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Railcards:  Save money if you're under 26, over 60, a family, or disabled...

• Railcards cost £30 for 1 year & give 34% off Anytime, Off-Peak & Advance fares on all National Rail train operators.

  - if you're under 26, there's a 16-25 Railcard.

  - if you're aged 26-30 (= under 31 years old) there's now a 26-30 Railcard.

  - if you're over 60 there's a Senior Railcard.

  - if you're a family or group of friends with at least one child, there's a Family & Friends Railcard.

  - if you travel as a duo, there's now a Two Together Railcard for 2 named people of any age who travel together.

  - if you have certain types of disability there's a Disabled Person's Railcard.

  And no, you don't need to be British or live in the UK to buy a railcard, see the overseas visitors paragraph below!

  Alternatively, you can buy a 3-year Railcard for £70 which saves money over 3 x 1-year cards.

  A railcard can pay for itself in just one or two long-distance train journeys.  For example, an Off-Peak return London-Manchester costs around £89, so it's £59 return with a railcard, that's a £30 saving straight away.

  For a summary of all railcards see www.railcard.co.uk.  National Railcards (the clue is in the name!) only give discounts within Britain, not on Eurostar or trains in mainland Europe.  They also don't apply to Heathrow Express.

• 16-25 Railcard...

  These are for anyone between the ages of 16 & 25 (inclusive), or anyone of any age who is a student attending a college or university full-time.  Buy online at www.16-25railcard.co.uk.  You get 34% off almost all train fares, the most important restriction is that if you travel before 10am on Mondays-Fridays there's a minimum fare of £12 for Anytime or Off-Peak one-way or return tickets, although not for Advance tickets.  That's to stop people using it for commuter trips to work.  This restriction does not apply in July & August.

• 26-30 Railcard...

  There is now a railcard for those aged 26 but under 31, initially a local trial, now a semi-permanent nationwide arrangement until further notice, see www.26-30railcard.co.uk.

• Senior Railcard...

  These are for anyone over 60.  Buy online at www.senior-railcard.co.uk, and get 34% off almost all rail fares.  The only restriction is that you can't use the card for journeys wholly within the London & Southeast area in the morning rush hour on Mondays-Fridays (that's to stop the card being used for London commuting and to avoid adding to overcrowding at these times).  See the website for more details.

• Family & Friends Railcard...

  These are for small groups of up to 4 adults and 4 children.  You don't need to be related, as long as the party includes at least one child and all travels together.  One Family & Friends railcard gets 34% off all the adult fares in the group (adults of any age) & 60% off all the child fares in the group.  It can easily pay for itself in just one long-distance train trip!  Buy online at www.family-railcard.co.uk.

• Two Together Railcard...

  Introduced in 2014, this gives 1/3 off most Advance, Off-Peak & Anytime fares nationwide, standard class & first class, if two named individuals travel together.  The named individuals, both of whom will need their photo on the railcard, must both be over 16 but need not be related.  For details and to buy online see www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk.

• Disabled Person's Railcard...

  Read through www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk to see if you qualify.  Incidentally, anyone in a wheelchair or registered blind automatically qualifies for a 34% reduction on Anytime fares (the expensive peak fares) even without a railcard, and so does one companion, but this isn't widely known or advertised.  See www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations destinations/44965.aspx.

• Network Railcard...

  See www.network-railcard.co.uk.  This is the odd one out as it isn't national, it just covers the old London & Southeast Network SouthEast area, and it's for anyone of any age.  It costs £30 for a year and gives 34% off most London & Southeast train fares after 10:00 on Mondays-Fridays, any time at weekends, subject to a £13 minimum fare on Mondays-Fridays.  You can also take up to 3 other adults with you, also at 34% off, and up to 4 children aged 5-15 at 60% off the child fare (minimum fare £1) I have a Network Railcard, and it saves me money over the year on my off-peak trips into London.  The fare from my local station to London is £20.80 off-peak return, so I pay £13.90 with my railcard, saving almost £7 each time I go to London.

• If you're visiting the UK from overseas and want to save money with a railcard, here's how...

