Train Strike and Delay Repay

Wyndham

I bought a ticket a few weeks ago to travel from Liverpool to Lancaster, and chose a route which included a Northern train from Ormskirk to Preston. Unfortunately, due to the strikes, that particular train was not running. I decided to catch a bus for that part of the journey (with one of the wonderful £2 fairs for a journey of over an hour so certainly value for money). I've then also raised a delay repay claim with Northern.

They have refused to pay it. They tell me that I should have travelled from Liverpool to Chester, then Chester to Warrington, then Warrington to Lancaster.

Well, to start with, I wanted to go north east, and Chester is south west of Liverpool so completely the wrong direction. I wasn't told to use this route by Northern instead of the one I'd originally picked so I'm not sure how I was meant to know this was the alternative?

I've put in an appeal, and we'll see what happens. But I suspect they will argue that as I didn't do the whole journey by train they are not liable? Anyone else have any experience of anything similar?

It's not the money, by the way, it's the principle. I have sympathy with the strikers, and want to be a squeaky wheel if I possibly can!

daveyjp

If your original journey is disrupted you work out an alternative,  you decided to take the bus.  As delay repay is for delays to a rail journey claiming for a journey you didn't take isn't an option.

What you could have done is abandon your original trip due to the cancellation and obtain a full refund, take the bus and purchase a new ticket for the train journey you did take.