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RailUK Fares & Ticketing Guide - Section 5 - Multi-Journey Tickets

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5.1 Introduction

If you travel regularly, a multi-journey ticket could save you money over buying daily single or return fares. There are many multi-journey products that cater for different travel patterns.

If you make regular journeys over a certain route(s), a season ticket could be best suited to your needs. Apart from weekly season tickets, you can obtain them for any length of time between one month and twelve months to suit your work patterns. In most cases, an annual season ticket is priced at the same level as 40 weekly season tickets or less, offering substantial savings. See Section 5.4 for more details of season tickets.

If you make lots of journeys outside the morning peak over a certain area, there might be day ranger or rover tickets that allow you to make an unlimited number of journeys in your area. See Sections 5.2 and 5.3 for details of day ranger and rover products. They are also excellent value to people with Privilege travel facilities, as the majority of day rangers and rovers give the full 75% discount, effectively offering discounts on off-peak fares.

If you are proposing to travel mainly within the seven PTE (Passenger Transport Executive) areas, you can also find details of integrated travel products offered by them in Sections 5.6 and 5.7. All of the PTEs offer some sort of integrated tickets allowing inclusive travel on buses, trains and trams over the whole area they are responsible for. These multi-modal integrated fare products may also be available in non-PTE areas. Section 5.8 gives some examples.

If you need to make multiple journeys around London, Travelcards and Oyster PAYG (Pay As You Go) cards could be your best options. Travelcards offer unlimited travel on National Rail, London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, Tramlink and Transport for London bus services within the London zonal area for various periods of between one day and one year in a number of different zonal combinations. You can find details of Travelcards in Sections 5.9, 5.10 and 5.11. Oyster PAYG cards are ideal if you need to travel around London but do not make quite enough journeys to warrant a Travelcard. They offer substantial savings over cash fares. See Section 2.1 to read more.

If you already have a season ticket but your circumstances have changed, you can obtain a refund on the unused period, the procedure is explained in Section 5.12. Please note however this does not apply to tickets offered by PTEs or those products listed in Section 5.8, which may have their own separate arrangements. You will need to contact the retailer for more information.

A season ticket changeover may be better value than a refund if your circumstances change but you still wish to retain a season ticket, possibly for a different journey. This is explained also in Section 5.12.

A further product available to regular travellers is the carnet, which effectively offers a discount for bulk-buying a certain quantity of tickets. This could be ideal for those who do not travel frequently enough to justify paying for a season ticket. See Section 5.13 for more details.

Worked examples are available for pricing some of these tickets as well as calculating refunds and changeovers in Section 5.14.
 

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5.1.1 National Rail Conditions of Carriage (NRCoT) Condition 14

Condition 14 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel can be particularly relevant to holders of multi-journey tickets. This condition sets out the circumstances under which a passenger may use two or more tickets for one journey without having to get off the train when switching between them.

NRCoC 14 said:
14. Using a combination of tickets

14.1 Unless shown below, you may use a combination of two or more Tickets to
make a journey provided that the train services you use call at the station(s)
where you change from one Ticket to another.

14.2 If you are using a Season Ticket, daily Zonal Ticket, or another area based
Ticket such as a concessionary pass, ranger or rover in conjunction with
another Ticket and the last station at which one Ticket is valid and the first
station that the other Ticket is valid are the same, then the train does not
need to call at that station for your combination to be valid.

14.3 Some Tickets specifically exclude their use in conjunction with other Tickets.
This will be made clear in the terms and conditions when buying such
Tickets, and you cannot use such a Ticket in conjunction with another except
as set out in 14.1 above.

14.4 In all cases you must comply with the specific terms and conditions of each
of the Tickets you are using (for example, keeping to the valid route(s) and
train services for which each Ticket is valid). It is your responsibility to check
that you comply with the Conditions listed above.
 
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5.2 Day Rangers

A day ranger ticket allows the holder to make an unlimited number of journeys within a defined area for one day (picture example). The National Rail Enquiries website has a list of all ranger and rover products.

Some day ranger products have alternative names, such as West Yorkshire DayRover (not to be confused with rover products), Island Liner (Day Rover), East Yorkshire Round Robin, (Merseytravel) Saveaway, Ride Cornwall, etc.

5.2.1 Time Restrictions

Most day ranger products have time restrictions on weekdays. Time restrictions can vary. Bear in mind that some rail staff could be unaware of the restrictions of certain products, therefore it is advisable to check the details of individual products before you travel, and bring a copy of the information with you if possible. (The information on time restriction can be obtained by searching for the relevant day ranger here and clicking the Validity tab once you have followed the link to the individual page of your specific product.)

5.2.2 Ticket Issuing

A day ranger ticket should be issued as one coupon. However it has been reported that in some cases day rangers are issued on two coupons. The additional coupon containing a pair of date boxes is not needed in theory nevertheless please do not discard the date box coupon as some staff might insist on seeing it.
 

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5.3 Rovers

A rover ticket allows the holder to make an unlimited number of journeys within a defined area for three or more days. The National Rail Enquiries website has a list of all ranger and rover products.

Rover products come in two different formats: consecutive rovers and flexi rovers.

A consecutive rover is valid for a set number of days consecutively from the first day of validity to the last (for example, Freedom of North West 7-Day Rover). A flexi rover is valid for a set number of days within a given period from the first day of validity (for example, Freedom of North West 4-in-8 Days Rover), instead of being valid for every day within its validity.

The product with the most comprehensive coverage of the National Rail network throughout Great Britain is the All Line Rover, which comes in two versions: 7-Day and 14-Day Rovers. There is a large number of regional rover products covering different areas of the network, many of which offer both a consecutive and a flexi option.

Freedom of Scotland Travelpass offers complete coverage of Scotland (4-in-8 Days or 8-in-15 Days), while Explore Wales Flexipass gives you total freedom in Wales for 8 consecutive days on buses, 4 of which inclusive of rail services.

