Frequently asked questions

Children aged 5 to 15 pay half fare. Under 5s travel free. Adult fares apply from the age of 16.

If your child is travelling within the London fare zones and has a Zip Oyster photocard, they may be eligible for free or discounted travel.

This depends on what kind of ticket you have. If it’s an Advance ticket, you must travel on the train you’ve booked, but you can change your booking at any time before your first booked train’s departure time – you’ll have to pay the difference between what you paid and the price of the new ticket, plus a re-booking fee, currently £10. If you have an Off-Peak ticket, you can travel on any Off-peak train – if you want to travel at peak times, you’ll have to pay the difference before you travel. If you have an Anytime ticket, you can travel on any train on the date the ticket is valid for. Check when your ticket is valid before you travel.

When buying tickets online you can pay using debit cards, credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay. 

For now, you’ll need to visit one of our ticket offices – they can accept your vouchers in full or part payment for your ticket. At present it’s not possible to use Travel Vouchers online.

No. There is no VAT on train tickets. A receipt is printed along with your tickets when you collect them from a ticket machine, or on request from the ticket office. If you need proof of purchase for accounting purposes, you can use this or your confirmation email, which contains all the relevant payment information.

No. If you buy an Advance ticket, you must travel on the train you’ve booked but you are free to choose any seat – this must be in Standard Class if you have a Standard Class ticket.

As a rule, you must buy a ticket before boarding the train. If the station has a ticket office or ticket machines, you’ll only be able to buy a full-price single ticket once you have boarded the train – you won’t be able to benefit from any Railcard discount and you may be liable for a Penalty Fare if you travel without a ticket. Onboard staff will only sell you an Off-Peak ticket or give you a Railcard discount on the train if there is no ticket office at the station, or it is not open, or the ticket machines are out of order.

Unfortunately no, the group must travel together at all times. With GroupSave you must all travel together on the same train – otherwise you may be asked to pay the full fare for the journey or be liable for a Penalty Fare. If your group needs to split up at any time then you should buy separate GroupSave tickets for each smaller group (3-9 people).

When travelling with a GroupSave ticket, make sure you're all close together throughout your journey so that our staff can check your ticket as a group.

You can collect your tickets at any of our stations with a ticket machine – it doesn’t have to be the one you’re travelling from, or the one you selected when booking. We recommend leaving at least 2 hours between buying your tickets and collecting – your tickets might be ready earlier, but at busy times it can take time for your booking to be processed and transmitted to the station ticket machines.

You’ll need to bring the debit or credit card you paid with – this is for ID purposes only, it won’t be charged again. You’ll also need your Collection Reference Number – it’s 8 characters long, with a mixture of letters and numbers, for example AB12345C. Take care to note the correct number, not the booking reference or transaction number.
Make sure you leave enough time to collect your tickets before your train is due to leave – you must not get on the train without them.

Find out more about buying and collecting train tickets.

You can collect tickets from any self service ticket machine at any of our stations. At some stations we also have dedicated ticket collection machines. If there are no machines or you have a problem with collecting your ticket please go to the ticket office and our staff will be able to process your ticket – you’ll need your Collection Reference Number and the payment card you used to buy the tickets.

If there is no ticket office and the ticket machines are not working, please see the guard as soon as possible when you board the train, and collect your ticket from the machines at a station where you change trains or when you arrive at your destination.

If you have an Oyster PAYG card you can top it up at our ticket machines at South Western Railway stations within the London Zones. We also accept other forms of contactless payment for journeys within the London Travelcard area, including CPAY contactless bank cards, Apple Pay and Android Pay.

If your journey involves travelling through London, this will be included in the ticket price. If you’re heading to London and want to travel around when you get there, you’ll need to add a Travelcard when you buy your ticket.

If your ticket is to “London Terminals” it is usually only valid to the main London station to which your train is heading, which will be one of the following. Tickets from London Terminals are usually only valid at the main London station on this list from which your train starts.

City Thameslink

Kings Cross Thameslink

London Blackfriars

London Bridge

London Cannon Street

London Charing Cross

London Euston

London Fenchurch Street

London Kings Cross

London Liverpool Street

London Marylebone

London Paddington

London St Pancras

London Victoria

London Waterloo

London Waterloo East

Moorgate Underground

Old Street Underground

Vauxhall

Tickets to or from London Terminals will NOT include travel between these stations on London Underground, Docklands Light Railway or London buses. They are also NOT valid  beyond King’s Cross Thameslink when travelling from the north or beyond City Thameslink when travelling from the south.

If a ticket has been damaged or altered in any way, it is not valid for travel. However, if you return it we’ll issue a replacement ticket, unless we have reason to suspect that the ticket has been, or will be, used for fraudulent or improper purposes. You may have to pay a reasonable administration charge (no more than £10) for the replacement.

If a season ticket (or a smartcard containing a season ticket) is damaged, or can no longer be read easily, or no longer works in automatic ticket gates, you can return it to where you bought it and we’ll replace it, provided that we can confirm the ticket is still valid. You won’t have to pay any administration charge.

If your season ticket stops working in the ticket gates, the most likely reason is that the magnetic strip on the back has been damaged or affected by magnetic fields. To avoid this:

• Store your season ticket separately in the wallet provided
• Try to keep it away from mobile phones and other devices, and anything magnetic – handbag clasps, name badges and the like
• Do not laminate your season ticket

The Free Weekend Tickets were issued by South West Trains (SWT) to annual season ticket holders until the franchise changed in August 2017. When the franchise changed from SWT to South Western Railway, First Group agreed to continue accepting them for travel. However, as First Group will no longer operate South Western Railway from Sunday 25 May, the final day of validity for the Free Weekend Tickets will be Saturday 24 May 2025.

This depends on what kind of ticket you have. In general, yes, you can get on or off your train at any station in-between your journey’s start and end stations, unless there’s a restriction on your ticket that does not allow this – you can view your ticket’s Terms and Conditions when you book. If you have an Advance ticket you may not get on or off at intermediate stations except to change trains as specified on your ticket, reservation coupon or travel itinerary.

No, the use of e-cigarettes or vaping is against the law anywhere on trains or stations.

Contact us by phone or online. Find out more about Lost Property.

In general, we love to welcome cyclists and their bicycles, but safety is important to us, so we do have some restrictions on where and when you can take your bike on our trains. Even when there isn’t a restriction, spaces for bikes can become limited at busier times and our staff have the right to refuse a bicycle if there is no space for it to be transported safely. Please be considerate of other passengers at all times, and ensure that you place your bike in the appropriate areas on the train.

Find out more about our cycle policy and schemes.

The franchise is subject to the Government’s fares regulation policy. During the current Parliament that policy means no increase in regulated fares above the Retail Price Index.

For more information on refunds visit our dedicated train ticket refunds page.

You could be entitled to compensation if your journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more.

Find out more about Delay Repay.

Some scooters are too bulky and heavy to fit on our trains, so we’ll need to check your make and model and issue you a Scooter Card first – please allow 7 to 10 working days for this. You can apply for a scooter card here.

We have a dedicated Assisted Travel service to help – call 0800 52 82 100 or book online. They can arrange a ramp, assistance navigating the station, or other help. We recommend you let us know 24 hours before you travel, as our trains and staff can get very busy.

More about Assisted Travel.