KGX - YRK - NCL .. probably going to miss connection

[Willie Bee]

My daughter is on her way home to Newcastle, from Kings Cross

Her ticket involves a change at York with a 15-minute transfer time.

Unfortunately, her first train (GrandCentral) left 15 minutes late, so there is every possibility that she would miss the connection. What options does she have, as she needs to be back at work by 16:30 (in Newcastle)

To make matters more complicated, it looks as if her connecting train has been cancelled .. though I am not 100% as there are two XC trains showing at York, for the 13:32 departure (see image)

Staying on the Grandcentral is an option, but it is very slow .. there are LNER trains from York at 13:36 and 13:55. If she wanted to take these, would it be possible and who should she ask first.

thanks !

 

[swt_passenger]

My daughter is on her way home to Newcastle, from Kings Cross

Her ticket involves a change at York with a 15-minute transfer time.

Unfortunately, her first train (GrandCentral) left 15 minutes late, so there is every possibility that she would miss the connection. What options does she have, as she needs to be back at work by 16:30 (in Newcastle)

To make matters more complicated, it looks as if her connecting train has been cancelled .. though I am not 100% as there are two XC trains showing at York, for the 13:32 departure (see image)

Staying on the Grandcentral is an option, but it is very slow .. there are LNER trains from York at 13:36 and 13:55. If she wanted to take these, would it be possible and who should she ask first.

thanks !

It looks as if there‘s only one XC train, running a shortened service from Sheffield to Edinburgh, 1Z41, which has replaced the Plymouth to Edinburgh, 1S41, but it’s planned to run in it’s correct timings.

The ticket is GC/XC only, it would be risky to unilaterally try and get on an LNER train. I’m sure LNER staff’s default position would be to wait for the next XC service to Newcastle if the connection is missed, but the GC still has an hour to make up time?

 

[D1537]

The GC has 7 minutes recovery time between Grantham and Retford, so if it doesn't meet with any more delay it should make the connection at York. If she misses it, the next XC arrives in Newcastle at 1529 - is that too late?

 

[hexagon789]

I suspect 1D12 1133 King's Cross to Harrogate may hold up the Grand Central as its due to call at Doncaster 15 mins after the Grand Central is supposed to pass.

 

[Willie Bee]

The GC has 7 minutes recovery time between Grantham and Retford, so if it doesn't meet with any more delay it should make the connection at York. If she misses it, the next XC arrives in Newcastle at 1529 - is that too late?

Her first GC train now 17 minutes late .. hasn't picked up any time in 45 minutes

 

[hexagon789]

Her first GC train now 17 minutes late .. hasn't picked up any time in 45 minutes

It's stuck behind an LNER which makes two stops and was due out of King's Cross 6 mins after the Grand Central. I imagine it'll be stuck behind all the way to Doncaster.

 

[ainsworth74]

As above on that ticket she'd need to catch the next available CrossCountry service from York. Unfortunately that looks to be the 1432 so will mean an hour delay.

She can try asking LNER staff for permission to travel in their service but they're likely to tell her to wait for the next XC instead. Though some LNER staff are friendly than others!

She might be able to stay on to Sunderland (I would speak with the GC guard before reaching York however) but that looks to be slightly slower than just changing at York onto the next XC.

 

[Willie Bee]

As above on that ticket she'd need to catch the next available CrossCountry service from York. Unfortunately that looks to be the 1432 so will mean an hour delay.

She can try asking LNER staff for permission to travel in their service but they're likely to tell her to wait for the next XC instead. Though some LNER staff are friendly than others!

She might be able to stay on to Sunderland (I would speak with the GC guard before reaching York however) but that looks to be slightly slower than just changing at York onto the next XC.

I advised her to stay on GC to Sunderland, then she can get the metro or even NorthernRail train to NCL
She asked the train manager and was told OK.

So panic over !

 

[DanNCL]

There’s a few options.

One would be to get off in York as planned and board the first XC service to Newcastle.

Alternatively, the OP’s daughter whilst at York station could ask the guard of any LNER or TPE train heading to Newcastle *before boarding* if she can travel on their train. Some guards will use their discretion to allow it, some will be strict and say no. But it’s got to be worth a ago.

Finally it may be worth the OP’s daughter seeking out the guard on the GC train she’s on now and asking if she can stay on to Sunderland. She could then get the Metro to Newcastle and, depending on where in Newcastle she needs to be, that may be more convenient than ending up at Central.

 

[Willie Bee]

OP here again .. could she claim anything for the delay.

She decided to stay on GC to Sunderland, then take the metro to NCL so will be about an hour late. If she had opted for the next XC train from York she would be 57 minutes late .. unless that arrives late

 

[Mcr Warrior]

OP here again .. could she claim anything for the delay.

Presume Grand Central (who caused the initial delay) only offer compensation for delays of 60+ minutes?