5.3.1 Time Restrictions

Most rover products have time restrictions on weekdays. Time restrictions can vary and some rail staff could be unaware of the restriction of certain products. It is therefore advisable to check the details for individual products before you travel, and bring a copy of the information with you if possible. (The information on time restriction can be obtained by searching for the relevant rover here and clicking the Validity tab once you have followed the link to the individual page of your specific product.)

5.3.2 Ticket Issuing

A consecutive rover should be issued on one coupon (picture examples), nevertheless it has been reported in some cases, a consecutive rover ticket has been issued with a date box coupon. The additional coupon containing date boxes is not needed in theory nevertheless please do not discard the date box coupon as some staff might insist on seeing it.

A flexi rover ticket is issued on two coupons (picture examples): one for the actual ticket and the other with the corresponding number of date boxes the rover can be used for. A flexi rover ticket is not valid without the date boxes. You must validate a flexi rover ticket prior to use by inserting the correct date into one pair of the date boxes as instructed on the coupon.

5.3.3 NRCoC Condition 19

A rover ticket valid for a minimum period of 7 consecutive days, or a minimum of 3 days in a minumum period of 7 days, is classed as a leisure travel pass for the purpose of NRCoC Condition 19(c).
 

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5.4 Season Tickets

A season ticket offers the holder unlimited travel between the origin and the destination during its period of validity. A season ticket also offers the holder unlimited travel to/from any intermediate station along any permitted route between the origin and the destination. Please note that in some cases, you may be limited in your choice of routes if the ticket is not routed Any Permitted.

Please note that point-to-point National Rail season tickets may not be available for some journeys solely within PTE areas. They may be more expensive than PTE products (Section 5.7) where available.

5.4.1 Time Restrictions

With the exception of a small number of products, for example the Early Bird Season from First Transpennine Express, season tickets have no time restriction.

5.4.2 Ticket Issuing

A season ticket may be issued for a period of one week, or any length of time between one month and 12 months.

A season ticket should be issued as one coupon. It is only valid if accompanied by a Photocard bearing the serial number noted on the ticket.

Season tickets valid for a period of 10 months 13 days or longer are not normally issued, as they will be more expensive than annual seasons. The annual season tickets are issued instead, on Gold Card stock where appropriate. Under certain circumstances, it would however be appropriate to issue a season ticket for such a time period due to other constraints. For example, a child turning 16 in 7 months’ time must be issued a child season for no longer than 11 months at the annual season price with child discounts (thanks to an easement on child-rate season tickets allowing it to expire "up to a maximum of four months after the 16th birthday").

For examples of calculations, please see Section 5.14.1.

5.4.3 NRCoC Condition 19

A National Rail season ticket is considered a season ticket in the context of Condition 19(c).

5.4.4 Price of Monthly Season or Longer (Whole Month Season Tickets)

Generally speaking, the price of the weekly season ticket, valid for seven consecutive days, is the base rate for calculating the price of longer-period season tickets. Visit BR Fares if you wish to find out the price of a weekly season ticket.

The price of a monthly or an annual season ticket can be calculated using these formulae:

Code:
price of monthly season ticket = 3.84 x base rate
price of annual season ticket = 40 x base rate
The price of a season ticket valid for multiple months is calculated as the corresponding multiple of the price of a monthly season ticket. The final calculation is rounded up to the next 10p.

5.4.5 Price of Monthly Season or Longer (Odd Period Season Tickets)

The price of the part-month for a season ticket valid for a period between one month and 12 months other than whole months is calculated using the corresponding factor shown in the table below multiplied by the base rate. The price of the part month is capped by the price of a monthly season.

Code:
Days   Factor   Days   Factor   Days   Factor   Days   Factor   Days   Factor
----   ------   ----   ------   ----   ------   ----   ------   ----   ------
  1     0.13      2     0.26      3     0.39      4     0.52      5     0.64
  6     0.77      7     0.90      8     1.03      9     1.16     10     1.28
 11     1.41     12     1.54     13     1.67     14     1.80     15     1.92
 16     2.05     17     2.18     18     2.31     19     2.44     20     2.56
 21     2.69     22     2.82     23     2.95     24     3.08     25     3.20
 26     3.33     27     3.46     28     3.59     29     3.72     30     3.84
The final calculation is rounded up to the next 10p.

5.4.6 Price of Monthly Season or Longer (Market-Based Pricing)

Some intercity flows use market-based pricing, where the base rate is lower than the actual price of a weekly season ticket. In these cases, the price of a season ticket valid for a month or longer should be calculated using the base rate. Some flows do not have weekly season tickets available, however a base rate may still exist for such a flow so that season tickets valid for one month or more can be priced. BR Fares gives details of the base rate for any particular flow, if one exists. Alternatively Southern Railway's Season Ticket Calculator will give the price of the annual season ticket, which can be used to calculate the base rate by dividing 40 into it.

5.4.7 Gold Card Benefits

An annual season ticket acts as a Gold Card where the origin and/or the destination station is inside the Annual Gold Card area.

The benefits for a Gold Card holder include:
  • a £10 16-25, Senior, Disabled, Family & Friends, Two Together or Network Railcard for a nominated individual (who can also be the Gold Card holder if desired);
  • discounted single fares at off-peak times on National Rail, London Underground and Docklands Light Railway services within the London zonal area;
  • discounted off-peak caps with the London zonal area;
  • discounted Off-Peak Day Travelcard with validity covering at least Zones 1-6;
  • discounted Anytime Day Travelcard from a station outside the London zonal area after 0930 on weekdays and anytime at weekends (minimum fare £17);
  • up to four adults (including the Gold Card holder) travel for discounted prices with the Gold Card holder on Anytime or (Super) Off-Peak fares after 0930 on weekdays and anytime at weekends;
  • up to four children enjoy 60% off child fares (minimum £1);
  • discounted PlusBus tickets within the Network Railcard area;
  • discounts on journeys to the Isle of Wight using Wightlink, Red Funnel and HoverTravel.

