Note: for reasons detailed below, the scenario outlined is a simplification of my actual circumstances.
Say I had an advance ticket from Bristol Temple Meads to Birmingham New Street, valid at 1836 on Sunday 19 November (arrive Birmingham 2049, giving a journey time of 2h13). The planned journey time was longer than usual as engineering work meant the service would have had to divert via Swindon and Stroud. As you might be aware, there ended up being a strike on that day, so I chose to travel instead on Monday 20 November (an option encouraged by CrossCountry).
On Monday, I boarded the 1330 service (arrive Birmingham 1456, giving a journey time of 1h26). Due to a fatality on a different service, the train diverted through the Severn Tunnel, meaning the train ended up arriving at New Street at 1613 (77 minutes late, although RTT gives it as 1612).
If I applied for delay repay, would my delay be counted as 77L, or would the fact that my journey took only 30 minutes longer than I expected when I bought the tickets be considered instead?
For what it's worth, I don't actually intend to claim delay repay either way; I wasn't particularly inconvenienced by the delay on Monday, I don't blame CrossCountry for it, and I found the staff incredibly nice and helpful. I'm really just interested in the question of which itinerary my delay would be measured against.
I simplified the scenario as other factors (such as the fact that I had split tickets and an onward connection) would just distract from the question.
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Say I had an advance ticket from Bristol Temple Meads to Birmingham New Street, valid at 1836 on Sunday 19 November (arrive Birmingham 2049, giving a journey time of 2h13). The planned journey time was longer than usual as engineering work meant the service would have had to divert via Swindon and Stroud. As you might be aware, there ended up being a strike on that day, so I chose to travel instead on Monday 20 November (an option encouraged by CrossCountry).
On Monday, I boarded the 1330 service (arrive Birmingham 1456, giving a journey time of 1h26). Due to a fatality on a different service, the train diverted through the Severn Tunnel, meaning the train ended up arriving at New Street at 1613 (77 minutes late, although RTT gives it as 1612).
If I applied for delay repay, would my delay be counted as 77L, or would the fact that my journey took only 30 minutes longer than I expected when I bought the tickets be considered instead?
For what it's worth, I don't actually intend to claim delay repay either way; I wasn't particularly inconvenienced by the delay on Monday, I don't blame CrossCountry for it, and I found the staff incredibly nice and helpful. I'm really just interested in the question of which itinerary my delay would be measured against.
I simplified the scenario as other factors (such as the fact that I had split tickets and an onward connection) would just distract from the question.
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter.