Frequently asked questions

Yes, it is now compulsory for customers to wear face coverings on board our services. 

However, some customers will be exempt from this – including children under the age of 11 and those who have certain medical conditions.

We recommend that customers who have non-visible disabilities and are exempt from wearing a face covering, wear a sunflower lanyard while using our services. These can be picked up at any TPE managed station with a booking office. 

Rail staff engage and educate customers about the mandatory use of face coverings when they travel by train and encourage people to wear them. The vast majority of people do the right thing and help protect others by bringing and wearing a face covering while in stations and on trains. Unless they have a good reason, those that don’t wear a face covering could receive a £100 fine from the British Transport Police.

Some people may not be able to wear a face covering due to medical conditions which may not always be apparent. Please do not confront other passengers. Anyone that isn’t exempt from wearing a face covering can get a £100 fine from the British Transport Police. 

You’ll find at least 2 toilets on board every train, including one that is fully accessible and has baby changing facilities. We’ve fitted emergency help buttons and smoke alarms for your safety and we monitor their cleanliness throughout the day to make sure your journey is as pleasant and comfortable as possible.

If you have returned from a country that is not exempt from quarantine you can travel by train to get to where you are going to self-isolate if necessary. Please wear a face covering (unless you are exempt), maintain social distance wherever possible and take the most direct route. More information is available on the gov.uk website.

Unfortunately, there will not be any catering provision on our services in order to maintain social distancing guidelines and protect our customers and Customer Hosts.

Expired Rail Travel Vouchers (RTV) and eVouchers can be accepted as payment for rail tickets and services (e.g. supplements, railcard and PlusBus products). However, eVouchers can only be used as payment towards on-line transactions and cannot be used at station ticket offices on on-board trains.

Any RTV that has an expiry date between 17th March 2020 and 16th September 2020 maybe accepted for a maximum of 6 months after the original expiry date. For example, an RTV that expires on 10th June 2020, can be accepted up to and including 9th December 2020.

The rail industry is currently considering how best to manage Railcards that customers have been unable to use during travel restrictions. We will publish guidance to customers on Railcards soon.

Give our Customer Relations team a call on 0345 600 1671 or submit a question online. 

We're free to chat from 06:00 to 23:00, with our quietest times before 09:00 or after 17:00.

Get in touch with the relevant team and they’ll be happy to help:

• We're on WhatsApp. Have a question about your journey? Whatever your query, you can pop us a message on 07812 223 336 and we'll be happy to help. 

• Website sales support: 0344 556 5637 or visit our live web sales support chat
  

• Season Tickets: 0345 678 6974

• Train running information: 0845 748 4950 (National Rail Enquiries)
  

• Bike reservation/ group travel: 0345 600 1671 (option 3)

• Lost property: 0345 600 1672
  

• Assisted travel: 0800 107 2149

Get in touch with us and have your booking reference number handy:

• Email: tpe.websupport@firstgroup.com
  

• Call: 0344 556 5637 
  

• Write: to TransPennine Express Refunds PO Box 1259 Crawley RH10 0JR
  

You could be entitled to compensation if your journey is delayed by 30 minutes or more. Our Passenger’s Charter sets out your entitlement to compensation. 

Our Passenger’s Charter page is also available via a direct link on the homepage. In addition to having a link to our Passenger's Charter, that page also contains a links to Transport Focus.

We work with MissingX to track lost property at stations and you can fill out a form online at www.missingx.com. Find out more about lost property.

Yes. Call 0345 678 6974 and we’ll be happy to help with your booking.

If you're travelling with 9 or more people, you may be eligible for a discount. Call us on 0345 600 1671 and we’ll work out the best deal for you.

If you bought a ticket for travel but couldn’t use it because of service disruption, you may be entitled to a full refund. Find out more about how to claim a refund.

In the unlikely event that you buy a ticket from a ticket vending machines (TVM) at one of our stations and find that you could have bought it cheaper somewhere else, we'll refund the difference.

The cheaper product must be for an identical journey and you can find out more from stations staff or contact Customer Relations.

Find out information on individual stations using our station search.

You need a First Class ticket to sit in that section of the train.

When the train is very busy and all First Class ticket holders have been seated, the onboard team may decide to offer First Class seating to customers who don’t have First Class tickets. This is at the discretion of the team and may not happen on every occasion.

If you have any further queries, don’t hesitate to chat to on our board staff who will be happy to help.

Most people that travel on our trains buy a ticket. Unfortunately, some don’t and this costs millions of pounds every year - money that we would like to spend making improvements to your services and stations. Ticket inspections on trains and at stations help to prevent this.

We know that some of our services can be very busy, particularly in the morning and evening. We added an additional 40 carriages to our fleet in 2014, and nowadays nearly every carriage we have is in use across the network on a daily basis, so we don’t have any extra ones to add to busy services.

We’re now investing in 3 fleets of brand new, state of the art trains to improve capacity and provide lots more benefits. Find out more about the amazing new trains that will be delivered in 2018/19.

We recommend that you leave your bike at one of the secure bike racks at the station.

If you need to take your bike on the train, make sure you book in advance by calling 0345 600 1671.

You can carry up to 3 x items of luggage, including one piece of hand luggage that can be held in your lap (if required), plus 2 other items up to 30 x 70 x 90 cm.

We’re very limited on luggage space and our services can be very busy at times, so we wouldn’t recommend travelling with excessive amounts of luggage. You need to be able to manage your luggage without additional help; however, if you have a disability and require assistance, you can book help in advance of your journey.

Items such as motorcycles; mopeds; motor scooters; furniture exceeding dimensions 30 x 70 x 90 cm, firearms, dangerous goods; inflammable liquids or explosives.
For full details please see the National Conditions of Travel