When can I buy tickets?
Tickets usually become available 12 weeks in advance. Sometimes, such as due to engineering work, the timetable takes a little longer to be finalised, but we'll release tickets as soon as possible.
Planning further ahead than 12 weeks? No problem. and we’ll email you as soon as our great range of fares goes on sale, including our best value Advance tickets.
Even if tickets are released at shorter notice than normal, you’ll still get the best choice of tickets, prices and seats as soon as they’re available to buy. If anything else is affecting the release date for tickets, such as engineering work or industrial action, we’ll let you know on this page.
Does the timetable change?
Planned timetable changes take place across the rail network twice a year in May or June and December each year. You’ll find a copy of our scheduled timetable book below and we’ll let you know if there are any major changes coming up. Our online journey planner will always look for the best way to get you from A to B and we won’t release tickets until the timetable is confirmed.
We always recommend you check before you travel, especially around the time of a timetable change, in case your usual train has changed departure time.
The December 2024 timetable starts on Sunday 15 December. We’re adding more trains and speeding up journey times on several of our routes.
Throughout the week, we’ve got more trains running on our Liverpool and Birmingham routes thanks to the launch of our 7-coach Evero trains. Many of these new Liverpool services will call at Lichfield and Tamworth, while the extra Birmingham trains include connectivity at Rugby, Milton Keynes and Watford.
More trains will run between London and Chester from Monday to Saturday and, on weekdays, we’re introducing a service between Manchester and London that gets you there in under two hours – and before 9am!
We’ve made a few changes to some of our calling patterns to improve journey times on our longest distance routes, but there are no other major changes to our timetable. As above and especially if you’re a regular traveller, please check your journey before you travel.
If any unplanned changes to the timetable happen, such as due to industrial action or short-notice engineering work by Network Rail, we’ll email anyone who booked with us whose prebooked journey is affected – including letting you know about your ticket options and refund rights.
Printed timetables
If you prefer a printed timetable, you can print one at home by selecting, downloading and printing our PDF timetables on this page or at National Rail Enquiries. If you don’t have access to a printer, you can email or phone National Rail Enquiries Customer Relations to arrange for a timetable to be printed and posted direct to your home.
Visit National Rail Enquiries for more information.
