FGW policy for delayed travel?

flutterbyuk25

Hey all

I travelled to London on Saturday by FGW trains and my train arrived into London 81mins late due to signal issues and a fatality on the line near Reading.

My Dad has told me to try to get money back for the delay. I had a look at the FGW FAQ's and it just says to send ticket to them to be considered.

Does anyone know the procedure and whether a refund would apply in this case?

I had a Super OffPeak Return ticket (standard class) cost £67.70. But it doesn't state what time train I was booked onto - but I do have my email confirmation showing the times I'd booked.

Thanks in advance

x

dzug1

flutterbyuk25 wrote: »

Hey all

I travelled to London on Saturday by FGW trains and my train arrived into London 81mins late due to signal issues and a fatality on the line near Reading.

My Dad has told me to try to get money back for the delay. I had a look at the FGW FAQ's and it just says to send ticket to them to be considered.

Does anyone know the procedure and whether a refund would apply in this case?

I had a Super OffPeak Return ticket (standard class) cost £67.70. But it doesn't state what time train I was booked onto - but I do have my email confirmation showing the times I'd booked.

Thanks in advance

x

Yes you would get a refund in travel vouchers. The amount depends on the original length of journey as scheduled. The longer the journey, the longer it can be delayed before paying out but I think over an hour's delay pays out anyway.

It's probably half the fare paid - or a quarter of cost of the return ticket as it was a single journey that was delayed. So it will be about £17 depending on how they round it.

Send a letter to the customer services office in Plymouth with the ticket outlining very briefly what happened. No need to go into detail - it's virtually automatic.

flutterbyuk25

Thanks dzug1 that's brill. I'll write the letter now.

x

flutterbyuk25

:mad: grrr just had reply from them saying that they will not pay out on the occasion as the delay was out of their control.

Is this correct?

I know there was a fatality, but we were running late anyway due to signal problems so could well have missed the fatality if the train was running on time.

Any ideas?

x

AirlieBird

Train companies are only obliged to pay compensation for delays caused by events within the railways control. Their passenger charter states

Compensation will not be available for disruption resulting from events beyond the control of the rail industry. These include trespass, vandalism, severe weather conditions and security alerts.

KeithP

AirlieBird wrote: »

Train companies are only obliged to pay compensation for delays caused by events within the railways control. Their passenger charter states

Compensation will not be available for disruption resulting from events beyond the control of the rail industry. These include trespass, vandalism, severe weather conditions and security alerts.

AirlieBird is correct... for First Great Western and maybe some other train operating companies.

But, and this is of no help to the OP, for some other companies, e.g. Southern, a different scheme operates.
The Delay Repay scheme pays out whoever is to blame.
From Southern's website...

If we have delayed your journey, regardless of the cause, then Southern will compensate you.

robt_2

dzug1 wrote: »

Yes you would get a refund in travel vouchers. The amount depends on the original length of journey as scheduled. The longer the journey, the longer it can be delayed before paying out but I think over an hour's delay pays out anyway.

It's probably half the fare paid - or a quarter of cost of the return ticket as it was a single journey that was delayed. So it will be about £17 depending on how they round it.

Send a letter to the customer services office in Plymouth with the ticket outlining very briefly what happened. No need to go into detail - it's virtually automatic.

Quite surprised at this post (because it is wrong), you know your stuff dzug1, was this a mental fart?

flutterbyuk25

Thanks for the replies.

x

butler_helen

Fgw often don't pay out even when it is their fault- apparently not having the staff for my regular train was out of their control:mad:

dzug1

robt wrote: »

Quite surprised at this post (because it is wrong), you know your stuff dzug1, was this a mental fart?

I didn't check it no:o

But I've certainly been paid where the cause (vandalism) was outside their control. OTH that was Cross Country so maybe different rules apply as KeithP says

matty_art

I'd like a quick bit of advice regarding compensation rights for FGW. I'm on a FGW train from Gatwick to Cardiff changing at Reading as booked on TransPennine (gotta get TopCashBack!).

Now unfortunately the first train to Reading has been delayed by over 20 mins, meaning I'm going to miss my 16 minute time to get my connection, and the next train (they're also FGW) to Cardiff won't be for another hour, meaning I'll likely have been delayed by an hour and 20 mins by the time I arrive. On the FGW website, it says you're entitled if your journey is delayed by an hour or more, but something makes me think this won't apply to missed connections...

Can anyone confirm that for me?