Make sure that you purchase your season ticket from a ticket office within the Annual Gold Card area to ensure that it is issued on Gold Card stock. Only a handful of ticket offices outside the area have Gold Card stock available and tickets purchased from outside the area may not be issued on them.

For more details, visit this page.

Please note that a child-rate or Privilege season ticket cannot be issued as a Gold Card, regardless of the validity and where it is issued.

5.4.8 Season Tickets (Used as Leisure Products)

Some origin-destination combinations offer a wide range of permitted routes. These tickets can effectively act as rover products for a small region, for which a rover product may or may not exist.

In some cases a season ticket with wide validity can be preferable over a rover product, due to its lack of time restrictions.

One example is a ROMSEY [NLC 5943] - LONDON TERMINALS [NLC 1072] Route Any Permitted season ticket. This ticket is valid within the area bounded roughly by Southampton Central, Salisbury, Basingstoke, Reading, Slough, Hayes & Harlington, London Paddington, (across south London to the other side and) London Bridge, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, Brighton and the south coast.

Maximising value

If you wish to purchase a season ticket, it is worth checking prices from nearby stations which might be the same. Doing so could provide opportunities to save money on journeys not covered by the season ticket. For example, instead of purchasing a LUTON [NLC 1536] - LEICESTER [NLC 1947] season ticket, buy a HARPENDEN [NLC 1543] - LEICESTER [NLC 1947] season ticket (valid via Luton), which is the same price. This way if you wish to travel to London, you only have to pay from Harpenden.
 
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5.5 Other Leisure Products and Season Ticket Equivalents

Many other tickets count as a leisure travel pass for the purpose of Condition 19(c) of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, in addition to those mentioned in Section 5.3, such as the popular All Line Rover (7-Day or 14-Day Rovers). A non-exhaustive list is provided below:


These passes qualify as leisure travel pass as long as the pass is valid for a minimum period of 7 consecutive days, or a minimum of 3 days in a minimum period of 7 days. This implies that the 2-Days-in-1-Month BritRail Flexipass (usually issued to European residents) is not a leisure travel pass by strict interpretation of the rules.

A selected number of other passes are considered to be a season ticket for the purpose of Condition 19(c). A non-exhaustive list is provided below:

  • Freedom passes (Section 6.5.1);
 

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5.6 PTE Products: Day Rangers

There are seven Passenger Transport Executives (PTEs):

Transport for London products are discussed separately in Sections 5.9, 5.10 and 5.11.

All seven PTEs offer a range of integrated travel products within their own areas, for a day’s unlimited travel on a combination of different modes of transport, including buses, trains, and trams in some areas. For more details, please visit the pages below (only products including unlimited train travel have been shown):


5.6.1 Time Restrictions

A number of PTE day rangers offer a peak version and an off-peak version for the same product, with the former costing more having no time restriction whatsoever. Many PTE day rangers also have additional validity in the early hours of the following day, in line with National Rail products. For more details, please visit the website of each product.

5.6.2 Ticket Issuing

Many PTE day rangers have non-descriptive names. All of them can be found under a specific Rovers & Rangers menu on any TIS (Ticket Issuing System) and each have a different code that can be used for quick reference. A .pdf file of selected codes is attached below. Please note that this code is different to the CRS/NLC codes used in the origin/destination fields - which is an alternative way to issue some of these products, but not all.

All PTE day rangers should be issued on one coupon. Many of them cannot be sold outside the area, on the train or from a TVM as they require dedicated stock.

5.6.3 NRCoC Condition 19

It is debatable whether a PTE day ranger constitutes a zonal ticket for the purpose of Condition 19(a). Please note that even if so, it is unclear whether the boundaries of PTE products join together, unless they overlap at stations (e.g. West Yorkshire DayRover and South Yorkshire TravelMaster Day overlap at Darton, amongst others).
 

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5.7 PTE Products: Seasons

In addition to day ranger products, all PTEs also offer season tickets for unlimited travel on a combination of different modes of transport within their own respective areas. Some PTEs offer season tickets with have additional validity from selected places outside their own areas (e.g. West Yorkshire Rail Only MetroCard, West Midlands Out of County nTrain ticket). Please follow the links below for each product for more details (only products including unlimited train travel have been shown):


5.7.1 Time Restrictions

The majority of PTE season tickets have no time restrictions on when they can be used, however exceptions do apply in a limited number of cases. Make sure that you check with your retailer when buying your ticket.

5.7.2 Ticket Issuing

Some PTE season ticket products require an accompanying Photocard bearing the same serial number as noted on the season ticket itself. The season ticket is not valid without the Photocard. Other products do not. Please see details of each individual product by following the links supplied above.

A PTE season ticket should be issued on one coupon. Most of them cannot be sold outside the area, on the train or from a TVM as they require dedicated stock.

5.7.3 NRCoC Condition 19

A season ticket issued on behalf of a PTE is not considered a season ticket for the purpose of Condition 19(c). Some of them are considered zonal tickets for the purpose of Condition 19(a), such as West Yorkshire MetroCards. Nevertheless if the zones are not numerically consecutive, it is unclear whether the boundaries of PTE products join together, unless when they overlap at stations (e.g. West Yorkshire MetroCard and South Yorkshire TravelMaster overlap at Darton, amongst others).

A special mention goes to West Yorkshire MetroCard. MetroCard tickets covering any combination solely within Zones 1-5 (and valid on the buses) are not considered season tickets for the purpose of Condition 19(c), however MetroCard Zones 1-5 plus 6 and Zones 1-5 plus 7 Rail Only tickets are not valid on buses (even within Zones 1-5 despite being valid on rail services throughout Zones 1-5) and are considered to be season tickets under the proviso of Condition 19(c).

Season tickets offered by South Yorkshire PTE may not be combined with National Rail products for travel on cross-boundary services using Condition 19(c).
 

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5.8 Other Multi-Modal Integrated Travel Products

In addition to the products offered by the seven PTEs mentioned in Sections 5.6 and 5.7, there are also products available offering integrated fares for use on other modes of transport, eg, local buses, in selected non-PTE areas. Some of these products are available for different periods of validity between one day and one year.


