Can children travel free on trains? Child train ticket rules and fees explained
RIDING trains can add up to your monthly expenses and you’ll want to keep a few things in mind.
It comes as rate fares are rising by 5.9% this year.
This winter, we have provided a guide on everything you need to know from fees to getting caught with the wrong ticket.
Can children travel free on trains?
This will depend on how old your kid is.
All children aged five and under can go free on all trains in the United Kingdom, provided they’re with a fare-paying passenger.
Specifically, the National Rail said that they “may only occupy a seat which is not required by a fare-paying passenger.”
What’s the child ticket age limit?
Kids between the ages of five and 15 can travel with a child-age ticket, which gives a 50% discount off the full price.
As soon as you’re 16, you have to pay full-price fares unless you have a savings card.
The best one to get is the one known as the “Young Person’s Rail Card”, which costs £30 a year and discounts a third off all fares in the UK for anyone aged between 16-25, or people above that age in full-time education.
Also, those between the ages of 26-30, can get a railcard with the same benefits.
What happens if you’re caught with the wrong ticket?
If you’re caught travelling without a ticket, or the wrong one, you could have to pay twice as much as the value of the original fare.
Those who are caught without a valid ticket will be slapped with a £20 penalty or twice the full single fare from the station where the passenger got on the train to the next station at which the train stops – whichever is the greater.
If you want to travel beyond the next station, you also have to pay the relevant fare from that station to your final destination.
If there are no ticket facilities available at the station where you board the train, you shouldn’t have to pay a fine.
Just make sure to explain the situation to your fare inspector.
What about Oyster?
Oyster is even more generous to youngsters, with the rules changing for different age groups.
Children aged between five and 10 can travel free across Tube, DLR, London Overground and TfL rail services. They need either a 5-10 Zip Oyster photocard or to travel with an adult using pay-as-you-go, a freedom pass, a valid ticket or an Oyster photocard.
You can view a of National Rail services in London where they can also travel for free.
Also, 11 to 15-year-olds get free bus and tram travel using an 11-15 Zip Oyster photocard and can travel at child rate on all other TfL services and most National Rail services in London.
With a 16+ photo card, 16 and 17-year-olds can buy child rate for travelcards or bus passes and pay as you-go at half the adult rate on a bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail and most National Rail services in London.
Also, those 60 and over, residing in a London borough, can travel for free with an Oyster photocard.
For more related stories, here are five ways to save on train tickets.