If you have a query about your train travel, we're on hand to help.
We've grouped the questions to make it easier to find what you're looking for; simply click on the question to see the answer, or click the orange arrow to see all answers in that section.
If you can't find what you need, and would like to get in touch, please contact us.

You cannot add station parking to a standard ticket. However, MyTrainTicket does sell Anytime and Off-peak packages that can include your train ticket, parking coupons and catering coupons.
Providing you choose to collect your tickets from a self-service ticket collection machine, they will be available for collection after a minimum of 15 minutes from booking completion. Where possible, we recommend you allow more time to collect your tickets, especially at peak times.
You can use the following Railcards on MyTrainTicket:
For more information regarding purchase, please see our Get a Railcard section. Please note - if you are booking journeys for more than one person, and each has a Railcard, please book your travel as multiple journeys, selecting the correct Railcard for each person.
If a train operating company cancels a service you wish to take or on which you have a reservation, you should be able to take the next available service but are advised to contact an appropriate member of staff at the station.
If you have not yet left for the station, please contact the train operating company whose service has been cancelled and ask them to confirm the alternative arrangements that they have made to accommodate you on another train.
If, as a result of the cancellation, you choose not to travel, you will be eligible for a refund (for any type of ticket purchased) through MyTrainTicket and no administration fee will be charged. Please refer to the help and support section for more information.
MyTrainTicket for Business allows businesses of all types and sizes to purchase their train tickets for business travel online. With access to the same great savings as an everyday customer to MyTrainTicket, business accounts also allow you to set multiple user profiles with different access rights and levels of spend, generate sales reports and allocate purchases to different departments or cost centres. Find out more or apply for a business account.
You cannot travel on your booking confirmation alone; you will need to have your tickets with you at all times. If you board a train with only your booking confirmation, you will be charged for a new set of tickets.
Your booking confirmation is for reference only; there is no requirement to have your booking confirmation with you when you travel.
Train tickets can be used by anyone; however, please remember when booking that, if you have selected free collection from a self-service ticket machine, the person collecting the tickets will need to take with them the card that was used to make the booking.
If you purchase on behalf of someone else, the tickets will have a sales receipt with the last 4 digits of the payment card, as well as the payment price.
If you would like to talk to someone about disruptions to your rail journey, please contact your individual train operating company directly. Please see 'My train was cancelled, what do I do with my unused ticket?' in the General questions section for more information about refunding unused tickets for cancelled services.
The Network Railcard discount only applies if you are travelling within London and the South East. If you are travelling beyond the Network Railcard area, the Network Railcard does not apply to your journey.
Once you have selected a train on the 'Train Times and Fares' page, you will see an 'i' icon to the right of the train time. Click on this icon to see the specific details of your journey, including the train operating company you are travelling with. You may be travelling with more than one operator, depending on the length and complexity of your journey.
Children under the age of 5 travel for free on UK trains. However, please note that as they are travelling for free this does not include a reservation. If you would like to make a reservation, please purchase a Child ticket. A child under 5 will be expected to sit on your knee during busy times.
An Open Return ticket allows you greater flexibility in your travel, because you don't have to choose the time and date of your return journey. Typically these tickets are valid for one month after the outward journey. Different types of Open Return ticket include:
If a London Travelcard is valid for purchase with your tickets, a section named ' London Day Travelcards' will appear on the 'Travel Options' page. You will then have the choice of Anytime and Off-Peak Travelcards for different zones. Please note, these are only valid for your outward journey date.
Please see ticket types for detailed information about ticket types, including when they are valid for travel and the amount of flexibility they provide.
The majority of train companies provide First Class services, which can include free newspapers, WiFi, refreshments and quiet coaches - as well as access to the First Class Lounge at certain stations. First Class travel can also cost a lot less than you think; MyTrainTicket offers Advance tickets for First as well as Standard Class fares, so you can purchase a great value train ticket and travel in style!
A Carnet usually consists of 6, 10, 12 or 50 tickets for the same journey, which you can use on any train and whenever you want (they are usually valid for up to six months, but you will need to check the specific terms and conditions as there is some variation). Anyone can use a Carnet ticket - you can give them to friends or colleagues, so they're ideal for keeping in your office and distributing to people when they need to travel. Carnets are not available on every route, and always consist of fully-flexible Anytime tickets ie. Carnets are not available for Advance or Off-Peak tickets.
If you are restricted to a certain train time on your outward journey but know that you can be more flexible on your return, or are unable to specify an exact train for your return journey, you are able to mix and match ticket types and purchase an Off-Peak Single (online only) on Virgin Trains routes for either your outward or return journey leg. This Off-Peak Single (online only) is half the price of an Off-Peak Return ticket, helping you save money on your journey.
Off-Peak Single (online only) tickets are flexible tickets only valid at specific Off-Peak times of day and your journey must be on Off-Peak trains on the date displayed on your ticket.
Please note this ticket can only be purchased online and is not available at the station. This ticket can only be bought as part of a return journey and in conjunction with either an Advance ticket or Anytime ticekts. If two online Off-peak single tickets are bought as part of a return, it will then become an Off-Peak return ticket.
