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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 19 February 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:
6 March
Sunday service:
28 February
Monday to Friday service:
26 March
Latest time of reservation:
Advance tickets are available up to 18:00 the day before travel.
Notes:
Chiltern Railways - between Oxford and London Marylebone
Saturday service:
6 March
Sunday service:
28 February
Monday to Friday service:
26 March
Latest time of reservation:
Advance tickets are available up to 18:00 the day before travel.
Notes:
CrossCountry - East to West routes
Routes:
Between Nottingham and Cardiff via Birmingham, Stansted Airport and Birmingham New Street via Leicester.
Saturday service:
10 April
Sunday service:
11 April
Monday to Friday service:
9 April
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 21:00 the day before travel but some routes may close earlier.
CrossCountry - North to South routes
Routes:
Between Scotland and South West, Newcastle and Southampton, Manchester and Bournemouth / Bristol.
Saturday service:
10 April
Sunday service:
11 April
Monday to Friday service:
9 April
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.
East Midlands Railway - Between Liverpool and Norwich
Saturday service:
8 May
Sunday service:
25 April
Monday to Friday service:
14 May
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Notes:
Train times will be amended at short notice as a result of the current Covid-19 outbreak, please check train times before travelling.
Reservations are closed for the following dates: 4, 5, 17 & 18 April and 3 May.
East Midlands Railway - London route
Saturday service:
15 May
Sunday service:
4 April
Monday to Friday service:
14 May
Notes:
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.
Reservations are closed for 17 & 24 April and 1 and 3 May.
Grand Central
Saturday service:
15 May
Sunday service:
16 May
Monday to Friday service:
14 May
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 4 hours before departing origin point.
Notes
Grand Central services have been suspended until 26 March
Grand Central Advance / Reservations are currently closed on 11 , 23, 24 & 25 April
Great Western Railway
Saturday service:
27 March
Sunday service:
28 March
Monday to Friday service:
2 April
Latest time of reservation:
Up until 18:00 the day before travel.
Notes:
Greater Anglia / Stansted Express
Saturday service:
3 April
Sunday service:
4 April
Monday to Friday service:
9 April
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Notes:
Hull Trains
Saturday service:
23 January
Sunday service:
7 February
Monday to Friday service:
25 February
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:
3 April
Sunday service:
4 April
Monday to Friday service:
9 April
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:
20 March
Sunday service:
21 March
Monday to Friday service:
26 March
Latest time of reservation:
Advance tickets are available up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Notes:
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:
20 March
Sunday service:
21 March
Monday to Friday service:
26 March
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:
From 12 to 21 March between Glasgow and Oban / Fort William / Mallaig.
Southeastern
Saturday service:
13 March
Sunday service:
14 March
Monday to Friday service:
5 March
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 18:00 the day before.
Notes:
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:
8 May
Sunday service:
9 May
Monday to Friday service:
14 May
Latest time of reservation:
Advance tickets are available up to 18:00 the day before travel.
Notes:
Advance tickets are currently closed on Saturday and Sunday 20 / 21 / 27 / 28 March and 3 / 4 / 10 / 11 / 17 / 18 / 24 / 25 April.
Advance tickets will not be available on the following dates, because of engineering work in the London Victoria area:
- Saturday 1 – Monday 3 May 2021 (Bank Holiday weekend)
- Saturday 8 – Sunday 9 May 2021
- Saturday 15 – Sunday 16 May 2021
- Saturday 22 – Sunday 23 May 2021
- Saturday 29 – Monday 31 May 2021 (Bank Holiday weekend)
- Saturday 5 – Sunday 6 June 2021
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.
South Western Railway - Between London Waterloo and Weymouth
Saturday service:
3 April
Sunday service:
4 April
Monday to Friday service:
14 May
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 3 May.
South Western Railway - West of England
Saturday service:
20 March
Sunday service:
21 March
Monday to Friday service:
14 May
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 for 7 March, 2 / 5 April and 3 May.
South Western Railway - Portsmouth route, Isle of Wight
Saturday service:
20 March
Sunday service:
21 March
Monday to Friday service:
14 May
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 for 2 / 5 April and 3 May.
TransPennine Express
Saturday service:
6 March
Sunday service:
7 March
Monday to Friday service:
5 March
Latest time of reservation:
Up to 23:59 the day before travel.
Transport for Wales
Transport for Wales advance tickets are available 7 days 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:
Ferry services to / from Ireland are open for reservations, however customers should be aware that sailings are subject to Covid-19 restrictions, full details can be found for Irish Ferries here, and for Stena Line here.
West Midlands Trains
Saturday service:
27 March
Sunday service:
28 March
Monday to Friday service:
9 April
Latest time of reservation:
Reservation are closed on trains via Northampton from Monday 15 to Friday 26 March and also from Friday 2 to Monday 5 April
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.
- Avanti West Coast,
- c2c,
- Chiltern Railways,
- CrossCountry,
- East Midlands Railway,
- Eurostar,
- Gatwick Express,
- Grand Central,
- Great Western Railway,
- Greater Anglia,
- Heathrow Connect,
- Heathrow Express,
- Hull Trains,
- Island Line,
- London North Eastern Railway,
- London Overground,
- Merseyrail,
- National Rail,
- Northern,
- Rail Delivery Group,
- ScotRail,
- South Western Railway,
- Southeastern,
- Southern,
- Stansted Express,
- TfL Rail,
- TransPennine Express,
- Transport for Wales,
- West Midlands Trains
Last updated: 19 February 2021
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