Travelling across London to connect with another National Rail service

If your journey involves travelling via London, you may find your ticket includes travel on London Underground, Docklands Light Railway or First Capital Connect's Thameslink route between London terminals at no additional cost.

You can 'break your journey' and leave the Underground service en route. However, you'll need to buy another ticket in order to continue your journey.

You can find out if travel across London is included in your ticket - simply look for a '†' symbol, which will be at the beginning of the tickets route information. e.g: [†Any Permitted].

Tickets displaying the 'cross-London' marker are valid for travel between any two stations shown in the Station List, as appropriate to the route of the through rail journey being made.

Making a Single or Return journey within London

If you're making just one single or return journey, you can buy inidividual tickets for your journeys. Simply ask when buying your National Rail ticket or at an Underground station ticket office.

The cost of your ticket will depend on which Zones you need to travel through.

Visiting London and making several journeys?

If you are planning to make several journeys or to visit different places around London, you'll find you'll save money with a Travelcard.

You'll save money and you can use your Travelcard to use public transport when you want it, without having to buy separate tickets for each journey.

The cost of your ticket will depend on which Zones you need to travel through.

Where can I use a Travelcard?

You can use your Travelcard on:

• Tube, Docklands Light Railway and National Rail services
• Bus services within the entire Greater London area (regardless of the zone the Travelcard actually covers)
• Trams where your Travelcard includes Zone 3, 4, 5 or 6
• National Rail (excluding Heathrow Connect between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow, and on Heathrow Express)
• Scheduled Riverboat services at 1/3 off the normal fare - just show your Travelcard or Oyster card with a Travelcard on it at the time of travel

Discounts and Concessionary Travel

The following discounts are available:

• Up to two children under five years of age can travel free at any time when accompanied by an adult with a valid ticket.
• A range of discounts are available for older children and students.
• Freedom Passes entitle older and disabled London residents to free travel
• Groups of ten or more people travelling together
• 16-25, Family & Friends, Senior, HM Forces and Network Railcard holders receive 1/3 off Outboundary Anytime Day Travelcards (Zones 1-6) subject to a £14.80 minimum fare. No discounts apply to Anytime Day Travelcards for journeys wholly within Zones 1-6.

Important Information

• Your Travelcard must be valid for all the zones you travel through
• Your Travelcard can start on any day of the week
• Slightly different Terms and Conditions apply to Travelcard season tickets bought from National Rail stations. Ask at a National Rail station for further details
• The National Rail Conditions of Carriage and the London Overground Ticketing and Travel Guide apply to London Overground journeys
• Travelcards are generally issued on Oyster cards except when bought from most National Rail stations
• Adult and Student-rate Travelcards are available for seven Days, monthly or for any longer period up to one year
• Child-rate Travelcards are available for seven Days, monthly or for any longer period up to four months (three months for New Deal photocard holders)
• Travelcards can be used during the period of validity and for any journey that starts before 0430 on the day following the expiry date
• Travelcard season tickets valid for longer than one month, except annuals, are priced pro-rata to the monthly rate
• Travelcards can be purchased for:
  • one day
  • three days
  • seven days
  • longer periods.

When can I use my Travelcard?

Your Travelcard must be valid for all the zones you travel through:

Day Travelcards (Peak)

Can be used all day Mondays to Fridays, on the day of validity and for any journey that starts before 0430 the following day. On public holidays it is cheaper to buy an Off-Peak Day Travelcard.

Day Travelcards (Off-Peak)

Can be used from 0930 Mondays to Fridays, all day Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, on the day of validity and for any journey that starts before 0430 on the following day.

Oyster Cards

If you regularly visit London, or will be travelling for more than one day, you might want to get an 'Oyster Card'. You simply add money to your card, and it's deducted as you use it - this is called 'pay as you go'.

A £3 refundable deposit is payable when you first obtain an Oyster Card. 

Find out more about Oyster Cards

Where to buy your London Travel tickets

You can buy your tickets:

• At National Rail stations
• At London Travel Information Centres
• Underground, DLR and Tramlink station ticket offices
• Underground stations have self-service ticket machines in five languages
• Oystercards can be purchased from the TfL Website