Great Western Coffee Shop

This topic is split off the skicky topic "Keeping your rail fare down" at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=4254.0 -- grahame


Flamingo - what about late Eurostar connections? Do guards allow people on later trains if their Eurostar service was late/cancelled? (bearing in mind the time it takes connecting from St Pancras to other BR stations)

If you have a through Eurostar ticket to a UK station you are covered by the international conditions of carriage (CIV): these oblige all the operators involved to carry you by the next available service in the event of a missed connection, so FGW could not legitimately refuse to carry a passenger who had a through ticket from Europe to a UK destination who had arrived late on a Eurostar. The same applies to passengers holding tickets to "London International CIV", which can only be purchased in conjunction with a Eurostar journey, have no peak time restrictions and guarantee carriage by the next available service in the event of a missed connection.

If you have a normal advance ticket from PAD and are miss your booked train because of a late Eurostar it then becomes at the discretion of FGW; I don't know what company policy is. In a similar situation there certainly used to be some leeway for pax arriving Reading on the RailAir coach who had missed their booked train due to a flight delay, although whether this still applies I do not know.

The moral of this story is always buy a London International CIV ticket if you're connecting into/out of Eurostar because this guarantees your connections on outward and return journeys.

Thanks for this help. Although Eurostar are reliable, I would like peace of mind that I won't be charged an Anytime fare if it all goes wrong.

I am sure FGW must have had experience of this before.

If you speak to Eurostar they will usually stamp your ticket (the Eurostar one) saying train was delayed, you should then if at all possible get your advance ticket stamped and endorsed before boarding.

Thanks Ollie - I take it, they would allow me to keep my ticket on Arrival at St Pancras?

Yeah they should do. I've not known for it to be taken off of you, as it's the ticket they endorse to show the service was delayed.

hmm i wonder what methods of `cheaper travel` that could possibly be

:)

Does this apply to all operators?

If I travel from Ashford Int to Newton ABbot on an advance ticket and my SET train is delayed/cancelled, what happens to the FGW leg? Can I get the next available service without being charged?

My understanding (plenty of people to correct me if I am wrong) is that you are entitled to use the next available service if your first / earlier leg main rail network operator is delayed or cancelled.  So the answer is "yes".  However, if you have not bought a through ticket but two tickets for the different legs, you are not entitled to use the second ticket on the next available serive if it's a restricted service.

It appears from reading this thread that Eurostar counts as a main rail network operator for the purposes of these rules, but the following are questionable ... can any of the rail staff give a yes / no for each to bring it in to a single thread for us - these are all public transport holdups that are not under the control of the traveller ...
1. Delay on underground
2. Delay on London Overground
3. Delay on a train service in Europe that feeds into Eurostar (Amsterdam to Chippenham ticket!)
4. Delay on a rail replacement bus service
5. Delay on a bus service operated by First that should connect
6. Delay on a ferry service (such as late boat arrival in Plymouth)
7. Delay on an aircraft service
8. Delay on a rail service such as Kingswear to Paignton
9. Missing connection due to boarding onto connecting train being denied due to overcrowding

To answer your question in one go  you will always be allowed to travel on the next service if your ticket is for the whole journey.

Example

Bude Bus to London.  Bus is delayed then you can travel on the next service

Exeter to London where you take a bus to the station which is late.  Your ticket will no longer be valid and you will have to buy another one.  The same would apply if your mate was taking you in a car which broke down.

the most common one is the plane. If your plane is late then you will have to buy new tickets and claim on you travel insurance (if you have any)


There may be examples where you know of people being allowed to travel if they have missed their train but this will always be at the discretion of the railway staff.