Chiltern delay repay appeal

[fairlie]

Yesterday I travelled from Leamington Spa to London Marylebone on the 0720 departure from Leamington (due in 0842). I had an Anytime Day Return from Leamington to Bicester (£15.30 with 16-25 railcard) and an Anytime Return from Bicester to London (£51.30 with the same railcard). The train struck something just past Haddenham and Thame Parkway and was a standstill for a long time. Eventually we moved back to Haddenham and Thame Parkway where the train terminated about 0940. We were advised that trains to Marylebone would run from the opposite platform which was very crowded. Because I had an important meeting at 10am (which I'd been expecting to be in the office for) I decided to join that online from the cafe at Haddenham and then carry on to Marylebone later. However, if I had carried on immediately to London I think I would not have been able to board the first train because of numbers (1H22: according to Real Time Trains it left HDM at 0947 and arrived at Marylebone at 1037) and the first I could probably have got would have been 1Y23 which left at 1012 and arrived at Marylebone at 1121.

As a result I put in a delay repay claim, claiming more than 2 hours' delay, which I think is an honest reflection of the delay caused to me by the cancelled service. However, they've paid me £16.65 (25%) representing 30-59 minutes' delay. There is no way I could have been at Marylebone by 0941. Am I missing something here? I intend to appeal but would welcome any advice or points I should consider for the best chance of success.

 

[AlterEgo]

If you didn't try to board the available trains I don't see how you can claim for such a lengthy delay. It's frustrating but you weren't actually left behind, were you?

It seems like this train may have called out of course, given its sudden picking up of 7 minutes of delay after leaving Haddenham and Thame Parkway. https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C38828/2024-11-04/detailed#allox_id=0

 

[Trainguy34]

I can't see anything on RealTimeTrains, the only thing I can see is that they may assume the train half an hour later stopped (which it looks like it may have), leading to a 50 minute delay. It also looks like it's going off the original arrival time at H&T Parkway, not the second time, leading to some weird stuff in the system.

 

[fairlie]

If you didn't try to board the available trains I don't see how you can claim for such a lengthy delay. It's frustrating but you weren't actually left behind, were you?

It seems like this train may have called out of course, given its sudden picking up of 7 minutes of delay after leaving Haddenham and Thame Parkway. https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C38828/2024-11-04/detailed#allox_id=0

I was badly delayed in my journey. To mitigate the consequences of it I delayed myself further, but it would always have been at least two hours.

A number of trains passed us wrong line running while we were stranded - I suspect that's one of them. As I said, it wasn't till about 0940 that we got back to Haddenham and Thame Parkway.

 

[AlterEgo]

I was badly delayed in my journey. To mitigate the consequences of it I delayed myself further, but it would always have been at least two hours.

A number of trains passed us wrong line running while we were stranded - I suspect that's one of them. As I said, it wasn't till about 0940 that we got back to Haddenham and Thame Parkway.

I'd appeal and write in this reasoning - it seems the system has you down as arriving there earlier than you did and can't process the fact you reversed and terminated.

 

[fairlie]

Thanks - appreciated.

 

[centraluser]

The train that you were on was due to arrive into Marylebone at 0842. It arrived back into Haddenham at 0932. That time doesn't seem to be recorded in any relevant system relating to Delay Repay calculations. The next train to Marylebone was 1H22 (which left at around 0947) and arrived into London at 1037. If you had taken that train, you would have been 115 minutes late. I think the Delay Repay calculation is incorrect. As you were travelling on 2 returns, you are entitled to 50% of the cost of each, being £7.65 + £25.65 making £33.30 in total. As others have implied, your decision to not travel in straight away from Haddenham does not mean that you should be able to claim for the additional delay. It would be interesting to know the outcome, as you appear to only have been offered 50% of your entitlement.

 

[fairlie]

The train that you were on was due to arrive into Marylebone at 0842. It arrived back into Haddenham at 0932. That time doesn't seem to be recorded in any relevant system relating to Delay Repay calculations. The next train to Marylebone was 1H22 (which left at around 0947) and arrived into London at 1037. If you had taken that train, you would have been 115 minutes late. I think the Delay Repay calculation is incorrect. As you were travelling on 2 returns, you are entitled to 50% of the cost of each, being £7.65 + £25.65 making £33.30 in total. As others have implied, your decision to not travel in straight away from Haddenham does not mean that you should be able to claim for the additional delay. It would be interesting to know the outcome, as you appear to only have been offered 50% of your entitlement.

The crowding on the platform means I honestly don't think I could have caught 1H22. The following one would have been over two hours. Even if I had travelled on to Marylebone on the first train I could have got on, I think the delay would have been over two hours. In my appeal I said that and that I had chosen to stay at Haddenham and get a later train. They allowed the appeal and have given a full refund.

 

[30907]

The crowding on the platform means I honestly don't think I could have caught 1H22. The following one would have been over two hours. Even if I had travelled on to Marylebone on the first train I could have got on, I think the delay would have been over two hours. In my appeal I said that and that I had chosen to stay at Haddenham and get a later train. They allowed the appeal and have given a full refund.

Thanks for the update. All's well....