Who to claim DR from

[trainophile]

Journey today Paignton to Hereford
Tickets Paignton to Cheltenham Spa Advance and Return portion of an Off Peak Return Cheltenham to Hereford.

Journey went as follows:
Paignton departed 10:14 XC
Arrived Cheltenham Spa 12:52 (15 late)
Departed Cheltenham Spa 13:01 (16 late) GWR
Arrived Worcester Shrub Hill 13:27 (9 late)
Departed Worcester Shrub Hill 14:19* GWR
Arrived Worcester Foregate Street 14:22
Departed Worcester FS 14:42 WMR
Arrived Hereford 15:21
(*= Bailed at Shrub Hill from first WOF bound train as intended to get the also late running GWR direct to Hereford, and this would reduce the waiting around, but in the event the GWR changed its plans to terminate at Great Malvern so I had to revert to the WMR option from WOF). Had I stayed on the original WOF bound train I would only have had one minute to change platforms for the earlier Hereford train - in the event it departed 2 late so I would have had 3 minutes, but still not adequate. Minimum connection time at WOF is 7 minutes.

My original itinerary:
Depart PGN 10:14
Arrive CNM 12:38
Depart CNM 12:45
Arrive WOF 13:24
Depart WOF 13:34
Arrive HFD 14:17

So I was actually one hour and four minutes late. But do I claim from XC for the original delay, despite the fact that I caught my late running GWR connection anyway?

Also as it's a mixture of tickets I'd only be due half the Return ticket cost, but the whole of the PGN-CNM cost, so that's going to complicate a claim.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

 

[yorkie]

Are you saying that you were on the booked trains as far as Worcester, but the delay to the GWR service into Worcester meant you missed the booked train from Worcester?

I'd say claim from GWR.

I know some people will say you should claim from XC because of the XC being delayed, however the XC train did make the connection and therefore didn't cause a material delay. If the XC train had been on time, then it wouldn't have changed anything; you'd have just had longer to wait at your first interchange than your second.

I doubt GWR would refuse the claim, but let us know if they do.

 

[trainophile]

Thanks @yorkie, I'll do that then and see what happens.

Re: your first sentence, being an Off Peak Return from Cheltenham onwards, although I was given a (no seat) reservation for the 12:45, from Cheltenham I assumed that any reasonable service would be okay so long as I didn't double back or anything.

 

[30907]

Interesting case:
The Paignton was delayed 5-6min outside CNM, ultimately because the 0927 XC Plymouth-Aberdeen had sat there for 22min.
The GW was then delayed by a couple of minutes judging by RTT and the OP might have made the connection at WOF as a result.
So I'm not sure it's clear-cut, and you could equally well claim from XC (and XC will probably not do the detail work required to turn it down - OTOH they might passthe buck anyway....).

PS think I agree with Starmill - do what you want

 

[Starmill]

There's no way of determining what to do in a case where a delay fouled a connection but both trains were equally late, thus protecting the connection. I'd just calculate which outcome you prefer and claim on that basis given there's absolute silence on the correct way to proceed when you didn't miss the connection, and it wasn't even close to being missed, but you were delayed overall by a qualifying time. I've posted in the past that you can't possibly have been delayed by the first operator in these circumstances, but honestly given the industry has been informed about this and decided to not clear it up, just claim for what you prefer. If they don't like it they shouldn't have written such daft rules in the first place.

 

[trainophile]

I've claimed from GWR so will see what happens. Thanks everyone.