If your booking has been confirmed, you will see a confirmation page on the website with the title 'Thank you for your order, your booking has been confirmed.' You will also be emailed a confirmation email. If you have not received this within 30 minutes ( please check your junk folder), please contact customer services and quote your booking reference, and our team will re-send the email.
You can purchase multiple journeys in one transaction by clicking the link 'Add Additional Journey' shown in your basket on the 'Delivery' page. This will take you back to the journey planner to allow you to add more journeys to your basket.
Each person must be covered by the same Railcard. If you have more than one type of Railcard, please add your tickets to the basket seperately, then purchase them together in one transaction. To add another journey into your basket please select 'Add journey' on the Delivery page.
If you have a technical enquiry please contact us at technicalfaults@mytrainticket.co.uk
Whilst we request any seat preferences that you specify from the train operator, seat allocations are subject to availability and we cannot guarantee that your preferences can be met.
When reporting a technical problem, it is really helpful for us to have a screenshot of what is being displayed. When you are looking at the page in question, hold down the CTRL key (usually located bottom left of keyboard) and press PRINT SCRN (usually located above the number keypad). Open a new email (or a blank Word document); hold down the CTRL key and press V; this will paste the screenshot into the email (or the Word document).
Before contacting us, please check that there are no extra spaces either side of the promotional code if you have copied and pasted it in from somewhere else. Where possible, please type the code in manually.
If you are still experiencing difficulty, please contact our customer services team.
You are not required to log in or register until part-way through your booking process. You will be given the option to log in, register or quick purchase. If you request 'log in' or 'quick purchase', you will be taken straight to the payment details page - please note you will not receive Airmiles if you select quick purchase. If you choose to register for an account, you will be asked for your contact details and can then continue to the payment page.
It is possible on some journeys to have two or more possible routes (e.g. one avoiding London and one via London). For these journeys you might see two or more tickets with the same name and different prices. The price difference will reflect differences in the journey such as distance and duration.
As our system allows you to purchase Off-Peak and Anytime tickets without selecting the time of the train you wish to take, you can book a ticket on the day of travel without selecting the journey time. However, if you do so, the time will default to midnight, and therefore the system will show that you don't have time to receive your tickets. If you see this message, please go back and select an outward train time. You won't be committed to taking the train at the time you select; you simply need to travel at off-peak times if you have an Off-Peak ticket, and can take any train you like if your ticket is Anytime.
When you are selecting a journey, there may be more than one service operating between the origin and destination that leaves the origin station at around the same time, but arrives at the destination at a different time.
This is because services can differ by route and by number of stops - for example, Train 1 leaves X Station at 11am and makes 10 stops along the way, arriving at Y Station at 12.20pm. Train 2 leaves X Station at 11.10am but only stop at 2 stations, arriving at Y Station at 12.10pm. In this instance, Train 1 is overtaken by Train 2.
Slower train services tend to be cheaper, so if you're flexible in the time you spend travelling by train, you may be able to save yourself some money on your train tickets!
We will automatically try to reserve a seat free of charge for all tickets booked on our website. If a seat cannot be reserved at the time of booking, one of the following reasons will apply:
We cannot guarantee seat reservations. Like train operating companies, MyTrainTicket depends upon the National Reservation System for its seat reservations. Even without a seat reservation, your ticket is still valid and you can sit in any vacant unreserved seat for the appropriate class of travel for your journey (The Train Operator will often leave seats available for customers without reservations).
If you have booked more than one ticket, we will always try and make the best seat grouping with the seats and the information that is available to us. The sequence of seat numbers will sometimes suggest that the reservations aren't together when, in fact, they are - for example, seats around a table. At busy times, seat reservations may not be allocated together. If you find that your seats are not together, there is usually a carriage that is non-reservable where you may be able to find a group of seats.
Yes you can. MyTrainTicket now offers self-print tickets, for Advance fares in both Standard and First Class, on certain journeys with CrossCountry, including:-
All of the above routes go via Birmingham New Street.
Self-print train tickets are similar to self-print airline tickets; they will be delivered to you as a PDF attachment to an email. Simply print them off at home at your leisure; all information relevant to your journey will be included, including reservations where applicable.
Please ensure clean white A4 paper is used to print out your tickets; they will include a barcode which may be scanned at station ticket gates or on board the train, so please keep them in good condition and do not fold the paper across the barcode.
One self-print ticket will be provided for each passenger.
To open your self-print ticket you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is already installed on most PCs and Macs. If it is not installed on your PC or Mac, or your version is not up to date, please visit Adobe to download it (free of charge).
Once you have purchased your self-print tickets we will send you a confirmation email. This is NOT your ticket for travel. We will send a second email containing a link to download your self-print ticket. Once you have downloaded the self-print ticket this needs to be printed.
To get your self-print ticket you will need:
A printer
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Don't forget you need your ID selected to accompany your self-print ticket when travelling.
If you book less than 5 working days before your outward journey, you will not be offered the option of Royal Mail First Class Post. If you purchase within 5 days of your outward travel you will be able to collect your train tickets from the self-service ticket machine at the station.
