Delay compensation with complex split ticketing

[WelshBluebird]

So I was delayed by over 100 minutes into Paddington on the weekend on a Swansea to London journey thanks to a broken down freight train just before Bridgend.

Now the fun is out of the way, I believe I am eligible for compensation from GWR, despite their less than helpful compensation terms, as the failure was within the railway industry.

The complexity comes in that I was travelling on split tickets that were not of the same type (so the usual x% of a return / single ticket doesn't really work) and because of the diversions / reworkings of services due to the Bristol Parkway blockade at the time (meaning the Bristol Parkway to Paddington services were actually going via Patchway, with a replacement bus running between Patchway and Bristol Parkway). That added to GWR's compensation terms (that depend on the "type" of service you are travelling on) means I have no idea what I should be claiming for.

So the tickets I held, how they were used and the cost (all with a 26-30 railcard) were:

• Swansea to Cardiff anytime day single - £7.55
• Return portion of a Keynsham to Ton Pentre anytime return ("stopping" short at Patchway, outward portion was used a few days before without any delays on that journey) - £14.65
• Super off peak day travelcard from Bristol Parkway to Paddington ("starting" short at Patchway) - £42.40

I plan on submitting the claim by post with a covering letter explaining the situation and tickets used, but just want to check if there is anything not obvious that I should mention and if anyone has any clue at all what I should actually end up getting back?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

So I was delayed by over 100 minutes into Paddington on the weekend on a Swansea to London journey thanks to a broken down freight train just before Bridgend.

Now the fun is out of the way, I believe I am eligible for compensation from GWR, despite their less than helpful compensation terms, as the failure was within the railway industry.

The complexity comes in that I was travelling on split tickets that were not of the same type (so the usual x% of a return / single ticket doesn't really work) and because of the diversions / reworkings of services due to the Bristol Parkway blockade at the time (meaning the Bristol Parkway to Paddington services were actually going via Patchway, with a replacement bus running between Patchway and Bristol Parkway). That added to GWR's compensation terms (that depend on the "type" of service you are travelling on) means I have no idea what I should be claiming for.

So the tickets I held, how they were used and the cost (all with a 26-30 railcard) were:

• Swansea to Cardiff anytime day single - £7.55
• Return portion of a Keynsham to Ton Pentre anytime return ("stopping" short at Patchway, outward portion was used a few days before without any delays on that journey) - £14.65
• Super off peak day travelcard from Bristol Parkway to Paddington ("starting" short at Patchway) - £42.40

I plan on submitting the claim by post with a covering letter explaining the situation and tickets used, but just want to check if there is anything not obvious that I should mention and if anyone has any clue at all what I should actually end up getting back?

In terms of the compensation you are entitled to, this is calculated based on all of the tickets you bought, but with the relevant percentages applied to each ticket type.

So for a 100 minute delay you would be entitled to to:

100% of the Swansea-Cardiff ticket (as it's a single ticket)
50% of the Keynsham-Ton Pentre ticket (as it's a return ticket)
50% of the Bristol PW-Paddington ticket (as it's a return ticket)

Making for a total of £36.075 compensation, which could be rounded up or down (it's unclear which is correct )

I would submit a claim by email, as it is likely to be processed quicker if you submit it that way. Write a succinct email including:

• Where your journey was to and from
• A table (or bullet pointed list) of your planned itinerary, clearly including your scheduled arrival time into Paddington
• A table (or bullet pointed list) of your actual itinerary, i.e. the actual timings (where known).
• A table (or bullet pointed list) of your tickets

It would probably help to mention the compensation you understand is due, so that they know if they've got it really wrong!

I'm sure the members on this forum would be more than happy to help if you have any difficulties with your claim. I would not say that you stopped "short" at Patchway, as I don't think that the Bristol Parkway-Paddington ticket is valid from there - and otherwise you would have an uncovered part for your journey.

 

[paddington]

I have claimed with GWR for several awkward combinations of tickets, using the online form without any additional information (I used to type out where I used each ticket into the scanned image of the ticket, but I stopped doing that and it hasn't affected anything).

My experience is that they just give up when it's too complicated and send a cheque for a round figure, in this case it would probably be £40. This is despite me asking for RTVs.

 

[Kite159]

Just don't hold your breath for anything to arrive in the post, GWR/Capita are a bit on the slow side.

