source.
Flamingo
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When the son wasn't in nick, you mean?...
I know exactly who you are referring to, but they are friends with numerous rail staff. So if the data wasn't open, they'd get the info anyway. I'm informed several TOCs are aware and keep an eye out for their delay claims.
syorksdeano
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If you are doing split tickets (like I do regularly) then you need to have a good understanding on what to do when it goes wrong
I've asked a few times on this forum about split tickets and have never had a problem. 1 thing I don't go for is advance tickets because I like the flexibility.
For example, last week I went to Durham on split tickets from Sheffield. If I had bought advance tickets it would have actually cost me more (only slightly) but I had the flexibility if things went wrong.
Unfortunately you didn't leave yourself enough time to catch your next train (and I would say even 15 mins at Manchester Piccadilly is not enough), but you have learnt a valuable lesson for next time.
I've had 1 occasion to claim for a delay when using split tickets with a train company and never had an issue. I explained about the split tickets and the journey I was making and they actually advised me if I was doing the journey again get a ticket to so and so instead of what I had bought as it works out 3 quid cheaper.
You play nice with people and they will play nice back. Worth remembering that.
I've asked a few times on this forum about split tickets and have never had a problem. 1 thing I don't go for is advance tickets because I like the flexibility.
For example, last week I went to Durham on split tickets from Sheffield. If I had bought advance tickets it would have actually cost me more (only slightly) but I had the flexibility if things went wrong.
Unfortunately you didn't leave yourself enough time to catch your next train (and I would say even 15 mins at Manchester Piccadilly is not enough), but you have learnt a valuable lesson for next time.
I've had 1 occasion to claim for a delay when using split tickets with a train company and never had an issue. I explained about the split tickets and the journey I was making and they actually advised me if I was doing the journey again get a ticket to so and so instead of what I had bought as it works out 3 quid cheaper.
You play nice with people and they will play nice back. Worth remembering that.
Not always true...
I have heard of RJ encountering 'difficulties' despite having valid tickets and being polite. His threads are a great read
bramling
Veteran Member
It always amazes me the lengths certain people will go to just to save a few £££.
There are people who will ensure they are in Tesco at the time the evening discounting occurs, and will be in position ready at the moment the labels are being applied. Quite possibly these same people think railway enthusiasts are sad!
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
Depends on your perspective. I'm up to £72 in Delay Repay vouchers just from August, thanks to Network Rail's ineptitude and London Midland's inability to organise a booze-up in a brewery.
That's just on my normal commute, plus the odd weekend trip. Imagine how much I'd have if I claimed for every delayed train...
Not always true...
I have heard of RJ encountering 'difficulties' despite having valid tickets and being polite. His threads are a great read
agree with you
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