You can buy a wide range of rail tickets at stations with ticket-issuing facilities, by telephone (tickets can be posted to you or in some cases you can pick them up at your departure station), at rail-appointed travel agents or over the Internet. If you join a train at an unstaffed station, you should purchase a ticket from self-service ticket machines, if provided. If this is not possible, you should purchase your ticket on the train. (Note that there are special arrangements in Penalty Fares areas).

Many train operating companies operate a telesales service. Please see our train operating companies page for number details.

Many train operating companies sell tickets online. Please see our train operating companies page for website address details.

You can buy your rail tickets at stations with ticket offices throughout Great Britain. Many stations have self-service ticket machines. You can check ticket opening hours and availability of self-service ticket machines by using our station facilities search page.

Please see our page for Business Travellers for more information.

In the UK, you can get train information and tickets for most journeys from all National Rail-appointed travel agents in Great Britain. Look for the National Rail sign with the double arrows symbol, which National Rail-appointed agents display.

As a general rule, a ticket may be refunded before travel, or in the case of a return, the return portion may be refunded while still valid. A refund fee may be payable. Some tickets, especially promotions and advanced purchase tickets may be restricted in their ability to be refunded.

You should check with your Train Operating Company, the retailer from where you purchased the ticket or a local booking office for details. If you purchased the ticket online you should be able to find the refund details on the retailer's website.

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