  You can buy a UK national railcard even if you live outside the UK, as long as you meet the criteria for age or for a family group or two people travelling together.  You don't need to be a British citizen or live in the UK to qualify.

  The easiest option is to buy online & download a digital railcard onto the National Rail Railcard App on your iPhone or Android smartphone. Just click the link for the railcard you want and follow the instructions:  www.senior-railcard.co.uk, www.16-25railcard.co.uk, www.family-railcard.co.uk, www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk, www.network-railcard.co.uk.

  Tip 1:  If system refuses to accept your non-UK postcode the first time you enter your address, no problem, just use this UK one: EC1A 4HD, it makes no difference.  At the payment stage you can select your correct nationality then enter the correct postcode for your billing address.

  Tip2:  If it says invalid passport number there's advice on how to fix this in the railcard website FAQ, it involves entering everything exactly as it's written in your passport.  Persevere, it should indeed accept almost any current machine-readable passport.

  After buying your railcard (or even before you buy it) you can buy railcard-discounted tickets online at any National Rail authorised sales site such as Raileurope.com or www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk.

  If you prefer to buy your railcard in person, you can do this over the counter at any staffed station when you get to the UK, just remember to have any necessary passport-size photos with you.  You can still buy tickets online in advance with the railcard discount using any ticket sales website such as Raileurope.com or www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk - you don't need to enter the railcard number, just make sure you buy the railcard over the counter at any staffed station before you board the train.

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General train travel information:  www.nationalrail.co.uk

As well as online train times and fares, www.nationalrail.co.uk has:

• details of any major disruption and a 'live departure board' system showing whether trains are running on time.

• telephone numbers and addresses for lost property, travel assistance, current train running information, telesales and customer services departments for every train operator in Britain.

• general information for travelling on the UK national rail network.

• details of station facilities. 

• links to each train operator's own website.

• There are left luggage offices at all the major London stations, also at Birmingham New Street, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central, Leeds, Liverpool Lime St, and Manchester Piccadilly.  See www.left-baggage.co.uk.  There's also a small office at Holyhead.  Most other stations don't have left luggage facilities.

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Are the trains running on time?  Are there engineering works?

• Go to www.nationalrail.co.uk/ldb/, enter the name of your station to see a 'live departure board' showing train arrivals & departures in the next hour or two, and whether they are on time or not....

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Maps of the UK rail network...

• The best free downloadable map of the UK train network is here:  www.nationalrail.co.uk/css/ Network_Rail_national_map.pdf.

• This and other UK train network maps are listed on www.nationalrail.co.uk/ passenger_services/maps/, including maps of the London urban rail network, London & Southeast area rail network, and urban networks around other big cities.

• I also recommend rail fare expert Barry Doe's UK rail map which shows which train operator runs where, www.barrydoe.co.uk/railmap40.pdf.

Train company websites...

• Go to www.nationalrail.co.uk, scroll right to the bottom and click 'Train Operating Companies' for each train company's website address, postal address & phone numbers.

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First or Standard class?

Most leisure travellers go standard class, with first class used by businessmen.  But if you pre-book you can find some great first class deals.  First class fares on inter-city trains run by Avanti West Coast, LNER and East Midlands Trains now include meals and drinks, at least on Mondays-Fridays.  GWR & Cross-Country first class includes complimentary tea & coffee on their inter-city routes.  However, your default assumption on other routes should be that first class simple means nicer seats and more room.

This is 1st class (above left) and standard class (above right) on a Pendolino from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, the Lake District, Carlisle and Glasgow, run by Virgin Trains when taken, now run by Avanti West Coast.  As you can see, in standard class there 2+2 seats across the width of the car, in first class it's 2+1, so there's more elbow room, more legroom, and there's tables for two (below left).  Below right, a full English breakfast with cereal, toast, tea or coffee and juice is served on a Virgin Trains (now Avanti West Coast) inter-city services leaving before 10:00 on weekdays. LNER & East Midlands Trains offer a similar service.  Another good reason for taking a morning train not plane from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle to London!

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London Underground & Bus information...

• tfl.gov.uk  for London Underground, bus, Docklands Light Railway, Croydon Tramlink and other London transport information.

