Not enough seats on replacement bus

[sunday]

What are you rights if you arrive at a station in plenty of time for your replacement bus service but due to an error in booking the coaches there are not enough seats for the number of passengers wishing to travel. As a result the next service your ticket is valid for does not depart for 2 hours yet.

Am travelling on an off peak return, London midland only. At the moment this is only a possibility from what I have been told. Hopefully I will get on.

I'm assuming delay repay would apply as usual. Would I be right to request travel on a virgin service or to request road transport to be provided for the necessary part of my journey?

Thanks.

 

[wintonian]

I don't know the answer, but I would think it would be to catch the next available service and claim for the delay, whilst asking the TOC to ensure there is enough capacity in future.

 

[bluenoxid]

My advice would to gain a name and possibly a phone number of the person who knows about your delay. Because the bus does not run on the rail system and is not tracked as such, proving your delay may be difficult particularly towards the end of the journey when you may require a different service or a taxi.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

My advice would to gain a name and possibly a phone number of the person who knows about your delay. Because the bus does not run on the rail system and is not tracked as such, proving your delay may be difficult particularly towards the end of the journey when you may require a different service or a taxi.

The buses are timed, and they appear on LDB and timetabling systems.

 

[radamfi]

The buses are timed, and they appear on LDB and timetabling systems.

But does anyone monitor whether rail replacement buses run on time?

Presumably the same problem can arise if a train is so full you can't get on. As far as you are concerned, the train is cancelled, but would you get compensation as if it was? Presumably this is not monitored like train delays so you have no proof.

What about if you are making a connection on an Advance ticket? Suppose you can't get on the train so you have to wait for the next one and therefore miss your booked connection. Does your Advance ticket become invalid?

 

[34D]

The buses are timed, and they appear on LDB and timetabling systems.

Yes and no. Live data from buses certainly isn't fed into LDB, also there may only be one bus service listed, but this will often be covered by two or more coaches/buses.

My advice would be to note the registration number and operator of the coach down.

I'm actually not sure what happens if a train is so full that you can't get on. Obviously if a cancelled train causes you to miss an apex connection you can travel on a later one. I would think though that you would struggle. As an example, FCC have publically stated that delay repay counts from the affected train to the following, regardless of whether a passenger was able to board.

Obviously if someone lives in Guide Bridge and is getting a peak hour train to Piccadilly to head to euston, they will know the local service and potentially leave earlier than their 'suggested service'.

Further comments here would be very welcome.

 

[radamfi]

Also, it is possible for a booked train to be totally full so you can't get on. In that case you could be affected if you have an Advance ticket comprising of just one direct train.

 

[sunday]

Well so far my journey has taken an hour longer than it should have. Will be an hour and a half before I arrive. Would have been two hours had I not forked out for a new ticket at Rugby. No LM staff at the station and their call centre is closed.

First bus I went to catch was cancelled, would have been direct to Rugby, had to change at Northampton. Next bus at Northampton was full and he following delayed by 20 minutes. London Midland staff have been an endagnered species throughout he journey and those I did encounter were largely ignorant and passive aggresive when asked for information. I get that they might not always have the information necessary but it would be nice if they would make some attempt at empathising with passengers rather than coming out with rubbish like "it will arrive when it arrives", a lovely gem I heard at Northampton. There has been no attempt at any station to organise passengers. Instead the preferred approach has been standing in front of the coach shouting the destination.

Frankly appalling service, I usually defend the railways and their staff but everything I observed today was shameful. Does anyone know if I will be eligible for a refund on my VT ticket?

 

[OwlMan]

Where were you travelling from & to and what time was your first train/bus due?

 

[sunday]

Milton Keynes- Birmingham New Street

1353 from Milton Keynes was cancelled. Next got to Northampton at 1439. 1500-ish Northamton to Rugby was full. 1515 was late, got on but it departed 1535. Got to Rugby at 1630, had the choice of waiting for 1715 LM service, would have got me in 2 hours from my scheduled arrival or paying for a VT ticket and getting in a bit earlier.

 

[OwlMan]

You will be able to claim delay repay from LM but it was your choice to make alternative arrangements so they do not have to refund your virgin fare. However you could try and see what happens.

Peter