National Rail Conditions of Travel - Part C: Planning Your Journey and Buying Your Ticket

4.1 Where it is possible to do so, you must purchase or hold a valid Ticket for your full intended journey before boarding a train to travel on any service provided by the Train Companies. Your Ticket is evidence of your entitlement to travel on the National Rail Network, as allowed by the type of Ticket you have purchased. It is your responsibility to keep it safe and it should be looked after with care.

4.2 Some Tickets are held as an electronic record on a smartcard or electronic device or may be transmitted to you for you to show or print out yourself. In such cases you will be advised of (and must comply with) the specific conditions applying to Tickets held in those formats.

4.3 You may only buy your Ticket from a Train Company or Licensed Retailer, otherwise it may not be valid.

4.4 Some Tickets entitle you to goods or services from another party (for instance the right to travel on bus services). Where this is the case, your Ticket is also evidence of a contract between you and that other party, whose own conditions will apply when using their services.

4.5 If you lose or mislay a Ticket or it is stolen, it will only be replaced or (subject to the specific conditions associated with the Ticket) refunded provided that the original Ticket can be cancelled. In such cases you should apply to the Train Company or Licensed Retailer from where it was purchased.

4.6 Special conditions apply to Season Tickets and more information can be found in Part G.

4.7 You should not tamper with a Ticket in any way. If you do so it will not be valid for travel.

4.8 If a Ticket is damaged to the extent that it is not legible and cannot (where applicable) be scanned or otherwise validated, it will not be valid for travel. However, if you return it to the Train Company or Licensed Retailer that sold it to you, they will arrange for a replacement Ticket to be issued to you unless there is reason to suspect that it has, or will be, used for fraudulent or improper purposes. You may have to pay a reasonable administrative charge (not exceeding £10) for the replacement.