Great Western Coffee Shop

The last Cheltenham London train has been cancelled from Gloucester.

Passengers have been told they have no rights.

I’d welcome any advice to help those currently stranded at Gloucester.

National Rail Conditions of Travel

28.2. Where disruption prevents you from completing the journey for which your ticket is valid and is being used, any Train Company will, where it reasonably can, provide you with alternative means of travel to your destination, or if necessary provide overnight accommodation for you.

Thanks folks. The train in question was the 2130 Cheltenham to Swindon which was terminated at Gloucester.

Staff at Gloucester refused to help despite the passengers pointing out their rights and a conversation with GWR customer services.

In the end they were forced to arrange their own taxi (in excess of £250).

Will be sending a strongly worded complaint to get the taxi fare refunded, delay repay and an apology.

This service is partially cancelled
This service was cancelled between Gloucester and Swindon due to an issue with the train crew (TG).

Although it would not help those wanting intermediate stations those aiming for Swindon could have got there by train.

Arriving at Gloucester at 21:40 there was a Cross Country service to Bristol Temple Meads at 22:05.  From there there’s the 23:30 to Swindon.

However if no one said that, it is understandable why the option wasn’t taken. 

"where it reasonably can" is doing a lot of heavy lifting; I think that paragraph needs to be a lot more explicit about customers acquiring their own taxis and seeking reimbursement rather than TOCs "authorising" them to do so on an ad-hoc basis at present.

In this case it was Gloucester on a Saturday night, rather than a minor station with no available alternative transport.

Lots of taxis were available and even if GWR had an arrangement with a taxi provider in the wider region (say Bristol or Cheltenham), they wouldn't have had an issue sourcing one. However, they never tried because they refused to help their customers.

It's still done in Banbury....but the taxi private-hire company there has to guarantee driver availability for x number of cars, plus the rank drivers need to guarantee a certain number on the rank from x to y times, 7 days a week if they want a badge.

Has anyone on this forum or anyone they know had a TOC arrange overnight accommodation (i.e. not having to pay upfront and claim back later)?

Article 18: assistance to passengers in the event of delays (such as meals, possible alternative travel and hotel accommodation)

Passengers must be kept informed of the situation by the railway undertaking or by the station manager including current estimated departure and arrival times as soon as such information is available.

In the case of delays over 60 minutes, the passenger shall be offered free of charge:

    meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time if these are available on the train or station or can be reasonably[footnote 1] supplied
    hotel or other accommodation and transport between the station and the accommodation in cases where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, when physically possible
    transport from the train to the station if the train is blocked on the track, to an alternative departure point or the final destination of the service, where physically possible

Where the railway service cannot be provided, the railway undertakings shall provide alternative transport as soon as possible.

Where there is disruption, the railway undertaking shall certify the same on the ticket when requested by the passenger.

When discharging these duties, the railway undertaking shall pay particular attention to the needs of people with a disability and others with reduced mobility.

Article 19

10.   A railway undertaking shall not be obliged to pay compensation if it can prove that the delay, missed connection or cancellation was caused directly by, or was inherently linked with:

(a)
   

extraordinary circumstances not connected with the operation of the railway, such as extreme weather conditions, major natural disasters or major public health crises, which the railway undertaking, in spite of having taken the care required in the particular circumstances of the case, was unable to avoid and the consequences of which it was unable to prevent;

(b)
   

fault on the part of the passenger; or

(c)
   

the behaviour of a third party which the railway undertaking, in spite of having taken the care required in the particular circumstances of the case, was unable to avoid and the consequences of which it was unable to prevent, such as persons on the track, cable theft, on-board emergencies, law enforcement activities, sabotage or terrorism.

Strikes by the personnel of the railway undertaking, acts or omissions by another undertaking using the same railway infrastructure and acts or omissions of the infrastructure and station managers are not covered by the exemption referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph

@mods can you move this thread to the "Your rights and redress" section of the forum? Thanks