British Rail Fares & Timetables
Including Eurostar and a London Stations Rail Network Map
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| Typical Inter City Train |
London has a dense network of local suburban commuter trains. These are slowly being integrated into a single coordinated London public transport system with common ticketing. You can now use the Oyster Card, London's public transport payment device of choice on most of London's rail system as well as London's buses, underground and DLR systems..
The UK national rail network also radiates out from London offering an extensive inter city service with frequent schedules. Unless you are going to Scotland, rail is probably the benchmark for transport which other options should be measured against for journeys outside of London.
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| Local Buses |
| London Underground |
| Rail Services |
| River Services |
| Coach Services |
| Public Transport Maps |
| Transport Passes |
| Oyster |
| Travelcard |
| Oyster or Travelcard ? |
| Trips Outside London Rail Passes Only Available To Visitors |
| BritRail London Plus Pass |
| BritRail England & GB Rail Pass |
Greater London Trains
The local commuter train network in London is very comprehensive and is a backbone for the people working in Central London to get to work each day from the suburbs..
For the visitor to London it is of limited use for the main sights of Central London where the London Underground dominates. Visitors will mostly likely use the suburban trains for visits to Hampton Court and Windsor.
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| London Tour Options |
| Original London Tour Bus |
| Big Bus Hop On Bus |
| Open Top Red Bus Tour |
| Amphibious Duck Tour |
| Black Taxi Tour |
| Rock Tour |
| Airport Transfers |
| Heathrow |
| Gatwick |
| Stansted |
| Luton |
| Cruise Port Transfers |
| Southampton |
| Dover |
| Harwich |
| Day Trips From London |
| Coach Tours |
| Private Tours |
| Stonehenge |
| Bath |
| Windsor |
| Oxford |
| Stratford Upon Avon |
| Cotswolds |
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| London Rail Service Map (Zones + Oyster validity marked) |
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In the last few years great strides have been made to integrate the suburban rail system into the Oyster Card ticketing system.
The map (link right) shows the full rail network in London and also the lines where you can use your Oyster Card.
The TFL journey planner (link left) covers all of London's public transport including the rail services in London so you can quickly get the best route, often a combination of different transport methods.
Regional & National Trains From London
The rail network from London radiates out from a number of stations in Central London to all parts of the UK (See train map bottom of page). In the UK a single company is responsible for the track and basic infrastructure but do not operate the trains themselves.
Train operating companies actually run the trains and have obtained franchises which are focused on specific regions of the UK. On many routes there is direct competition between train operating companies and a single journey may require traveling on trains from different train operating companies.
Thankfully there is an integrated ticketing system. A single ticket may combine different operating companies services and operating companies issue tickets for other companies. You can purchase tickets at stations or online from the train companies themselves or third party web sites that specialise in train tickets.
Purchasing Train Tickets
As a general rule of thumb for journeys of around an hour or so there is no financial advantage in pre purchasing, you may as well buy at the station on day of travel. For longer journeys, advance purchase fares offer great savings. The three types of tickets are broadly :
| Advance Purchase | Buy in advance, sold in limited numbers and subject to availability. These tickets are only valid on the date/train specified. |
| Off Peak | Buy any time, travel off-peak. these tickets may require you to travel at specific times of day, days of the week or on a specific route. Where there is more than one Off-Peak fare for a journey, the cheaper fare with more restrictions will be called Super Off-Peak. |
| Anytime | Buy any time, travel any time. Anytime fares are fully flexible tickets, with no time restrictions on when you can travel. With an Anytimeticket you can also break your journey at stations along the route of travel. |
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| Paddington Station London Advance Purchase Ticket Collection |
For longer distance trains, traveling by rail can be very expensive purchasing standard fares, often more expensive than flying. Advance purchase tickets on these longer distances on the other hand can be bargains.
For the overseas visitor this can present problems as there are with few exceptions no true etickets delivered by email at present. Tickets can be sent to UK addresses only. You can however order tickets on-line and pick up the tickets from machines at key mainline stations. Although most Central London stations have these machines, Heathrow, Luton and Stansted Airports do not, but Gatwick Airport has.
You can buy true etickets for the Airport express trains, (Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Express)
At train stations there are manned ticket offices and also ticket machines. All major credit cards are taken as well as cash.
For fares and timetables use 'The Trainline' web site.
You can purchase tickets at 'The Trainline' web site. Tickets are mailed to UK addresses only or you can opt to collect them from machines at main stations. You are sent a unique code which you enter into the machine which dispenses the tickets.
Note, most trains are only confirmed up to 3 months in advance. So if you search for a journey further ahead than 3 months you may well get an incomplete picture of available schedules and tickets.
Left Luggage Facilities At Train Stations In London
There are manned left luggage facilities at all London mainline stations. These are operated by the Excess Baggage Company - the company have their own web site. Offices are normally open 7 days a week from around 07:00 to 23:00.
Eurostar Train Services
The Eurostar train service to Paris and Brussels opens up travel by train to Western Europe.The trains themselves terminate at London's St Pancras Station.
The London - Paris route used to be one of the busiest airline routes in the world. With the arrival of Eurostar hardly anyone flies from London to Paris.
The train service takes just a couple of hours or so to both to Paris and Brussels, so with an early start its possible to have a day trip to Paris.
Like all train fares in the UK the fare structure is highly complex. To get the best fares you have to book at least 2 weeks in advance.
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BritRail Train Passes For England, Scotland & Wales
If you are traveling around Great Britain, train is the quickest and most scenic way to visit much of the country. There is an array of rail passes under the BritRail brand exclusively available to overseas visitors saving a lot of time and money.
| Cost Of A BritRail England Passes - 2012 | BritRail England, Scotland & Wales Passes - 2012 | ||||
| Flexible Passes | Flexible Passes | ||||
| Nunber of days covered in a period | Adult £ | Child £ | Nunber of days covered in a period | Adult £ | Child £ |
3 days in 2 Months |
£119 |
Free* |
3 days in 2 Months |
£145 |
Free* |
4 days in 2 Months |
£145 |
Free* |
4 days in 2 Months |
£185 |
Free* |
8 days in 2 Months |
£209 |
Free* |
8 days in 2 Months |
£265 |
Free* |
15 days in 2 Months |
£319 |
Free* |
15 days in 2 Months |
£399 |
Free* |
| Consecutive Day Passes | Consecutive Day Passes | ||||
| Consecutive days covered by pass | Adult £ | Child £ | Consecutive days covered by pass | Adult £ | Child £ |
3 days |
£95 |
Free* |
3 days |
£115 |
Free* |
4 days |
£115 |
Free* |
4 days |
£145 |
Free* |
8 days |
£165 |
Free* |
8 days |
£205 |
Free* |
15 days |
£249 |
Free* |
15 days |
£309 |
Free* |
22 days |
£369 |
Free* |
22 days |
£389 |
Free* |
1 month |
£345 |
Free* |
1 month |
£465 |
Free* |
| * One free child per adult | |||||
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