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

6. Your Requirement to Have a Valid Ticket to Travel

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In order to be valid, some Tickets must be activated or endorsed with a date of travel before you board a train. This is made clear in the terms & conditions of those Tickets. ‘Ticket’ includes a validated contactless payment card where accepted. The ‘Ticket’ definition in Appendix B gives more information.

6.1 You must hold a valid Ticket or authority to travel for the journey you intend to make before you board a train unless at the time, one of the following circumstances applies at the station you depart from:

6.1.1 There were no facilities for the issue of the Ticket you require or other authority to travel either because there was no Ticket office open or a self-service Ticket machine was not in working order, or would not accept your only available method of payment (card or cash); or

6.1.2 There was a notice at the station permitting you to start your journey without a valid Ticket; or

6.1.3 An authorised person gave you permission to travel without a valid Ticket. This includes: where the station is staffed, and you are specifically permitted to board a train service by an authorised member of staff, or you have received a written notice or heard an audible announcement to this effect; or

6.1.4 You have a disability and Ticket purchasing arrangements at the station where you started your journey were not accessible to you.

In these cases, you must buy an appropriate Ticket to complete your journey as soon as you are reasonably able to. This should either be onboard from a member of the train staff - or else as soon as you leave the train and before you exit the station at your destination. If you do so, the price of the Ticket you purchase will be the same as if you had bought a Ticket at the station from which you first departed, including any Railcard discount to which you are entitled. If you do not, the Train Company is entitled to consider that you have boarded without a valid Ticket and take action in accordance with Condition 9.

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This means that you should buy a Ticket from the conductor on the train if there is one available; at an interchange station provided there is sufficient time before your connecting service; or, if neither of these is possible, at your destination.

6.2 In any circumstances other than those set out at 6.1 above, in the event that you purchase a Ticket after you board a train (either onboard the train using an internet service or upon arrival at your destination station) the Train Company is entitled to treat any such Ticket as an invalid Ticket and take action in accordance with Condition 9 accordingly.

6.3 A valid Ticket (and/or where relevant, a Railcard) may be held on an electronic device where there is appropriate functionality to readily allow inspection of that Ticket (and/or all associated documentation). It is your responsibility to ensure that the electronic device can be accessed when required and the relevant Ticket and/or Railcard displayed. If you are unable to do so when requested the Train Company is entitled to take action in accordance with Condition 9.

6.4 Children under five years of age may travel free of charge without a Ticket providing that they are travelling with a passenger holding a valid Ticket or other authority to travel.

6.5 Unless Condition 6.4 applies, children aged between 5 years and 15 years must have a valid Ticket for travel but are entitled to a “child” discount on most Tickets. If a discount is not available, it will be made clear to you when you buy your Ticket.

6.6 Special arrangements apply for accompanied children aged under 11 in the London pay as you go zonal fare area. For details, please go to: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-andpayments/travel-for-under-18s/travelling-with-children