• tfl.gov.uk/modes/tube  for London Underground information.

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Need a taxi at the other end?

• www.traintaxi.co.uk shows up to date phone numbers for taxi firms local to each UK railway station.  An excellent site!

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Need a bus at the other end?

• www.traveline.info allows you to check local bus times across the UK, or you can call Traveline on 0871 200 22 33.  Traveline is a national initiative to make local travel information available on a single number nationwide.  All call centres open 08:00-20:00, some open longer.

• There is a system called PLUSBUS, where for £2-£3 more than the normal train fare you can add unlimited bus travel within your origin and/or destination city.  So for example, instead of buying a normal return from London to Manchester for (say) £86, you can buy a return to Manchester Plusbus for just £2 or so more and get exactly the same train ticket but with unlimited free bus travel within central Manchester for the day added on.  See www.plusbus.info for details of the 200 towns and cities in which PLUSBUS operates, or just ask when you buy your train ticket.

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Need a ferry at the other end?

• Ferries to the Isle of Wight: www.wightlink.co.uk for Portsmouth-Ryde and Lymington-Yarmouth, www.redfunnel.co.uk for Southampton-Cowes, www.hovertravel.co.uk for hovercraft Portsmouth-Ryde.  You can buy through train & ferry tickets between any mainland station and any isle of Wight station using the booking form above.

• Ferries to Jersey, Guernsey & the Channel Islands, see the Channel Islands page.

• Ferries to the Isle of Man, see the Isle of Man page.

• Ferry to the Scilly Isles:  www.islesofscilly-travel.co.uk, also see the seat61 Cornwall page.

• Ferries to Skye and the Hebrides - Caledonian MacBrayne, www.calmac.co.uk.

• Ferries to Orkney and the Shetland Islands (Scrabster-Stromness and Aberdeen-Lerwick), www.northlinkferries.co.uk.

• Train+ferry travel to Belfast & Northern Ireland, see the Northern Ireland page.

• Train+ferry travel to Dublin & the Republic of Ireland, see the Ireland page.

• Train+ferry travel to Amsterdam & the Netherlands, see the Stena Line Rail & Sail page.

For ferries to France, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Norway & Sweden, see the relevant country page.

To Orkney & the Shetland Isles...

Northlink Ferries (www.northlinkferries.co.uk) sail from Scrabster near Thurso to Stromness at Scapa Flow on the Orkneys, and from Aberdeen to Lerwick on the Shetland Islands.  Aberdeen-Shetland has a daily overnight service, the ships are little gems, with cosy cabins, lounges, bar, restaurant, and an excellent premium lounge called the Magnus Lounge which is well worth the small extra charge.  All cabins have en suite toilet & shower, premium cabins include access to the Magnus Lounge.  Northlink's terminal in Aberdeen is in central Aberdeen, an easy 5-10 minute walk from Aberdeen station.

The premium Magnus Lounge on the Hrossey.		The Hrossey ready to sail from Aberdeen...

Northlink's distinctive Viking logo...		A premium cabin on the Hrossey...

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Taking you bike?

Most trains carry bicycles, sometimes for free, sometimes for a small fee with advance reservation required.  

• See www.atob.org.uk/rail-ferry-zone for a summary of the bike arrangements on every train operator, although it may not be 100% up to date.

• Details can also be found at www.nationalrail.co.uk/passenger services/cyclists.html and on individual train company websites. 

• For information on taking your bike on Eurostar & other European trains, see the Taking your bike to Europe by train page.

• Only a few operators will carry tandems, for advice on train travel with tandems see tandem-club.org.uk.

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Rail Rovers - unlimited train travel...

