Advance purchase ticket on XC, train pulled from timetable, can I use earlier service?

[SWML9102]

Hi all, just looking for an opinion on this...

I have an AP ticket "booked train only" on 1630 XC Birmingham - Cardiff with split at Lydney. For some reason this service has been pulled from the timetable all next week, although this and the return working appears to be the only ones, so still other direct XCs in the other hours via Lydney. I have received an email from the ticket vendor advising of this and recommending to use the next available service using same operator and route.

To me it doesn't seem unreasonable to use the service an hour earlier (rather than the one an hour later). This means I can still make onward connections, avoid a delay claim and hopefully miss the worst of any overcrowding later on due to the cancelled service.

While it seems a reasonable course of action to me, are rail staff likely to permit this without fuss?

 

[dvboy]

This has happened to me before with the exact same train (going to Gloucester), although it was cancelled on the day rather than being pulled from the timetable. They were fine with it at the ticket barrier at Birmingham New Street and fine with it on board the earlier train too.

 

[SWML9102]

Thanks dvboy, that's good to know.
I've just seen in the email from the online vendor that I can refund and rebook, and the AP tickets are still available on the earlier service. But as I've already collected the original tickets I have a feeling that will not be straightforward!

 

[redreni]

I know the train after or the train before is fine on an advance single if the booked train is cancelled.

I don't know off the top of my head what happens if the operator cancels the train but pretends it hasn't (aka 'p-coding'). It would appear to be very much in their interests to let you travel earlier than booked so that no delay repay is payable.