Purchasing Tickets

It's never been easier to buy a ticket for your rail journey...

Where can I buy a ticket?

There are a wide range of places that you can buy tickets:

• The easiest way to buy tickets is online - National Rail Enquiries do not currently sell tickets, however, you can purchase them from one of the Ticket Retailers shown after you've selected a ticket in our Journey Planner
  
  

• Buy them over the telephone, using the telephone numbers shown in our Train Operating Company Information page
  

• By using a 'self-service" ticket machine at larger stations or those without ticket offices
  

• At a station ticket office, opening times can be found in our Station Facilities search
  
  

• 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 a ticket?

You can buy Anytime and Off-Peak tickets up to a year in advance, however you'll only be able to buy these over the telephone or at a station ticket office.

When looking at fares in our Journey Planner,tickets in the 'Advance' category require you to make and use a seat reservation for your journey. Engineering work is usually planned twelve weeks in advance and as a result the timetable used may need to be changed. 

Our Buying Advance tickets and Reserving Seats page shows a summary of the dates until which Advance tickets can be booked and seat reservations made. When you're ready to buy your ticket, just use our Journey Planner to plan your journey and buy your tickets.

Changing a ticket...

Whether you can change your ticket depends on the type of ticket you have, and in which category the ticket appears within our Journey Planner.

• Advance: You can visit any booking office or call the telesales outlet that you bought your ticket from. If there are still other Advance fares available, you can change it to another Advance fare.
  
  If there are no Advance fares available, you can upgrade the ticket to the most appropriate ticket for the journey you now want to make. You will have to pay any difference in fare and an administration fee of no more than £10.
  
  Please note that changes to 'Advance' fares cannot be made on-board the train. If you board a train without a ticket and reservation for that service, a new ticket must be purchased.

   

• Off-Peak: These fares do not restrict you to travelling on a specific train, but they do have restrictions on the time you can travel. Check at the station before you travel, but you may find you don't need to pay an additional fare as long as you complete your journey within a calendar month for 'Off-Peak' tickets and on the date shown on the ticket for 'Off-Peak Day' tickets.

  
  

• Anytime: There are no time restrictions on when you can travel with this ticket, as long as you complete your journey within a calendar month for 'Anytime' tickets and on the date shown on the ticket for 'Anytime Day' tickets.

If you plan to change the route that you will take, you will most likely have to pay an additional fare. Please check at the booking office.

Getting a refund...

With the exception of Advance tickets and some special offers where refunds are not available, a ticket may be refunded before travel. In the case of a return, the return portion may be refunded while still valid. A refund fee may apply.

You should return your ticket to the place of purchase - if you booked your ticket online or over the telephone, you should re-visit the website to get the address to return your tickets.

If your journey was delayed or cancelled, you may be entitled to compensation. You should contact the Train Operating Company that you travelled with.