Train delayed. Refund/compensation options?

patchyX2

I bought an off peak same day return from Chichester to Bournemouth, which involved changing at Southampton.

The way out was fine, but my train was ~35 mins late leaving Bournemouth, meaning I missed my connection at Southampton. That was the last train, so I had to pay for a taxi to get home. 

First question is who do I contact? 
I bought the ticket at the Chichester station, where Southern rail operate, but the delay was on the South West Trains side of the things.

Second question is whether I'd be entitled to any extra compensation due to having to pay for a taxi as it was the last train, so I had no alternatives. 

p00hsticks

Was there anyone to speak to at Southampton station ? 
 In my experience, if stranded it is best to try to speak to someone in person at the station or on the phone and get them to arrange a taxi or overnight accommodation for you themselves as they have contracts and it will cost them considerably less than it cost you. 

MilesT6060842

I recently had to claim for a journey abandonment due to train cancellation part way through the journey (discovered at the interchange station, day return, made more sense to go back to start point then to continue)

The ticket was sold at a SE London terminus, and first leg was SE, but the train operator that had cancelled the train was SWR.  I first contacted SWR via their contact centre (as it was an abandonment, not a straightforward delay repay) but was then redirected into the SE delay repay process, who promptly refunded. 

However there wasn't any consideration about last train issues.  You may need to start the claim with Southern.

James_Londoner

For Delay Repay, it's South Western Railway you should claim from, as it was their train that caused you to be delayed.

As above, you'd be on stronger ground about claiming for the taxi fare if you had tried to arrange onward travel via rail staff in the first instance. 

As you abandoned your rail journey part-way through due to disruption, it may be more appropriate to seek a refund (as distinct from Delay Repay, which is compensation for a delayed-but-completed journey) which would be a matter for Southern/GTR as the company that sold you the ticket.

patchyX2

Sorry for the massive delay in my response. I forgot about this thread!

So I got in contact with both companies, and basically, everything that was said above is true . It was South Western I had to deal with, and they said that I should've spoken to staff at the station, or used a help point, who would a) confirm there were no other options, and b) arrange a taxi to complete my journey (at no cost to me).

In a gesture of goodwill, they have refunded me the taxi fare, which was kind of them.  So a good result in the end - I know what to do if this happens again, and I'm not out of pocket