Interrail Traveling to (and from) St Pancras

[Delree]

Hello! I hope everyone is having a great day. I am because I am now the proud owner of an Interrail Pass and will be using it in June.

My questions is this:

I live 100 miles from London and need to make it to St Pancras to get the Eurostar to the Continent. Am I allowed to use my pass to get me to London (it would be King's Cross) and then home again? I've seen conflicting advice on this and as we're talking £100 for a return to KX (almost half the cost of the Interrail Pass itself!) I would like to avoid paying if I am allowed to.

I hope that's enough detail but please let me know if not.

Thanks in advance, even if it means I'm out £100!

 

[matt]

Yes you can but it will have to be the same day as one of your interrail travel days.

 

[Gaelan]

I live 100 miles from London and need to make it to St Pancras to get the Eurostar to the Continent. Am I allowed to use my pass to get me to London (it would be King's Cross) and then home again? I've seen conflicting advice on this and as we're talking £100 for a return to KX (almost half the cost of the Interrail Pass itself!) I would like to avoid paying if I am allowed to.

Yes, assuming you have an Interrail global pass (not a country-specific one). Up to two of your pass days can be valid for travel in the UK, which you (at least theoretically) can only use to travel to/from St Pancras, an airport, or a port.

Just get on any KX-bound train; you need to record the journey in the app (or write it on your physical pass) before you board, but there's no need to pay for a reservation. If you want a seat reservation, you can do so on the LNER website for free (if it's not LNER, you can use the GWR website to make reservations for any train - see here).

 

[Benjwri]

To further Matt's advice, you get two travels days in your home country, intended for travel out of the country and then back into it. A key point to note is that any travel on the Eurostar from London is counted as travel in your home country as well, so you need to make sure your Eurostar and and travel to the Eurostar are on the same day. If they are not you will have to pick one to pay for a normal ticket on.

Sleepers are a bit different and you only use a travel day on your day of departure of the sleeper.

 

[Delree]

Great thank you for your replies. I knew I'd leave stuff out, it's a Global Pass and I will using leaving home and going on the Eurostar the same day and vise versa. Only potential wrinkle might be that on the outbound journey I'll need a peak time service and it will be with Great Northern from King's Lynn.

 

[Benjwri]

Only potential wrinkle might be that on the outbound journey I'll need a peak time service and it will be with Great Northern from King's Lynn.

There is absolutely no restriction on the time you can use it, or TOC. Most staff should be well versed, I have never had an issue using Interrail passes on any TOC I've had to travel with one on. Most lose interest in even looking at it as soon as they see it's Interrail. It's worth noting it won't scan at barriers, and you should approach barrier staff who will let you though.

 

[Delree]

Thanks again everyone, that's great. Extra beer money for Germany!

 

[KnobbyGB]

I've not used a global pass in the UK but I've used a UK country-specific one. Here's my experience (some already covered by others):

As noted, the pass won't work at ticket barriers. I think all UK stations with barriers have staff nearby to help. Just wave your phone in their general direction and say Interrail" and they'll let you through without even looking.

I never had a problem with staff on the train not recognising the ticket or querying anything. Some scanned the barcode, most just looked and didn't bother.

Despite what the pass says you DO NOT need a seat reservation for any regular train in the UK (sleepers excluded of course). The timetable pages of the app. are wrong. LNER is the only train operating company who technically DO require reservations but this is not enforced and there are always some unreserved seats on each train (which may be full, of course!) I made reservations (for free at LNER website) for my first couple of LNER journeys but nobody checked and I didn't bother after that.

Nobody (in the UK at least) will ever check your ID or ask why you're travelling in your "own" country. I live elsewhere in the EU but am clearly English from my accent and I've chatted to many staff who have never queried why I am using a UK Interrail ticket.

You need to enter the specific train in the app. but hardly anybody really checks (I'd say maybe one in 15 journeys in my experience) and the barcode doesn't seem to change when you do. If you're not sure which train you'll take, enter several and then just "activate" the one you happen to board. You can have as many journeys in your "trip" in the app. as you like, even if they overlap, but I think it won't let you "activate" overlapping journeys. If you change your mind, just de-activate and/or even delete the ones you haven't used.

