LNER advance York to Letchworth on 8 April -GTR strike

I have an advance ticket booked on Monday 8 April on the 18:02 from York to Letchworth, changing at Stevenage.
Unfortunately GN/Thameslink are now on strike that day so I would not be able to get a train from Stevenage to Letchworth.
The last 55 bus to Letchworth leaves Stevenage at 18:45 & this LNER train would be too late for the bus so I would be stranded at Stevenage.

What is the best option for me? Can I amend the existing advance ticket so I am rebooked instead on the 16:02 from York to Stevenage so I can catch a bus or do I have to get the ticket refunded and book a new ticket for the 16:02 York to Stevenage?
The existing ticket was booked via the LNER app. Thanks

Have you checked the price of a taxi ? It's only 7 miles between Stevenage and Letchworth stations - your end destination may be less.

There's a tariff table here for one of the Stevenage taxi firms https://www.abctaxisltd.co.uk/taxi_tar.htm - would be less than £ 20 and may be even cheaper if pre-booked ?

A0wen said:

Have you checked the price of a taxi ? It's only 7 miles between Stevenage and Letchworth stations - your end destination may be less.

There's a tariff table here for one of the Stevenage taxi firms https://www.abctaxisltd.co.uk/taxi_tar.htm - would be less than £ 20 and may be even cheaper if pre-booked ?

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A taxi would be the fall back option, though I find on occasions when there are no trains running taxis in Stevenage and Hitchin area tend to be in short supply after 6pm once the buses have finished. So it would have to be prebooked.
Anyway I received an email from LNER today informing me that due to a change in the timetable they have automatically cancelled my reservations for this journey so I will have to rebook it anyway.
Though I can’t change the destination on the ticket so will have to select the option refund the original and then rebook on the earlier train from York to Stevenage.

Thameslink info here:

philjo said:

Anyway I received an email from LNER today informing me that due to a change in the timetable they have automatically cancelled my reservations for this journey so I will have to rebook it anyway.
Though I can’t change the destination on the ticket so will have to select the option refund the original and then rebook on the earlier train from York to Stevenage.

Click to expand...

What timetsble change are they referencing?
You should not have to pay extra for your journey on LNER, surely?

If you show up early at York and go to the booking office, you could ask nicely if they can help you work around the fact that all of your planned trains to Letchworth are cancelled - they may be able to issue you a slip with a stamp authorising early departure. It depends if you're willing to risk being told no, or take the possible inconvenience of being at the station much earlier than you expected to be. Usually LNER station staff will be very professional when customers are stuck owing to industrial action, and do what they can to help. I would draw their attention to the fact that there's no alternative train to Letchworth you could travel on, if that's the case.

The taxi would probably be more straightforward and convenient than this option though. There will be plenty of availability at Stevenage.

the email just says the reservations were cancelled due to a change in the timetable. It is the GTR connections from Stevenage that are not running so it won’t provide any alternative journeys for that day.
As it happens the current price to Stevenage for the earlier departure from York is the same as the price I had paid so my only additional cost will be the £2 bus home from Stevenage unless I do have to take a taxi.

You're not obliged to rebook the ticket if you don't choose to. You can still just use it as is. It's up to you how you approach it, taking the refund and buying a replacement afresh may be simple and convenient of course.

If you take the refund you would obviously be giving up any rights to travel to Letchworth, so wouldn't be able to try to claim for damages as a result of GTR's decision not to provide you with road transport themselves.