United Kingdom - National Rail

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I. Routes and Travel Times

And many routes covered by Avanti, C2C, Caledonian Sleeper, Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, East Midlands Railways, Elizabeth Line, Gatwick Express, Grand Central, Greater Anglia, Great Northern, Great Western Railway, Heathrow Express, Hull Trains, LNER, London Northwestern Railway, Overground, Merseyrail, Northern, Scotrail, Southeastern, Southern, Southwest Railways, Stansted Express, Thameslink, Transpennine Express,Transport for Wales, West Midlands Railway, Lumo

II. Onboard services

• Day trains
• Night trains

III. Individual Fare types

• Whether your clients are travelling for business, pleasure, alone or with friends and family, fares are designed to meet all clients’ needs. The fare range is very simple offering 3 types of fares classified as follows. 
• Please refer to Easy Rail access for exact rules and conditions for each fare. It will show the fares that are eligible for the departure and route you have chosen. Anytime Day tickets are valid in the class of service shown for travel on any train on the date shown on your ticket and until 04:29 on the following day. The outward portion of an Anytime Day Return ticket is valid only in conjunction with the unused return portion. Break of journey is allowed on all Anytime Day tickets.
• Children age 5-15 inclusive eligible for a discounted child fare.
• Up to two children under 5 can travel free with each fare-paying passenger.
• Tickets are valid ONLY on the date and train service(s) shown on the ticket(s).
• Where applicable, you must travel in the Class and reserved seat(s) shown on the ticket(s).
• Tickets may only be used on the services of the Train Company (or geographic route where applicable) shown next to ‘Route’ on the ticket.
• If the ‘Route’ also states ‘and Connections’, travel is allowed on appropriate connecting trains where shown on the ticket(s) or other valid travel iitinerary. 
• If the route is prefixed with a +, the departure station does not have a kiosk or ticket window from which travellers can print their tickets. Travellers should retrieve their ticket from a nearby station prior to boarding the train.
• If the route details show "UNDERGROUND" or a †, the ticket includes the cost of travelling across London on London Underground services.
• To retrieve tickets at London Heathrow Airport, proceed to a TVM with the National Rail Logo on it and follow the instructions linked below. At Heathrow, National Rail TVM’s are located in the central terminal area beneath Terminals 2 and 3, in the arrivals area in Terminal 4 and 5, and at the platform level in Terminal 5.
• National Rail Conditions of Travel apply: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/conditions-of-travel.aspx
• LNER trains - effective May 15th, 2020. All LNER tickets issued for all travel May 18, 2020 onwards, will have mandatory seat reservation for all ticket types.

For information on how to book on the Rail Europe Booking tool 'Rail Portal'; User Manual is available here.

For information on how to retrieve your TOD ticket at station, click here.

Find here the restriction codes that might apply for your journey.

IV. Booking Horizon

• These trains can be booked up to 75 days in advance

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V. Ticketing Time Limits

• Hold time to live: up to 40-minutes.

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VI. Exchange / Refunds

• Exchange policies vary depending on the type of fare purchased
• In the Rail Portal: it is not possible to exchange a booking, once the booking has been confirmed, even prior to ticketing.
• If the ticket is not collected yet: an exchange is not possible in ERA, the Refund Procedure applies. Advance fares will not be refundable, and for Anytime and Off-Peak fares, a fee will be deducted from each ticket refunded, no matter what is the total refund amount. Please consult refund process below.
• If the ticket is collected in the UK: exchanges can be done locally at any staffed station, specific conditions may apply depending on the fare. The customer will need to retrieve his ticket before exchanging at a ticket window.
• Refund policies vary depending the type of fare purchased:

VII. Check-in procedures

• Leave plenty of time for your journey and check before you travel.
• Travel at quieter times if you can - generally after 09:30 in cities and large towns or 09:00 everywhere else.

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VIII. Specific to this train

You may take up to three items of personal luggage free of charge not exceeding one metre in any dimension. Excess luggage and certain more bulky items (such as skis) may be carried, subject to available space, at an extra charge.

Customers may take with them, free of charge (and subject to conditions) dogs, cats and other small animals (maximum two per passenger for free) provided they do not endanger or inconvenience customers or staff. Dogs conveyed by train outside of the free allowance may be subject to payment of a fee of no more than 50% of the Adult fare for the journey made. Each train company is responsible for setting the charges that apply to animals conveyed in these circumstances.

For night trains, interconnecting door option is possible, ideal for groups or families. You can carry your bike unmounted free of charge. Reservation of the service is obligatory and must be made at the same time as the purchase of the train ticket (max length 1.8 meters, max width 2.5 inches). Bike boxes, tandems, tricycles or electric cycles are not allowed. 

Usually there is no National Rail services on Christmas Day . On Boxing Day most train operators have no service - however, there will be a very limited service operated by a small number of train operators. Please remember to check if travel is planned on those days here