Most of these products are not considered to be season tickets for the purpose of NRCoC Condition 19(c) as they are usually issued on behalf of the local authority, however please double-check before travel.

The code for selected products under the Rovers & Rangers menu on Ticket Issuing Systems is provided in the .pdf file attached to the end of Section 5.6.

For details of PlusBus add-on tickets, please see Section 7.1.
 

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5.9 London Travelcards: Day Travelcards

A day Travelcard offers unlimited travel on National Rail, London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, Tramlink and Transport for London bus services within the London zonal area. An inboundary day Travelcard is valid solely within the zones, whereas an outboundary day Travelcard also includes one return journey from the origin station (which would be outside the zones) to the zonal area.

Inboundary day Travelcards are available for Zones 1-2, Zones 1-4 or Zones 1-6.

Outboundary day Travelcards are only available including unlimited travel within Zones 1-6. Special arrangements apply when the origin is within Zones 7-9, or one of WATFORD JUNCTION [NLC 1402], BROXBOURNE [NLC 6812], BRENTWOOD [NLC 6872] or SHENFIELD [NLC 6888], in which case the Travelcard will be routed AAA LDN ZONE 7-9, giving unlimited travel throughout Zones 1-9.

A day Travelcard is valid on all Transport for London bus services irrespective of the zones it covers. A day Travelcard is valid over the whole of the Tramlink network if it is valid in any of Zones 3, 4, 5 or 6.

5.9.1 Time Restrictions

An Anytime Day Travelcard is valid from 00.01 on the date specified on the Travelcard until 04.29 the day after.

An inboundary Off-Peak Day Travelcard is valid from 09.30 on the date specified on the Travelcard until 04.29 the day after.

An outboundary (Super) Off-Peak Day Travelcard will have its own specific restrictions depending on the origin. This is usually aligned with the restrictions on the (Super) Off-Peak Day Return from the same origin to LONDON TERMINALS [NLC 1072], although it is not always the case. Make sure you check the restriction text for your specific ticket.

Time restrictions do not apply at weekends and Bank Holidays.

5.9.2 Ticket Issuing

A day Travelcard should be issued as one coupon.

If you wish to purchase a day Travelcard valid throughout Zones 1-9, you may encounter difficulties as some staff are unaware that it should be issued with the origin set to a station within Zones 7-9 (such as AMERSHAM UND [NLC 0506] or BUSHEY [NLC 1395]) to LONDON ZONES 1-6 [NLC 0035]. The ticket will automatically be routed AAA LDN ZONE 7-9. (This additional validity is not currently consistently applied if the origin is one of THEOBALDS GROVE [NLC 6949], WALTHAM CROSS [NLS 6823] or CHESHUNT [NLC 6814], which all joined the zonal area in January 2013. In these cases, it is currently recommended that you purchase the Travelcard from a London Underground ticket office to ensure you get the additional validity.)

5.9.3 NRCoC Condition 19

A day Travelcard is a zonal ticket for the purpose of Condition 19(a).

5.9.4 Family Travelcards

Discounted (off-peak outboundary) Family Travelcards are offered by the following Train Companies:
  • c2c;
  • Chiltern Railways;
  • First Great Western (selected journeys only);
  • Greater Anglia;
  • London Midland;
  • Southern.

The maximum group size is 2 adults and 4 children, and each group must consist of at least one adult and one child. Children travel for a flat fare of £1, except on Greater Anglia where a £2 flat fare applies and on Chiltern Railways where a £3 flat fare applies. The group must travel together at all times.

You can check adult fares on BR Fares. The fare type is FTC. Remember that for outboundary Travelcards, you need to use destination LONDON ZONES 1-6 [NLC 0035].

No further Railcard discount is available on Family Travelcards. For certain flows, an alternative group travel scheme, such as GroupSave, might offer better value. See Section 6.2 for more details. Family Travelcards can be particularly useful to those without a Family & Friends Railcard.

5.9.5 Minimum Fares

A Railcard-discounted Off-Peak Day Travelcard is subject to a minimum fare of £8.

A Railcard-discounted Anytime Day Travelcard is subject to a minimum fare of £17.50. Railcard discounts are available on Anytime Day Travelcards from stations outside Zones 1-9. No discount is available on Anytime Day Travelcards issued for journeys wholly within Zones 1-9.

These minimum fares apply at all times, including weekends, public holidays and days in July and August.
 
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5.10 London Travelcards: Travelcard Seasons

A Travelcard season ticket offers unlimited travel on National Rail, London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, Tramlink and Transport for London bus services within the London zonal area. An inboundary Travelcard season is valid solely within the zones, whereas an outboundary Travelcard season also includes unlimited travel between the origin station (which would be outside the zones) and the zonal area.

An inboundary Travelcard season ticket is available for any combination of two or more consecutive zones. An inboundary Travelcard season ticket may be issued on an Oyster card instead of on paper, depending on availability at the issuing station.

An outboundary Travelcard season ticket must include validity in at least Zones 5 and 6. When the origin is one of WATFORD JUNCTION [NLC 1402], BROXBOURNE [NLC 6812], BRENTWOOD [NLC 6872] or SHENFIELD [NLC 6888], the Travelcard will be routed AAA LDN ZONE 7-9, giving unlimited travel within Zones 7-9 additionally. If the origin is a station within Zones 7-9, special arrangements apply. Please refer to Section 5.10.6 below.

A Travelcard season is valid on all Transport for London bus services irrespective of the zones it covers. A Travelcard season is valid over the whole of the Tramlink network if it is valid in any of Zones 3, 4, 5 or 6.

5.10.1 Time Restrictions

No time restrictions apply to Travelcard season tickets. The ticket is valid from 00.01 on the first day of validity until 04.29 on the day following the last day of validity.

5.10.2 Ticket Issuing

A Travelcard season ticket may be issued for a period of one week, or any length of time between one month and 12 months.

A Travelcard season ticket should be issued as one coupon. It is only valid if accompanied by a Photocard bearing the serial number noted on the ticket.

