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Similar issue to report as OP. I booked a Crosscountry train between Winchester and Bournemouth on a recent day when heavy rain/ flooding disrupted services.
At Winchester an announcement was made that the train I had booked was delayed and would be going no further than Southampton Central. I inquired at Winchester about a rail replacement service to Bournemouth, where I was due in work, and they said none was in place.
No advice at all was provided about onward travel from Southampton Central on board the train leaving customers like me who were bound for Bournemouth in the dark as to how to get to destination.
Once I disembarked I questioned staff at the station who were helpful and said that I could get a later SWR train, but that there would be significant delays and there was no information about when they would leave. I again asked about rail replacement and they said there was none, but considering customers had to get to work there was authorisation in place for customers to go via alternative means, including taxi. I checked and clarified this, including with a station staff remember who was actually standing in front of the taxi rank that morning. He said I would be able to claim back no problem at all.
I took a taxi and paid for it out of my own pocket. Then I began a protracted process of trying to get compensated.
SWR say it’s Crosscountry’s responsibility as it’s their train. Though I bought the ticket via SWR app.
Crosscountry say there was no authorisation for customers to take taxi to final destination. Even though they concede that there were significant delays and uncertainty regarding when the next trains would be able to run to Bournemouth (not their train, since the SH- BNM leg of that one was completely cancelled), they could not reasonably be expected to pay for alternative transport in the circumstances. Moreover they say that their method is to book the taxi directly with company for customers experiencing delays in certain circumstances and they don’t do it in any other way. They also say regarding advice provided by station staff at Central they can follow up with a complain and inquire into “potential misconduct”.
None of this sits very well with me. I am wondering how best to respond to them and whether to take the county court claim route and/or potentially invoke the Consumer Act 2015 where companies are obliged to act with care and skill in the dispensation of their services.
The troubling aspects of this relate to the attempts by Crosscountry to absolve themselves of responsibility for the leg of the journey in question and the conflicting interpretation of duty of care between them and the SWR staff that were actually on the ground and helping distressed commuters find solutions on the morning in question.
They seem to portray the situation as no more than a significant delay (rather than one which potentially might have run into hours) and expect that commuters who were already more than an hour late should have just sat and waited for an indeterminate amount of time.
There are also contradictions within CC’s own version of events. Their cited reason for not continuing their train to Bournemouth was ‘severe flooding’ on the line, the same line in which later SWR services had to take (as it transpires they did leave, about 1hr 40 mins after my train was supposed to leave SH Central). Which begs the question, what made the SWR trains somehow more equipped to take this leg of the journey than Crosscountry trains?
Regarding the booking a taxi directly response, how could a Crosscountry staff member have booked a taxi for a delayed customer at SH Central when there are no CC staff at that station? Upon reading that part of their response the term gaslighting sprang to mind, but I understand such things are subjective.
Somewhat tangentially, but also related to the Consumer Act care and skill consideration, the same service to Bournemouth also terminated in SH Central just a few days later, this time with no reason given?? This was a delayed service and a few people I spoke to were of the opinion that it that Crosscountry would seemingly rather abandon their paying customers in SH Central than pay out delay repay compensation to those taking longer journeys on the same service.
My main issue here is how to get compensated for the taxi, but I would also like to highlight these practices by Crosscountry as I believe customers should be aware that they may be abandoned at any moment and/or given confusing and conflicting information if it suits this provider’s own agenda. Their response had a very clear air of “what gave you the impression you had a right to book a cab yourself?” and it seems they would rather shift responsibility to commuters and station staff dealing with challenges in some part derived from their lack of planning, care, and skill.
Refused Claim for Taxi
Hello everyone, first time poster here looking for some help please. TIA I pre-purchased tickets with cross country using the nationalrail website. Tickets from Southampton central to oxford on the 9th November 2025 at 1015. I arrived at the station early and could see there were lots of...
www.railforums.co.uk
Similar issue to report as OP. I booked a Crosscountry train between Winchester and Bournemouth on a recent day when heavy rain/ flooding disrupted services.
At Winchester an announcement was made that the train I had booked was delayed and would be going no further than Southampton Central. I inquired at Winchester about a rail replacement service to Bournemouth, where I was due in work, and they said none was in place.
No advice at all was provided about onward travel from Southampton Central on board the train leaving customers like me who were bound for Bournemouth in the dark as to how to get to destination.
Once I disembarked I questioned staff at the station who were helpful and said that I could get a later SWR train, but that there would be significant delays and there was no information about when they would leave. I again asked about rail replacement and they said there was none, but considering customers had to get to work there was authorisation in place for customers to go via alternative means, including taxi. I checked and clarified this, including with a station staff remember who was actually standing in front of the taxi rank that morning. He said I would be able to claim back no problem at all.
I took a taxi and paid for it out of my own pocket. Then I began a protracted process of trying to get compensated.
SWR say it’s Crosscountry’s responsibility as it’s their train. Though I bought the ticket via SWR app.
Crosscountry say there was no authorisation for customers to take taxi to final destination. Even though they concede that there were significant delays and uncertainty regarding when the next trains would be able to run to Bournemouth (not their train, since the SH- BNM leg of that one was completely cancelled), they could not reasonably be expected to pay for alternative transport in the circumstances. Moreover they say that their method is to book the taxi directly with company for customers experiencing delays in certain circumstances and they don’t do it in any other way. They also say regarding advice provided by station staff at Central they can follow up with a complain and inquire into “potential misconduct”.
None of this sits very well with me. I am wondering how best to respond to them and whether to take the county court claim route and/or potentially invoke the Consumer Act 2015 where companies are obliged to act with care and skill in the dispensation of their services.
The troubling aspects of this relate to the attempts by Crosscountry to absolve themselves of responsibility for the leg of the journey in question and the conflicting interpretation of duty of care between them and the SWR staff that were actually on the ground and helping distressed commuters find solutions on the morning in question.
They seem to portray the situation as no more than a significant delay (rather than one which potentially might have run into hours) and expect that commuters who were already more than an hour late should have just sat and waited for an indeterminate amount of time.
There are also contradictions within CC’s own version of events. Their cited reason for not continuing their train to Bournemouth was ‘severe flooding’ on the line, the same line in which later SWR services had to take (as it transpires they did leave, about 1hr 40 mins after my train was supposed to leave SH Central). Which begs the question, what made the SWR trains somehow more equipped to take this leg of the journey than Crosscountry trains?
Regarding the booking a taxi directly response, how could a Crosscountry staff member have booked a taxi for a delayed customer at SH Central when there are no CC staff at that station? Upon reading that part of their response the term gaslighting sprang to mind, but I understand such things are subjective.
Somewhat tangentially, but also related to the Consumer Act care and skill consideration, the same service to Bournemouth also terminated in SH Central just a few days later, this time with no reason given?? This was a delayed service and a few people I spoke to were of the opinion that it that Crosscountry would seemingly rather abandon their paying customers in SH Central than pay out delay repay compensation to those taking longer journeys on the same service.
My main issue here is how to get compensated for the taxi, but I would also like to highlight these practices by Crosscountry as I believe customers should be aware that they may be abandoned at any moment and/or given confusing and conflicting information if it suits this provider’s own agenda. Their response had a very clear air of “what gave you the impression you had a right to book a cab yourself?” and it seems they would rather shift responsibility to commuters and station staff dealing with challenges in some part derived from their lack of planning, care, and skill.
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