Travel advice

[les.]

Hi,

I am travelling to Oxted from Grimsby Town on Wednesday 9th June. I have got a ticket for a decent price but the fare itiniery is Grimsby to Newark CASTLE. Then walk to Newark Northgate to catch a London-bound train.

However, I have noticed that if I get off the train at Lincoln, then there is a train direct to NNG which would get me there well in time to catch my connection. My question is am I allowed to change at Lincoln and catch the direct NNG train from there, as I do have a disabled rail card and the mile (roughly) walk from Castle to NNG may be a bit too much for me.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Alex365Dash]

This will depend on which ticket do you have, so information on that would be really helpful. Additionally, if you have an Advance, what trains do you have a reservation on?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Afternoon.

As @Ali365Dash asks, what ticket or combination of tickets have you got for this planned journey?

Is your itinerary making use of split tickets / advance tickets?

 

[les.]

I have an Advance Single from Grimsby Town to Oxted (no split tickets) and the only reservation for the entire journey is from NNG to Stevenage as I then catch a Thameslink train to East Croydon.

Both the trains my itinery states and the train from Lincoln to NNG are the same company (East Midlands Trains) but I have no reserved seat between Grimsby and Newark or onwards from Steveange.

 

[roversfan2001]

If you don’t have a reservation for the train to Newark Castle then you’ll be absolutely fine changing at Lincoln onto a train to Northgate.

 

[Watershed]

If you're travelling on an "X and connections" Advance, then in theory you're supposed to catch the exact connecting services you booked - even if you didn't get a reservation.

Of course, that's unenforceable if you're travelling with a paper ticket, because it won't specify what connecting train you were booked on in the first place.

It would also seem a reasonable adjustment for your disability to allow you to travel straight to Newark Northgate rather than having to walk across town.

So I'd say you are going to be absolutely fine doing that. The conductor between Lincoln and Newark really isn't going to bat an eyelid.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Advance tickets between Grimsby Town and Oxted are normally "Route LNER & Connections", with validity "BookdTrainOnly".

Will any of the leg(s) of this particular journey (where no actual seat reservation has been provided) be on a "counted places" basis, implying that the OP is restricted to travelling on a particular connecting train or trains?

 

[Watershed]

Advance tickets between Grimsby Town and Oxted are normally "Route LNER & Connections", with validity "BookdTrainOnly".

Will any of the leg(s) of this particular journey (where no actual seat reservation has been provided) be on a "counted places" basis, implying that the OP is restricted to travelling on a particular connecting train or trains?

I don't think any part apart from the LNER service is reserveable.

 

[30907]

To be absolutely sure you could contact EMR assisted travel. I would be very surprised if you had any difficulty on the day.

 

[les.]

To be absolutely sure you could contact EMR assisted travel. I would be very surprised if you had any difficulty on the day.

Thanks, I might just drop them an email to be sure.

That is as long as they reply before I go.

If you don’t have a reservation for the train to Newark Castle then you’ll be absolutely fine changing at Lincoln onto a train to Northgate.

I emailed EMR regarding this and got the following response, so it looks like I can't change at Lincoln.

Hi Les

Thanks for your email of 27 May 2021.

The ticket that you have is valid from Grimsby and not Lincoln I'm afraid.

I do understand the issue that you have with the walk between the two Newark Stations, especially is you haven't done this before.

I would suggest that if you want to make the journey out of Lincoln straight to Newark Northgate, you could buy a single from Lincoln to Newark and then use the remainder of your original ticket for the rest of the journey.

Thanks again for getting in touch.

Kind regards





Charlotte Lea
Customer Relations Officer

Tel: 03457 125678
Email: [email protected]

 

[roversfan2001]

Thanks, I might just drop them an email to be sure.

That is as long as they reply before I go.



I emailed EMR regarding this and got the following response, so it looks like I can't change at Lincoln.

It looks like they didn't understand your query to be honest. What they've suggested is also against the T&Cs of an Advance ticket as you'd be breaking your journey on it. In fact, I'd be tempted to reply to them with words to that effect if it was me.

 

[Haywain]

It looks like they didn't understand your query to be honest. What they've suggested is also against the T&Cs of an Advance ticket as you'd be breaking your journey on it. In fact, I'd be tempted to reply to them with words to that effect if it was me.

As they didn't understand the first time, I see little point in trying to confuse them even further. In any event, I don't see how having two tickets for part of a journey could be seen as breaking the journey or against the T&Cs of an Advance ticket - not that having two tickets is in any way necessary. The OP should take the advice of this forum and change at Lincoln for a train directly to North Gate which is entirely legitimate.

 

[les.]

Just a quick update on this. I have just received an email from LNER to tell me that the train I am booked on from NNG to Stevenage has been cancelled!

I have been advised to book on the next train, which is the 13:54 rather than the 12:56. Will I be eligible to claim for delay repay on this journey or is it just one of those things and as they have emailed me to let me know my train is cancelled then I have no claim? It will mean me arriving at my final destination exactly one hour later than planned.

 

[Wallsendmag]

If you booked with us you should receive an email after the journey with a one click link to delay relay payout

 

[Haywain]

Just a quick update on this. I have just received an email from LNER to tell me that the train I am booked on from NNG to Stevenage has been cancelled!

I have been advised to book on the next train, which is the 13:54 rather than the 12:56. Will I be eligible to claim for delay repay on this journey or is it just one of those things and as they have emailed me to let me know my train is cancelled then I have no claim? It will mean me arriving at my final destination exactly one hour later than planned.

I am interested to note that the train you have now been advised to take commences its journey to London at Lincoln Central, so with one change you should be able to alleviate any concerns over a connection at Newark.

 

[les.]

I am interested to note that the train you have now been advised to take commences its journey to London at Lincoln Central, so with one change you should be able to alleviate any concerns over a connection at Newark.

I didn't realise that. The thing is I have had to book another seat and that is obviously from NNG. Also it's going to mean the best part of 2 hours in Newark now, but rather conveniently a friend of mine runs a pub not far from NNG so I will pop in and see him rather than sit on the platform for that long.

 

[Haywain]

I didn't realise that. The thing is I have had to book another seat and that is obviously from NNG. Also it's going to mean about an hour and a half in Newark, but rather conveniently a friend of mine runs a pub not far from NNG so I will pop in and see him rather than sit on the platform for that long.

That sounds like an excellent idea!

 

[les.]

Just a little update on this. I had booked on the 13:54 train to Stevenage which mean't the best part of 2 hours in Newark so as I said I would, I went to a nearby pub. When I was in there I received a text to say all was fine with the 13:54 train but about 10 minutes later I received another text to tell me that this train had been cancelled too. I looked on a live trains app and saw that there was another train leaving NNG at 13:16 to KX but it didn't stop at Stevenage, as it was only just past 1 I made my way to the station and asked if my ticket would be valid to travel through London and catch an Oxted bound train from Victoria. I was told it was and was given a reserved seat on this service. I then made my way from KX to VIC on the underground and caught a Southern train from there to my destination. I arrived exactly 30 minutes after my original schedule said I would.

I wasn't going to bother claiming any delay repay but then decided I would because of all the hassle it had caused me. I could not do it online as the automatic ticket barrier at Oxted kept my ticket with it only being a single so on the 16th of June I sent an email off to LNER detailing my revised journey. I got an automated email to say that they would try to deal with it within 10 days, so hopefully I should hear something in the next couple of days.