Delayed Train - took taxi

[TDMB_1907]

Hello all. Just after some advice as to whether I can claim anything given the delays and cancellations i faced on my journey to London.

Planned journey: Reading to London (16:30), London to Reading (approximately 23:30).

Ticket held: Off-Peak Day Travelcard (£28.00)

Outward journey went fine - lots of delayed and cancelled trains at Reading but I turned up at a fortunate time and travelled into Paddington with no noticeable delay.

Return journey was not as successful. Arrived at Paddington at 23:35 to see that the 23:45 to Penzance was cancelled, and the following 23:50 slow service to Reading was also cancelled. The 00:40 to Reading was displaying 'Pls wait'

There were no staff to be seen, and hundreds of passengers already waiting around. Given that we had no idea if the 00:40 was going to actually run, we decided to get an Uber back to Reading Station (obviously at some cost).

I am wondering what I am entitled to (if anything in this situation)? I do not think delay repay applies as I did not make the (delayed) journey. I effectively abandoned the journey, but had used the ticket to get to London in the first place, so not a total abandonment (if that makes sense).

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[miklcct]

You are entitled to a half-refund as you didn't make the return journey. I don't think you can claim any other compensation as there are other public transport routes available from London to Reading, including trains from Waterloo, which won't cost as much as a minicab.

 

[RPI]

Small point, the 2345 to Penzance is, I believe, Pick up only at Reading so this wouldn't be a valid service to travel to Reading on.

With regards to the taxis, what did the GWR staff say? The station is staffed 24 hours.

 

[12LDA28C]

Small point, the 2345 to Penzance is, I believe, Pick up only at Reading so this wouldn't be a valid service to travel to Reading on.

With regards to the taxis, what did the GWR staff say? The station is staffed 24 hours.

Indeed, that would be the 'Night Riviera' sleeper to PZ, you'd also struggle to fit 'hundreds of passengers' in the seated accommodation on that train.

 

[gray1404]

I very much doubt you will be entitled to a refund of a taxi because you took matters into your own hands rather than following advice of station staff. Paddington is staffed 24/7 and you will not have been the only passengers wishing to get to Reading so it is highly likely provisions will have been made even with some delay.

 

[spag23]

There were no staff to be seen,

Paddington is staffed 24/7

Staffed, but not visible or contactable?

 

[TDMB_1907]

Small point, the 2345 to Penzance is, I believe, Pick up only at Reading so this wouldn't be a valid service to travel to Reading on.

With regards to the taxis, what did the GWR staff say? The station is staffed 24 hours.

The 2345 was on the board at Paddington with Reading listed as a stop, so I thought I would have been able to take this as a service (see photo)?

Whatever staff were there (I am not disputing that there must have been some), did not seem to be proactively helping out by the departure boards as you might expect at a time of disruption. In hindsight we should have gone searching but evidently not thinking clearly at the time.

I understand that the Taxi fare is likely lost, but I was asking about the train ticket - apologies if this was not clear in my opening post.

 

[ainsworth74]

Contact the retailer of your ticket, explain you had to abandon your journey due to disruption and would therefore like a refund. I think you'll get at least 50% of the ticket value back. Possibly more but can't recall off hand.

 

[RPI]

The 2345 was on the board at Paddington with Reading listed as a stop, so I thought I would have been able to take this as a service (see photo)?

Whatever staff were there (I am not disputing that there must have been some), did not seem to be proactively helping out by the departure boards as you might expect at a time of disruption. In hindsight we should have gone searching but evidently not thinking clearly at the time.

I understand that the Taxi fare is likely lost, but I was asking about the train ticket - apologies if this was not clear in my opening post.

To be honest, you may as well email GWR as you have nothing to lose.

 

[father_jack]

There was a plan for the 2333 Paddington Bristol TM to leave late at around 2345 to take the sleeper pax to Reading for a 0049 departure but a ferocious rumpus broke out on board with civil and BT police needed to break it up so it departed 39 late, but then got blocked by the rewiring at Slough with the 2333 getting to Reading 147 late and the 0049 sleeper leaving at 0237 as a result.

2333 https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:W43485/2022-11-24/detailed#allox_id=0
Sleeper https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:W43489/2022-11-24/detailed#allox_id=0

Armed with this info you should have a case for the UBER, the chances are the station was providing taxis anyway.

 

[island]

Minimally you can get back the unused portion of your return ticket. Anything more would be a gesture of goodwill as you chose to take matters into your own hands rather than seeking assistance from staff.

The 0040 did run although ended up 75 minutes late.

No admin fee is chargeable for the refund.

 

[skyhigh]

You are entitled to a half-refund as you didn't make the return journey.

While I'd agree for a normal return ticket, does the fact it's a Travelcard not make a difference here?

 

[island]

While I'd agree for a normal return ticket, does the fact it's a Travelcard not make a difference here?

I suppose if GWR (or whoever sold the ticket) wanted to be rather mean-spirited, they could refund half of the off-peak day return price of £22.70 instead of half of the off-peak day Travelcard £28, on the grounds that the Travelcard part of the ticket was fully used.