5.10.3 NRCoC Condition 19

A Travelcard season is considered a season ticket in the context of Condition 19(c). It is also a zonal ticket for the purpose of Condition 19(a).

5.10.4 Price of Monthly Travelcard Season or Longer

Generally speaking, the base rate for calculating the price of a Travelcard season valid for a period of one calendar month or more is the price of a weekly Travelcard season for the same area. The formulae used are the same as the ones for calculating the price of season tickets and are listed in Sections 5.4.4, 5.4.5 and 5.4.6. When the weekly Travelcard season uses market-based pricing, the base rate can be calculated by dividing 40 into the price of the annual Travelcard season. For examples of calculations, please see Section 5.14.2.

5.10.5 Gold Card Benefits

The holder of an annual Travelcard season enjoys all the benefits listed in Section 5.4.7. An annual Travelcard season ticket issued on an Oyster card will also come with a Gold Card Record Card. If an annual Travelcard is issued on paper, you are also entitled to load your Gold Card onto an Oyster PAYG (Pay As You Go) card to benefit from discounted off-peak fares.

An Oyster card containing an annual Travelcard season can also hold credit and act as a Pay As You Go card for travels outside the area covered by the Travelcard (but within the London zonal area). In this case, it is important to understand that you will still have to manually add your entitlement to discounted off-peak fares to the same card, as the process is not automatic.

An annual Travelcard season with Gold Card benefits can be issued at any station subject to the availability of correct ticket stock.

5.10.6 Special Arrangements: Outboundary Origin Within Zones 7-9

A Travelcard season with an origin station in Zones 7-9 may have different validities regarding unlimited travel within Zones 7-9 depending on the destination. For example, a BUSHEY [NLC 1395] - LONDON ZONES 4-6 [NLC 0057] Travelcard season is routed AAA LDN ZONE 7-9, giving unlimited travel up to Zone 9, whereas a Travelcard season from BUSHEY [NLC 1395] - LONDON ZONES 1-6 [NLC 0035] is routed AAA LDN ZONE 7-8, offering unlimited travel only up to Zone 8. The details of how these origin-destination combinations are routed and priced are contained in the accompanying .pdf file below.

Please enquire with your retailer what the additional validity within Zones 7-9 is if the origin is one of THEOBALDS GROVE [NLC 6949], WALTHAM CROSS [NLS 6823] or CHESHUNT [NLC 6814], which all joined the zonal area in January 2013, as publicly available information is inconsistent.

5.10.7 First Class Fares

First Class fares for inboundary Travelcard seasons can be obtained by multiplying the corresponding Standard Class fares by 1.5 and rounding up to the next 10p.
 

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5.11 London Travelcards: Custom Seasons

If neither the origin nor the destination of a passenger's journey is inside Zones 1-6, a customised Travelcard season ticket can be produced for this journey to include a Travelcard season for use within Zones 1-6, provided that both the origin and the destination have fares to LONDON ZONES 1-6 [NLC 0035].

Customised Travelcard season tickets must include unlimited travel within at least Zones 1-6.

Special arrangements apply if a customised Travelcard season is required from an outboundary origin to a destination station within Zones 7-9. Please refer to Section 5.11.6 below for more details.

A customised Travelcard season with an origin (or destination) station being one of WATFORD JUNCTION [NLC 1402], BROXBOURNE [NLC 6812], BRENTWOOD [NLC 6872] or SHENFIELD [NLC 6888] should still allow unlimited travel within Zones 7-9, despite there not being enough room on the ticket itself to accommodate the relevant AAA annotations.

5.11.1 Time Restrictions

No time restrictions apply to customised Travelcard season tickets. The ticket is valid from 00.01 on the first day of validity until 04.29 on the day following the last day of validity.

5.11.2 Ticket Issuing

Some flows have customised Season ticket prices already preloaded into the fares database, for example, READING STATIONS [NLC 0403] – MILTON KEYNES [NLC 1378] Route London Zones 1-6.

If the price of a customised Travelcard season is calculated manually, make sure the ticket is routed London Zones 1-6 [Route Code 00923] or LONDON ZN1-6 +HS [Route Code 00922] as appropriate.

5.11.3 NRCoC Condition 19

A customised Travelcard season is considered a season ticket in the context of Condition 19(c). It is also a zonal ticket for the purpose of Condition 19(a).

5.11.4 Price of Customised Travelcard Season

The price of a customised Travelcard season ticket is calculated by adding together the LONDON ZONES 1-6 fare from the origin station and the LONDON ZONES 1-6 fare from the destination station, and then subtracting the price of the inboundary Zones 1-6 Travelcard fare for the same duration as the ticket required. For examples please see Section 5.14.3.

If the price for the customised Travelcard season already exists in the database, the listed price must be used instead of performing the aforementioned calculation. The availability of prices can be checked using Southern Railway's Season Ticket Calculator.

5.11.5 Gold Card Benefits

The holder of an annual customised Travelcard season enjoys all the benefits listed in Section 5.4.7.

5.11.6 Special Arrangements: Outboundary Origin and Destination Within Zones 7-9

A customised Travelcard season with an outboundary origin and a destination within Zones 7-9 can be priced by adding the relevant supplement as detailed below (correct as of 2nd January 2015) to the base rate of an outboundary Travelcard season from the same origin to LONDON ZONES 1-6 [NLC 0035]. Such a Travelcard offers the holder additional validity for travel within Zones 7-9 as detailed in Section 5.10.6.

Code:
        Destination           Supplement
---------------------------   ----------
CROXLEY UND [NLC 0554]           £5.00
WATFORD MET UND [NLC 0748]       £5.00
RICKMANSWRTH UND [NLC 0687]      £5.00
CHORLEYWOOD UND [NLC 0546]       £5.00
CHALFONT & L UND [NLC 0539]     £16.60
AMERSHAM UND [NLC 0506]         £24.80
CHESHAM UND [NLC 0543]          £24.80

Please enquire with your retailer what the add-on amount is if the origin is one of THEOBALDS GROVE [NLC 6949], WALTHAM CROSS [NLS 6823] or CHESHUNT [NLC 6814], which all joined the zonal area in January 2013, as publicly available information is inconsistent.
 
