Travelling by train this Christmas? Advance tickets are now available to buy from some operators, so take advantage of the best deals by buying early.  Buy from TrainSplit, and you'll benefit from our best-in-class split-ticketing algorithm and save even more on your travels.

Real-life money-saving examples for travel over Christmas

(Trainsplit vs National Rail vs Trainline):

What are advance tickets?

Advance tickets are fixed time tickets which limit you to travelling on the services you’ve booked in ahead of time. You can save an average of 60% vs comparable walk-up flexible tickets if you can commit to travelling at a specific time. Advances are released in "tiers" at different price levels, so the earlier you book, the cheaper your ticket will be - and you’ll also have the best choice when it comes to services and seat reservations.

Avanti Advance tickets: tickets now available for Christmas

If you're travelling on the West Coast main line, you can now purchase tickets for Christmas travel up to Friday 24th December, as well as Thursday 29th and Friday 30th December (and from 3rd January 2023 - 13th January 2023)* from Avanti. Tickets for Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th December are expected to be released as soon as the timetable is confirmed. Only a finite number of tickets have been released, so purchase as soon as possible to secure the best deal. Peak restrictions have been removed between 23 December until 7 January to allow customers to travel flexibly.

* Some weekend dates are excluded due to planned engineering works.

Chiltern: tickets now available for Christmas

Tickets for journeys between Tuesday 13 December and Friday 23 December should be available by Thursday 10 November. 
Details of the release of Advance tickets for journeys between Saturday 24 December and Sunday 1 January will be made available on the train company's website in the coming days. 

East Midlands Railways: tickets now available for Christmas

If you're travelling on the midlands main line, you can now purchase tickets for Christmas travel from East Midlands Railways. Perfect for departing from London St Pancras to visit family, or for a short pre-Christmas city break in Nottingham.

West Midlands Railway/LNWR: tickets now available up to Christmas (weekdays)

If you're travelling longer distances on the West Coast main line, you can now purchase tickets for Christmas travel from London Northwestern Railway up to Friday 30th December for Monday-Friday tickets and up to Sunday 27 November for Saturday-Sunday tickets. Tickets are generally cheaper than Avanti West Coast, and can be a great alternative if you're happy with longer journey times.

Great Anglia: tickets now available for Christmas

Christmas and New Year tickets are available. You can book up to Friday 6 January 2023 from Greater Anglia. Engineering works are expected on the lines during the Christmas period, so please check before you travel. 

GWR: tickets now available for Christmas

If you're travelling on the Great Western Main Line (or on other regional lines served by GWR), you can now purchase tickets for Christmas travel from GWR up to Friday 13th January *. Perfect for departing from London Paddington to visit family, or for a short pre-Christmas city break in Bristol.

* Some weekend dates are excluded due to planned engineering works.

Lumo: not yet available for Christmas

Christmas Eve and post-Christmas tickets are not yet on sale, and won't be until engineering plans have been confirmed. 

LNER: tickets now available for Christmas

If you're travelling on the East Coast Main Line, you can now purchase tickets for Christmas travel from LNER up to Friday 6th January 2023. Perfect for departing from London Kings Cross to visit family, or for a short pre-Christmas city break in Edinburgh.

Scotrail: tickets now available for Christmas

If you're travelling on the central belt or Scottish national lines, you can now purchase tickets for Christmas travel from Scotrail. Perfect for departing from Carlisle to visit family, or for a short pre-Christmas city break in Aberdeen.

Southern: tickets now available up to Christmas (weekdays)

If you're travelling between London and the South of England, you can now purchase tickets for Christmas travel from Southern. Perfect for departing from Victoria or London Bridge to visit family, or for a short pre-Christmas city break in Portsmouth.

Thameslink: tickets now available up to Christmas (weekdays)

You can now purchase weekday tickets up to Friday 23 December, and weekend tickets up to Sunday 11 December from Thameslink. Engineering works are expected between Monday 26 December and Monday 2 January.  Details will be made available on their website.
Weekday Advance tickets are available from Tuesday 3 January until Friday 13 January. 

Worried about disruption or strike action?

We know that the vast majority of our customers have travelled successfully lately, but it's good to be mindful of ongoing industrial action and informed of your options. Strikes typically must be announced with 14 days of notice, so you can generally relax once you get to this point in the year. TrainSplit also makes it incredibly easy to refund tickets if it's necessary to re-plan your travel, and in most cases this can be done entirely automatically online (provided you haven't printed paper tickets) via our refunds system. If you experience delays or cancellations en-route and you're travelling on Advance tickets, you're protected by the National Rail Conditions of Travel, and you're free to board the next available service run by your operator to get to your destination.

If you are delayed getting to your destination by 15 minutes or more, then you may be eligible for a compensation claim with the train company that operated your journey. Find out more here.