What counts as a reasonable time to change?

[digitaltoast]

If I let the booking system decide what's best for me from my journey from London to Wales, it gives me 20 mins to change at BHM, and wants £50.

If I book the two parts separately and choose another train to BHM, it's £25.50.

BUT - that allows a 6 minute change at BHM. Now, it was always the case that when I bought the "all the way" ticket, that when the connection was missed, they'd stick me and whoever else in a taxi to complete the journey (always satisfying to see the meter reading £120 by my house knowing that the next person is the same distance again!).

If I have these two, separate but prebooked tickets, and the Virgin is late and misses the last Arriva train, would they still be under that obligation? What would the "minimum reasonable change time" be if not?

 

[Mojo]

According to this page, the minimum connection time at Birmingham New Street is 12 minutes, so you would probably not be entitled to compensation as the connection is too tight.

As to whether the TOC would leave you abandoned in Birmingham all night, I have no idea.

 

[Polarbear]

The advertised minimum connection time at Birmingham New Street is 12 minutes.

If you book separate tickets for each leg of your journey & you miss you train because you had left less than 12 minutes to change at New Street, I suspect the TOC concerned wouldn't be under any obligation to honour your ticket if you missed the onward service.

There's no problem with re-booking to save money, but I would leave a suitable gap between trains, especially given that it's New Street.:-?

 

[digitaltoast]

Many thanks for the replies - answered the question perfectly. Gonna cost a tenner more, but still £15 less than not splitting.

Thanks again. I didn't realise the site gave that info, now I know and have mentally bookmarked it for other stations!