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Advice on what to do when ToCs don't provide alternative transport

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Mathieu

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I'm wondering what to do when TOCs don't provide alternative transport when a passenger has a valid ticket and is in mid journey with no more trains going back to the origin. I was almost stuck in this situation a few weeks ago.

On the 27th August I was getting the 14:41 from Oban to Glasgow then intending on getting a train from Glasgow to Milngavie, I had a OBN-GLQ return and a GLQ-MLN single (split because I was using Highland Railcard). The train ran on time until it was stuck at Gilshochill due to flooding ahead. After sitting for a few hours the train was allowed to reverse back to platform 3 at Anniesland arriving some 2h 30m late. I then noticed all trains in both directions we're cancelled throughout (disruption started around 15:00 in the area with flooding and power failures but I had no idea as I had a dead phone). I went to the help point to explain my situation where I asked when the next train to Milngavie will be, they replied "no more trains to Milngavie tonight due to the issue, you will have to find alternative transport". I then told them I had a ticket to Milngavie and started from Oban but they still stood there ground and told me it was my responsibility to check disruption before travelling. I argued the point saying I started travelling before there was any known issues but they still weren't budging. I then reminded them of Section 28.2 and told them they had a duty of care to get me to my end destination by alternative travel or failing that provide me with accommodation. I was told to wait a minute and they came back and still said the same thing after some back and forth with me insisting it's their duty of care to get me home. Luckily I saw the conductor leaving the train that was left on Platform 3 and explained what happened, she went to the intercom and introduced herself as conductor [first name] of 1Y26 and requested a taxi arrive for me, it was booked in seconds and arrived in minutes.

As I had a dead phone and no cash or card on me at that point, what would my options be at this point if that conductor had left as soon as I arrived, has this happened to anyone else before and what would the aftermath be for myself and the TOC in question?
 
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Tazi Hupefi

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Not withstanding the TOC angle here, I'd have thought it pretty irresponsible to make such a journey without cash or card, no phone charger etc. So I think that's something you'd want to consider in the future.

However, you'd either source transport yourself, and likely claim it back from the TOC if there genuinely was no available train.

Not every station has a help point either, so having no phone or money would cause you a problem.

I'd personally would have arranged a taxi, told the driver my predicament and got some money back at home or from a friend etc.

What would you have done if alternative transport or accomodation wasn't available, because the flooding had affected roads etc?
 

Mathieu

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Not withstanding the TOC angle here, I'd have thought it pretty irresponsible to make such a journey without cash or card, no phone charger etc. So I think that's something you'd want to consider in the future.

However, you'd either source transport yourself, and likely claim it back from the TOC if there genuinely was no available train.

Not every station has a help point either, so having no phone or money would cause you a problem.

I'd personally would have arranged a taxi, told the driver my predicament and got some money back at home or from a friend etc.

What would you have done if alternative transport or accomodation wasn't available, because the flooding had affected roads etc?
Having back up money for alternative transport wasn’t on my agenda when taking a train that I take on a weekly basis to go see my family, I don’t expect to be left stranded mid journey
 

Tazi Hupefi

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Having back up money for alternative transport wasn’t on my agenda when taking a train that I take on a weekly basis to go see my family, I don’t expect to be left stranded mid journey


That's my point, it should be on your agenda! Pretty irresponsible in my view (in terms of your own well-being!).

To have no means of payment whatsoever and no means of communication on a fairly lengthy public transport journey through some pretty difficult Scottish terrain seems particularly unwise in my view.

Nobody expects to be stranded mid journey, but the unexpected does and can happen!

You've got the options ultimately:

1) Get yourself to your destination and send the operator the bill or;
2) Rely on the operator to provide transport themselves, but I'd be cautious that even if they wanted to help, they may genuinely not always be able to, depending on circumstances, like weather blocking roads etc.

I agree they have a Duty of Care to you, (where practical and possible) - but you also have a responsibility to take at least some basic and reasonable precautions for if the worst does ever happen.
 

Mathieu

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Oban
That's my point, it should be on your agenda! Pretty irresponsible in my view (in terms of your own well-being!).

To have no means of payment whatsoever and no means of communication on a fairly lengthy public transport journey through some pretty difficult Scottish terrain seems particularly unwise in my view.

Nobody expects to be stranded mid journey, but the unexpected does and can happen!

You've got the options ultimately:

1) Get yourself to your destination and send the operator the bill or;
2) Rely on the operator to provide transport themselves, but I'd be cautious that even if they wanted to help, they may genuinely not always be able to, depending on circumstances, like weather blocking roads etc.

I agree they have a Duty of Care to you, (where practical and possible) - but you also have a responsibility to take at least some basic and reasonable precautions for if the worst does ever happen.
I’ve been taking this train almost every week for at least 3 years now. Everytime anything has gone wrong it’s always been sorted swiftly without me having to spend any money, this is why I don’t expect to carry extra money in case they can’t complete my journey
 

yorkie

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It is best to ask on here for advice as soon as possible after the event (and if anyone is in a position to ask for advice during the journey, that's even better) as it's harder to advise the longer ago it was.

I don't know what conditions were like on that day, but unless there was a travel advisory against making the journey at the time your journey commenced, I'd argue Scotrail have to get you to your final destination if at all possible.

I'm glad the TOC did the right thing and booked a taxi in the end, though they should have done this in the first place.

As for your options, if there was no other option then the only remaining option would be to request a taxi yourself (as paying at the destination is the norm for taxis), request a receipt, and submit a bill to Scotrail, enclosing evidence of the ticket(s) held and additional costs. The taxi receipt would be evidence of a material cost that would have to be refunded.

If the taxi arrived at Milngavie sufficiently late then you can of course claim delay compensation too.

Alternatively it's a 4.2 mile walk, so if it was practicable to do the walk, this would definitely result in 100% delay compensation (and 100% of a return too) but I'd go further than that and request compensation for the inconvenience and breach of contract.

(If anyone wishes to reply to this thread, please click the report button and submit a draft of the post you wish to submit)

Edit: @Mathieu two additions were received, which can be found below:-

mpotter said:
I will point out that help points on some companies e.g. Greater Anglia, don't connect to the TOCs control centre, but instead to National Rail Enquiries, who outsource their call centres to India to reduce costs. Now that might help to keep the finances tight, but it's a practice fraught with risk for the unwary traveller.
awsnews said:
If this was the 27th August, when the entire network fell over in the west of Scotland, by the afternoon there was a travel advisory in place. If you search back through ScotRail's twitter feed to that date passengers at Anniesland were told they were attempting to arrange alternative transport.
 
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