 

[Willie Bee]

OP here

if my daughter had just waited in York for the next Cross Country, she would have arrived in NCL 59 1/4 (RTT) minutes later than her original planned train.

She opted to stay on the Grand Central, in case the next Cross Country was packed, following an earlier cancellation and this GC actually arrived 65 minutes behind the schedule time.

Not worth the hassle claiming, but that's put her off GC for good

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Not worth the hassle claiming, but that's put her off GC for good

Except presumably for the price which is presumably why she took the service with a change rather than a direct train from London to Newcastle?

 

[yorkie]

At the end of the day, the choice is there to be made.

I do think that GC's delay compensation policy, which is vastly inferior to Delay Repay, should be made clearer by the company, but I doubt many people are prepared to pay extra (or at least not much extra) to be entitled to claim under Delay Repay, as opposed to less generous schemes.

 

[Willie Bee]

Except presumably for the price which is presumably why she took the service with a change rather than a direct train from London to Newcastle?

Not really.

The ticket was actually bought by somebody else, so she doesn't know what the price was.

however, I've just looked up prices for a similar trip on Friday. Bearing in mind my daughter was heading back to work at 16:30 on her arrival date, she wanted to arrive a couple of hours earlier

For Friday, the GC / XC route is actually the most expensive .. see image

 

[yorkie]

Not really.

The ticket was actually bought by somebody else, so she doesn't know what the price was.

however, I've just looked up prices for a similar trip on Friday. Bearing in mind my daughter was heading back to work at 16:30 on her arrival date, she wanted to arrive a couple of hours earlier

For Friday, the GC / XC route is actually the most expensive .. see image

On the LNER website, the 1130 LNER costs more than the 1127 GC/XC.

However the forum's site reduces both fares, by splitting, but the LNER is further reduced, so LNER then wins. The price for the 1127 is cheaper on the forums site than Trainline.

But in principle you are right that there really isn't much of saving, if any saving, for a reduction in delay compensation entitlements.

Open access operators should be more transparent about such differences, in my opinion.

Do those prices shown include Trainline's booking fee?

 

[Willie Bee]

On the LNER website, the 1130 LNER costs more than the 1127 GC/XC.

However the forum's site reduces both fares, by splitting, but the LNER is further reduced, so LNER then wins. The price for the 1127 is cheaper on the forums site than Trainline.

But in principle you are right that there really isn't much of saving, if any saving, for a reduction in delay compensation entitlements.

Open access operators should be more transparent about such differences, in my opinion.

Do those prices shown include Trainline's booking fee?

Thank you for your reply.

I don't use the Trainline site, but couldn't see on the forum's site the GC/XC option, so used Trainline just to show some guide prices

I was interested to know whether there was a big saving, so was surprised to see, in the case I showed at least, there wasn't .. indeed it was more expensive. As I said before, my daughter's friend bought the ticket for her. My daughter would always use LNER and book well in advance .. this ticket and her downward journey were purchased a couple of days in advance only

Living near Newcastle, last year (before I new anything about GC) I thought travelling to London from Sunderland may be cheaper .. I would still have to take the local Metro to Sunderland. As it was, it was much more expensive. I stuck with LNER and after having had several trips with LNER in the past 18 months, my wife and I wouldn't use anybody else.

 

[yorkie]

Thank you for your reply.

I don't use the Trainline site, but couldn't see on the forum's site the GC/XC option, so used Trainline just to show some guide prices

The forum currently uses the older style Trainsplit view, which doesn't show all journeys that aren't considered good value, unless they are the fastest, and - of course - unless you specify advanced options to show them.

The main Trainsplit site will show a wider range of trains without any prompting.

I was interested to know whether there was a big saving, so was surprised to see, in the case I showed at least, there wasn't .. indeed it was more expensive.

Indeed; I agree your point absolutely stands.

As I said before, my daughter's friend bought the ticket for her. My daughter would always use LNER and book well in advance .. this ticket and her downward journey were purchased a couple of days in advance only

Living near Newcastle, last year (before I new anything about GC) I thought travelling to London from Sunderland may be cheaper .. I would still have to take the local Metro to Sunderland. As it was, it was much more expensive. I stuck with LNER and after having had several trips with LNER in the past 18 months, my wife and I wouldn't use anybody else.

GC used to be a lot cheaper, but these days they probably get enough custom that they feel they don't need to be. However, they definitely do keep LNER in check, and it has been noticeable that some LNER trains have been cheaper around the time of GC departures. I've not used GC for several years so it's difficult for me to comment on them, but of course I do see GC trains on a regular basis.

 

[SteveM70]

But in principle you are right that there really isn't much of saving, if any saving, for a reduction in delay compensation entitlements

For me, its far more around the resilience of the service than any DR entitlement

When things go wrong, GC tend to put their hands over their ears and shout "can't hear you", whereas LNER do tend to try and help