Last edited:

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5.12 Season Ticket Refunds / Changeovers

A season / Travelcard season may be submitted for refund before the expiry date if the passenger no longer needs it, provided that the minimum period of validity remaining as defined by Condition 36 of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage has been met, however if the ticket is surrendered towards the latter part of its validity, there might not be any refund value left due to the fact that a season / Travelcard season ticket is a heavily discounted product.

NRCoC 36 Extract said:
36. Season Ticket refunds

If you decide not to use or to stop using a Season Ticket, a refund will only be made if the Season Ticket is returned to the Train Company from which it was bought. However, to qualify for a refund (in the case of a Season Ticket valid for a month or more when issued) there must be at least seven days’ validity remaining or, in the case of any other Season Ticket, at least three days’ validity remaining.

A season ticket refund is subject to an administration charge of up to £10. A refund request can be submitted at any staffed ticket office, although it will need to be forwarded to the issuing company for processing.

As a general rule of thumb, an annual season ticket has no refund value after 10 months 13 days. If the value is low, this timeline might be shorter due to the administration charge.

Instead of refunding the existing season ticket and purchasing a new one when a passenger’s journey requirements change, a season ticket changeover may be more appropriate. A changeover may be issued for a change of journey, route or class of travel. A passenger's right to a season ticket changeover is specified in Condition 37 of the NRCoC.

NRCoC 37 said:
37. Changing one Season Ticket for another

You may change one Season Ticket for another covering a different journey or class of travel provided that the original ticket was valid for one month or more, and has at least seven days’ validity remaining. In this case, you will only be required to pay the difference in price between the original ticket and the new one, calculated pro rata to the number of days of validity remaining on the ticket. If the new Season Ticket is for a cheaper journey or class of travel, you will be entitled to a refund on the original ticket, calculated pro rata to the number of days of validity remaining on the date the ticket is handed in. The validity of the new ticket must start on the day after the original ticket is handed in and must expire on the same date as that of the original ticket when it was issued. You will not have to pay an administrative charge.

Although refunds are not usually made on duplicate tickets which have been issued to replace lost Season Tickets, applications for refunds for duplicate tickets will be considered under this Condition.

Different arrangements may apply for Season Tickets issued on Smartcards. The seller of the Smartcard or Electronic Ticket will make these clear to you when you buy your ticket.

A season ticket changeover is not subject to an administration charge, and is available provided that the ticket surrendered is valid for a minimum period of one month. The new season ticket will bear the same expiry date as the original ticket.

If the season ticket after the changeover no longer satisfies the requirements for a Gold Card, the replacement ticket must not be issued on Gold Card stock, regardless of whether the surrendered ticket was issued on Gold Card stock.

Season ticket changeover requests can be processed at any staffed ticket office.

It is important to remember that generally refunds cannot be issued on replacement or duplicate tickets if the original is not found and handed in within 28 days of it being reported lost. In the case of a refund due on a season ticket changeover, the amount will usually be credited as an extension of validity to the season ticket. However sometimes Train Companies can use discretion and issue refunds in these cases.

Please note that PTE products and other multi-modal integrated fare products, as described in Sections 5.6, 5.7 and 5.8, have different arrangements regarding changes in journey requirements. The procedures described in this section and examples shown in Sections 5.14.4 and 5.14.5 may not apply.
 

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5.13 Carnets

Carnets are offered by a number of Train Companies on selected flows as a bulk-buying product, providing a discount over purchasing individual tickets. These products offer a cheaper alternative for some passengers who do not travel frequently enough to be able to make good use of a season ticket.

A carnet typically offers a discount of at least 10%.

There is a comprehensive guide to carnets here.

5.13.1 Time Restrictions

Some Train Companies offer both an Anytime and Off-Peak version whereas others only offer carnets on Anytime tickets. Each ticket in a book of carnet has the same time restrictions as if purchased individually. Some carnet products have different names.

Please see the link for each individual product for more details:

5.13.2 Ticket Issuing

Individual tickets in a book of carnets should be printed on separate coupons on standard railway stock, or should come in the form of tear-off coupons in a book. Each ticket must be validated prior to travel by inserting the date of use in the date boxes provided. This validated ticket is then used in the same manner as an individual ticket.

It is advisable to use a non-scratchy pen, preferably a fine-point permanent marker, to fill in the date boxes on these tickets.
 

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5.14 Calculation Examples

Due to rounding errors, some of the results in the examples below might differ slightly with the actual calculations performed at a station.

Some software automatically calculates the price of a season ticket without the need for manual calculation.

All fares are correct as of 31st December 2012.
 

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5.14.1 Pricing Season Tickets

Example 1

A passenger wishes to purchase a weekly season ticket for SOUTHPORT [NLC 2262] - PRESTON LANCS [NLC 2753] Route Any Permitted starting on 21/03/12. The price is the base rate of £64.90.

Example 2

A passenger requests a monthly season ticket for MANCHESTER STNS [NLC 0438] - WATFORD JUNCTION [NLC 1402] Route Not Via London with a start date of 12/04/12. No weekly season exists, indicating that it is a market-based price. The base rate for this flow is £268.60. The monthly season is therefore £268.60 x 3.84 = £1031.42, rounded up to £1031.50.

Example 3

A passenger asks for an odd-period season ticket valid from 01/01/12 to 08/07/12 for DERBY [NLC 1823] - LONDON TERMINALS [NLC 1072] Route Any Permitted. The price of the weekly season, £263.50, should not be used as this is a market-based price. The base rate is actually £204.50.

This odd-period season lasts 6 months 8 days. The overall price is obtained by aggregating the following components:

Price of season ticket for 6 months: £204.50 x 3.84 x 6 = £4711.68
Price of odd-period for 8 days: £204.50 x 1.03 = £210.64 (See Section 5.4.5 for a table of factors to be used.)

