Looking for a bit of advice here please.
Yesterday I was intending to take the 2331 (2A99) Liverpool Lime St to Manchester Victoria. Two reasons why I’d selected this service, firstly it gave a good onwards tram connection to my final destination and secondly it offered the insurance of having the last Manchester train of the evening 2338 to Piccadilly (2M90) as a back up if there was a cancellation.
Arrived at Lime St at approximately 23.20, boarded the already busy (full and standing) 4-car 2A99 with more passengers boarding. 2331 came and went, no departure an no announcement about the likelihood of any impending departure. Wasn’t too concerned because in my experience late night services like this often leave a few minutes late, anyway come 23.45 it was becoming increasingly apparent there was a problem (still no announcement). About 23.50 a mass disembarkation took place, the service was obviously cancelled (I’ve since learned because there was no guard available).
Obviously by this time, my back-up plan (2M90) had departed to Piccadilly. The gateline staff indicated that there would be coaches, but none were there at that time and it was pretty obvious that even if coaches were to arrive, then because the cancelled service was a stopper with about a dozen or so stops before Victoria, that arrival in Manchester would be very, very late and that I’d almost certainly miss my onwards tram connection.
I sought out the Northern manager to request a taxi, he absolutely point blank refused to countenance the idea, he didn’t want to engage me at all and what’s more, and pretty poor in my opinion, he stated “I can’t help you because I finished my shift ten minutes ago” and then proceeded to disappear into an office and lock the door behind him when I continued to push campaign for a taxi. I must stress that I was insistent but not aggressive.
Eventually a bus driver was found who agreed to take the Manchester passengers (about 20 of us) direct to Victoria, where we arrived about 1.25. I therefore just managed to make the last tram at 1.32.
A couple of questions:-
My view is that I am entitled to delay Repay, but I rather suspect that Northern will reject the the claim citing the availability of the 23.38 to Piccadilly, but for this reasons stated above, this wasn’t really on option, so how should I approach the claim?
To say I was disappointed with the Northern manager’s attitude was an understatement and I am proposing to take this further, it simply wasn’t good enough (I have his name). Would this be worthwhile and is there any advice on how I should approach this?
Apologies for the long post and thanks in advance for any advice received.
Yesterday I was intending to take the 2331 (2A99) Liverpool Lime St to Manchester Victoria. Two reasons why I’d selected this service, firstly it gave a good onwards tram connection to my final destination and secondly it offered the insurance of having the last Manchester train of the evening 2338 to Piccadilly (2M90) as a back up if there was a cancellation.
Arrived at Lime St at approximately 23.20, boarded the already busy (full and standing) 4-car 2A99 with more passengers boarding. 2331 came and went, no departure an no announcement about the likelihood of any impending departure. Wasn’t too concerned because in my experience late night services like this often leave a few minutes late, anyway come 23.45 it was becoming increasingly apparent there was a problem (still no announcement). About 23.50 a mass disembarkation took place, the service was obviously cancelled (I’ve since learned because there was no guard available).
Obviously by this time, my back-up plan (2M90) had departed to Piccadilly. The gateline staff indicated that there would be coaches, but none were there at that time and it was pretty obvious that even if coaches were to arrive, then because the cancelled service was a stopper with about a dozen or so stops before Victoria, that arrival in Manchester would be very, very late and that I’d almost certainly miss my onwards tram connection.
I sought out the Northern manager to request a taxi, he absolutely point blank refused to countenance the idea, he didn’t want to engage me at all and what’s more, and pretty poor in my opinion, he stated “I can’t help you because I finished my shift ten minutes ago” and then proceeded to disappear into an office and lock the door behind him when I continued to push campaign for a taxi. I must stress that I was insistent but not aggressive.
Eventually a bus driver was found who agreed to take the Manchester passengers (about 20 of us) direct to Victoria, where we arrived about 1.25. I therefore just managed to make the last tram at 1.32.
A couple of questions:-
My view is that I am entitled to delay Repay, but I rather suspect that Northern will reject the the claim citing the availability of the 23.38 to Piccadilly, but for this reasons stated above, this wasn’t really on option, so how should I approach the claim?
To say I was disappointed with the Northern manager’s attitude was an understatement and I am proposing to take this further, it simply wasn’t good enough (I have his name). Would this be worthwhile and is there any advice on how I should approach this?
Apologies for the long post and thanks in advance for any advice received.