Student Travel
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Your journey
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This Student Hub allows you to find travel information on one page to ensure that you can both book and travel with confidence.
Our travel guidelines
Please note: From Monday 19 July Government guidelines have changed on social distancing and face coverings, please visit here for advice and guidance about your journey.
If you do plan to travel with us, please follow our travel guidelines to keep both yourself and others around you safe:
- Download our Train Tickets app - Why not purchase an e-Ticket for your journey through our Train Tickets app? You can download our app here.
- Reserve a seat before you travel - We are asking all our customers to book before you travel and reserve a seat on a train, this helps us maintain social distancing on-board. This can also be done through our Train Tickets app. For more information, please visit our reservation FAQs.
- Wear a face covering – It is mandatory to wear a face covering when passing through stations and when on-board.
- Wash your hands – It is important to wash your hands before and after travelling and carry hand sanitiser where possible.
What we're doing to keep you safe?
Did you know that we’re ‘Good to Go’? We’re proud to have been be awarded this accreditation from Visit Britain, meaning that we provide a COVID-safe environment for you on-board our trains!
We’ve enhanced our cleaning – Our cleaners clean the equivalent of 264 football pitches whilst our trains are in service each day. All our trains also go through a deep clean process at the end of each day.
Encouraging social distancing - We have installed signage on-board as a reminder to you and others around you to 'stay safe & stay apart'. We have also strengthened some of our services by adding additional carriages to some of our trains to support additional demand over the coming weeks. For more information, please see our FAQs further down this page.
Reducing contact – We encourage our customers to use contactless payments only and where possible purchase an e-Ticket.
Student FAQs
What provisions are in place for increased capacity? +
To support the return of schools, colleges and universities from Monday 8 March, our regional teams have evaluated where we feel there might be hotspots for travel across our network and strengthened services (Monday – Friday). This means that with added demand, there will be additional carriages to some of our services to allow for social distancing on-board where possible. We will be continuing to monitor this closely over the coming weeks and making additional changes where needed.
The tables below show our daily Monday – Friday Voyager Trains that from Monday 8 March will have extra seating capacity available.
Northbound
|
Train |
Departure time from Birmingham New Street |
|
0603 Birmingham New Street – Edinburgh Waverley |
0603 |
|
0525 Plymouth - Newcastle |
0903 |
|
0730 Bournemouth – Manchester Piccadilly |
1057 |
|
0725 Plymouth – Newcastle |
1103 |
|
1235 Bristol Temple Meads – Glasgow Central |
1403 |
|
1427 Plymouth – Edinburgh Waverley (until Newcastle) |
1803 |
|
1845 Bournemouth – Manchester Piccadilly |
2157 |
Southbound
|
Train |
Departure time from Birmingham New Street |
|
0645 York – Plymouth |
0912 |
|
0640 Newcastle – Bristol Temple Meads |
1012 |
|
2105 Glasgow Central – Edinburgh Waverley |
- |
|
1327 Manchester Piccadilly – Bournemouth |
1504 |
|
1339 Newcastle – Bristol Temple Meads |
1712 |
|
1305 Edinburgh Waverley – Plymouth |
1812 |
|
1539 Newcastle – Bristol Temple Meads |
1912 |
How can I reserve a seat for my CrossCountry journey? +
You can reserve your seat in one of the following ways:
- When you book your tickets before the day of travel from any train ticket booking outlet.
- When you book a ticket on the day of travel via the CrossCountry website or Train Tickets app.
- Call Journey care or the CrossCountry Service Team at least one day before departure of travel (only when purchasing a ticket or amending an existing booking).
- Use the Ten minute reservations text message facility
What are the off-peak travel times? +
Although Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak times will vary by both the train operator and route, the times generally fit within the timelines listed below:
- Off-peak:
Not valid on weekdays before 09.30
Not valid early evening (between 16.00 to 18.00) from major cities
Valid on all trains at weekends and on public holidays - Super Off-peak:
Not valid on weekdays before 10.00
Not valid early evening (between 15.30 to 19.15) from major cities
To find out if Off-Peak tickets are valid on a particular route, complete a journey search online. If these tickets are valid on the specified journey then they will be listed in the search results.
What items can I take on board and what luggage facilities do you offer? +
We have a very limited amount of space on our trains to store luggage, here is some advice on how to make your journey with us as smooth as possible. Remember, you need to be able to carry your luggage and lift it on and off the train.
Can I claim if my train is delayed? +
Yes, you can if your train is delayed for more than 30 minutes. If this is the case, you will need to apply for compensations through our Delay Repay form which will give you all the information you need to start this process.
Can I change my ticket or apply for a refund? +
For tickets purchased with CrossCountry using our website, mobile site or Train Tickets app please see the table below. Otherwise, please contact your original retailer.
|
Ticket type |
Can I change my ticket? |
Can I get a refund? |
Next steps |
|
Advance train tickets |
You can amend your Advance train ticket without paying a £10.00 admin fee with CrossCountry. You may change your date and time of travel, but your origin and destination must remain the same. Any changes must be made before 18:00 the day before the original travel date. |
Advance tickets are not refundable. We are introducing an easement to the terms & conditions of Advance tickets, to help you gain confidence in travelling by rail again. Between Monday 21 June and 31 December 2021, if you do not wish to amend your Advance tickets, they can be exchanged for Rail Travel Vouchers, which are valid for 12 months from the date of issue. Due to the extensive period of ‘essential travel only’ government messaging, National Rail Vouchers that have an expiry date between 20 October 2020 - 30 June 2021, may be accepted for a maximum of 6 months after the original expiry date. For example a National Rail Travel Voucher that expires on 30 June 2021, may continue to be used up to and including 30 December 2021. National Rail Travel Vouchers must not be exchanged for cash. |
To change your ticket please request in the My Account section of our site or Train Tickets app. If you purchased without being logged into your account or do not hold an account please contact our Web Support Team on sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk or 0371 244 2389. Our web support lines are open Monday - Friday: 08:00-20:00, Saturday - Sunday: 09:00-17:00. |
|
All other tickets with the exception of Season tickets |
As your ticket is flexible, please check to see if it is valid for when you would like to travel. Otherwise, you can apply for a refund if requested within 28 days of the expiry of your ticket. |
If you booked an Anytime, Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak ticket, and wish to apply for a refund the £10.00 admin fee applies. Changes should be made before the journey has begun and a refund must be claimed within 28 days of the ticket expiry
|
To request a refund please request in the My Account section of our site or Train Tickets app. If you purchased without being logged into your account or do not hold an account please contact our Web Support Team on sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk or 0371 244 2389. Our web support lines are open Monday - Friday: 08:00-20:00, Saturday - Sunday: 09:00-17:00. |
Please note, refunds can take up to 5 working days to process once received by our team.
Season tickets can be refunded at any time, but there must be at least three days remaining on a weekly Season ticket, or seven days remaining on a monthly or longer Season ticket to obtain a refund. Refunds are not pro-rata as the unit cost of a Season ticket decreases as the period of validity increases. Annual Season tickets have little to no refund value if they have been used for more than 10 months, 12 days.
For more information and to see how much you could get back for your Season ticket, visit the National Rail website and use the Season Ticket Refund Calculator tool.
To request a refund for your Season ticket please contact our Web Support team on seasons.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk.
If you have a paper ticket and wish to make a refund please contact our Web Support team on sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk address only and they will provide directions on how to process. This will include a photograph of your paper ticket cut diagonally in half.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? +
View our full FAQs here.
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