Rail Rovers give unlimited travel over all or selected parts of the British rail network and can be bought by anyone, including UK residents, see www.nationalrail.co.uk/.../rangers_and_rovers.  There are rail rovers covering the whole network or just certain areas.  The All-Line Rail Rover gives unlimited travel over the whole British national rail network, cost as follows:

• 7-day standard class All-Line Rail Rover £526 (child under 16 half price, 34% off for 16-25/senior/two together/forces/disabled railcard holders)

• 14-day standard class All-Line Rail Rover £796 (child under 16 half price, 34% off for 16-25/senior/two together/forces/disabled railcard holders)

• 7-day 1st class All-Line Rail Rover £796 (child under 16 half price, 34% off for senior/two together/forces/disabled railcard holders)

• 14-day 1st class All-Line Rail Rover  £1,216 (child under 16 half price, 34% off for senior/disabled/two together railcard holders)

How to buy a rail rover:  You can check current prices & buy online at tickets.gwr.com/..../roversandrangers.  Alternatively, you can buy Rail Rovers from any railway station or train operator telesales line.  You can only buy one from stations within 3 days of the date you want them to start.  If you have any trouble buying a rail rover, ask them to look in section G of their fares manual.

Travel restrictions:  The All-Line rover used to be valid on all national rail trains without time restrictions but some restrictions were introduced in 2011 to stop business travellers using it on certain key business routes.  No restrictions apply on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, but on Mondays to Fridays the All-Line Rail Rover is not valid for boarding or alighting train services operated by Avanti West Coast, LNER, East Midlands Trains or Arriva CrossCountry at the following stations before 10:00:

• London Euston

• London Kings Cross

• London St Pancras International

• Birmingham New Street

• Bedford

• Luton

• Luton Airport Parkway

• Milton Keynes Central

• Stevenage

• Watford Junction

There are no restrictions on these companies' trains at other stations or on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, or on other companies' trains at any station on any day.  So it's no problem using a Great Western train getting in to London before 10:00, or a ScotRail sleeper arriving at London Euston before 10:00.

How to get around these new restrictions from Edinburgh, Newcastle, York, Leeds etc:  You cannot use your Rail Rover on a weekday from (say) Edinburgh or Newcastle to London if it arrives in London before 10:00, but you can use it on the same train as far as Peterborough where no alighting restrictions apply, then use a suburban train run by First Capital Connect for the rest of the journey to London, even if this arrives in London before 10:00.

All-Line Rail Rovers are also valid on the Ffestiniog Railway, and on Caledonian sleepers (seated cars free, sleepers if you pay the berth supplement).  They are not valid on Eurostar, Heathrow Express, Heathrow Connect, London Underground or Docklands, heritage railways (except Ffestiniog Railways) or shipping services.  For information on rail rovers covering other areas call National Rail Enquiries on 03457 48 49 50.

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BritRail passes - unlimited train travel for overseas visitors...

If you  live overseas and plan to visit the UK, you can buy a 'BritRail' pass which gives unlimited train travel on all 20+ British train operators for various periods.  It's now available as a mobile pass that you can buy & download to your smartphone.

• BritRail prices, information & buy online

Is it worth buying a BritRail pass?  A pass is only worth it if you're going to make a number of long-distance train trips around Britain, so don't bother with a BritRail pass if all you're going to do is make one long-distance trip, or a number of relatively short trips.  For longer distances, a BritRail pass typically works out about the same as a normal 'Off-Peak' flexible ticket bought on the day of travel, it's more expensive than the cheaper 'Advance' tickets, but is far cheaper than the 'Anytime' tickets needed to travel in the Monday-Friday business peaks, see the 30-second guide to UK rail fares.  So if you want to make early starts on Monday-Fridays and have complete all-day flexibility, a BritRail pass is a great idea, but if you're prepared to avoid the Monday-Friday morning & afternoon business peaks, and especially if you book cheap tickets in advance at Raileurope.com or www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk (no booking fee!) on a no-refunds, no-changes-to-travel-plans basis, ordinary point-to-point tickets will be the same or cheaper than a pass.  Before investing in a BritRail pass, check that normal tickets wouldn't be cheaper for what you plan to do, using www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk or www.nationalrail.co.uk.

If you need hotel accommodation, click here.  For budget backpacker hostels across the UK, see www.hostelworld.com.  BritRail passes are not available to UK residents.

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A simple guide to train fares...

• Anytime, Off-Peak & Advance...  They say train fares are complicated.  But for all practical purposes, there are now just 3 types of fare making it as simple as 1, 2 3.  All the train companies now use the same 3 names for the same 3 types of ticket. 

