Changing or refunding train tickets

If you’d like to change your ticket or want to get it refunded, the process you’ll need to follow depends on the type of ticket you have.

Did you know that if you get to your destination station 15 minutes or more later than scheduled because one of our trains was late or cancelled for any reason, you can apply for Delay Repay compensation?

  • My train was cancelled or delayed so I did not travel, can I get a refund?

    • You can get any ticket refunded if you decided not to travel because your train was cancelled or delayed.

    • Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel, if your train was cancelled or delayed and as a result you decided not to travel, you can claim a refund on unused tickets. You won’t be charged an admin fee.

    • To request a refund, please follow one of the options below, depending on your ticket type and where you brought your ticket.

Select an option below to find out more about ticket changes and refunds:

 

Advance tickets

Advance tickets can’t be refunded unless you decided not to travel because your train was cancelled or delayed.

If you need to change the day or time that you’re travelling, you can amend your ticket up to 18:00 the day before you travel, fee-free.

You can still make changes after 18.00 the day before you travel. Changes after this time will be subject to our terms and conditions regarding a change of journey and normal fees will apply. Changes can be made up to the departure of your first booked service.

The process you’ll need to follow depends on where you bought your ticket and which delivery option you selected:

  • I bought my ticket on the app or website

    • If you bought an Advance ticket on our app or website, there’s currently no fee for amending your journey under our Book with confidence scheme. However, you may have to pay extra if there’s a difference in price between your current ticket and the new ticket.

    • We’ve introduced self-service ticket exchange for Advance tickets on our app. You can now make changes to your booking up to 18.00 the day before you travel, without incurring a fee.

    • Step 1: Go to the ticket that you want to change in your wallet and select ‘change travel date or time’. 

    • Step 2: Select a new date and/or time. Your origin, destination and route will remain the same. The exchange summary will indicate ‘New Order’, ‘Exchanging’. It will tell you if you need to pay because there’s a price difference. 

    • The exchanged ticket will now be available in the app wallet. The original ticket will be removed.

    • For changes to Advance tickets after 18.00 the day before you travel, please phone Customer Relations on 03333 211 202 and select option 2. These will be subject to our terms and conditions regarding a change of journey and normal fees will apply. Changes can be made up to the departure of your first booked service. 

    • Any changes made to Advance tickets after your first booked service has departed are invalid.

    • Refunds are only permitted on Advance tickets if your original service is delayed or cancelled, and you no longer wish to travel.

    • Mobile tickets or e-tickets

      • Phone Customer Relations on 03333 211 202 and select option 2.

      • Email your new TfW booking reference along with the booking reference of your journey to be refunded, your reason for changing your ticket, your name and the email you used to book to customersupport@tfwrail.wales. We aim to respond within 2-5 working days.

    • Paper tickets
      If you bought your tickets online and have collected them, you can:

      • Email your new TfW booking reference, a photograph of the tickets to be refunded cut in half, your reason for changing your ticket, your name and the email you used to book to customersupport@tfwrail.wales. We aim to respond within 2-5 working days.

      • Post your new booking reference, your tickets to be refunded, your reason for changing your ticket, your name and the email you used to book to:
        Freepost
        TFW RAIL REFUND REQUEST

  • I bought my ticket at a station ticket machine or ticket office

    • For paper tickets, there’s currently no fee for amending a journey under our Book with confidence scheme. However, you may have to pay extra if there’s a difference in price between your current and new ticket.

    • Visit a ticket office
      The quickest way to change your paper ticket is to take it to your nearest station ticket office.

  • I bought my ticket from another retailer

    • Paper tickets - please visit a ticket office
      You can make changes to your ticket by taking it to your nearest station ticket office. You may be charged £5 to make a change.

    • Mobile tickets or e-tickets
      To make changes to mobile or e-tickets, please contact the retailer you bought the tickets from.

I received a notification about my journey, click here for more information.

