Britrail Passes - deliverable to UK addresses

[AlterEgo]

http://www.visitbritainshop.com/wor...l-tickets/product/britrail-gb-flexi-pass.html

Visit Britain will ship a Britrail Pass to UK addresses.

Useful if you know, you live overseas but only decide to purchase one once you're in the UK...

 

[Kristofferson]

Bargain! And soon to be rectified, no doubt

 

[Merseysider]

Hello half price 1st class ALR

 

[RJ]

A passport is required to validate the pass. I wouldn't recommend any attempt at abusing this.

 

[Merseysider]

A passport is required to validate the pass. I wouldn't recommend any attempt at abusing this.

Just as well I have dual nationality then

Disclaimer: I would never ever in a million years abuse the process.

 

[Mojo]

A passport is required to validate the pass. I wouldn't recommend any attempt at abusing this.

Eligibility for BritRail is dependent on residency rather than nationality/citizenship, so there should be no issues with presenting a British passport to validate it, provided you live abroad. A passport is not mandatory; you could be resident in the Republic of Ireland where you are not required to hold a passport in order to travel to/from the UK, but are eligible to purchase BritRail.

 

[Spurs]

Hang on - so in some cases the cheapest fares are available to everyone except those of us who actually, y'know, live here and pay tax to fund the railways?!

 

[Merseysider]

Hang on - so in some cases the cheapest fares are available to everyone except those of us who actually, y'know, live here and pay tax to fund the railways?!

Yes; one reason Britrail passes are so (relatively) cheap is to get tourists who otherwise wouldn't spend money on rail to do so.

 

[Flamingo]

Eligibility for BritRail is dependent on residency rather than nationality/citizenship, so there should be no issues with presenting a British passport to validate it, provided you live abroad. A passport is not mandatory; you could be resident in the Republic of Ireland where you are not required to hold a passport in order to travel to/from the UK, but are eligible to purchase BritRail.

Can Britrail be purchased from RoI? I never knew that...

 

[TUC]

Eligibility for BritRail is dependent on residency rather than nationality/citizenship, so there should be no issues with presenting a British passport to validate it, provided you live abroad. A passport is not mandatory; you could be resident in the Republic of Ireland where you are not required to hold a passport in order to travel to/from the UK, but are eligible to purchase BritRail.

Can Britrail be purchased from RoI? I never knew that...

Well it is a separate country!

 

[Flamingo]

Well it is a separate country!

True, but because of the special travel arrangements alluded to above between the two juristictions, I always assumed Britrail was off-limits...

 

[AlterEgo]

Eligibility for BritRail is dependent on residency rather than nationality/citizenship, so there should be no issues with presenting a British passport to validate it, provided you live abroad. A passport is not mandatory; you could be resident in the Republic of Ireland where you are not required to hold a passport in order to travel to/from the UK, but are eligible to purchase BritRail.

Indeed. It is based on residence, not nationality.

 

[yorkie]

Hang on - so in some cases the cheapest fares are available to everyone except those of us who actually, y'know, live here and pay tax to fund the railways?!

Absolutely, and this is very much intentional and deliberate pricing policy in line with Government aims which appear to be to encourage us to drive.

 

[jimbo99]

Interesting. Surely the residency test is very open to abuse... a number of EU citizens live in the UK. There is nothing in their passports to say they are living here - so they would have no problems getting their pass validated.

On the other hand, some travellers from the EU to the UK travel on national ID cards. They wouldn't be able to validate their pass, despite being genuine foreign visitors.

 

[30907]

Absolutely, and this is very much intentional and deliberate pricing policy in line with Government aims which appear to be to encourage us to drive.

And very similar to German policy, for example: in the Black Forest and elsewhere visitors get free local transport as a part of their holiday booking. Obviously to encourage local people to drive.

 

[Flamingo]

Absolutely, and this is very much intentional and deliberate pricing policy in line with Government aims which appear to be to encourage us to drive.

I though government policy was that ticket prices should reflect the real cost of providing the service with a reduction of general taxpayer subsidy...

 

[Panceltic]

On the other hand, some travellers from the EU to the UK travel on national ID cards. They wouldn't be able to validate their pass, despite being genuine foreign visitors.

Our national ID cards have permanent residence (address) written on the back side, so this should not be a problem.

If I moved permanently to the UK, I'd have to apply for a new ID card which would then show my UK address!

