Avanti should not have attempted to run to Blackpool North today (07/04)

[BPN2022]

Looks chaos out on Avanti this morning lots of delays etc.

There were 2 booked trains from Blackpool North today both 11:51/15:51 to Euston. The 11:51 has been cancelled.

Why did they bother wanting to run these? Surely they have cost themselves even more in delay repay etc, give Northern are on strike.

Surely easier to terminate Preston right and be safe rather than sorry?

 

[dk1]

Looks chaos out on Avanti this morning lots of delays etc.

There were 2 booked trains from Blackpool North today both 11:51/15:51 to Euston. The 11:51 has been cancelled.

Why did they bother wanting to run these? Surely they have cost themselves even more in delay repay etc, give Northern are on strike.

Surely easier to terminate Preston right and be safe rather than sorry?

A shuttle in between these two London services from Preston too which like the 15:51 also ran. I don’t think delay repay is worried about really. If it’s planned to run it will regardless of any likely cancellation.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

The Blackpool trains are marked men. I was booked on the direct Euston to Blackpool last October. Left home in a hurry to get to the station in time, checked before I left, train on time. Great. Got to Euston and it was as cancelled as cancelled can be. To make things worse, because I was on an advance ticket, I had to get the NEXT train, which was the slow Glasgow train via Birmingham. So not only was my direct train was cancelled but I was treated to an extra hour snaking around Birmingham. Had I got the next direct Preston train, which I logically was going to do, I would have been fined.

 

[gazthomas]

The number of North Wales services that get cancelled, run ECS or get curtailed at Chester or Crewe in either direction is still appalling

 

[MCR247]

The Blackpool trains are marked men. I was booked on the direct Euston to Blackpool last October. Left home in a hurry to get to the station in time, checked before I left, train on time. Great. Got to Euston and it was as cancelled as cancelled can be. To make things worse, because I was on an advance ticket, I had to get the NEXT train, which was the slow Glasgow train via Birmingham. So not only was my direct train was cancelled but I was treated to an extra hour snaking around Birmingham. Had I got the next direct Preston train, which I logically was going to do, I would have been fined.

Is that really the rule? Couldn’t you argue that the next train after yours to arrive into Preston is the direct, and not the slow via Birmingham?

 

[yorkie]

The Blackpool trains are marked men. I was booked on the direct Euston to Blackpool last October. Left home in a hurry to get to the station in time, checked before I left, train on time. Great. Got to Euston and it was as cancelled as cancelled can be. To make things worse, because I was on an advance ticket, I had to get the NEXT train, which was the slow Glasgow train via Birmingham. So not only was my direct train was cancelled but I was treated to an extra hour snaking around Birmingham. Had I got the next direct Preston train, which I logically was going to do, I would have been fined.

You wouldn't have been "fined"; notwithstanding that an actual fine couldn't be issued unless you were successfully prosecuted for fare evasion, taking the next appropriate service via the same route you were booked on, would not result in any charge whatsoever.

Is that really the rule?

Nope.

Couldn’t you argue that the next train after yours to arrive into Preston is the direct, and not the slow via Birmingham?

Absolutely; there is no requirement to take a slower service.

That said, it may be the case that the next fast service was likely full, in which case customers may choose to take a less busy, slower service. But they wouldn't be forced to (unless perhaps it was too busy to board the faster train).

 

[theironroad]

The Blackpool trains are marked men. I was booked on the direct Euston to Blackpool last October. Left home in a hurry to get to the station in time, checked before I left, train on time. Great. Got to Euston and it was as cancelled as cancelled can be. To make things worse, because I was on an advance ticket, I had to get the NEXT train, which was the slow Glasgow train via Birmingham. So not only was my direct train was cancelled but I was treated to an extra hour snaking around Birmingham. Had I got the next direct Preston train, which I logically was going to do, I would have been fined.

You've over interpreted this.

The next train that would get you to your destination earliest would be acceptable, so a fast to PRE & change would be good.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

You've over interpreted this.

The next train that would get you to your destination earliest would be acceptable, so a fast to PRE & change would be good.

I was told my Avanti staff at Euston to get the Birmingham train

 

[yorkie]

I was told my Avanti staff at Euston to get the Birmingham train

And that you'd be fined if you didn't?
How exactly did the conversation go?

Also, what day/time was this; what was your planned itinerary and which train did you get in the end?

 

[Sad Sprinter]

And that you'd be fined if you didn't?
How exactly did the conversation go?

Also, what day/time was this; what was your planned itinerary and which train did you get in the end?

Not that I'd be fined, but I read the Disputes page often and I know that you have to use the next departing train with an advance ticket.

I told the Avanti staffer I had an Advance to Blackpool, he told me I had to get the slow train. I THINK I might have asked if I could get the fast one instead, but he repeated to get the slow one. I can't remember my wording, but I remember pushing back in some way. The staffer's attitude was perfectly pleasant though. This would have been on the direct train at around 5pm.

In the end I got the next departing Glasgow train via Birmingham. It was extremely late. I broke my journey at Preston and didn't continue onto Blackpool, onboard staff member assured me (twice) that was allowed.

 

[yorkie]

Not that I'd be fined, but I read the Disputes page often and I know that you have to use the next departing train with an advance ticket.

If anyone has said "the next departing train" to mean a train which would not be the next appropriate train, then please let me know where this was stated (by using the report button), and I'll get onto it.

We do try to aim that the advice in D&P is appropriate and accurate, but we do need people to report any issues to us, so that we can keep it that way.

I told the Avanti staffer I had an Advance to Blackpool, he told me I had to get the slow train. I THINK I might have asked if I could get the fast one instead, but he repeated to get the slow one. I can't remember my wording, but I remember pushing back in some way. The staffer's attitude was perfectly pleasant though. This would have been on the direct train at around 5pm.

If it was me, I would have asked why I couldn't get the fast train; perhaps it was reported full and standing and/or short formed to 9 cars. It may have been unpleasant, but you would not have been charged by the Train Manager if it was the next appropriate train following a cancellation.

 

[Starmill]

Not that I'd be fined, but I read the Disputes page often and I know that you have to use the next departing train with an advance ticket.

I told the Avanti staffer I had an Advance to Blackpool, he told me I had to get the slow train. I THINK I might have asked if I could get the fast one instead, but he repeated to get the slow one. I can't remember my wording, but I remember pushing back in some way. The staffer's attitude was perfectly pleasant though. This would have been on the direct train at around 5pm.

In the end I got the next departing Glasgow train via Birmingham. It was extremely late. I broke my journey at Preston and didn't continue onto Blackpool, onboard staff member assured me (twice) that was allowed.

Sounds like the problem may have been your ticket was London to Blackpool North Avanti West Coast only? In this case it would have needed Avanti to provide alternative transport from Preston to Blackpool North, which could be in the form of Northern or a taxi etc. But presumably they didn't fancy doing that so just delayed you by longer.

 

[MCR247]

Sounds like the problem may have been your ticket was London to Blackpool North Avanti West Coast only? In this case it would have needed Avanti to provide alternative transport from Preston to Blackpool North, which could be in the form of Northern or a taxi etc. But presumably they didn't fancy doing that so just delayed you by longer.

But the Blackpool North train was cancelled and the slower train he got was headed for Glasgow not Blackpool?