Overall price: £4711.68 + £210.64 = £4922.32, rounded up to £4922.40.

Example 4

A passenger requires a RUGBY [NLC 1087] - NORTHAMPTON [NLC 1069] Route Any Permitted season ticket for a period of 10 months 22 days starting on 24/04/12. The price of the weekly season is the base rate for this flow, at £34.20. The overall price of the season ticket is calculated as follows:

Price of season ticket for 10 months: £34.20 x 3.84 x 10 = £1313.28
Price of odd-period for 22 days: £34.20 x 2.82 = £96.44 (See Section 5.4.4 for a table of factors to be used.)

Overall price: £1313.28 + £96.44 = £1409.72, rounded up to £1409.80

Price of annual season: £34.20 x 40 = £1368.00

The price of the odd-period season is higher than the annual season ticket. The passenger is therefore issued with an annual season ticket. This ticket will be on Gold Card stock if bought from a station within the Network Railcard area.
 

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5.14.2 Pricing Travelcard Seasons

Example 1

A passenger asks for a two-monthly BRIGHTON [NLC 5268] - LONDON ZONES 4-6 [NLC 0057] Route Any Permitted Travelcard season valid from 22/02/12. The weekly price / base rate is £82.80. The two-monthly Travelcard season therefore costs £82.80 x 3.84 x 2 = £635.91, rounded up to £636.00.

Example 2

A passenger wishes to purchase a Zones 3-5 Travelcard season starting from 29/02/12 and finishing on 12/06/12. A weekly Zones 3-5 Travelcard costs £24.20, which is also the base rate. The season ticket lasts 3 months 15 days. The overall price of the season ticket is:

Price of Travelcard season for 3 months: £24.20 x 3.84 x 3 = £278.78
Price of odd-period for 15 days: £24.20 x 1.92 = £46.46 (See Section 5.4.5 for a table of factors to be used.)

Overall price: £278.78 + £46.46 = £325.24, rounded up to £325.30.

Example 3

A passenger wants a quote for a 6-monthly season between NOTTINGHAM [NLC 1826] and LONDON ZONES 1-6 [NLC 0035] Route Any Permitted valid from 01/05/12. The weekly price of this Travelcard is £278.60, however this should not be used as it is more expensive than the base rate, which is £225.80. The price of the Travelcard season is therefore £225.80 x 3.84 x 6 = £5202.43, rounded up to £5202.50.
 

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5.14.3 Pricing Customised Travelcard Seasons

The price of a customised Travelcard season is calculated using this formula:

Code:
price of customised Travelcard season =
     price of outboundary Travelcard season from the origin to LONDON ZONES 1-6
   + price of outboundary Travelcard season from the destination to LONDON ZONES 1-6
   - price of (inboundary) Zones 1-6 Travelcard season
Example

A passenger residing in Milton Keynes and works at Gatwick Airport requests a customised annual Travelcard between MILTON KEYNES C [NLC 1378] and GATWICK AIRPORT [NLC 5416], including unlimited travel within Zones 1-6 starting on 03/05/12 and allowing him to catch services by any Train Company. The price of the customised Travelcard is calculated as follows:

MILTON KEYNES C - LONDON ZONES 1-6 Route Any Permitted annual Travelcard: £5280.00
GATWICK AIRPORT - LONDON ZONES 1-6 Route Any Permitted annual Travelcard: £3776.00
(Inboundary) Zones 1-6 annual Travelcard: £2136.00

Price of customised annual Travelcard: £5288.00 + £3776.00 - £2136.00 = £6928.00

Because a customised Travelcard season ticket must be routed London Zones 1-6 [Route Code 00923] or LONDON ZN1-6 +HS [Route Code 00922] as appropriate, it is unclear the implications of this requirement on a ticket which is composed of outboundary Travelcard seasons that already have a routing other than Any Permitted. For example, there would not be sufficient room on the ticket itself if in the above case, the GATWICK AIRPORT - LONDON ZONES 1-6 Route FCC Only price were used.

It is important to remember that if the price for the customised Travelcard season already exists in the database, the listed price must be used instead of performing the aforementioned calculation. The availability of prices can be checked using Southern Railway's Season Ticket Calculator.
 

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5.14.4 Calculation of Refund Value for Season Tickets

A season ticket that has been submitted for a refund will have the value of the ticket(s) that the passenger would have had to purchase for the appropriate period of travel deducted. The refund value is then subject to an administration charge if applicable.

If the appropriate period of travel is one month or longer, the value of the ticket that the passenger would have had to purchase is calculated using the formulae provided in Sections 5.4.4, 5.4.5 and 5.4.6.

If the appropriate period of travel is less than one month, the value of the ticket(s) that the passenger would have had to purchase is calculated using a combination of weekly seasons or Travelcard seasons (if available) and daily returns which together cover the whole period. When calculating the fare due for the odd days not covered by weekly seasons or Travelcard seasons using daily returns, Sundays are ignored unless you explicitly state that you used the ticket on any particular Sunday. The applicable daily fare is the most appropriate return fare without any time restriction, which is usually the Anytime (Day) Return, however sometimes the Off-Peak Return is used if there is no time restriction. For Saturdays, this is usually the (Super) Off-Peak (Day) Return.

Example 1

A passenger submits a SOUTHAMPTON CENTRAL [NLC 5932] - FAREHAM [NLC 5900] Route Southern Only annual season (£1076) starting on 03/10/12 for refund on 03/02/13. The ticket he would have had to purchase for this period would have been a SOUTHAMPTON CENTRAL [NLC 5932] - FAREHAM [NLC 5900] Route Southern Only odd-period season valid for 4 months 1 day (£416.70). This amount is therefore deducted, giving a refund value of £1076 - £416.70 = £659.30, which is then subject to a £10 administration charge if appropriate.

Example 2

A passenger surrenders a two-monthly Zones 2-4 Travelcard season (£185.90) valid from 11/11/12 on 24/11/12 for refund. The tickets he would have had to purchase for this period would have been two weekly Travelcard seasons (14 days). These cost £24.20 each. The refund value is therefore £93 - £24.20 - £24.20 = £44.60.

