Restrictions lifted on advance purchase tickets?

[les.]

With the current shortage of train drivers due to Covid issues does anyone know if the restrictions on advance purchase tickets with be lifted over the Christmas period.

The reason is that tomorrow (Christmas Eve) I am travelling from Grimsby down to my brothers in Surrey and I have to catch 4 different trains and have advance tickets bought for the journey.

My journey is Grimsby to Doncaster to Stevenage to East Croydon to Oxted. I am booked on the 16:34 out of Grimsby but for 5 of the last 8 days this train has been cancelled, I understand TPE drivers are also working to rule. On Christmas Eve the train I am due to catch from Stevenage is the last of the day and if I miss that I will be stranded in Stevenage, miles away from my final destination.

What I am thinking of doing is leaving work an hour earlier now and going to try to catch the 15:34 out of Grimsby (as long as this train isn't cancelled) to give me an extra hour to do the journey in case of any cancellation further on my journey. Would I be okay to catch the 15:34 rather than the 16:34 I am booked on and is there any plan to lift travel restrictions over the Christmas period?

 

[yorkie]

My journey is Grimsby to Doncaster to Stevenage to East Croydon to Oxted. I am booked on the 16:34 out of Grimsby but for 5 of the last 8 days this train has been cancelled, I understand TPE drivers are also working to rule. On Christmas Eve the train I am due to catch from Stevenage is the last of the day and if I miss that I will be stranded in Stevenage, miles away from my final destination.

Surely the train continues to London? And you'd be entitled to onward travel from there.

If there are no cancellations showing an hour before departure, then unless ticket acceptance is in place, you aren't contractually entitled to take an earlier departure from Grimsby, but in practice you would almost certainly be allowed to do so.

Have a word with the Guard on departure.

What ticket(s) do you have? If you have an LNER & Connections ticket and if you are due to travel with TPE as a connecting service, I recall it certainly used to be TPE policy to allow an earlier connecting train to mitigate against delays but I am unsure if that is their current policy.

In future if you wish to allow additional interchange time, some booking sites do allow you to specify this at the time of booking.

 

[Watershed]

With the current shortage of train drivers due to Covid issues does anyone know if the restrictions on advance purchase tickets with be lifted over the Christmas period.

The reason is that tomorrow (Christmas Eve) I am travelling from Grimsby down to my brothers in Surrey and I have to catch 4 different trains and have advance tickets bought for the journey.

My journey is Grimsby to Doncaster to Stevenage to East Croydon to Oxted. I am booked on the 16:34 out of Grimsby but for 5 of the last 8 days this train has been cancelled, I understand TPE drivers are also working to rule. On Christmas Eve the train I am due to catch from Stevenage is the last of the day and if I miss that I will be stranded in Stevenage, miles away from my final destination.

What I am thinking of doing is leaving work an hour earlier now and going to try to catch the 15:34 out of Grimsby (as long as this train isn't cancelled) to give me an extra hour to do the journey in case of any cancellation further on my journey. Would I be okay to catch the 15:34 rather than the 16:34 I am booked on and is there any plan to lift travel restrictions over the Christmas period?

Unfortunately unless the 16:34 is cancelled, strictly speaking you cannot travel any earlier. You will be able to check for the list of services which are "pre"-cancelled at 7pm tonight here. Of course there may be further cancellations on the day, but this may give some indication.

You can of course ask station staff and/or the guard whether they would be happy with you travelling an hour earlier. In the circumstances, I think it's quite possible they would, but there are no guarantees and unfortunately I wouldn't expect social media staff to tell you anything other than "if it's planned to run you can't take another service".

If you do end up missing a connection somewhere, seek the advice of staff (conductor, station staff, social media, wherever) but if all else fails, get as far as you can get by rail (e.g. better to continue onto Kings Cross if you will miss your connection at Stevenage). Then see what is needed to get your destination.

Ultimately, in the event of disruption, any TOC in a position to assist is obliged to help you get to your destination - or else provide you with overnight accommodation. If this is refused despite your best efforts, you should arrange alternative transport/accommodation yourself - mitigating the cost where possible, and retaining receipts - and contact customer services of the relevant TOC to claim this back.

You are also entitled to Delay Repay if you arrive sufficiently late (15+ mins if the delay is caused by TPE/GTR or 30+ mins if the delay is caused by LNER).

 

[les.]

Surely the train continues to London? And you'd be entitled to onward travel from there.

If there are no cancellations showing an hour before departure, then unless ticket acceptance is in place, you aren't contractually entitled to take an earlier departure from Grimsby, but in practice you would almost certainly be allowed to do so.

Have a word with the Guard on departure.

What ticket(s) do you have? If you have an LNER & Connections ticket and if you are due to travel with TPE as a connecting service, I recall it certainly used to be TPE policy to allow an earlier connecting train to mitigate against delays but I am unsure if that is their current policy.

In future if you wish to allow additional interchange time, some booking sites do allow you to specify this at the time of booking.

It was cheaper for me to get 3 singles. 1 Grimsby to Doncaster, 1 Doncaster to Stevenage and 1 Stevenage to Oxted. Worked out a lot cheaper than a Grimsby to Oxted single. I'll obviously be keeping a keen eye on time and cancellations throughout the day tomorrow.

 

[Haywain]

It was cheaper for me to get 3 singles. 1 Grimsby to Doncaster, 1 Doncaster to Stevenage and 1 Stevenage to Oxted. Worked out a lot cheaper than a Grimsby to Oxted single. I'll obviously be keeping a keen eye on time and cancellations throughout the day tomorrow.

I would advise against changing trains at Stevenage as GTR seem to have a lot of cancellations on that side at the moment. You will be able to travel through to London with LNER, a you will already be on a train that stops at Stevenage. You can then walk across to St Pancras for a train to East Croydon or go to Victoria for a train direct to Oxted.

any TOC in a position to assist is obliged to help you get to your destination - or else provide you with overnight accommodation

It's a safe bet that no TOC would be providing overnight accommodation tomorrow night.

 

[les.]

I would advise against changing trains at Stevenage as GTR seem to have a lot of cancellations on that side at the moment. You will be able to travel through to London with LNER, a you will already be on a train that stops at Stevenage. You can then walk across to St Pancras for a train to East Croydon or go to Victoria for a train direct to Oxted.


It's a safe bet that no TOC would be providing overnight accommodation tomorrow night.

Not a bad idea that thanks. The only thing is that if the barriers are in operation at KX, would it let me out with my ticket to Stevenage and would it let me through any barriers at StP?

 

[Haywain]

Not a bad idea that thanks. The only thing is that if the barriers are in operation at KX, would it let me out with my ticket to Stevenage and would it let me through any barriers at StP?

Of course they would, the ticket will have a cross-London marker which means there is no reason for it to be rejected.

 

[les.]

Of course they would, the ticket will have a cross-London marker which means there is no reason for it to be rejected.

Thanks, I'd need to use my Stevenage to Oxted ticket then. I will probably do that, although I will be able to check just before we arrive into Stevenage, if my connecting train is running and on time.