Advice needed for missing my last train.

[Fisherman80]

Hi everyone,just need a bit of advice.
On Friday the 28th February,I did a return journey from Bradford to Whitehaven using a Northern Complimentary ticket.
Because of delays to my original plans,I decided to get the 1613 Lancaster to Carlisle via the Cumbrian coast,which should have got me into Carlisle at 1943,in time to connect with the 2013 from Carlisle to Leeds.
However,things started going wrong from the start of the journey from Lancaster.
The train was a few minutes late leaving Lancaster,which I wasnt too worried about as there seemed to be enough time to catch my connection at Carlisle. By the time the train departed from Barrow-in-Furness,we were about 15 minutes behind schedule. As the train was approaching Silecroft,the train stopped for around 20 minutes,due to a near miss with a tractor at an unmanned level crossing.
Now knowing I had missed my connection at Carlisle,I had to think of alternative plans to get me home as I am a carer.
First of all,I needed a concrete plan as how to get home. I checked the connections at Carlisle,to head south to Manchester,but there seemed to be delays on the West Coast Main Line. As my train was being terminated at Workington,I spoke to the conductor about my situation. My plan was to travel from Carlisle to Newcastle,to connect with the 0008 TPX service to Manchester Airport,which would get me into Leeds at 0216,then a taxi from Leeds to Bradford.
The conductor advised I would be fine to use my complimentary pass between Carlisle and Newcastle as it was a Northern rail service.
Dazed and confused,I got off the heavily delayed 1613 Lancaster to Carlisle service at Whitehaven,as the next train north to Carlisle was in 20 minutes. It was here I bought an advance ticket between Newcastle and Leeds from the ticket machine.
Anyway,I finally arrived into Carlisle,over an hour after my connecting train had left. I eventually got home at 0330,four hours late.
I'm very sorry if this all sounds confusing. All I was wanting was a leisurely trip out and it turned into a nightmare.
So my question is this.
Am I entitled to any compensation?
I sent Northern an email with a printout of my intended journey,a printout of my actual journey,and various pictures of train and taxi receipts and tickets.
I would not be posting this,but as Northern have turned my request down for any type of compensation,I thought I would ask you guys for a second opinion.
Thanks for reading!!

 

[R G NOW.]

Yes I think you should get a refund, then the operator should sue the tractor for delaying your train as it seems he was not using a crossing safely.

 

[alistairlees]

Not that it's much help now, but surely you would have been better off returning via Barrow in Furness, Lancaster, Preston and Manchester Piccadilly to get a TPE service to Huddersfield and a taxi from there? There are TPE services from Manchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield at 23.35 and 23.55. I'm assuming trains back that way were roughly on time.

 

[alistairlees]

But yes, you are surely due Delay Repay (another complimentary ticket!) and perhaps also reimbursement of your reasonable costs.

 

[gray1404]

Could you provide a copy, in table format of your intended itinerary. Then, could you do the same with your actual itinery.

Then list original tickets held. Followed by any additional tickets purchased or costs incurred.

 

[30907]

Did you take advice from the conductor of the delayed train at Silecroft when it became obvious that you would be stranded at Carlisle? As I would have sxpected them to suggest returning via Carnforth and Skipton.

 

[Fisherman80]

Once the train left Millom I had no choice. As someone said above,the driver of the tractor who caused the disruption should pay a massive fine for what happened. I know things do go wrong on the railway but my main gripe is the fact I was left stranded. Maybe I could have gone south from Carlisle to Manchester but at the time I was travelling there were a lot of late running trains on the WCML. Ah well,at least I had my first trip on a TPE class 802!

 

[Hadders]

You're entitled to delay repay under Northern's scheme which will be more complimentary tickets.

It's not clear whether you're entitled to a refund of the additional tickets you purchased or the taxi fare. I think your best bet is to write to Northern's customer relations department stating what happened and see if they will make an ex-gratia payment.

I wouldn't have purchased an extra ticket because at times of disruption it's the railway's responsibility to get you to your destination and you shouldn't have to pay more to do this. I would have sought the advice of staff at Carlisle and aimed to have got south towards Manchester.