• Always confirm the exact restrictions and conditions when you buy your ticket. 

• How to save money with a railcard.  If you're buying a ticket to connect with Eurostar to Paris or Brussels, see the advice here. 

Which train operators & routes can you use?

People get hung up on there being 20+ different train operators, but it's actually pretty simple.  The government requires train operators to work together as a network, so:

• If your ticket says 'Route any permitted' (as most of them do) then it is valid on any train operator's train, via any of the permitted routes between your origin and destination, although obviously if you have an Off-Peak ticket you must stick to any time restrictions which apply to it.  There are no time restrictions with an Anytime ticket.  An Advance ticket is only valid on the specific train you've booked.

• If your ticket gives a specific route, for example 'Route Taunton' then it is valid on any train operator's train, via any of the permitted routes for that journey that pass through the specified place, in this case Taunton.

• Only if it says (for example) 'Route Avanti West Coast only' are you restricted to using only the trains of that particular train company, in this example those of Avanti West Coast.  Advance tickets are only valid on the specific train you're booked on, so are by definition only valid on a particular train company's train - you'll sometimes see the letters 'AP' added to the route, for example 'Route AP Avanti West Coast only', AP simply stands for Advance Purchase.  However, it's relatively rare to find Anytime & Off-peak fares valid only on trains of a specific operator, and where they do exist there are almost always 'route any permitted' anytime & off-peak fares as well.

Why are there several 'Anytime' & 'Off-Peak' tickets for my journey, all with different prices?  Unfortunately, online ticket systems don't usually show the ticket routing.  So you might see two 'Anytime' fares from (say) London to Hull, one apparently valid on all the trains, the other only valid on a handful of trains and cheaper than the first one.  The reason is simple, in this case the first one is the 'route any permitted' anytime fare, the other is a cheaper 'route Hull Trains only' anytime fare only valid on Hull Trains' own services.  Similarly, you may find two Anytime or Off-Peak tickets between London & (say) Birmingham, one valid on all trains, the other only on some of the trains.  In this case it's because there are two sets of fares to Birmingham, one set being the 'route any permitted' fares valid on all routes & operators, the second being cheaper 'route High Wycombe' fares valid on all operators but only on the slower route via High Wycombe.  This would be obvious, rather than confusing, if the online systems stated the ticket routing for each fare they showed, but they don't.  The choice between (on the one hand) slower but cheaper and (on the other hand) faster, more frequent but more expensive, is up to you.

Breaking your journey ('stopovers'):  With an Off-Peak ticket you can take an interesting or scenic route and change trains as much as you like without leaving the station, as long as you stay within the time restrictions which apply to your ticket and stick to one of the permitted routes (see below).  However, you can only break your journey (i.e. stop off and leave the station) on the return leg of an Off-Peak return, not on the outward leg of an Off-Peak return, and not at all on an Off-Peak one-way ticket.  With an Anytime one-way or return ticket, there are no time restrictions and you can break your journey anywhere you like along any of the permitted routes.

How are fares set?  Here comes the science bit...  Behind the scenes, fare setting works like this:  Every origin-destination pair (known as a 'flow') is allocated to a particular train operator who has the right and the obligation to set the fares.  This operator is known as the 'Lead Operator' for that flow.  Once the Lead Operator has set the fares, every other operator serving any part of that flow (known as the 'Secondary Operators') are legally obliged to accept those fares for travel on their trains.  As I've said, Advance fares are by definition only valid on one train operator's trains, and both Lead Operators and Secondary Operators are allowed to set Advance fares for their own trains.  In addition Secondary Operators are allowed to set other (more flexible) fare types for their own trains, although only a few choose to do so.  For example, you'll see 'anytime' & 'off-peak' fares from London to Hull routed 'Hull Trains only' set by Secondary Operator Hull Trains, in addition to the main London to Hull 'route any permitted' anytime & off-peak fares set by Lead Operator LNER.  However, Lead Operators are not permitted to set fares which are only valid on their own trains, other than Advance fares, temporary fares & first class fares.  Revenue from the fares set by Lead Operators is shared between all operators serving that route, based on a computer system called ORCATS which models the proportion of passenger miles travelled on each operator.