 

[Hadders]

GWR's Passenger Charter states that they will pay delay compensation if a combination of tickets is used.

https://www.gwr.com/~/media/gwr/pdf...er/gwr-customer-charter-sept-15-web.pdf?la=en

If you have a combination of tickets

If you have a combination of tickets for your journey, we’ll compensate you for your whole journey in line with the compensation arrangements above.

If some of your tickets are for trips with other train companies, we’ll compensate you if we caused the delay. If we didn’t, we’ll ask the other train company to contact you. We’ll always let you know when we’ve done this.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

GWR's Passenger Charter states that they will pay delay compensation if a combination of tickets is used.

https://www.gwr.com/~/media/gwr/pdf...er/gwr-customer-charter-sept-15-web.pdf?la=en

Is this new? I don't seem to remember seeing this in older versions of the Passenger Charter.

 

[bb21]

It's been there for a good while, not long after SWR put it in theirs.

 

[Hadders]

It's been there for a good while, not long after SWR put it in theirs.

But strangely First Group operated Hull Trains refuse to compensate when a combination of tickets is used.

 

[_toommm_]

But strangely First Group operated Hull Trains compensate when a combination of tickets is used.

So do TPE, it's just a faff getting the actual payment to you in a timely manner (my record is 5 months for £85.70, and 7 months and counting for a £20 RTV)

 

[Hadders]

I meant to say that First Group operated Hull Trains refuse to compensate when a combination of tickets is used. Original post updated.

 

[bb21]

But strangely First Group operated Hull Trains refuse to compensate when a combination of tickets is used.

You are not expecting TOCs under the same operating group to have the same policies, are you?

 

[westv]

But strangely First Group operated Hull Trains refuse to compensate when a combination of tickets is used.

Which must mean then that passengers are entitled to claim if the HTs part of their journey is delayed 30+ minutes but by less than that when they arrive at their final destination.
Something you wouldn't be able to do with a through ticket.

 

[Hadders]

I made a journey from Retford to Stevenage using a combination of tickets (splitting at Peterborough IIRC).

Retford - Grantham was with Hull Trains
Grantham - Peterborough was with VTEC
Peterborough - Stevenage was with GTR

The Hull Trains service was something like 10 minutes late causing the connection at Grantham to be missed and caused an overall delay to my journey of over 30 minutes. HT refused to compensate because I had 'elected to use split tickets which counts as separate journeys'. Complained to Transport Focus and after further escalation even got a reply from Anthony Smith who took HT's line.....

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I made a journey from Retford to Stevenage using a combination of tickets (splitting at Peterborough IIRC).

Retford - Grantham was with Hull Trains
Grantham - Peterborough was with VTEC
Peterborough - Stevenage was with GTR

The Hull Trains service was something like 10 minutes late causing the connection at Grantham to be missed and caused an overall delay to my journey of over 30 minutes. HT refused to compensate because I had 'elected to use split tickets which counts as separate journeys'. Complained to Transport Focus and after further escalation even got a reply from Anthony Smith who took HT's line.....

When was this?

If the amount in question was anything beyond a token amount I would be pursuing this. With the same vigorousness as many TOCs would no doubt pursue unpaid fares of a similar value!

 

[Hadders]

When was this?

If the amount in question was anything beyond a token amount I would be pursuing this. With the same vigorousness as many TOCs would no doubt pursue unpaid fares of a similar value!

About 18 months ago. The amount due was around £20. Just where do you go next after following the TOC's internal complaints process, Transport Focus (including a response from the Chief Executive and a complaint to my MP)? It was as though they all stick their fingers in their ears singing 'la, la, la' in the face of the irrefutable evidence.

And don't say legal proceedings for the sake of £20.

You win some and you lose some.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

About 18 months ago. The amount due was around £20. Just where do you go next after following the TOC's internal complaints process, Transport Focus (including a response from the Chief Executive and a complaint to my MP)? It was as though they all stick their fingers in their ears singing 'la, la, la' in the face of the irrefutable evidence.

And don't say legal proceedings for the sake of £20.

You win some and you lose some.

Well, a chargeback from the bank would be one option.

And yes, I would consider legal proceedings for £20. It takes all of 5 minutes to fill in the details in a Letter Before Action template. And all of another 5 minutes to file a claim in Money Claim Online!