I have separated this out from a previous thread, so that my specific question does not take that thread off course.
I have some disappointing and surprising news from SWR regarding their strike timetable. I bought an advance ticket on 21 June from Cranbrook to Welling leaving at 17.39 prior to the announcement of strike action. I received valued advice on here that any Delay Repay would be based on the itinerary on the booking confirmation. However, SWR have told me that they will assess it based on the revised strike timetable irrespective of the fact that I bought my ticket prior to the strike being called. Can anyone provide me 'chapter and verse' from the NRCoC or contract law as to why the delay should be assessed based on the booking confirmation? That feels right, but as things stand, I can't make a convincing argument to them. They have also suggested I get an earlier bus than my train time to avoid a missed last of night risk - I don't want to go early. I am finding SWR are getting rather difficult these days. But I want to stick solely to facts. I would like to write to customer services about this issue after my journey.
Well, there are two ways you can proceed, really. You can either heed their advice, take an earlier bus than your scheduled train and therefore avoid (subject to delays to the bus!) the last train of the day. You would likely receive no compensation at all for having to endure a longer journey, an earlier start, and a bus instead of a train. But it is the only option which can reasonably be expected to avoid missing the last train of the day later on in the journey.
The other way which you can proceed is to turn up at the station in time for your originally booked train and to take the next available services onwards to Welling, whenever these be. If you end up missing the last train of the day at some point on the route, and there is no alternative route which can avoid this, then every train company which is reasonably in a position to assist you is under an obligation to do so. This could be in the form of providing you with overnight accommodation or providing onwards transport (likely by taxi). You would also be entitled to delay compensation if you end up being delayed as a result.
Unless there was a specific reason why you could not arrive late, or could not take alternative transport (e.g. having a bike, a dog, etc.), then I would always choose the latter option. I recognise, of course, that not everyone wants to do so! If you take the latter option it would, however, be advisable to have a copy of your booked itinerary on you (whether on paper or on your phone) in case it is suggested you did not turn up in time, and it would also be advisable to have the means to pay for alternative transport and/or accommodation in the not unforeseeable event of staff refusing to assist you.
Your legal entitlement to be transported in line with your itinerary is unaffected by any industrial disputes SWR may be having, much though they may attempt to claim to the contrary. It's a principle of contract law so trite that I hardly think there is any case law on the matter, that contracts are binding once made, and (subject to any specified rights of cancellation, which do not exist in the NRCoT for the train company) that damages are due if the contract is broken.
I do not think that SWR could credibly claim that the announcement of industrial action is a circumstance that so substantially changes the circumstances that it constitutes a frustration of contract (allowing them to opt to discharge the contract). The industrial dispute has been ongoing for many months, even years, and yet SWR have still seen fit not only to publish the normal timetable, but to sell tickets
only valid on specific trains in the timetable, i.e. thereby guaranteeing that specific trains will run. They have no-one else to blame for any predicament they find themselves in as a result (in terms of their liability to the passenger).
Any claims they may make regarding delay compensation not applying where they change the timetable is nothing more than bluff and bluster. The NRCoT provides that the minimum level of compensation (50% of a single for a 60+ minute delay) is only not applicable where the delay is "entirely outside the rail industry’s control". An industrial dispute could hardly be
more in the control of the train company (they could resolve it at any point by agreeing to the union's demands, if they so desired). Their Passenger's Charter cannot override this minimum guarantee, and indeed even if it attempted to do so, it would be ineffectual in attempting to do so (as, effectively, it would mean that the train company can unilaterally vary the contract without compensation, an entirely ludicrous proposition).
If you do have any difficulties in claiming any compensation you're due, or costs you incur, please come back here and let us know.