Possible to claim? Worth it?

Richard53
Richard53 Posts: 3,173 Forumite
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in Public transport & cycling
I had a nightmare journey last weekend, West Wales to London Paddington. Train from Haverfordwest was replaced by a bus (no announcements, had to ask why no train) and this meant we were late making the connection in Carmarthen, and then we missed the Cardiff connection so I arrived at Paddington about 90 minutes later than planned. Seat reservations were cancelled. On the return trip, a scheduled 10-coach service had only 9 coaches, so again seat reservations were cancelled and it was like a Rugby scrum with standing room only. I had to stand in the bicycle space as far as Reading. 'Passenger incident' at Reading meant a 20-minute delay, but all connections made as far as Swansea. However, the bus on the last section (C'thn to H'West) was much slower than the train and made the 20-minute delay into 40 minutes by the final destination.


Is it possible to claim for these delays? I see two problems - a) there were two train operators (Transport for Wales and GWR), so won't each blame the other for the delays? And b) I didn't keep accurate notes of all the times of arrivals and departure.


I don't travel by train often, so I am a bit ignorant of how all this works. Is a claim possible, and if so is it worth doing? I have read that the delay repay scheme refunds up to 50% of the journey cost, so at best I would be claiming about £17 per journey. (Total return cost about £70 including Senior Railcard discount.) Or should I shut up and just be grateful I got there at all?


:)
If someone is nice to you but rude to the waiter, they are not a nice person.

Comments

  • stragglebod
    stragglebod Posts: 1,324 Forumite
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    If you post on railforums.co.uk with the details of which trains you were booked on there are experts there who will help you.


    Make sure you claim, so they have an incentive to run their trains on time :)
  • Mobeer
    Mobeer Posts: 1,851 Forumite
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    One important thing is was the bus replacement service in the timetable, or still the train? You have a claim if the service was supposed to be a train according to the timetable, replaced by an unscheduled slower bus on the day and then you were delayed by 90 minutes - caused by the company due to operate the first train.

    But if the first train was removed from the timetables and replaced by a bus (ie a planned bus replacement service) then you can only claim against the amended service.

    On the way back, I'm not clear what happened. You say you were delayed 20 minutes at Reading, but then made all connections up to Swansea, then the 20 minute delay grew to 40? If you made all connections then I don't see how this is possible.
  • Richard53
    Richard53 Posts: 3,173 Forumite
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    stragglebod wrote: »
    If you post on railforums.co.uk with the details of which trains you were booked on there are experts there who will help you.
    Will do, thanks.
    Mobeer wrote: »
    One important thing is was the bus replacement service in the timetable, or still the train? You have a claim if the service was supposed to be a train according to the timetable, replaced by an unscheduled slower bus on the day and then you were delayed by 90 minutes - caused by the company due to operate the first train.

    But if the first train was removed from the timetables and replaced by a bus (ie a planned bus replacement service) then you can only claim against the amended service.
    I was using the Trainline.com app and it was showing a train all day. No mention of it on the station announcements/displays either - the bus was a complete surprise when I got to Carmarthen.
    Mobeer wrote: »
    On the way back, I'm not clear what happened. You say you were delayed 20 minutes at Reading, but then made all connections up to Swansea, then the 20 minute delay grew to 40? If you made all connections then I don't see how this is possible.
    Train delayed 20 minutes by passenger being taken ill at Reading. Clawed back approx. 5 minutes by Swansea. Replacement bus (scheduled and on timetable, has been for 2+ years) late leaving Swansea and took approx. 80-90 minutes for 50 minute journey, hence late arrival. As I said, I didn't keep accurate records of the times, which I now regret.


    Thank you both for the responses.
    If someone is nice to you but rude to the waiter, they are not a nice person.
  • Voyager2002
    Voyager2002 Posts: 15,284 Forumite
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    There is also significant compensation for the absence of reserved seats.
  • Richard53
    Richard53 Posts: 3,173 Forumite
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    Voyager2002 wrote: »
    There is also significant compensation for the absence of reserved seats.
    Didn't know that, thanks.
    If someone is nice to you but rude to the waiter, they are not a nice person.
  • daveyjp
    daveyjp Posts: 12,521 Forumite
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    If this is a GWR service they don't operate delay repay.

    Railforums will advise.
  • martindow
    martindow Posts: 10,218 Forumite
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    daveyjp wrote: »
    If this is a GWR service they don't operate delay repay.
    According to this page on their site they seem to


    https://www.gwr.com/help-and-support/refunds-and-compensation/delay-compensation


    They only pay out when the delay reaches an hour apart from local Thames valley trains where it is 30 minutes.


    As has been said, the OP's claim depends on whether the bus replacement was planned in advance or was an emergency replacement.
  • daveyjp
    daveyjp Posts: 12,521 Forumite
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    GWR offer a compensation scheme, but it's not the Delay-Repay system used by most of the other operators.
  • scones
    scones Posts: 58 Forumite
    Voyager2002 wrote: »
    There is also significant compensation for the absence of reserved seats.
    I don't think there's an obligation to compensate for missing reservations. Some may do so as a goodwill gesture. Can you give examples of a train operator that provides significant compensation?

    Most firms used to just refund any seat reservation fee you had paid which isn't that helpful given that it was usually only £1. Now that it's usually free to reserve seats it seems any refund is entirely based on the whims of the train company!
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