Great Western Coffee Shop

Hi

Just wondering if anyone knows the answer to my hypothetical questions.  I only ever make direct services so don't know the answers to these questions.

If I had a ticket, for Severn Beach to, say, Portsmouth & Southsea which was booked in advance showing the route "Great Western Only" and the validity "Booked Train Only".  I have a reservation coupon for a Bristol TM to Portsmouth service.  If the train from Severn Beach to Bristol TM was cancelled, and there wasn't another service for 2 hours, what would I do?  There are no information screens, ticket machines or staff at Severn Beach.  Would I be expected to somehow phone FGW to discuss how to get to Bristol TM?  What would they offer?  Also, would my ticket then allow me on the next train to Portsmouth (Without having to have a new reservation coupon printed)?

My second question is if I have a ticket for Portsmouth to Clifton Down, but the Portsmouth to Bristol TM is cancelled, I assume I could catch the next train (an hour later)?  But what if I then miss the last train of the day to Clifton Down (I'm planning on doing this on a Sunday)?  Would FGW then have to pay for me to get there on a bus?

Thanks in advance

Hello, BruceyBonus, and welcome to the Coffee Shop forum!  ;)

Question 1 - I don't know, but we do have staff members here who will, I'm sure, be able to provide an answer!

Question 2 - I think you'd be covered because the TOC have cancelled your original train: they'd have to provide you with an alternative.  On the other hand, I'm prepared to be corrected by staff with reasons why this wouldn't happen!  :P

I think you would be allowed to go on the next available train to your destination. Not sure if they would let you if it was a different TOC tho - e.g. there are 3 TOC that run trains from Cardiff to Newport. 

This has happened to me a few times, I was due to connect onto a train at Newport for Bristol Temple Meads once and although I was booked onto the train the train from Swansea was late so I missed my connection.  Had to wait an hour but they let me on the next train to BTM.

Another time I was getting a train from BTM to Cardiff and they decided that the train would be diverted to and terminate at Bristol Parkway due to a broken down train by the tunnel, so they allowed passengers for Newport and Cardiff to travel on the HST.

You're definitely permitted to take the next connecting in the event of a cancelled/delayed train: as long as you arrive at your point of departure in good time for your first booked train you're covered. An extract from the fares manual dealing with some of the conditions for Advance tickets is as follows:


I suspect if a service from Severn Beach was cancelled leaving a 2 hour wait for the next one then road replacement transport of some sort would be arranged.

I have been told by FGW staff in the past that it it policy to provide replacement transport if a connection is missed and the next available service if not for 2 hours or more (and they have delivered on that by providing taxis in that situation on a couple of occasions). I assume therefore that a similar arrangement would apply if a 2-hourly service from SVB was cancelled.

Alternative transport should be provided if your missed connection is over an hour, if at the fault of FGW.

XC have a 2hr rule.

Thank you everyone for your replies - just what I thought.  Needed a little peace of mind as I've never used connecting services on an advance ticket before.

Thanks Chris.  I've been registered and been reading the forum for quite a while now - just never actually got round to posting anything.

I almost had trouble once because although my inbound train had been less than an hour late, the connection was not for another two hours. The first member of staff I spoke to said that he was not prepared to authorize a taxi as the first train was not an hour late, but the duty manager put him right in the end and I got there.

So, hypothetical situation:
1. I'm making a tight but "legal" 11-minute connection at, say, Bristol TM, minimum connection time 10 minutes.
2. My incoming train is 15 minutes late due to a "railway fault" (e.g. no traincrew, train failure, engineering overrun), thereby missing the connection.
3. The next connecting service leaves 61 minutes (or more!) later than the advertised time for my original connection.

As I understand what you've said, FGW policy is to provide alternative transport - have I got this correct?

Thanks!

I'm only a lowly SDA, so I normally pass this stuff onto the Duty Manager, however the way I see it, is if the next service is 61+minutes from your arrival then yes.

An example:

If someone arrives 10late from London at Exeter and the next Barnstaple service is 61minutes away, then yes they should get alternative.

However if someone arrived 90late from London and their next BNP service was 10 minutes away, then they catch the next service.

I think a bit of Customer Service common sense needs to apply at times.

This is of course also sometimes practical considerations as well as TOC policy and rules.  Sometimes you might perfer to wait 61 minutes for teh next train than get a slower taxi.  At some stations, there might be a wait for taxis anyway which mean taking the train is a better option