Watis wrote:melonfool wrote:I commute to London on Great Northern from St Neots, most days.
I don't want my train journeys to be 'interesting', lately they have been far too interesting but at least my Paypal account is getting filled up with all the delay repays claims!
Mel
Mel:
Do you have to prove you travelled on the day a delay is claimable?
Asking because, if you don't, these season tickets would be an investment opportunity!
Watis
Heh - you don't exactly, but you have to tick to confirm the claim is genuine. If it's not, you're committing fraud I guess.
I buy a weekly ticket every two weeks, it's £126.50. In the last period I had 4 DR claims. Total £16. Not really worth it, plus one of those I was over half an hour delayed. Then on Thu I had a one day return and was late and the claim was £5.20.
I know people have been claiming for cancelled trains they had no intention of getting anyway and one person on Twitter said their 6.28 train was removed from the boards (aka 'cancelled'), the 6.59 gets in too late so they get the 6.08 now, what can they claim and GNR told them nothing. But, I replied and told them no, you claim for the cancelled train as long as the later one gets in later than the cancelled one whether that is later as it is timetabled or later because it is delayed - we can't let them off the hook by just getting up earlier every day!
However, there is no reliable way of finding out when trains historically arrived vs the timetable (such as it is, there are about three different timetables currently).
My situation am is now that I used to get the 7.18 which got in at 8am, gets me to work about 8.40am. They added about 4 stops so it now gets in at 8.15am (on the new timetable) and that is getting on to too late for me, so I shifted back to the 6.59 (as did everyone, the 7.18 was 12 coaches, the 6.59 is eight, so loads of people standing), this stops at more stops than the original 7.18 anyway but is timetabled to get in at 7.44. It is routinely 15 minutes late as they add more stops each day to pick up the slack from other cancelled trains - which, as you can see, simply means I get up 19 minutes earlier from my slumber to get a train that *gets me in at the same time*!
If it hits the 15 mins I put the claim in and roll around in clover with my £3.20.
The other evening, I got to the station to get my 18.06 train (brought forward on the new timetable from 18.07) and it was not showing on the board, not on the app (can't always access the app anyway as four million people try to use the 4G at KC all at the same time) and next train showing is 18.36, so I approached a member of staff.
Her tabbard said "ask me the way to St Pancras" (GNR in its wisdom now runs half my trains from KC and half from St P, but no app will show both stations at the same time....) so I said to her "my six o six train isn't on the board......", I didn't have time to finish before she said:
"have you tried Saint PancrEAS?"
Confused, I said "do you mean Saint Pancras?"
She replied "that's the way I pronounce it, I don't appreciate you correcting me" - like I've got time to get into a discussion with her about how idiotic she sounds, I just say "whatever" and walk away.
Anyway, there is usually a 18.16 train from St P, which is nearly always cancelled, but thinking as the 18.06 isn't there maybe today will be the day they run the 18.16, I walk to St P - not far in itself but to get all the way through and to the platforms is quite a trek - the app by this time is showing a 18.20 train, which I think might be the 18.16 delayed?
Get to the platform, can't see a 18.20 train, check the app again and it shows there is a 'change', I'm thinking huh, where can you change between St P and St Neots? Hmm, open the info and there it is - 18.20 walk to Kings Cross, 18.36 train to Peterborough!
Aaaargh!
Anyway, walk back to KC and as I walk in an announcement says "the eighteen o six will be departing from platform six [that's now in about 2 minutes], this is an additional service [huh - it's on the timetable!] not showing on the boards or the apps so please make your way to platform six as this train is about to depart"!
I made it. The train was only 1/3rd full which is unheard of. It's usually full and then another 1/3rd get on. Stop at Finsbury Park, no-one gets on, also unheard of. Passengers all in mild hysteria, form an unholy alliance and all agree to claim for the disappeared 18.06 despite the fact we are ON IT! I did, that was £6.40 - nearly a G&T to ease away the stress!
Oh, and to rub salt in the wound, that trains stopped at additional stops (where no-one got on or off as no-one knew it existed) and was late anyway.
This nonsense is currently happening every single day.
Mel