Taxi fare if train cancelled

[coldcallerbaiter]

Not sure if this is should go in to ethical or legal. Couldn’t see a transport topic.

If you use the same train every day as it is the only one that will get you in to work on time. There is no replacement bus and the train is cancelled. I know that you can contact the train company and ask for your taxi fare to be paid by showing them your online/paper ticket and the taxi bill. I have done this before, it’s a faff but I got my taxi fare paid out.

But what if you normally buy your ticket when you arrive at the station, so you arrive at the station and the train is cancelled and you could not buy a ticket anyway for a cancelled train. You have to get a taxi. How do you claim for the taxi? Because you aren’t a customer that day and the company would refuse to pay You can show them you go from and back to the station tickets every day in the weeks preceding though.

This isn’t me btw, but it is someone I know, young and really cannot afford a taxi for £££ several times a month.

Wondering how they stand. The company may just give a gesture of goodwill but this young person is just swallowing the cost as does not think complaining will get them anywhere.

If they don’t have a ticket, there’s no contact between the train company and the customer.

So the easy solution to this, is to buy the ticket in advance, even earlier the same day would work.

Then they have the evidence, if they need it.

You would need to buy the ticket in advance. You can just buy the ticket when you arrive at the station even if the train you're aiming for is cancelled surely? They don't stop selling tickets.

They'd only pay out for a taxi if the delays are really severe or everything is cancelled. If you get the latest train that gets you to work on time then you have to accept being late sometimes, or get an earlier train to account for possible delays.

They need to buy a ticket in advance.

Also, keep a close eye on the live train updates on the apps which can give advance warning.

Thanks, afaik once you arrive at the station you cannot buy for the cancelled train in the app. There is a machine but why would you buy a ticket eg. for the next train that is too late as it is 45 min later or an hour.

What if in the morning really early at home, no trains are available that will get them in on time? That’s just
just tough luck? So a regular train user has to put up with surprise random days of no service?

@coldcallerbaiter Surely they have travelled to this place earlier in the day though, so will need to get home later.

Meaning…. They can just buy a return ticket on those days?

AFAIK even after you buy a ticket, train companies have an obligation to get you to your destination, but not at any specific time (general 'you').

So if there is a later train to your destination you can catch, you can decide not to travel and get a refund, or travel on that later train and apply for Delay Repay compensation.

Which doesn't help with getting to work on time, of course.

If that train is often late or cancelled, the only solutions are to catch an earlier train if there is one, find another way of getting to work, or continue risking having to pay for taxis when that train is cancelled.

Has this person looked into getting a season ticket if they travel every day, and what kind of protection that might offer them in the event of cancellation?

Yes, I guess so. You are all right. It felt unfair. A regular return customer should have better service and some recourse . They obviously cannot get a later train as they would lose their job. An earlier train is just too early at a silly time in the morning. This is morning train, I forgot to mention. The return train they would just wait.

Price wise afaik there is no benefit.
They might wfh on a Friday in the future too. But I will tell them to look in to it.

If they know the night before that they need the train the next day couldn't they just purchase the ticket then? You can't have a system where the company recompenses people they don't have a contract (ticket) with, theyd go broke really fast. The options are pre-purchase, go for an earlier train, find an alternative means of transport, negotiate a flexible start time or suck up the cost of a cab.

If you get the latest train that gets you to work on time then you have to accept being late sometimes, or get an earlier train to account for possible delays
Indeed. To me if feels quite entitled to be expecting a taxi fare to be paid when other trains are available before/after - and could explain why prices are so high!
Usually people will stay later at work when they arrive later or work from home if trains are not running. If they there is no flexibility on either then they need to take the earlier train.

These cancellations are mornings before the return is purchased