Real-life MMD: Should I claim for train delay?

epm-84

magentalady wrote: »

If this was about a month ago then I think I was also affected by the same incident, and I claimed my refund.

Many incidents like the one described happen on a regular basis - a train moving at 75 to 125mph which can't swerve to avoid you or slow down quickly is very tempting for suicidal people. There was even one incident a couple of years back where the suicide involved a Northern Rail conductor who jumped from his train in to the path of a moving train on the adjacent line.

Flat_Eric

Earlier in the year, I was on a train that was involved in an incident resulting in the train not being able to continue its journey. We were within a 5 minute walk of the platform (if that) but had to wait/remain on the train while police/paramedics/air support attended. We also had to wait for a replacement train driver. We were delayed for over an hour. The cost of my ticket was £5 odd and my only inconvenience was that I had less time with my friend on our day out. Unfortunately due to a previous train breakdown, the train I was on was carrying at full capacity and lots of passengeers had their journeys disrupted resulting in flights being missed, money lost as a result.

I didn't claim but do not see any reason/why it should be wrong for you to claim. Had my journey been a longer one then as sad as the circumstances were, I would have claimed. I felt sorry for my fellow passengers as we got to know each other and to hear how the delay would affect them.

JayD

I wish more people were as morally concerned about things in life as you are! But I think you, are being overly concerned on this occasion - I say claim the refund that is due to you.

EssexHebridean

If you felt comfortable about claiming, you would have gone ahead and not asked the question. Just because we are "entitled" to something doesn't mean that we should always go ahead and claim it - if that outcome won't sit comfortably then ignore "entitlement" and do what suits your conscience best.

If it were me in this position, I'd take the view I think that had the delay physically cost me money - for example as I was late for something and had to take a cab, rather than walk - then I would claim to mitigate those losses. Other than that, and speaking from the perspective of someone who has done jury service in a coroners court, sitting yards from the sobbing parents of a young lad who chose an oncoming train as a way of ending a life that they didn't even realise had become intolerable to him, I wouldn't feel comfortable claiming purely for personal financial gain. Each to their own.

bogwart

Certainly you should claim the money. As others have pointed out, it's what you are paying for already with your ticket. I don't see this as a moral problem at all.

florere

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

Claim. Give the money to a mental health charity or the sammaritains

Like it, If the person was hit by the train in front I'm surprised that her train was only half an hour late. I can't help feeling sorry for the person who was so desperate that they stood in front of a train, and the drivers and guards who have to deal with the aftermath. I used to work on the railway, I would not claim.

pennypinchUK

No reason why you shouldn't claim. Give it to charity, if you feel that bad. At least some good will come of it then.

outofstock

Claim.It's all very sad but you had no hand in it and claiming causes no further harm.

Just sit down with a funeral director 48 hours after a bereavement and watch them cross-selling flowers,pipers,plaques and all manner of stuff at over inflated prices. Plenty of people like to pretend they care in the pursuit of profit.

tenuissent

I think a claim is acceptable in these circumstances. Some people are very tolerant of the problems various companies face, others are not. For example, a friend sent me a particular rose she wanted me to have and I did not realise for a couple of years that the nursery had sent quite a different one. I got in touch with the nursery and they were very understanding, and offered to send me a bare root rose of the correct variety in the winter - and it has just arrived. But my husband thinks this is terrible and grasping and unforgiving, and he would not have done it..... Sorry this is a rose story, not a train one, but the principle is similar, I think. I agree with an earlier writer who recommended remembering all the difficult and annoying train journeys in the past that you could not claim for. For instance, I got two trains to a London concert yesterday to listen to a friend playing, and because both trains were late, I missed half the concert.

epm-84

florere wrote: »

Like it, If the person was hit by the train in front I'm surprised that her train was only half an hour late.

What if the frequency was a train every 2 hours (which happens on some lines) and the 'train in front' had been there for almost 2.5 hours before it was moved?