 

Anytime tickets, Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak tickets

Anytime tickets, Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak tickets are changeable and refundable.

If you bought your tickets on our app or website, there’s no fee for amending your journey or cancelling your ticket.

For paper tickets, changes are free under our Book with confidence scheme. However you may be charged £5 for refunds.
 

Ticket changes

To change your ticket, first book a new ticket for your new travel dates and follow the process below to get a refund on the original ticket.

You will be charged for any difference in price between your ticket and the new ticket. You can amend your ticket up to departure.
 

Requesting a refund:

Refund requests must be made within 28 days.

To request a refund, the process you’ll need to follow depends on where you bought your ticket and which delivery option you selected:

  • I bought my ticket on the app or website

    • Mobile tickets or e-tickets

      • Phone Customer Relations on 03333 211 202 and select option 2.

      • Email your new TfW booking reference along with the booking reference of your journey to be refunded, your reason for changing your ticket, your name and the email you used to book to customersupport@tfwrail.wales. We aim to respond within 2-5 working days.

    • Paper tickets
      If you bought your tickets online and have collected them you can:

      • Email a photograph of the tickets to be refunded cut in half, your new TfW booking reference (ticket changes only), your reason for requesting a refund, your name and the email you used to book to customersupport@tfwrail.wales. We aim to respond within 2-5 working days.

      • Post your original tickets, your new TfW booking reference (ticket changes only), your reason for requesting a refund, your name and the email you used to book to:
        Freepost
        TFW RAIL REFUND REQUEST

  • I bought my ticket at a station ticket machine or ticket office

    • Visit a ticket office - changes and refunds
      The quickest way to refund or change your paper ticket is to take it to your nearest ticket office at a station.

    • By post - refunds only
      Post your ticket, your reason for requesting a refund along with your name and address to:
      Freepost 
      TFW RAIL REFUND REQUEST

  • I bought my ticket from another retailer

    • Paper tickets - Visit a ticket office
      You can still make changes to your ticket by taking your paper ticket to your nearest station ticket office. You may be charged £5 to make a change.

    • Mobile tickets or e-tickets
      To make changes to mobile or e-tickets please visit the retailer you purchased the tickets from.

 

Book with confidence

Our book with confidence scheme allows you to make changes to all types of tickets, including Advance tickets, bought online or at a station, without any fee.

  • See full details

    • The option to exchange an Advance ticket for a travel voucher has been removed.

    • You’re able to continue to re-book your Advance ticket within our eight-week booking horizon.

    • These terms and conditions apply if you bought your ticket with TfW:

      • Fee-free change of journey - you’ll need to pay any fare difference and changes must be made by 18:00 the day before travel; original origin and destination stations must remain the same, but you can change the date and time to travel on another service or day.

      • Changes to Advance tickets after this time will be subject to the normal terms and conditions regarding changing your journey; changes are permitted up to the departure of the first booked service, but normal fees will apply and any changes made to Advance tickets after the first booked service has departed are invalid.

      • Refund policies are unaffected by this change. This change permits Advance tickets to be exchanged for a different journey. Refunds are only permitted on Advance tickets if the original service is delayed or cancelled and you no longer want to travel.

      • You can continue to change non-Advance tickets to travel at another time without paying a fee.

 

First Class tickets

If you’ve purchased a First Class ticket for one of our First Class train services and for any reason that service has not been provided, you can claim a refund from us.

You’ll be entitled to a refund of the difference between the First Class and Standard Class fare.

 

Requesting a refund:

Please keep your ticket to claim your partial refund within 28 days of your travel date.

Please provide the details of your journey including the date of travel, your origin and destination in your correspondence.

To request a refund, the process you’ll need to follow depends on where you bought your ticket and which delivery option you selected:

  • I bought my ticket on the app or website

    • Mobile tickets or e-tickets

      • Email your booking reference of your journey to be refunded, your reason for requesting a refund, your name and the email you used to book to customer.relations@tfwrail.wales. We aim to respond within 2-5 working days.

