Trivia Luckiest Traveller on the railway network

[74A]

So following on from the thread about unlucky passengers travelling beyond there stop I thought I would start one about lucky travellers

On a Friday afternoon a couple of children got on at Reading. They were aged about 13 and 10 and going to Maiden Newton. They should have got on the train to Westbury but they got on the fast next stop Taunton.

Working it out due to the time of day etc it was going to take them an extra 4 hours on their journey by the time they had changed at Taunton and waited for the next train back to Castle Cary and waiting for the Weymouth train there. Also it would be getting quite late by then so it was a bit concerning for a about a couple of fairly young children hanging about on their own.

And then the driver says that due to a fault the train has to terminate. And its going to do this at Westbury.

So they simply got off the train and caught their original connection. Down from a 4 hour delay to none, does not get much luckier than that !

 

[algytaylor]

My dad, last year:
- Caught a train from Knighton to Shrewsbury running 10mins late
- Got to Shrewsbury, caught a train running about 40mins late going to Birmingham New St. Got to New St, caught a train running 15 mins late to Marston Green.

Overall, as a result of catching 3 delayed trains, he ended up getting there over an hour faster than expected.

 

[30907]

In Slovakia a couple of years ago I made a -20 off a local bus into an express which meant I could do the rest of a complicated circuit by train and get lunch en route saving a lengthy bus ride, a 30min walk AND a rather tight connection which would have been stressful. Though on reflection I did have to pay for the train (seniors normally go free, but not last minute on an express!)

 

[Eccles1983]

The man who fell off the platform into the 4ft at Mossley hill, a train went over the top of him and he escaped unharmed.

That's beating saving an hour or two.

 

[dgl]

Doing Staines to Weymouth Via Reading and Castle Cary as it meant having little waits at each station rather than an hour at Basingstoke, due to a trespasser earlier our train from Reading was delayed and it could have meant at least a 4hr wait at Castle Cary (it being Sunday so a very infrequent service), missing the last bus back to Portland and probably would have ended up in a call to a relative to see if they could pick us up, as it turned out one of the train crew was due to catch the Weymouth train so the connection was held.

I did nearly catch the Rivera Express once when going to Taunton from Exeter but luckily I checked, naturally I thought that any train going in the direction of Taunton would stop there.

 

[Iskra]

I’m going to nominate myself:

- Was attending a stag do in Newcastle from Sheffield, not a particularly time sensitive trip. Lightning struck York signalling centre, all trains cancelled. I instead got to go the long and much more scenic way around via the Hope Valley, WCML and Tyne Valley lines which are all nice. A full refund was received.

A few weeks later I received an email out of the blue from LNER offering a goodwill gesture by way of apology. I emailed back as per their instructions expecting a buffet voucher or something.

Instead, they sent me two free first class return tickets to anywhere on their network.

Being a Yorkshireman and a rail enthusiast I duly booked London-Inverness for maximum value (and I’d always wanted to do the full journey having always started from York previously). That was in HST days too. I used the other ticket on a Leeds-London train and one of the evening meal services back out of London as that’s something else I’d always wanted to do.

LNER remain my favourite TOC

Another time I was doing Leeds-Penzance via London and the Leeds train was 45mins late. I missed my train out of Paddington and ended up on one with Pullman dining instead, so I went for that and it was more than covered by the delay repay, so that was another good delay.

 

[Segedunum]

I remember accidentally losing my return ticket from London back up to Newcastle once shortly after arrival there.

I recall dashing back from Liverpool St to King's Cross and pleading my case with the ticket office. Thankfully the bloke was second to none and issued me a handwritten replacement ticket after I showed him my outward portion and my booking confirmation.

Again, this was under LNER.

Ended up saving me about 80 quid.

 

[185143]

I was on a TPE service a few years ago, boarding at Thirsk. I'd just taken the Grand Central HST from York to Thirsk. I had a pile of tickets, a season ticket for the Manchester area in one ticket wallet and a free Northern day pass along with a York-Middlesbrough return in another. I'd been gripped on the GC but must have either left that ticket wallet on the table or not put it back in my pocket.

An RPI wandered down the platform at Thirsk asking people if we had tickets to which I duly told him that I did. As expected, he came through gripping onboard... to find me without a ticket beyond Greenfield. He let me continue looking while he gripped the rest of the train and said he'd come back, which he did after a nervous wait to see what would happen next. I explained what must have happened, what trains I'd been on, what tickets they were. He tried to contact Thirsk station to see if I'd dropped the ticket wallet there but nothing was found. I offered to buy a new ticket but was quietly told that wouldn't be necessary, and to speak to staff at Thornaby who would try to contact the GC guard to check where I'd been sitting. Largely, I suspect, down to the fact that I was under 16 at the time and could give so much information about what I'd done.

Nothing was ever found. But fortunately I knew a loophole to get me back home very cheaply.

The best bit? This was while Virgin were throwing £45 "fob off" RTVs around to anyone and everyone as Delay Repay. The ticket was an Anytime Return to Cumbria so I continued my journey the next day and got delayed by floods, and turned back by staff at Preston. That netted me £45. Ticket acceptance was granted for the next week or so, so I tried again the following Sunday. Something else happened there, so another £45. The return journey the same day got stuck behind a fatality at Leyland so arrived into Wigan over 3 hours late. Another £45. So that was £135 worth of RTVs for a ticket that cost £15 that I only bought because I ballsed up!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The return journey the same day got stuck behind a fatality at Leyland so arrived into Wigan over 3 hours late. Another £45.

Each to their own I suppose but I've always thought it inappropriate to submit a Delay Repay claim when the cause of the delay has been due to a fatality. Doesn't seem right, somehow.

 

[greyman42]

A friend of mine had his staff travel pass lost/stolen at Paddington station. He was heading to Kings Cross to travel back to York. At Kings Cross he explained to the guard what had happened and the guard took his word for it and allowed him to travel to York without a ticket.

 

[185143]

Each to their own I suppose but I've always thought it inappropriate to submit a Delay Repay claim when the cause of the delay has been due to a fatality. Doesn't seem right, somehow.

I wouldn't do it for money, but will happily take vouchers. Plus I'm almost certain we were told to claim anyway.

It wasn't handled particularly well. We were held at Preston with absolutely no information for over an hour. I later found out there had been bus replacements running frequently to Wigan, which was my final destination. Had the train been on time when I boarded (it was significantly delayed already) I'd have missed the incident altogether.