I believe the majority of EU ID cards show the holder's permanent residence; and passports do too (ours certainly do).

 

[richw]

The terms state train staff can ask proof of residency at any time. I see no T&Cs stopping a UK passport holder who lives abroad using one.
What is deemed proof of residency, and does it need to be full time residency, for example my grandfather lives half the year in the UK half a year abroad. Is he eligible as he could provide evidence of foreign residency even in the 6 months he lives in the UK, and therefore posted to his UK address whilst he is here looking at the terms.

 

[AlterEgo]

The terms state train staff can ask proof of residency at any time. I see no T&Cs stopping a UK passport holder who lives abroad using one.
What is deemed proof of residency, and does it need to be full time residency, for example my grandfather lives half the year in the UK half a year abroad. Is he eligible as he could provide evidence of foreign residency even in the 6 months he lives in the UK, and therefore posted to his UK address whilst he is here looking at the terms.

The TnCs do not state what proof is deemed acceptable for residency purposes. Read into that what you will!

 

[Mojo]

On the other hand, some travellers from the EU to the UK travel on national ID cards. They wouldn't be able to validate their pass, despite being genuine foreign visitors.

The Visit Britain website says that a passport is only preferred, not compulsory. Interestingly, the Britrail website only mentions a Passport. I'm sure that common sense would prevail where you don't have a Passport, but not sure about customers from the Republic of Ireland.

 

[berneyarms]

Hang on - so in some cases the cheapest fares are available to everyone except those of us who actually, y'know, live here and pay tax to fund the railways?!

The tickets are discounted to encourage tourists to visit GB - that's the whole point. Tourism is a huge industry in Britain and this is an important feature.

Can Britrail be purchased from RoI? I never knew that...

True, but because of the special travel arrangements alluded to above between the two juristictions, I always assumed Britrail was off-limits...

Why would it not be? Ireland is an independent sovereign state and I cannot see why the common travel area would have anything to do with it. Ireland is probably one of the largest target markets for the GB tourist authorities and it would make no sense for these tickets not to be available to residents of the country.

Incidentally in 10 years of regularly using BritRail passes all over GB, I have only once been asked for ID - that was on a pacer from York to Leeds via Harrogate. My passport was sufficient.

 

[Merseysider]

So could I buy an Interrail pass for Germany whilst I live in England, then when I move to Germany buy an Interrail pass for England for when I come back to England, even though I will only be in Germany for a few months?

 

[reb0118]

....Interrail pass for England....

Is it possible to get one of these? - I've heard of a BritRail pass that just covers England.

 

[Merseysider]

Is it possible to get one of these? - I've heard of a BritRail pass that just covers England.

Great Britain I meant

 

[PermitToTravel]

Our national ID cards have permanent residence (address) written on the back side, so this should not be a problem.

If I moved permanently to the UK, I'd have to apply for a new ID card which would then show my UK address!

I believe the majority of EU ID cards show the holder's permanent residence; and passports do too (ours certainly do).

UK passports don't have an address (and the issuing body doesn't know the holder's address). When the UK had national ID cards, the same was true of those.

 

[Cletus]

Surely a ticket that is available in one EU country and not in another EU country (is Great Britain) is against EU law?
(or have I had too much to drink to think this through properly?)

 

[theageofthetra]

Very good point re EU discrimination law. If the ticket was only available to non EU citizens it wouldn't be an issue but how can one EU citizen be charged more than another for the same product or service? That said I can think of many EU countries I've been where locals don't pay the same price as a tourist.

 

[Deerfold]

Very good point re EU discrimination law. If the ticket was only available to non EU citizens it wouldn't be an issue but how can one EU citizen be charged more than another for the same product or service? That said I can think of many EU countries I've been where locals don't pay the same price as a tourist.

If it was by nationality I think you'd have a point, but anyone can buy one simply by moving out of the UK.

 

[najaB]

Surely a ticket that is available in one EU country and not in another EU country (is Great Britain) is against EU law?
(or have I had too much to drink to think this through properly?)

There is no requirement that I'm aware of for all products to be available to all EU residents. Interrail passes are similarly available for all countries except your country of residence.

 

[welshpax]

Now I am a resident of Dubai I use these everytime I come home to the UK, not once have I been asked to show a copy of my passport.

The are amazing value for money and in the low season even cheaper for 1st Class travel.