Example 3

A passenger has a LICHFIELD TRENT VALLEY [NLC 1291] - LONDON TERMINALS [NLC 1072] Route Any Permitted monthly season ticket (£873.60) valid from 13/10/12 (Saturday). The ticket is handed in on 05/11/12 (Monday). The passenger therefore has had use of this ticket for a period of 3 weeks 2 days (discounting Sunday 04/11/12 unless the passenger explicitly admits to using it on that day).

The price of an Anytime Return (no Anytime Day Return available for this flow) is £162 and the price of a weekly season is £244.40. Two Anytime Return tickets cost £162 x 2 = £324, more than the weekly season. The extra two days should be covered by one weekly season ticket as it is cheaper.

This period can therefore be covered by four weekly season tickets, yet this would cost £244.40 x 4 = £977.60, which is more than the cost of the monthly ticket. This ticket therefore has no refund value.

Example 4

A YORK [NLC 8263] - LONDON TERMINALS [NLC 1072] Route Any Permitted monthly season ticket (£1180.80) starting on 22/11/12 (Thursday) is submitted for refund on 03/12/12 (Monday) in the morning before the passenger has had a chance to use the ticket that day.

There is no weekly season ticket available for this flow. Hence the refund is based on 9 days' usage (discounting Sundays 25/11/12 and 02/12/12 unless the passenger explicitly admits to using it on those days) consisting of 7 Anytime Returns (£249 each) and 2 Super Off-Peak Returns (£94.10 each, for Saturdays 24/11/12 and 01/12/12).

All together these cost £249 x 7 + £94.10 x 2 = £1931.20, which is more than the monthly season. As a result, it has no refund value.

Example 5

A HATFIELD HERTS [NLC 6070] - LONDON ZONES 1-6 [NLC 0035] Route Any Permitted monthly Travelcard season (£325.70) starting on 22/11/12 (Thursday) is submitted for refund on 03/12/12 (Monday) in the morning before the passenger has had a chance to use the ticket that day.

The weekly Travelcard season for this flow costs £84.80, the Anytime Day Travelcard costs £22 and the Super Off-Peak Day Travelcard costs £13 (for Saturday 01/12/12).

A total of one week and three days' use (discounting Sunday 02/12/12 unless the passenger explicitly admits to using it on that day) needs to be deducted, which cost £141.80. This gives a refund value of £325.70 - £141.80 = £183.90.

Example 6

A MANCHESTER STNS [NLC 0438] - LLANDUDNO [NLC 2484] Route Any Permitted monthly season ticket (£411.30) starting on 22/11/12 (Thursday) is submitted for refund on 03/12/12 (Monday) in the morning before the passenger has had a chance to use the ticket that day.

The weekly season for this flow costs £107.10 and the Off-Peak Return (which has no time restriction) costs £35.60.

A total of one week and three days' use (discounting Sunday 02/12/12 unless the passenger explicitly admits to using it on that day) needs to be deducted, which cost £213.90. This gives a refund value of £411.30 - £213.90 = £197.40.

Examples 4, 5 and 6 demonstrate that even under similar conditions, some tickets will have refund values whereas others don’t.
 

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5.14.5 Calculation of Refund Value for Season Ticket Changeovers

A season ticket submitted for a changeover transaction will be charged / refunded pro-rata to the period of validity remaining based on the price difference between the two season tickets. The prices used for both tickets should be the prevailing rate on the original date the season ticket started.

Example 1

A passenger submits a LONDON TERMINALS [NLC 1072] - LEEDS [NLC 8487] Route Any Permitted annual season starting on 01/01/12 for a changeover to LONDON TERMINALS - DONCASTER [NLC 6417] Route Any Permitted on 30/06/12, starting on 01/07/12.

The prevailing rate is the one applicable on 01/01/12, which was released with NFM10. The Leeds annual season cost £11600 and the Doncaster annual season cost £9800. There are 366 actual days during the validity of the ticket, however for the calculation of the effective daily cost (confusingly named the base rate - not to be confused with the one from Section 5.4.4), a year always equals 365 days. Therefore the effective daily costs are:

LONDON TERMINALS - LEEDS: £11600 ÷ 365 = £31.78 (rounded to the nearest 1p)
LONDON TERMINALS - DONCASTER: £9800 ÷ 365 = £26.85 (rounded to the nearest 1p)

Days to refund: 31 + 31 + 30 + 31 + 30 + 31 = 184

Total credit for surrendered ticket: £31.78 x 184 = £5847.52
Total charge for new ticket: £26.85 x 184 = £4940.40

Total refund: £5847.52 - £4940.40 = £907.12

This refund is not subject to the administration charge.

Example 2

A passenger requires a changeover from a SOUTHAMPTON CENTRAL [NLC 5932] – LONDON ZONES 1-6 [NLC 0035] Route Any Permitted Travelcard season valid from 14/03/12 to 19/07/12 to a HONITON [NLC 5717] - READING STATIONS [NLC 0403] Route Any Permitted season on 01/05/12, effective 02/05/12.

The prevailing rate is the one applicable on 14/03/12, which was released with NFM11. The Southampton Travelcard season cost £2258.20 (4 months 6 days) and the Honiton season cost £2606.70 (4 months 6 days). There are 128 actual days during the validity of the ticket, however for the calculation of the effective daily cost, a month always equals 30 days. Therefore the period of validity is calculated as 126 days in this case, with the effective daily costs being:

SOUTHAMPTON CENTRAL - LONDON ZONES 1-6: £2258.20 ÷ 126 = £17.92
HONITON - READING STATIONS: £2606.70 ÷ 126 = £20.69

Days to charge: 30 + 30 + 19 = 79

Total credit for surrendered ticket: £17.92 x 79 = £1415.68
Total charge for new ticket: £20.69 x 79 = £1634.51

Total charge: £1634.51 - £1415.68 = £218.83.
 

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