    • Paper tickets
      If you bought your tickets online and have collected them you can:

      • Email a photograph of the tickets to be refunded cut in half, your reason for requesting a refund, your name and the email you used to book to customer.relations@tfwrail.wales. We aim to respond within 2-5 working days.

      • Post your original tickets, your reason for requesting a refund, your name and the email you used to book to:
        Freepost
        TFW RAIL REFUND REQUEST

  • I bought my ticket at a station ticket machine or ticket office

    • Visit a ticket office - refunds
      The quickest way to refund your paper ticket is to take it to your nearest ticket office at a station.

    • By post - refunds
      Post your ticket, your reason for requesting a refund along with your name and address to:
      Freepost 
      TFW RAIL REFUND REQUEST

 

Season tickets

  • Season tickets can be refunded at any time. We’ll calculate how much based on the value left on your ticket.
  • Any refund is calculated from the date the Season ticket is returned to us or the date we cancelled the Season ticket for further use.
  • We do this by deducting the value of any other tickets you could have travelled with in the same time until you stopped using your Season ticket.
  • We can usually give you a refund if there’s:
    • Seven days (or more) left on your Season ticket valid between one and ten months.
    • Three days (or more) left on your weekly Season ticket.
    • For an annual Season ticket, there may not be any value left on it if it’s surrendered in the last couple of months of validity. Annual Season tickets have no refund value after 10 months and 12 days, although they are still valid for travel until the expiry date and you can continue to enjoy any Gold Card benefits along with it.
  • Our normal Season ticket refund policy will continue to apply although the £5 admin charges have been removed from online bookings.
  • You must request a refund no more than 28 days after the expiry of your ticket.

 

How to make changes or request a refund:
You can make changes depending on where you bought your ticket and which delivery option you selected:

  • I bought my ticket online or with the app

    • Smartcard
      Please send an email to customersupport@tfwrail.wales and tell us:

      • Your Smartcard number.

      • Name and email address used on your web account.

      • The journey shown on your Season ticket.

      • Your last date of travel.

    • Phone Customer Relations on 03333 211 202 and select option 2.

    • Paper tickets
      If you’ve already collected your tickets, please post it with your name, address and details of the last date of travel to:
      Freepost
      TFW RAIL REFUND REQUEST

  • I bought my ticket at a station ticket machine or ticket office

    • Paper tickets
      Please pop into one of our ticket offices or
      Post your ticket with your name, address and details of the last date of travel to:
      Freepost
      TFW RAIL REFUND REQUEST

    • Smartcard
      Send an e-mail to customersupport@tfwrail.wales and tell us:

      • Your name and full postal address.

      • The name and number on your smartcard.

      • The journey for which your ticket is valid.

      • Your last date of travel.

 

Corporate travel

If you’ve bought a ticket and choose not to travel, you can apply for a refund from the retailer or train company you purchased it from, unless the terms and conditions of your ticket (Advance tickets for instance) indicate it’s non-refundable. You’ll need to do this no more than 28 days after your ticket’s expired.

If you have booked your ticket through our Travel Management Services, please contact them at tms@tfwrail.wales. Please don’t cut up your corporate season ticket.

 

National Rail travel vouchers

National Rail travel vouchers can be redeemed against the cost of train tickets at our ticket offices.

 

Railcards

All railcards are non-refundable.

 

I bought my ticket from a Payzone retailer and want a refund

If you return to the Payzone retailer within 30 minutes of buying your ticket, you’ll receive a full refund with no admin fee.

If you return after the 30-minute period, there’ll be a £5 minimum fee, irrespective of ticket value.

You won’t receive a refund if the value of your ticket is less than £10.

Refunds for Payzone tickets are only available from Payzone retailers. There’s no limit on the value of a ticket for which a refund can be obtained.

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