The app. is really easy once you get used to it. If you board a random train last-minute, you can pretty much find it in the timetable, add it to your trip and activate it in 30 to 60 seconds. The app. never crashed or hung, was quite quick and you don't even need to be online.

Don't forget you can also use the ticket on routes such as Thameslink and Elizabeth Line while you're in London (but not the Underground, Overground etc.) so you could do a bit of free sightseeing if you're hanging around. Nobody cares if you're actually on a "valid" route to your international departure point or not. You basically have free-use of the entire UK network on the day you leave and the day you return home.

 

[158801]

Nobody (in the UK at least) will ever check your ID or ask why you're travelling in your "own" country. I live elsewhere in the EU but am clearly English from my accent and I chatted to many staff who never queried why I was using a UK Interrail ticket.

Not entirely true. I personally have challenged (and subsequently sold new tickets to) two Interrail users - both with UK passports - who were very clearly using their Interrail passes as U.K. All Line Rover tickets and having a jolly all over England

 

[DeverseSam]

When using Interrail I have had ID checks in UK, France, Switzerland and Germany, plus many journey planner checks (some of which I failed because it’s fiddly to amend)

 

[MrJeeves]

Nobody (in the UK at least) will ever check your ID

I've been ID checked once and that was the Birmingham New Street 1st class lounge!

Also been ID checked in Denmark, but that's not in the UK.

Don't forget you can also use the ticket on routes such as Thameslink and Elizabeth Line while you're in London (but not the Underground, Overground etc.)

Very much valid on the Overground? It's a National Rail service.

Not entirely true. I personally have challenged (and subsequently sold new tickets to) two Interrail users - both with UK passports - who were very clearly using their Interrail passes as U.K. All Line Rover tickets and having a jolly all over England

And if they were using their UK travel days there should be no issue with that...?

 

[Benjwri]

And if they were using their UK travel days there should be no issue with that...?

Depends on what they put in their planner. If it didn't start/end at a port or airport (Or reasonably travelling to one) that would violate the terms of the Interrail pass, and it could be argued they needed a new ticket.

 

[Haywain]

Depends on what they put in their planner. If it didn't start/end at a port or airport (Or reasonably travelling to one) that would violate the terms of the Interrail pass, and it could be argued they needed a new ticket.

But there are ports and airports all over the country. Who's to judge what is and isn't reasonable? Does that mean that because I live within a couple of miles of an airport and within half an hour of a Eurostar terminal I can't benefit from a domestic travel day?

 

[MrJeeves]

But there are ports and airports all over the country. Who's to judge what is and isn't reasonable? Does that mean that because I live within a couple of miles of an airport and within half an hour of a Eurostar terminal I can't benefit from a domestic travel day?

As long as your final destination is a port, it's fine. I've never seen this actually enforced though, but it would be for something like commuting, for example.

I would say Interrail passes are relatively rare for ticket inspectors, so they would recognise a frequent traveller.

5.2 Travel in Country of Residence with an Interrail Pass

The Interrail Pass has a specific convenient price which assumes that you are traveling abroad to experience Europe. Therefore the product cannot be used extensively in your country of residence since the pricing for such a usage, in some countries, would be higher. In case of extensive misuse, the railways would decide to increase globally the price of the product which would be unfair towards the travellers who really want to experience Europe. In case a ticket inspector observes misuse of this condition, e.g. in case of frequent travels from and to the same destination, he/she can issue a fine and ask for blocking of the Pass to limit further usage.

An Interrail Global Pass may only be used for two specific journeys in the country of residence of the traveller (provided this country is an Interrail participating country). These two journeys are referred to as the outbound and inbound journey.

• The outbound journey can be used to travel from any location in the country of residence to the border or an airport or port.
• The inbound journey can be used to travel from the border or an airport or port back to any location in the country of residence.

During these outbound or inbound journeys, the traveller may travel with more than one train, provided these train rides are within the same day. Please note that the special rule for travel with an overnight train also applies. In order to make use of these outbound or inbound journeys with a paper Interrail Pass, the traveller must indicate the relevant date and journey on the Interrail Pass Cover and on the Travel Calendar on the ticket. In case of a Flexi Pass (see also § 3.2).

