Ticket question with delay repay

[tubenutter]

Hi all,

A bit of a random one - I was travelling back from Leeds to York last Friday (13th) and wanted to get the 23:23 TPE service. When I got to Leeds station (on time) I saw that this train was quite delayed (>30 mins) so for various reasons not worth going into decided to wait for a bit before buying my ticket. Eventually, probably at around 23:40 I went to get my ticket from one of the LNER ticket machines but the 23:23 was no longer listed as an option, so I selected the next service and chose the Off-Peak Single - but this one was after midnight. When doing so I wondered whether it would issue me with a ticket for 13/Dec or 14/Dec, since the train I'd selected was a 14/Dec train, but the message at the top of the screen said something along the lines of "tickets valid for travel from 13/Dec 23:50" (actually I can't remember the exact time or wording, but it was the usual current time + 5/10 mins message that they always seem to put up as a disclaimer). I took the risk and it issued a ticket for 14/Dec but I decided to use it anyway and hope that the guard would understand my error! The guard never came so nothing happened.

In the end, the train ended up leaving at 00:10, so I have two questions:

• was my 14/Dec ticket valid on a train with a timetabled departure on 13/Dec but an actual departure on 14/Dec, or was I technically travelling without a valid ticket?
• would they be likely to give Delay Repay for this? I guess in principle I might be entitled to it as I was at the station in time for the 23:23 and in good faith expected to get it, but my ticket would suggest otherwise which was arguably my fault... I'm mostly asking this academically as the cost was relatively small so I don't mind what the answer is!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts - I'm quite interested to know how the rules work for this!

 

[Haywain]

In theory you may have a good claim for delay repay, but in practice I think you would struggle to get it due to having no evidence that your claim might have been valid. Your ticket will, incidentally, carry the date and time of issue in very small print at the bottom right corner.

 

[tubenutter]

Thanks! I guess you're right about the evidence - and that's a useful tip about the date and time of issue.

 

[221129]

I can't see that you'd have a valid delay repay claim here unfortunately.

 

[island]

As your train actually left on the 14th I can’t see any issue arising from using a ticket dated the 14th.

It would be difficult to prove an entitlement to DelayRepay due to the time of purchase of your ticket. Had you already held one, you would be able to claim.

 

[LuSiVe]

I got delay repay last week for a ticket timed after the departure of the train. I was at the station but waiting to see whether the Northern or EMR train was going to turn up first due to delays. It was only a couple of quid so they probably didn't even check.

 

[Belperpete]

You arrived in time to catch the train at its advertised time, so in theory you are entitled to compensation. Personally, I would claim on-line, as that may be processed automatically and not refer to the time of ticket purchase. It is by no means certain that you will get compensation, but what is certain is that if you don't claim, you definitely won't get any compensation.

I think the motto from this is to always buy your ticket as soon as you get to the station - that is the one thing that you must do before catching the train. If you leave it until the last minute, you could have unexpected problems buying a ticket, or the late-running train may arrive earlier than shown.

 

[alistairlees]

I don't think that the time that the ticket was purchased at is relevant. It is what the customer intended to do, and how much they were delayed compared with that, that is important. If the customer had started their journey from a station with no ticket purchasing facilities, and legitimately bought on board, would the fact that their ticket was issued after the scheduled (or actual) departure of the train be relevant? Obviously not.

 

[gray1404]

I think you should claim and I would say you are entitled. I have delayed getting to a station and thus buying a ticket when I've seen my train is late /cancelled and always been able to claim.

 

[Belperpete]

I don't think that the time that the ticket was purchased at is relevant. It is what the customer intended to do, and how much they were delayed compared with that, that is important. If the customer had started their journey from a station with no ticket purchasing facilities, and legitimately bought on board, would the fact that their ticket was issued after the scheduled (or actual) departure of the train be relevant? Obviously not.

I thought that there used to be something in the compensation rules that stated you weren't entitled to compensation if you were aware that the train was delayed at the time you bought the ticket.

 

[tubenutter]

Thanks for all your advice on this one! I'll put in a claim and see what happens. That's an interesting point you make, though, @Belperpete - I'm not sure what the rules are but I can see how that could be argued.

The reason I delayed buying the ticket was that I was considering catching Northern's replacement bus service instead for which I'd have bought the cheaper Northern-only ticket. That bus left before the TPE train and I was weighing up the gamble between catching the (much slower) bus service and risking being stuck in Leeds for hours if the TPE train ended up cancelled. With hindsight I perhaps ought to have just bought the Any Route Permitted ticket valid for both services straight away.