Help centre and FAQs

If you have an existing Railcard account, we’ll send you an email reminder to let you know that your Railcard is due for renewal. Check that your Railcard is in date before buying or using discounted tickets.

If you bought your Railcard online

If you bought your Railcard online you can quickly renew with your Railcard account.

If you bought your Railcard at a station

If you bought your Railcard at a station, you won’t be able to renew online – but you can sign up for a Railcard account and buy a new Railcard online when the old one expires.

If someone else bought your Railcard for you online

If someone else bought your Railcard for you online, they’ll need to use their Railcard account to renew your Railcard for you.

View the step-by-step guide on How to renew your Railcard.

A Railcard is a discount card for rail travel. You can use it to get up to 1/3 off train tickets for journeys across Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales). You can buy either a digital Railcard or a physical Railcard.

Railcards are valid for either 1 year or 3 years. The average cost of a 1-year Railcard is £35. The average cost of a 3-year Railcard is £80. The Disabled Persons Railcard is just £20 for 1 year and £54 for 3 years.

Each Railcard comes with its own unique benefits, plus terms and conditions.

There are 9 types of Railcards:

• 16-17 Saver

• 16-25 Railcard

• 26-30 Railcard

• Disabled Persons Railcard

• Family & Friends Railcard

• Network Railcard

• Senior Railcard

• Two Together Railcard

• Veterans Railcard

Most people are eligible for at least 1 type of Railcard. Eligibility can depend on things like age and who you normally travel with.

Take our quiz to find out which is the best Railcard for you.

There are specific requirements for the Disabled Persons Railcard, the Veterans Railcard, and for mature students buying a 16-25 Railcard.

• Eligibility requirements for a 16-25 Railcard

• Eligibility requirements for a Disabled Persons Railcard

• Eligibility requirements for a Veterans Railcard

If you’re a new user, you can sign up for a Railcard account today. Already have a Railcard account? Sign in to your Railcard account now.

If you’re having problems signing in, you can reset your password. You’ll get an email with a link to reset your password. It may take several minutes for the email to arrive. Be sure to check your spam folder, just in case. If you don’t see the email after 10 minutes, double-check your email address and request another link.

You can use your Railcard account to:

• Buy a Railcard

• Renew a Railcard

• View the status of your Railcard

• Add your digital Railcard to the Railcard app

• Replace a lost or stolen physical Railcard

• Update your personal details

You can use the activation link sent in your confirmation email to add your Railcard to your phone using the Railcard app.

If you’ve bought a 16-17 Saver or Veterans Railcard, you will get a download code instead.

View step-by-step instructions on How to add your Railcard to your phone.

You can buy a Railcard online for yourself or someone else.

Some Railcards have specific eligibility requirements. You may need to provide proof of ID and some additional documents to prove your eligibility.

Accepted forms of ID:

• Passport

• UK driving licence (excluding Northern Ireland)

• EEA national identity card

• Birth certificate (16-17 Saver only)

• Government-approved PASS card (16-17 Saver only)

Eligibility requirements for specific Railcards

• Eligibility requirements for a 16-25 Railcard

• Eligibility requirements for a Disabled Persons Railcard

• Eligibility requirements for a Veterans Railcard

Other ways to buy a Railcard

You can buy most Railcards at any staffed station, except for a 16-17 Saver, Veterans Railcard or Disabled Persons Railcard. You can also buy a Railcard by post or over the phone.

Your Railcard photo should look like you. You can take a selfie or have someone take a photo for you.

We follow the same rules as the DVLA and Passport Agency, so your face must be visible and recognisable.

The photo should be close-up and in full colour, with your head and shoulders clearly visible. Your face should fill about 70% of the frame, much like a passport photo.

Your photo may be rejected if it does not meet the guidelines.

Guidelines for Railcard photos

• The photo must be of you

• You must be instantly recognisable

• Portrait style with head and shoulders visible

• A plain, light background

• Clear, in focus, and full colour

• No digital edits or filters

• No other objects or people

• No sunglasses or clothing that hides your face

File specifications

• JPG, PNG, BMP or GIF file

• 5Mb or less

• At least 3000dpi resolution

These troubleshooting tips can help if you have trouble uploading a photo for your Railcard.

Troubleshooting tips to upload your Railcard photo

• Check the file size and format of your photo

• Sign out of your Railcard account and sign back in

• Close and restart your browser

• Clear your cache

• Check that you are using the most recent version of your web browser

• Enable Javascript on your web browser

  
  

If you’re still having trouble with your Railcard photo, please contact our customer support team.

This usually happens if you have entered the 30-character passport number incorrectly.

Please check that:

• You have entered all 30 letters and numbers shown on the second line at the bottom of your passport photo page

• You have not included any spaces, symbols or punctuation

• The characters have been entered in the correct order

Common mistakes

• Entering the capital letter I instead of the number 1 (one)

• Entering the capital letter O instead of the number 0 (zero)

• Entering the capital letter S instead of the number 5 (five)

• Missing a character or entering the characters in the wrong order

If you’re still having trouble, please contact our customer support team.

It can take up to 10 days for your physical Railcard to arrive in the post. If you’ve been waiting for more than 10 days, you can order a free replacement.

Some Railcards need extra time to process. These include the 16-17 Saver, 16-25 Railcard for mature students, Disabled Persons Railcard, and Veterans Railcard. Please allow up to 5 extra days for our team to verify your documents and complete your order.

To get your free replacement, you must request one within 30 days of your original purchase. If more than 30 days have passed, a £10 replacement fee applies.

Order a free replacement if your Railcard has not arrived in the post

• Sign in to your Railcard account and select the option to replace a lost or damaged card

• Follow the instructions on screen and confirm that the delivery address is correct before completing your order