If I miss my train with a new TOC with split tickets due to a delay.

[liamfegarty]

Say I have a split ticket such that I have an LNER train from the North East to London, then a GWR train out west. If I get into London late due to a delay on LNER, will I be able to get a later GWR train?

 

[Bletchleyite]

The short answer is yes (edit: provided minimum connection times are adhered to). However some staff can be awkward, so the best way is to buy your split as part of a single itinerary from a site like the Forum's site.

 

[AlterEgo]

Say I have a split ticket such that I have an LNER train from the North East to London, then a GWR train out west. If I get into London late due to a delay on LNER, will I be able to get a later GWR train?

Do the tickets join across London or is there a gap?

Also, have you factored in the minimum connection time?

 

[Watershed]

In essence, yes - you can get a later train. You can also claim Delay Repay if you're sufficiently delayed at your final destination (the delay needs to be at least 15, 30 or 60 minutes depending on the operator at fault). However, there are some prerequisites and conditions:

1. You must allow enough time - at least the recognised 'minimum connection time' (MCT) - at each station where you change trains. In particular, you need to allow plenty of time for crossing London - the official MCT between arriving at Kings Cross and departing Paddington is between 45 and 55 minutes, depending on the time of day and day of the week. In reality it can be done much quicker than that, but you won't have any protection against missed connections if you book tickets involving a connection tighter than that. Journey planners and ticket sites/apps will automatically allow enough time for connections.
2. Your tickets must join up and cover the entire journey. This is generally interpreted as meaning that you must buy a ticket for the cross-London transfer element of your journey in advance. For example if you wanted to buy split your tickets in London, one of the tickets should be bought to/from London Underground Zone 1 - otherwise the train company could argue that the journey and hence their liability ended once you reached the first London Terminal (e.g. Kings Cross).
3. Generally, you must still observe the restrictions associated with your original split tickets. This means that you still need to take a train that stops at (or you need to change at) each station where you change from one split ticket to the next. Similarly, if your tickets have restrictions such as "GWR only" or "via X", you can only take trains that comply with those restrictions.

You shouldn't face any difficulties when relying on your right to take the next valid train, as this is a well known right and split ticketing is fairly common practice nowadays. If you're using split tickets and comply with the above conditions, you are still considered to be making a single journey under condition 14.2 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel (NRCoT), hence your right to take the next train is enshrined in condition 9.4 of the NRCoT.

If you're expecting to arrive at your final destination more than 60 minutes late late, you're entitled to require the operator at fault (e.g. LNER in your example) to "re-route" you at the earliest opportunity under the Passenger Rights and Obligations Regulation (PRO).

That means they are obliged to arrange ticket acceptance, endorse your ticket or provide you with a new one, so that you can get to your destination as quickly as possible - even if that means not complying with the usual restrictions I've described above.

Unfortunately most operators are very poor about arranging re-routing at the earliest opportunity, and if it isn't done as a 'gesture of goodwill' then the odds are that they will refuse. In that case you'd need to decide whether to buy a new ticket to allow you to take a route/train you couldn't otherwise take, and to try and claim that back from the operator at fault.