Delay Repay on Scotrail - Train cancelled and replaced by buses.

[General Zod]

Hi,
We had just completed a few days on Skye and caught the ferry from Armadale across to Mallaig in the hope of catching the scenic train route to Oban. However, the 1605 Mallaig to Glasgow service on Saturday was cancelled due to staffing problems and replaced by coaches. You can imagine this annoyed a fair few people who had specifically booked train tickets so as to enjoy the scenic route. We decided not to coach it but to return to meet up with friends in Skye. Would Scotrail offer some sort of refund as I didn't travel. The young lady at Mallaig station said we may get a refund but was very non-committal.

Thanks

 

[greatkingrat]

What type of ticket did you have?

 

[gray1404]

Under the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, if the train you plan to catch is delayed and you decide not to travel, you are entitled to a full refund of your ticket without any administration fees. To do this you need to return the ticket to the retailer you got the ticket from (i.e. if a train company ticket office then either the same ticket office, or another ticket office of the same TOC or indeed their customer relations department. If an online retailer then that retailers refunds department). You would need to state the train you planned to catch and state that it was cancelled.

As the train you planned to catch was cancelled and replaced by a bus, you are free to exercise your rights under these provisions. This applies to advances as well. However, I can see a problem coming in if you had used the outward portion of a return ticket already and it is the return leg that remains unused. Please confirm what ticket you were travelling on.

 

[General Zod]

Mallaig - Ardlui Advance and Ardlui-Oban Advance bought off the Virgin website.
Scotrail customer service said that I need to contact Virgin. The latter have offered a refund on the tickets if I return them.

 

[gray1404]

In theory when you went to the booking office ran by Scotrail at the time they should have been able to process the refund if possible, or at least send it off for you. But in reality I am yet to see another TOC take for refund a ticket issued by anther TOC. You therefore need to return the tickets to Virgin Customer Relations, or one of their booking offices.

Strictly speaking Advance tickets are sold as single journeys. However, you are entitled to use a valid combination of split tickets provided you allow the minimum connection time. Just make it clear to Virgin when you apply for your refund that your travel was cancelled and you decided not to travel.

Hope that helps.

 

[TUC]

But what about if the passenger decided to travel? Would the actual bus arrival time as compared to the scheduled train arrival time be used for Delay Repay purposes?

 

[yorkie]

But what about if the passenger decided to travel? Would the actual bus arrival time as compared to the scheduled train arrival time be used for Delay Repay purposes?

If that had been the case, yes.

 

[maniacmartin]

As the train you planned to catch was cancelled and replaced by a bus, you are free to exercise your rights under these provisions.

I don't think that neccesarily follows in the general case from what the NRCoC says:

• Get a refund from the Ticket Seller on unused Anytime or Off-Peak tickets if you
decide not to travel for any reason, less an administration charge which will not be
more than £10. If you did not use your ticket because your train was delayed or
cancelled, the administration charge will not apply.

If a train is replaced by a bus, it is my interpretation that this does not count as delayed or cancelled if the bus is timetabled to arrive and does arrive no later than the train would have done, and there is no other reason such as luggage-carrying facilities why the passenger could not otherwise use the bus. Hence it may be legitimate to levy the admin fee.

I don't know the timings of this specific replacement bus however.

 

[General Zod]

As I said I earlier I spoke to Virgin Customer Services, they duly checked if my trains was cancelled and initially offered a refund on the Mallaig-Ardlui ticket as the Ardlui-Oban train was not delayed . After a polite discussion regarding my through Mallaig-Oban trip on two sets of tickets Virgin agreed to reimburse me for my whole journey provided I returned my tickets. Whether they will charge me the £10 admin fee remains to be seen.