If @158801's passengers met the conditions of origin/destination being a port and they happened to be doing a fun route to get there, the pass should have been accepted.

If they were simply jetting around the UK on their 2 interrail days, however, this isn't permitted.

 

[Watershed]

Not entirely true. I personally have challenged (and subsequently sold new tickets to) two Interrail users - both with UK passports - who were very clearly using their Interrail passes as U.K. All Line Rover tickets and having a jolly all over England

I'm sure there will be more to this, but I would point out that it's fairly difficult to definitively determine that an Interrail pass is being misused for the domestic days. Or to put it another way, you would have to be somewhat careless to get caught!

For one thing, there isn't a requirement to follow permitted routes on your way to/from your border, airport or port of choice - I don't see anything in the Interrail conditions disallowing circuitous routes, or even routes involving double-backs.

Secondly, the station you're travel to/from doesn't necessarily have to be located at the border, airport or port in question. After all, many airports and ports do not have a rail station of their own, or are on non-National Rail lines. For others it can be quicker or more convenient to travel to/from a station that isn't the nearest one, e.g. Cardiff Central makes almost as much sense as Rhoose Cardiff International Airport station if you're travelling to Cardiff Airport, since you have to change for a bus either way and the buses from Cardiff Central are more frequent.

Thirdly, there isn't a requirement to produce any evidence of your onward or previous international travel. The Interrail conditions don't require any such evidence, and indeed you may only be buying your flight, Eurostar or ferry ticket when you get to the port/border/airport, if you are making last-minute plans.

Finally, you might not be making the whole journey to the port/border/airport on the same day. In some cases it might not be possible to do so within one day's Interrail validity even with the 'midnight rule'. Equally you might have an early Eurostar/flight/ferry and want to make your way most of the way there so you only have a short journey in the morning.

I'm not suggesting you did anything wrong but I would be very careful before assuming any misuse has occurred.

 

[MrJeeves]

Finally, you might not be making the whole journey to the port/border/airport on the same day. In some cases it might not be possible to do so within one day's Interrail validity even with the 'midnight rule'. Equally you might have an early Eurostar/flight/ferry and want to make your way most of the way there so you only have a short journey in the morning.

In fact, Interrail are trialling 3-day domestic use for some countries to make leaving more feasible.

 

[DeverseSam]

I'm not suggesting you did anything wrong but I would be very careful before assuming any misuse has occurred.

I would also add that passport country does not define residency, which is what Interrail “home country” is based on

 

[MrJeeves]

I would also add that passport country does not define residency, which is what Interrail “home country” is based on

...unless you have no suitable documents to prove residency, in which case you should choose the country on your passport.

 

[Delree]

I'm sure there will be more to this, but I would point out that it's fairly difficult to definitively determine that an Interrail pass is being misused for the domestic days. Or to put it another way, you would have to be somewhat careless to get caught!

For one thing, there isn't a requirement to follow permitted routes on your way to/from your border, airport or port of choice - I don't see anything in the Interrail conditions disallowing circuitous routes, or even routes involving double-backs.

Secondly, the station you're travel to/from doesn't necessarily have to be located at the border, airport or port in question. After all, many airports and ports do not have a rail station of their own, or are on non-National Rail lines. For others it can be quicker or more convenient to travel to/from a station that isn't the nearest one, e.g. Cardiff Central makes almost as much sense as Rhoose Cardiff International Airport station if you're travelling to Cardiff Airport, since you have to change for a bus either way and the buses from Cardiff Central are more frequent.

Thirdly, there isn't a requirement to produce any evidence of your onward or previous international travel. The Interrail conditions don't require any such evidence, and indeed you may only be buying your flight, Eurostar or ferry ticket when you get to the port/border/airport, if you are making last-minute plans.

Finally, you might not be making the whole journey to the port/border/airport on the same day. In some cases it might not be possible to do so within one day's Interrail validity even with the 'midnight rule'. Equally you might have an early Eurostar/flight/ferry and want to make your way most of the way there so you only have a short journey in the morning.

I'm not suggesting you did anything wrong but I would be very careful before assuming any misuse has occurred.

Thank you for your answer, I really appreciate the information and the time taken to write it. Extremely helpful, thank you.