Travel tickets on the National Rail network

Where can I buy tickets?

• Online - National Rail Enquiries do not currently sell tickets but you can purchase them from one of the Ticket Retailers shown after you have selected your ticket in our Journey Planner .
• Over the phone, using one of the numbers shown in our Train Company pages
• At a station Ticket Office - check our Station Information pages to find which stations have one, and what the opening hours are. Various forms of payment are accepted.
• Using a self-service ticket machine available at many stations.

• Rail appointed travel agents are complementary to ticket office at stations and Train Company telesales service, and the majority provide a comprehensive travel service. Appointed travel agents can make reservations and issue tickets.

If there are no ticket purchasing facilities at the station (such as a booking office or a ticket machine, or they are closed/out of service), you may be able to buy your ticket on board the train.

When can I buy tickets?

• Anytime and Off-Peak can be bought in advance or on the day of travel.
• Advance tickets are sold in limited numbers and so subject to availability, and are made available for sale as soon as timetables have been confirmed - this is usually about twelve weeks beforehand. See our Buying advance tickets and Reserving seats page.
• Special conditio ns apply to buying Season Tickets in advance - these are shown on the Season Ticket page.

Which ticket suits you best?

The names of tickets describe when you can buy or use your ticket, making it easy for you to buy the best value ticket for your journey. Click on the ticket types below for more information.

• Advance - Buy in advance, sold in limited numbers and subject to availability. These tickets are only valid on the date/train specified.
• Off-Peak - Buy any time, travel off-peak.
• Anytime - Buy any time, travel any time.
• Season - Unlimited travel between two stations for a specified period.
• Rovers and Rangers - Unlimited travel within a specified area. There may be a few time restrictions on when you can travel.

ATOC have produced a new edition of the National Rail Guide to Tickets leaflet which provides an overview of the rail tickets available across the National Rail network and is designed to help customers choose the best value ticket for their journey with confidence. It also includes a summary of train companies’ commitments to customers.

Finding ticket prices

Our Journey Planner will show the cheapest point to point ticket currently available on each service displayed. If this is an Advance ticket please remember that these are sold in limited numbers and so subject to availability. If you have searched for a return journey the cheapest price for both a return and two singles (one out, one back) will be displayed.

The Journey Planner will not show Season Ticket or Rover and Ranger prices. Take a look at our Season Ticket Calculator or our Rovers and Rangers pages for these prices.

If you wish to see all ticket types and not just the cheapest (perhaps you are unable to book in advance so would not be able to buy an Advance ticket, for example) there is an option to click on more fares .

Money from tickets goes towards running and maintaining the railway. Find out more about your fare.

Changing tickets

Depending on the type of ticket held you may be able to make changes to travel plans, or obtain a refund if you do not travel. For more details please look at our Changing and Cancelling tickets page. Please note that Advance tickets a re not refundable.

Railcards and other discounts

Rail and bus tickets

Add unlimited bus travel around your origin and/or destination town or city with PLUSBUS. It can be added to single or return train tickets, and, in many towns and cities, to season tickets as well. Take a look at our PLUSBUS pages to see which towns/cities are covered.

Ticket validity information

The ticket that you have selected may require you to travel at specific times of the day, days of the week or on a specific route. Our Journey Planner will have already taken this into account with the selection that you have made and will only have shown tickets that are valid for the selected trains.

Your ticket is associated with a ‘Restriction Code applied by the train companies and this can be viewed by clicking the link from the Journey Planner ticket terms and conditions page once you have made your selection.

Routeing information

Your ticket may indicate a route or train company that you must use to complete your journey. In all other cases you are allowed to use any permitted route for the journey you are making – this is also the case where no route is shown. Permitted routes cover all the reasonable routes available for making the journey indicated, including all direct services and suitable connecting services. When you book your journey online, any ticket offered in connection with the timetable or itinerary produced by the journey planner will be accepted as a permitted route.

The full Routeing Guide can be found on the Association of Train Operating Companies website. This includes a list of maps of permitted routes and is intended as guidance, however, the full range of routes and options (especially for longer distance journeys) can be very complex and we would therefore encourage you to check any intended route using our Journey Planner to validate that it can be used with your ticket.

Crossing London

If your journey involves travelling through London to connect with another National Rail service, your ticket will usually include the cost of transfer on London Underground, Docklands Light Railway or Thameslink services between the relevant stations. To check if the cost of travel across London is included in your ticket, look for the ‘† symbol which will be shown in the tickets ‘Route information, e.g. [‘† ANY PERMITTED]. Full information can be found on our Travelling to, from and via London page .

National Rail Conditions of Carriage

When you buy a ticket to travel on the National Rail network you enter into an agreement with the train companies whose trains you will be travelling on. This agreement is detailed in the National Rail Conditions of Carriage.

Reference is made in the the National Rail Conditions of carriage applying from 19 July 2015 to a Code of Practice for meetings arranged in connection with duplicate Season Tickets. A copy of this can be found here .

Refund / compensation rights and Passenger s Charter