Yesterday, Monday 26th May 2026, I was caught up in disruption on the East Coast Mainline. I was on 1A31 the 1810 from Leeds to London Kings Cross (Link to RTT). It terminated at Doncaster having lost 107 minutes following (several?) broken down trains. The messaging kept changing, the latest before I cut my losses, was that there was a 30 min or so wait for the next southbound train. This was bound to be absolutely rammed. As I had my young daughter with me, and because I would have to travel to Kent from London, I feared either being stranded in Central London in the small hours or having to pay a fortune for a taxi. I therefore cut my losses, went back to Leeds and stayed in a very reasonably-priced hotel. I bought a new ticket to travel home the following day - I was happy to stomach the cost of the hotel and the new ticket on the basis that the hotel was primarily for my comfort, and the new ticket was to get a reserved seat as I anticipated (rightly) the trains the next day would be rammed.
Today, I travelled on 1A14 the 0940 Leeds to Kings Cross (Link to RTT). This picked up quite a bit of delay on the way home. It shows +29 on RTT, the WTT states it should arrive at 1151, RTT states it arrived at 1220 1/2, but I videoed it coming in and it didn't come to a stop until 1221. However, I am guessing as the published timetable states an arrival of 1153, then it doesn't qualify for 1/2 hour delay repay (even though it arrived technically 30 mins late)?
So my questions:
1. Am I due any delay repay or refund for my journey on the 26th of May?
2. Am I due any delay repay for today? (I assume not)
3. Anything else I am missing (I don't expect expenses or similar)
Bonus question:
4. At Doncaster, I bought a ticket back to Leeds. The TVM gave me the option of various timed departures as "advances" but due to disruption what what was offered did not reflect what was arriving and departing. I therefore selected I want to travel on "any train" (or similar, I can't recall the exact wording) and selected a more expensive off-peak ticket. This ticket did not appear to me to be bound by any operator, and I had selected "any train" (or similar). When I examined it, it said "Northern Trains only". I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to train travel and ticketing, maybe I was just tired and rushing, but it really wasn't clear at the time that it was "Northern Trains Only". I don't suppose this is worth raising anywhere?
Today, I travelled on 1A14 the 0940 Leeds to Kings Cross (Link to RTT). This picked up quite a bit of delay on the way home. It shows +29 on RTT, the WTT states it should arrive at 1151, RTT states it arrived at 1220 1/2, but I videoed it coming in and it didn't come to a stop until 1221. However, I am guessing as the published timetable states an arrival of 1153, then it doesn't qualify for 1/2 hour delay repay (even though it arrived technically 30 mins late)?
So my questions:
1. Am I due any delay repay or refund for my journey on the 26th of May?
2. Am I due any delay repay for today? (I assume not)
3. Anything else I am missing (I don't expect expenses or similar)
Bonus question:
4. At Doncaster, I bought a ticket back to Leeds. The TVM gave me the option of various timed departures as "advances" but due to disruption what what was offered did not reflect what was arriving and departing. I therefore selected I want to travel on "any train" (or similar, I can't recall the exact wording) and selected a more expensive off-peak ticket. This ticket did not appear to me to be bound by any operator, and I had selected "any train" (or similar). When I examined it, it said "Northern Trains only". I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to train travel and ticketing, maybe I was just tired and rushing, but it really wasn't clear at the time that it was "Northern Trains Only". I don't suppose this is worth raising anywhere?
