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

8.1 If you use a Railcard to purchase a discounted Ticket, you must carry the Railcard (and have it available for inspection) when you travel. The Railcard must be within its period of validity when you travel (in other words it should not have expired).

8.2 The Railcard may have additional restrictions which will apply to any Tickets you buy when using it. When you buy a Railcard the full terms and conditions will be provided. These are also available either from the relevant website from which the Railcard was purchased or from staffed Ticket offices within the validity of the Railcard.

8.3 If you have a Railcard, you must ensure that the information on it can be read by rail staff. On occasions this printed information may fade over time. If your Railcard starts to become illegible for this reason, we will replace it without charge. This can be done at any station with a Ticket office or through the Licensed Retailer from which it was purchased.

8.4 If you are travelling with a Railcard discounted Ticket and are unable to present the Railcard when asked by the staff or authorised agents of a Train Company, you will be treated as having joined a train without a valid Ticket and Conditions 9.1 – 9.5 will apply.

8.5 However, if you were unable to present the Railcard because you had forgotten to carry it on that particular journey or were unable to display it on an electronic device, the Train Company concerned will refund any fare or Penalty Fare paid in accordance with Condition 10.

8.6 In order to claim such a refund, you will need to contact the customer service department of the Train Company that charged you the additional fare or Penalty Fare, providing the full details of your Railcard, together with the additional Tickets you have purchased or any Penalty Fares notices. A maximum of one such claim will be considered in any 12-month period.