Refunds

How to apply for a refund

If you buy a train ticket, but are unable to travel on that service because of disruption to the train service, you can claim a full refund.

If you don’t take your train for any other reason, you can get a refund for the value of the ticket less an administration fee of £10, unless it's an Advance Purchase ticket which are non refundable. Season ticket refunds always incur an administration fee of £10.  You must apply for your refund within 28 days of your ticket expiring.

We typically handle refunds within 5 days and have a maximum target of one month.
 
Changing or refunding your Advance Purchase ticket due to Coronavirus Restrictions.
If you have an Advance Purchase ticket, that was purchased on or before the 4th January '21 and before the national lockdown was announced, for travel from 5th January '21 and were therefore unable to travel, then you can make use of the following options.

You can change your journey to another day/and or time without any administration fees (usually a £10 administration fee applies). Normal Excess Fare rules will apply, if you change to a more expensive service.

Alternatively, you can exchange your Advance Purchase ticket for a Rail Travel Voucher (RTV). The RTV will be valid for 12 months from the date of issue and may be used as payment towards a new ticket on any service. The RTV may not be exchanged for cash. Where possible RTVs will be issued to customers who purchased an Advance ticket to or from an area affected by local restrictions (local COVID alert level High or Very High in England or affected areas in Scotland or Wales).  

Current Government advice in England is that you must not leave or be outside of your home except where you have a 'reasonable' excuse'. Advance Purchase tickets bought after the change to the alert level was announced will not be eligible to change without a fee or exchange your ticket for a RTV. Tickets purchased on or after 5th January '21 may be changed to travel on another day but normal fees and excess rules still apply.  

Refunds for Christmas Travel Window
If you had a ticket to travel during the Christmas Travel Window (23rd - 27th December inclusive), which was withdrawn due to the recent Government announcement, that was purchased on or after 24th November then you can have a full refund. Details on how to claim your refund depending on where you purchased your ticket are below.  

Normal refund rules apply where restrictions were already in place at the time the ticket was purchased.

If you are delayed by 30 minutes or more, you can apply for Delay Repay Compensation.

What type of train ticket is it?

Anytime, Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak tickets
We can provide refunds on these tickets for any reason – delays, cancellations or you simply didn’t need to make the journey. 

Advance tickets
We can only provide refunds on Advance tickets if you were unable to travel due to delays or the cancellation of your train. 

Season Tickets
Normal season ticket refund rules apply, and the refund will be calculated from the date that the ticket is surrendered. Note that there is a minimum period of remaining validity for a season ticket refund to be issued:

3 days of validity on a 7-day season ticket
1 week of validity on a monthly season ticket
1 month and 18 days of validity on an annual season ticket.   

You can use the Season Ticket Refund Calculator to get an estimate of how much you'll receive for an annual or custom length (longer than one month) season ticket. The exact amount you receive may vary depending on the final validation of the refund application.

Car Park and Plus Bus Season Tickets are refundable under the same conditions as rail travel season tickets.

Find out more about different types of train tickets.

Where did you buy your ticket?

Website or mobile app
Go to your account and follow the refund instructions. If you experience any problems, you can contact our Web Ticket Sales Support team: 0345 600 1671 or email: tpe.websupport@firstgroup.com

If you already have your tickets or would like to apply for a refund for an Advance ticket, you'll need to apply using this form.

Even if you have tickets for travel with another train company, as long as you bought them directly with us, we will organise a refund for you.
 
Over the phone
Call our Customer Support team: 0345 600 1671 (06:00 to 23:00)

At the station
Please go back to the same station to claim your refund. Alternatively you can apply for a refund using this form.

From another company
If you bought your tickets from a travel agent or any another company then please contact them for refund details.

Seat reservation refund
Seat reservations are free and you can usually reserve a seat up to 3 months before you travel.

If you reserved a seat but then had to stand, we’ll refund you 50% of the single leg cost of your journey. Claims must be made by calling our Customer Relations team on 0345 600 1671 (06:00 to 23:00) within 28 days of your journey.