On Sunday 14 January 2024 my partner and I had super off-peak tickets from London St Pancras International to Durham, and were booked on the 16:02 to change at Derby to catch a Cross-Country service at 17:45 to arrive at Durham at 20:14. the reason we were booked on this route is that Kings Cross Station was closed that weekend.
With about 15 minutes to go before the train was due to leave we went to the upper level where we discovered an enormous queue. At 15:50 I received a text from LNER (from whom I had bought the tickets) reminding me of the seat reservations and saying that the train was leaving at 16:02. I told the staff that we had reserved seats on this train but they would not let us pass so we missed the train. We eventually got to Durham at 00:08, having taken a series of trains. This journey included being prevented from catching a Cross-Country train in Sheffield because that too was so packed no more passengers could get on.
My Delay-Repay claim to East Midlands Railway was refused almost immediately and my appeal has just been turned down. I understand the EMR train we hoped to catch was 4 minutes late into Derby but we weren't on it due to the staff at St Pancras stopping us from boarding. I understand that St Pancras is owned by HS1 Limited and managed by Network Rail. Having been delayed by very nearly 4 hours I feel I should be refunded our fares. But what do I do now?
With about 15 minutes to go before the train was due to leave we went to the upper level where we discovered an enormous queue. At 15:50 I received a text from LNER (from whom I had bought the tickets) reminding me of the seat reservations and saying that the train was leaving at 16:02. I told the staff that we had reserved seats on this train but they would not let us pass so we missed the train. We eventually got to Durham at 00:08, having taken a series of trains. This journey included being prevented from catching a Cross-Country train in Sheffield because that too was so packed no more passengers could get on.
My Delay-Repay claim to East Midlands Railway was refused almost immediately and my appeal has just been turned down. I understand the EMR train we hoped to catch was 4 minutes late into Derby but we weren't on it due to the staff at St Pancras stopping us from boarding. I understand that St Pancras is owned by HS1 Limited and managed by Network Rail. Having been delayed by very nearly 4 hours I feel I should be refunded our fares. But what do I do now?
