Cancelled Train Obligations?

[Sapphire Blue]

What are the obligations of a TOC towards passengers on the cancellation of a train?
Yesterday (so I am informed) the Grand Central(GC) 15.57 service to Bradford was cancelled. (I am led to believe that this is not an isolated example)
Now, next Sunday we are planning to travel on the same service having reservations for that train and GC only return tickets.
Should the service be cancelled what are our options?

Do we have to wait for the 19.27 GC to Bradford? This is too late for us to get home by public transport upon arrival in Bradford at 22.36
Can we get the 18.20 GC to Sunderland and change at York (and then Leeds)? Again will be too late when we reach Bradford.
Can we get an alternative TOC service, either East Coast (via Leeds) or Virgin (via Manchester) to get home, and will GC pay for this or give us some sort of authorisation?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Max]

Grand Central only have an obligation to get you to your destination, which could mean their next service. However, open access TOCs tend to be more generous in these circumstances. For example, when my GC service was terminated at Grantham due to a train failure, passengers were provided with super off-peak singles route any permitted free of charge to complete their journeys.

 

[Tom B]

If the passenger required to take a later service from the same TOC which got them to their destination too late to catch an onward connection by bus, would they be provided with onward transport? Or would they need to fork out for a taxi and claim it back from customer disservices later?

 

[island]

If you can find a member of GC staff, they should endorse your ticket to be valid by any reasonable route. Problem is they don't operate any stations!

 

[scotsman]

You'll also be entitled to some compensation under the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, this tends to be a fairly low percentage (2 hour delay is around 40%?) but individual operators are often much more generous

 

[Failed Unit]

There was a press release about better relationships with East Coast which implied east coast would accept the ticket via Leeds. In the past it was wait for the next service or pay again. When the 0803 Sunderland service was unreliable grand central were giving passengers tickets for east coast at kings cross. They will get you home. As an open access operator they need to treat customers well or they will never return. The Bradford route I notice still has many cancellations.

 

[rail-britain]

You should be able to find one member of staff from Grand Central at Kings Cross
Otherwise phone them and advise you are stranded at Kings Cross, with a ticket and no means to purchase a replacement ticket

 

[wellhouse]

Some time ago I arrived at Kings Cross on a Sunday morning to discover that the GC service to York (on which I had a First Class reservation) was cancelled.

GC staff arrived at the allotted queue on the concourse well before the scheduled departure time, and issued me with a replacement full First Class ticket to use on the next EC service (it may still have been NX then)

 

[Flamingo]

If the passenger required to take a later service from the same TOC which got them to their destination too late to catch an onward connection by bus, would they be provided with onward transport? Or would they need to fork out for a taxi and claim it back from customer disservices later?

Bus connections are not counted as a general rule, any more than missed flights are.

Example from the FGW CoC

5.9 Exclusion of Other Liability
Under the terms of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, which apply to all train operating companies, First Great Western is not liable for any loss (including consequential loss) or extra costs incurred as a result of a train delay or cancellation. If travelling to an airport we request that you ensure that you allow sufficient time.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=442

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/misc/NRCOC.pdf

Your destination is taken as meaning the final station on the ticket, not your home address.

You can try to claim taxi's back from customer services, but if a taxi is appropriate, it will usually be arranged by the station that you have managed to get to closest to your destination.

If you can't give the station staff a reason that they can get approval from Control with, then IMHO Customer Services then giving a refund afterwards is making a mockery of the system (but as most rail staff can vouch for, the number of passengers who write in and are given vouchers by return of post as a "goodwill gesture" is a joke, especially when the complaint is usually about them being caught in breach of the CoC and having to pay accordingly - but I digress)

 

[sheff1]

Bus connections are not counted as a general rule, any more than missed flights are.

Example from the FGW CoC
Quote:
5.9 Exclusion of Other Liability
Under the terms of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, which apply to all train operating companies, First Great Western is not liable for any loss (including consequential loss) or extra costs incurred as a result of a train delay or cancellation. If travelling to an airport we request that you ensure that you allow sufficient time.

Interesting that another part of First Group are far more helpful:

Quote from FTPE Passenger's Charter -
If you have allowed sufficient time and you miss a flight by being seriously delayed by First TransPennine Express, and the cause was within our control, we will assist in every possible way with your onward travel arrangements. If necessary, we will provide overnight accommodation to enable you to make an early start the following day.

 

[Flamingo]

It is.

 

[scotsman]

What's worse is that I was delayed for what I argued were technical reasons (water ingress, albeit snow caused) on train 1 and lack of crew on train 2.

Got a letter back 3 weeks later (after a phone call and me sending a scan of a bank statement because ScR 'lost' my whole case) with £14.00 vouchers. £9.00 'goodwill gesture' since it was 'weather related' and £5.00 for not replying within 7 days.

3 days later: A full refund in vouchers! Turns out ScR had lost/deleted the record of my case and had posted my refund. In this letter, they said that the incident reports confirmed a technical fault and a lack of crew. Therefore I was entitled to the full amount.

I'm now forwarding th details to my mate who was incorrectly given £14.00

 

[yorkie]

If the passenger required to take a later service from the same TOC which got them to their destination too late to catch an onward connection by bus, would they be provided with onward transport? Or would they need to fork out for a taxi and claim it back from customer disservices later?

There may be a case for that with PlusBus.

 

[John @ home]

There may be a case for that with PlusBus.

I think there probably is an obligation with a PlusBus ticket to get the passenger to their destination stop if a delayed train causes the last bus to be missed. PlusBus tickets contain the words: Travel is subject to National Rail Conditions of Carriage and to the conditions of carriage of other operators on whose services this ticket is valid.

 

[Flamingo]

I'm wondering about this.

Given that in South Wales, most of the buses stop running about 22.00 - 22.30 ish, which is a lot earlier than the last train, does that mean that if a passenger turns up in Cardiff 22.30 they can walk up to the station staff and look for a taxi, waving their "plusbus" ticket?

Has anybody tried it, and how did they get on?

 

[John @ home]

does that mean that if a passenger turns up in Cardiff 22.30 they can walk up to the station staff and look for a taxi, waving their "plusbus" ticket?

I think they would also have to show the associated railway ticket (unless it had been retained by barriers) and demonstrate that they had attempted to travel on a railway service which was due to arrive in Cardiff in sufficient time for them to catch the last bus, but that railway delays had caused them to miss it.