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Advance Tickets and Seat Reservations
Below is a summary of the farthest travel dates in the future where it is possible to reserve seats today for those Train Companies offering seat reservations and Advance tickets.
Advance tickets are generally not available earlier than 12 weeks before the date of travel.
Once train times are confirmed, Advance tickets will begin to appear in our Journey Planner. You will be able to find full details of availability and choose to buy them from your preferred retailer.
Advance tickets are sold in limited numbers for each available service, and so are subject to availability.
Information about buying tickets
Changes to train times
Sometimes, there can be changes to train times at weekends and bank holidays to allow essential engineering work to be carried out. Trains may be retimed or re-routed. Occasionally the journey may involve travelling on a bus service. We have a dedicated area of our website which gives details about future engineering work.
Train Companies aim to provide information about changes to train times twelve weeks in advance.
Until the changes to the timetable are confirmed it is not always possible to buy Advance tickets or to make seat reservations on train services that may be affected by engineering work.
Advance ticket & reservation information last updated 16 July 2021
Temporary Timetable Change
Normally, the timetable for any particular day is confirmed 12 weeks in advance. For a temporary period Network Rail isn’t able to do this, instead confirming timetables 3 to 4 weeks in advance. Please check here for further information.
Caledonian Sleeper
These can be booked 12 months in advance.
Chiltern Railways - between Birmingham and London Marylebone
Saturday service:
16 October
Sunday service:
17 October
Monday to Friday service:
22 October
Latest time of reservation:
Advance tickets are available up to 18:00 the day before travel.
Notes:
Closed on 17 July, 21 / 28 / 29 / 30 August and on 18 / 19 / 26 September and 9 / 10 / 12 October.
Chiltern Railways - between Oxford and London Marylebone
Saturday service:
16 October
Sunday service:
17 October
Monday to Friday service:
22 October
Latest time of reservation:
Advance tickets are available up to 18:00 the day before travel.
Notes:
Closed on 17 July, 21 / 28 / 29 / 30 August and on 18 / 19 / 26 September and 9 / 10 / 12 October.
CrossCountry - East to West routes
Routes:
Between Nottingham and Cardiff via Birmingham, Stansted Airport and Birmingham New Street via Leicester.
Saturday service:
16 October
Sunday service:
19 September
Monday to Friday service:
15 October
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 21:00 the day before travel but some routes may close earlier.
Notes:
Bookings on the Cardiff - Birmingham / Birmingham - Nottingham are closed on Weekends from 19 September and on Weekdays from 1 October.
CrossCountry - North to South routes
Routes:
Between Scotland and South West, Newcastle and Southampton, Manchester and Bournemouth / Bristol.
Saturday service:
11 September
Sunday service:
12 September
Monday to Friday service:
15 October
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 15 minutes before customers board the train when booked through CrossCountry's website or app, and at a select number of online retailers / travel agents.
Notes:
The Birmingham - Bristol / South West and Birmingham - Newcastle / Scotland routes will be closed from 1 October.
East Midlands Railway - Between Liverpool and Norwich
Saturday service:
28 August
Sunday service:
29 August
Monday to Friday service:
8 October
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Notes:
Closed on Monday 30 August.
Train times will be amended at short notice as a result of the current Covid-19 outbreak, please check train times before travelling.
Reservations will be open for the Skegness Route on 4 / 5 September
East Midlands Railway - London route
Saturday service:
4 September
Sunday service:
5 September
Monday to Friday service:
8 October
Notes:
Reservations for Monday 30 August are currently closed.
Train times will be amended at short notice as a result of the current Covid-19 outbreak, please check train times before travelling.
Reservations can be made up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Grand Central
Saturday service:
11 December
Sunday service:
5 December
Monday to Friday service:
10 December
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 4 hours before departing origin point.
Great Western Railway
Saturday service:
18 September
Sunday service:
19 September
Monday to Friday service:
29 October
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 2 minutes before travel at any station on Great Western Railway routes.
Notes:
Services on the London – Bath - Bristol Temple Meads route are closed from Saturday 28 August until Friday 3 September inclusive.
Services on the Cardiff / Bristol – Portsmouth / Brighton route are closed from Saturday 28 August until Friday 3 September inclusive, and also on Saturday 11 September.
Services on the Cardiff / Bristol – Taunton / Weymouth routes are closed from Saturday 28 August until Friday 3 September inclusive.
Greater Anglia / Stansted Express
Saturday service:
25 September
Sunday service:
26 September
Monday to Friday service:
1 October
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Notes:
Hull Trains
Saturday service:
13 November
Sunday service:
14 November
Monday to Friday service:
22 November
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 15:00 day before travel for early morning services.
Other services up to 4 hours before departing point of origin.