Please note: If you are booking high value tickets (greater than £250 in total), Royal Mail First Class Post will not be available as a delivery option - and delivery will instead be made via Royal Mail Special DeliveryTM Next Day (which has greater insurance cover than First Class Post).
You will only have the option of having your tickets delivered by Royal Mail Special DeliveryTM Next Day if you book your tickets two or more working days before travel.
If your station does not have a self-service ticket collection machine, you can collect your tickets from any other station that has self-service facilities. You do not have to collect tickets from the station you are travelling from or to.
If you have not received your tickets after five working days, please contact MyTrainTicket.
We rely on rail industry reference information for details of facilities at stations. If you have reason to believe that our information is incorrect, please contact customer support and we will verify the details with the train operator for the station concerned.
If your payment card has been replaced since you purchased your tickets, and you chose to collect the tickets from a self-service ticket machine, please contact customer services before your journey.
You can collect your tickets from any self-service ticket collection machine - it doesn't have to be a machine in the station you are travelling from or to.
If you have problems collecting your tickets from a self-service ticket machine, please go immediately to the station booking office. On production of your booking confirmation print-out and the same credit/debit card that you used to make your booking, station staff should be able to issue your tickets. If the station is unattended, please call our customer services team on 0906 210 1800*, before your train's departure time.
* Calls cost £0.25/minute. Calls from other operators and mobile phone networks may vary.
Before leaving the self-service ticket machine, check that the correct number of coupons have been dispensed to cover the complete booking - including tickets, supplements and seat reservations. The collection receipt is the last coupon to be printed. Any problems should be raised immediately with local station staff.
We ask you to allow 15 minutes after booking online for tickets to be available for collection from self-service ticket machines. Please allow sufficient time to collect your tickets before your journey, especially during peak hours.
Yes - if you have your tickets delivered by First Class or Royal Mail Special DeliveryTM Next Day, a receipt will be enclosed with your tickets. If you choose to collect your tickets from a self-service ticket machine, a receipt will be given with the tickets.
If you think you have been charged more than once for the same transaction, please contact our customer services team.
You can make your payment using the following types of payment card:
We now accept payment cards with foreign billing addresses. Please select the country and add the billing address the card is registered to on the payment page.
We charge a £1.00 booking fee for all transactions unless otherwise stated. However, if you book multiple journeys in one transaction you will only be charged the fee once.
We apply a credit/charge card fee of 2.95% (that is 2.95p for every £1 spent). There is no card fee when paying with debit cards, including Visa Electron and Maestro.
Advance tickets are non-refundable. For more information please see Advance Tickets.
You must apply for a refund within 28 days of your ticket expiry date.
If you would like to apply for a refund of your ticket please print and complete this form, giving your MyTrainTicket booking reference number, the circumstances of your refund application (including any re-booking details) and a contact telephone number, as well as enclosing your unused tickets.
For refunds based on the re-booking of qualifying replacements for Advance tickets, please ensure that you provide clear details of your replacement booking when you return your original tickets for a refund, otherwise we will not be able to process your refund. Please note that eligible refunds take up to six weeks to be processed. You will normally be required to pay a MyTrainTicket administration fee of £10 for the refund of part or all of your booking. Refunds based on Advance ticket amendments are charged differently - see amendments.
We will notify you by email within six weeks of receipt of your refund application to confirm whether your refund application has been approved by the central authority, or to indicate if there has been a delay.
You cannot apply for a refund if you forget your Railcard and are charged for a new ticket. The Railcard terms and conditions state that you must carry it with you at all times if travelling with a Railcard-discounted ticket. If you do not have the Railcard with you at the time your ticket is inspected, you will be liable to pay for a new ticket for that journey at the full, undiscounted rate. Even if you can provide a copy of the Railcard at a later date, you will not be entitled to a refund for the new tickets.
We are unable to process a refund without the unused ticket(s). Please collect the tickets you wish to be refunded from a self-service ticket machine and send them in, together with the receipt, with your refund application.
Please see the Amendments page for specific details. Amendments are dependent upon your ticket type.
You will be unable to amend an Advance ticket on the train. If you need to amend an Advance ticket please contact us before travel.
An Off-Peak Single (online only) ticket is only valid as part of a return journey, in conjunction with another single ticket (Advance or Anytime), and both single tickets must have been purchased at the same time.
If you want to refund or amend the Advance or Anytime single, you must refund the Off-Peak Single (online only) at the same time. The Advance or Anytime single cannot be refunded or amended alone. The refund will incur a £10 administration fee.
If you have already used your Off-Peak Single (online only) ticket, but have not used the Advance or Anytime single that was bought in conjunction with it, then you may apply for a refund for the unused Anytime single, or amend the unused Advance single. We will refund you the face value of the Anytime single, less the difference in price between an Off-Peak Single and the Off-Peak Single (online only), and less an administration fee of £10.
For any ticket enquiries, please contact customer services, or visit our help and support page.
Your booking reference can be found in the top right hand corner of both the confirmation page and confirmation email. Your booking reference will start with WEB and will have numbers to follow e.g. WEB0000123.
Please note that this is not to be confused with the self-service machine collection reference, which is 8 digits long and consists of a combination of numbers and letters.