Purchasing Train Tickets

Buying your train tickets can be done just before travel, but the best deals are always found if you book online in advance.

As of April 2025 National Rail does not itself sell tickets, but refers you to the train operating companies, like Great Britain Rail, that do.

Although ticket offices and ticketing machines at most train stations still sell advance tickets, booking your advance train tickets online at Great Britain Rail is by far the simplest.

Types of train tickets (that are detailed further here) are:

• Anytime are the most flexible but most expensive.
• Off-peak that is cheaper but you may not travel in rush hour.
• Advance that are usually the least expensive.
• Rover or Ranger tickets that are for unlimited travel in a specified area, but are poor value.
• Passes such as season tickets, or the Interail pass, that allow free travel using the purchased pass..
• Concession cards, such as the Senior Railcard, that allow you to buy your train ticket but at reduced price.

The format of your train ticket is either a conventional card the size of a bank card, or a QR code to be displayed on your phone or it can be printed out. Remember that an email confirming your purchase is not itself a ticket so make certain to follow any instruction on your booking confirmation email.

Split Train Tickets

Even though most train ticket combinations for your selected route are identical, the National Rail website does not offer you information on purchasing the money saving split train tickets that Great Britain Rail will offer you.

These split train tickets currently save rail comuters an average of £21.60 per journey.

When booking your train tickets at Great Britain Rail their online booking system automatically identifies the cheapest available ticket options, including split train tickets, for your rail journey.