LNER
Saturday service:
9 October
Sunday service:
10 October
Monday to Friday service:
22 October
Notes:
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 23:59 day before travel for some early morning trains.
Up to 40 minutes before departing point of origin.
Tickets are available further in advance for most weekday journeys between London and the stations north of York, including Newcastle and Edinburgh. Subject to exceptions, such as Bank Holiday periods.
Northern
Saturday service:
28 August
Sunday service:
29 August
Monday to Friday service:
3 September
Latest time of reservation:
Advance tickets are available up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Notes:
Northern are partially closed on some routes, as revised timetables are finalised.
Northern do not offer seat reservations but have quota controlled advance purchase products.
Due to alterations made because of Covid19, some routes are not currently available to book.
ScotRail
Saturday service:
18 September
Sunday service:
19 September
Monday to Friday service:
24 September
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 23:59 day before travel for some early morning trains.
Up to 2 hours before departing point of origin.
Notes:
On the following dates, these routes will not be open for reservations, as a result of industrial action:
Industrial Action
20 / 27 June and 4 / 11 / 18 / 25 July 2021
Glasgow – Fort William / Mallaig
Glasgow – Oban
Glasgow / Edinburgh – Aberdeen
Glasgow / Edinburgh – Perth / Dundee / Arbroath
Glasgow / Edinburgh – Inverness
Inverness – Aberdeen
Engineering Work
4 July
Glasgow – Fort William / Mallaig
Glasgow – Oban
28 / 29 August
Inverness - Aberdeen
18 / 19 September
Glasgow – Fort William / Mallaig
Glasgow – Oban
Southeastern
Saturday service:
28 August
Sunday service:
29 August
Monday to Friday service:
10 September
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 18:00 the day before.
Notes:
Reservations are required for all journeys on 14 - 18 July (inclusive) on High Speed services departing London St Pancras International before 11:00.
Southeastern do not offer a specific seat allocation but use quota controls for controlling Advance tickets.
Weekend services will only be opened once train times have been confirmed.
Southern
Saturday service:
28 August
Sunday service:
29 August
Monday to Friday service:
22 October
Latest time of reservation:
Advance tickets are available up to 18:00 the day before travel.
Notes:
Southern do not offer seat reservations but have quota controlled advance purchase products.
For Saturdays and Sundays, advance fares for Southern services will be released approximately seven days after the amended timetable has been uploaded to journey planners. Details of when the amended timetables will be uploaded are available here.
Advance tickets will not be available on the Arun Valley and West Coastway routes for travel between Saturday 14th and Sunday 22nd August 2021 inclusive, because of engineering work in the Horsham area.
South Western Railway - Between London Waterloo and Weymouth
Saturday service:
2 October
Sunday service:
19 September
Monday to Friday service:
22 October
Latest time of reservation:
Advance tickets are available up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Notes:
South Western Railway do not offer seat reservations but have quota controlled advance purchase products.
Reservations are closed on 25 September.
London Waterloo - Weymouth services will terminate at Wareham on 18 / 19 September.
South Western Railway - West of England
Saturday service:
2 October
Sunday service:
12 September
Monday to Friday service:
22 October
Latest time of reservation:
Advance tickets are available up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Notes:
Reservations are closed to / from Bristol from 14 August - 3 September, and on all West of England services on 18 / 25 September.
South Western Railway do not offer seat reservations but have quota controlled advance purchase products.
South Western Railway - Portsmouth route, Isle of Wight
Saturday service:
2 October
Sunday service:
19 September
Monday to Friday service:
22 October
Latest time of reservation:
Advance tickets are available up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Notes:
South Western Railway do not offer seat reservations but have quota controlled advance purchase products.
TransPennine Express
Saturday service:
11 December
Sunday service:
5 December
Monday to Friday service:
10 December
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Notes:
North Route: currently closed 7 - 15 August Inclusive, 22 August and the 4 / 5 / 12 / 18 / 19 / 25 / 26 September, 2 / 3 / 9 / 10 / 23 / 30 / 31 October and 7 / 13 / 14 / 15 November.
Anglo Scottish Route: No reservations or advance tickets are available for First Class on this route until further notice.
Transport for Wales
Transport for Wales advance tickets are available 6 weeks in advance of travel.
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 19:00 day before travel for some early morning trains.
Other services up to 4 hours before departure point of origin.
Notes:
A limited number of sailings are available up to 6 weeks in advance of travel.
West Midlands Trains
Saturday service:
4 September
Sunday service:
5 September
Monday to Friday service:
10 September
Special Events
Please note: NO trains will operate on Christmas Day. On Boxing Day some Train Operating Companies will run a very limited service.
The availability of Advance tickets could be affected by special events taking place along the route of the journey. Please check before travelling.
Last updated: 16 July 2021
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