Sadly EMR will not pay delay repay as your train has not been canceled (it's been removed from the timetable) and they will allow you to travel on the next service or get a refund.
I had the same scenario, purchased a ticket in advance and they removed the train from the timetable. Traveled on the next service, was delayed but the delay claim was rejected as they had published a new timetable.
They did point out in their email that they can charge people for a new ticket as they're original ticket becomes invalid when the train was removed. I could get a refund before I traveled but once I started travelling I was at risk of having to purchase a new ticket and also not getting a refund for the first ticket as I was not on my booked train.
Really poor way to treat customers in my opinion.
You are right to say they may attempt to get out of paying Delay Repay but they are still contractually obliged to pay it.
Incidentally a customer was due to travel from Crewe to Sheffield via Uttoxeter last night; the train via Uttoxeter was cancelled and EMR allowed travel via Stockport, which meant the customer actually arrived early. This was sorted out on the day.
EMR said to speak to station staff to endorse the ticket; Avanti station staff said they could not endorse anything but the customer could simply travel. The customer did this and had no problems.
There is no guarantee a train company will act correctly when disruption occurs, but if they don't, we can help advise on how to get them to put things right.
This is incorrect. If you have purchased a ticket for a specific train and have an itinerary then delay repay is due if you travel on a later train. I'm not surprised that EMR initially rejected your claim but an escalation should yield a successful outcome.
Agreed
And if EMR refuse, I would be going to the Rail Ombudsman next.
Incidentally both my latest DR claims have had to be escalated to customer services within the relevant TOCs. Delay Repay is often difficult to actually get, so you have to allocate time for appeals and letter writing.
@STINT47 please create a new thread so we can help with your issue (if it occured relatively recently) and link us to it here
They did point out in their email that they can charge people for a new ticket as the original ticket becomes invalid when the train was removed.
This is a disgraceful thing for EMR to say; it would be a breach of contract and consumer law if they did that.