What are the permitted routes?

The 'permitted routes' for a given origin & destination are set out in a document called the National Routeing Guide.  Don't worry about getting hold of a copy, even ticket clerks can't understand it half the time, just accept that it exists, and its contents have been incorporated into the various journey planning systems such as those used on nationalrail.co.uk, thetrainline.com & raileasy.com.  To give you a flavour of how flexible the permitted routes are:

• The shortest route by regular train service between the origin and destination is always a permitted route;

• You'll generally find that most other reasonable routes are permitted, in addition to the shortest one.

• If you use a through service (in other words, a direct train with no changes) then it is always considered a permitted route as long as you stay on that train, even if the train takes a round-about route;

• From London to Birmingham for example, permitted routes are the West Coast Main Line from Euston via Milton Keynes, the slower route from Marylebone via High Wycombe & Banbury, and the route from Paddington via Reading, Oxford & Banbury.  The rail maps on nationalrail.co.uk may help you understand the routes quoted here.

• From London to Edinburgh, Glasgow & most stations in Scotland for example, the permitted routes include the two obvious main lines with direct trains (East Coast Main Line from Kings Cross via York & Newcastle, West Coast Main Line from Euston via Crewe & Carlisle, plus the Midland Main Line from St Pancras via Leicester, Derby or Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds and the scenic Settle & Carlisle route, and permutations of those routes involving travel from Liverpool Street via Cambridge & Ely to Peterborough then on via York & Newcastle, plus the route from Paddington via Reading, Oxford, Birmingham & on via Carlisle.  However, going via Swindon & Gloucester is not permitted as it's too far west, nor is going via Ipswich which is too far east.  The rail maps on nationalrail.co.uk may help you understand the routes quoted here.

• There are a few quirks in the system, naturally.  A key one involves London to or from Devon & Cornwall.  In theory, a 'route any permitted' ticket between London & Exeter (or anywhere west of Exeter) would be equally valid from Paddington via Bristol & Taunton or Westbury & Taunton, or on the slower scenic route from Waterloo via Salisbury & Honiton.  However, the fares system in fact only contains a set of fares routed 'Taunton' and another set routed 'Honiton' as this is what was inherited from British Rail, there aren't any 'route any permitted' fares available.  But don't worry, under the National Rail Conditions of Carriage you're entitled to travel on a different route from the one shown on your ticket (assuming it's not a train-specific Advance ticket, of course) on payment of a 'change of route' excess fare.  This is the difference, if any, between the fare paid for the original route and the cheapest walk-up ticket valid for the train & route now being taken.  Since the faster route via Taunton has the more expensive fares and the tighter time restrictions on its off-peak tickets, this 'change of route' excess fare normally costs nothing if you have a 'route Taunton' ticket but choose to travel via Honiton & Salisbury to/from Waterloo in one or both directions.  If the conductor tries to tell you your ticket isn't valid, politely suggest he consults his Ticket Examiner's Handbook and National Rail Conditions of Carriage, and ask for a 'change of route excess fare' at zero cost.

London Terminals, London R1256, London zone U1...?

• When buying a ticket to London, the cheapest option is to buy a ticket simply to the relevant London station, but for a little more money you can buy a ticket which includes onward Underground travel to an Underground station in a given zone, or even unlimited London bus & Underground travel all that day.

• A ticket to 'London Terminals' (listed in some online booking systems as 'London mainline stations' or similar) means a ticket valid only as far as the London station where trains arrive from that particular starting point.  For example, a ticket from Manchester to London Terminals would be valid to London Euston, a ticket from Oxford to London Terminals would be valid to London Paddington (in fact also to London Waterloo as there's an alternative route from Oxford into Waterloo).

• A ticket to 'London R1256', with 'Travelcard' as a ticket type means a ticket to London with unlimited bus & Underground travel included all that day in all 6 London travel zones.

• A ticket to 'London U1' is a ticket to London which includes onward travel by Underground to any station you like in Underground zone 1.  In this case it does not include unlimited Underground travel, just one journey (or a return journey if it's a return ticket).

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