Too short connection time

[whole diary]

[Eliza]

What is the position when you buy an advance purchase ticket, have to change trains and find that the connection time is too short and you miss your train?

I was thinking in particular of the journey from Salisbury to Taunton, changing at Westbury.  From Monday to Friday, the cheapest fare is the advance purchase, departing Salisbury at 11.40 and arriving Taunton at 12.58, with eight minutes to change trains.  (The official minimum connection time is five.)  To my mind, an elderly person, who walks slowly and has to use the lifts in order to change platform, could easily miss his connection.  Is that just his bad luck and poor judgement in buying a restricted ticket and will he have to pay for a new ticket from Westbury to Taunton to complete his journey?

[grahame]

If you've allowed minimum connection time / taken the train on your itinerary and fail to connect, you'll normally be allowed to travel on the next available service without penalty / rebooking.  Having said that, there's a long gap between Taunton trains at Westbury, and there probably are limits in what FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will accept in the time you need ... NOT the case you write about, but if you were to miss the connection because you nipped out of the station for a smoke ...

[JayMac]

Free assistance can be arranged at an interchange station if anyone is worried that their disability or infirmity may mean they'll struggle to make an advertised and valid connection. For FGW^▸ (First Great Western) that assistance can be booked by calling 0800 197 1329. Someone who walks slowly, for example, can be met off their incoming train by a member of staff with a wheelchair and then taken to their onward train.

https://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Your-journey/Assisted-travel

[Eliza]

Thank you Grahame and Bignosemac.  This is the first time I've posted a reply so hopefully I'm doing it right.
 
BNM's suggestion of requesting Travel Assistance sounds sensible and Grahame's advice, that we will be allowed to board another train, reassuring.

However, a third possibility has occurred to me, which is to extend the time allowed to change trains at Westbury.  This is a timetable option on National Rail's Journey Planner but not, I think, on First Great Western's.  It would enable us to catch an earlier train from Salisbury, the 11.14 rather than the 11.40, and give 36 minutes, rather than eight, to make our connection.  We could manage without Travel Assistance in those circumstances.

For the outward journey from Taunton to Salisbury, changing at Westbury, we plan to buy advance purchase tickets for the weekday service, the 10.28 from Taunton, reaching Salisbury at 12.32 ie arriving into Westbury at 11.03 but departing at 12.01.  If our journey was without incident, could we use those tickets to catch the 11.11 service from Westbury? ie the principle of catching an earlier, connecting train, which I think Bignosemac has referred to as Question 25 of Advance Fares FAQs^▸ (Frequently Asked Questions).


   

[JayMac]

Hmm... the usual rule is that if both trains of a two leg journey using an Advance Purchase ticket are reservable then you must stick to the booked trains.

In the case of a journey from Taunton <-> Salisbury via Westbury both trains will almost always be ones that offer reservations, so one should, by the letter of the law, stick to ones itinerary.

There's nothing stopping you asking for discretion to travel earlier/later, but this should be done before boarding the first train, and clear unambiguous authority (i.e. an endorsed ticket or station stamped note) should be obtained. Don't rely on "the man at the station said it would be OK".

I really would recommend using the available assistance. It's free and if there are problems then it'll smooth the way for alternative arrangements to be made. 

An alternative is use FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s step-by-step 'text only' booking engine where you can specifically request an extended interchange time and have this included on a booked itinerary with a through ticket. This though may reduce the options for the cheaper Advance Purchase tickets.

http://tickets.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/gw/en/JourneyPlanning/Wizard/JourneyDate.aspx

Another alternative is to book the legs separately with the extended interchange time you want, but in this instance that will likely be more expensive than a through ticket.

With details of the actual journey, date, times (out and return), number travelling, railcards, I can maybe advise further.

[Eliza]

Thank you, BNM.  As you saw, I'd completely misunderstood the rules on Advance Purchase tickets.

I normally request Priority Seating for my husband and myself, as his travelling companion, and find that we can get on and off the train without further assistance.  However, I believe Salisbury has a very steep gradient to and from the subway, and no lifts, so we shall have to make use of the free assistance, as you suggest.   

I do find the ongoing discussions on GW^▸ (Great Western) Coffee Shop fascinating, even when they go above my head.