Cancellations of last train - TP Express - policy

[justin1123]

I am traveling a few times over the coming months to/ from Manchester and Liverpool with TP Express. These will be day trips, taking the last train back towards Newcastle. This will be with Eurail ticket/pass, with (hopefully) advanced reserved seat on these trains.
My concern is what happens if the last trains are canceled. I know TPE are bad with cancellations at the moment, and looking at recent past train times it looks like the last and/or second last train are frequently canceled.
I very much doubt they organise buses to Newcastle in these cases. In this case, are you entitled to get overnight accommodation and claim from the company? Last minute, this can be expensive so would be good to know if this is a valid/common occurrence and not just left to TPE "goodwill."

 

[Watershed]

They are legally obliged to either get you to your destination through alternative means (long distance replacement buses or minibuses are very common on TPE), or to provide overnight accomodation until the next day, when your ticket would be valid instead.

However, the fact that TPE are legally obliged to do one of these things sadly doesn't guarantee that they will. It may be the case that you'd have to make your own arrangements if they refuse to assist, and then claim back the cost of this from them afterwards. They may try to say that they cancelled the service in question by 10pm the night before, meaning it wouldn't feature in the so-called Published Timetable of the Day (PToD), and wrongly assert that this means they aren't liable for anything.

As a result, claiming back your costs may not be entirely straightforward, and as your location shows Hong Kong (and you'll be using a Eurail pass) the 'backstop' of potentially taking them to Court is not really practical.

Given TPE's poor reliability, I therefore cannot recommend relying on their last train. I would plan to get at least the train before the last one, and ensure you check your intended journey on the National Rail Enquiries site from 10pm the night before, as this is where and when the PToD is shown.

TPE also have a useful JourneyCheck tool - though note that trains which are partially cancelled are somewhat hidden uner "other train service updates". This section also lists services which are partially reinstated after being cancelled (e.g. a Liverpool-Newcastle service which being started at Manchester - which you may be able to reach using alternative TPE/Northern service), JourneyCheck also shows the alternative arrangements that TPE have put in place (if any), such as replacement buses.

It's a very disappointing state of affairs, and one which I'd stress doesn't apply to most other operators.

 

[AlterEgo]

Don’t take the last train. You’ll regret it. What you are entitled to in practice and what you’ll get in reality are very different.

 

[wilbers]

To take Liverpool as an example for tomorrow it shows the last 2 transpennine trains as 2024 (fast) 2106 (slow), the only non-transpennine option I can see at vaguely that time is the 1939 (last one on that route) going via Carlisle that takes 30 minutes longer than the slower transpennine. Advances wouldn't be valid on a different train anyway.

 

[LowLevel]

Not cancelling the last train might seem like an ideal and indeed it is but I wouldn't rely on it for a second - industrial relations at TPE are rubbish and if that job is the one that is uncovered then it will be cancelled.

 

[Watershed]

Advances wouldn't be valid on a different train anyway.

They would be in the event of cancellation (within certain constraints and subject to formalities in some cases). However, the OP has told us that they'll be using a Eurail pass, which is valid on any service.

 

[yorkie]

I am traveling a few times over the coming months to/ from Manchester and Liverpool with TP Express. These will be day trips, taking the last train back towards Newcastle. This will be with Eurail ticket/pass, with (hopefully) advanced reserved seat on these trains.
My concern is what happens if the last trains are canceled. I know TPE are bad with cancellations at the moment, and looking at recent past train times it looks like the last and/or second last train are frequently canceled.
I very much doubt they organise buses to Newcastle in these cases. In this case, are you entitled to get overnight accommodation and claim from the company? Last minute, this can be expensive so would be good to know if this is a valid/common occurrence and not just left to TPE "goodwill."

As a general rule you do not need to worry about being conveyed to the destination but you do need to allow plenry of time in case of delays.

Can you provide more detail of the journey(s) you are looking at?