Could I be forced to take a different route if I miss my connection?

[stq123]

Hi everyone! I plan to take the following trains, on a weekday a few weeks from now:
Newcastle - Carlisle: dep. 09:23, arr. 10:45
Carlisle - Leeds (via Settle & Carlisle): dep. 10:58, arr. 13:38

This gives me a connection of 13 minutes in Carlisle, which is above the minimum connection time of 8 minutes but still short enough to be plausibly missed. The following Settle & Carlisle service would depart at 13:36. If I were to hold two advance tickets for this journey, would I be guaranteed travel on the 13:36 service should I miss the 10:58? Or would I, for example, be forced to take a WCML train with a transfer that delivers me to Leeds more promptly?

 

[toffeedanish]

Hi everyone! I plan to take the following trains, on a weekday a few weeks from now:
Newcastle - Carlisle: dep. 09:23, arr. 10:45
Carlisle - Leeds (via Settle & Carlisle): dep. 10:58, arr. 13:38

This gives me a connection of 13 minutes in Carlisle, which is above the minimum connection time of 8 minutes but still short enough to be plausibly missed. The following Settle & Carlisle service would depart at 13:36. If I were to hold two advance tickets for this journey, would I be guaranteed travel on the 13:36 service should I miss the 10:58? Or would I, for example, be forced to take a WCML train with a transfer that delivers me to Leeds more promptly?

You'd normally be expected to use the next service of the same train company. As this is what you want to do there would be no problem.

 

[Idon'tKnow]

You will have no issue whatsoever boarding the next northern service to your destination if your first train is delayed

 

[Watershed]

By default, if disruption (e.g. a missed connection or cancellation) means you can't take your booked train on an Advance ticket, you are in fact forced to stick with the next train that meets the Advance's route and/or operator restrictions. A Carlisle to Leeds Advance sold for travel on the S&C would have route "AP Northern only" and would thus mean you are restricted to the next Northern service.

Now, since waiting for the next Northern service would result in you arriving at your destination more than an hour late, you'd be entitled to require Northern to 're-route' you to your destination at the earliest opportunity, under Article 16 of the Passenger Rights and Obligations (PRO) Regulation. This would mean they'd have to endorse your ticket, issue you with a new ticket or arrange ticket acceptance to allow you to travel on Avanti and Northern via Lancaster, as that would be the next available itinerary on a typical weekday.

In practice they'd probably just tell you to wait for the next direct Northern service, which would be incorrect. If you did want to get there sooner, you'd be entitled to claim back your costs in buying new tickets as necessary to re-route yourself.

Of course there's nothing forcing you to take up your Article 16 right to re-routing - you can just stick with the next Northern service and claim Delay Repay if you prefer. You can claim complimentary Northern tickets in lieu of compensation if you like - depending on the kinds of journeys you make, that may be worth far more than the 'cash' option.