How long does a plastic Railcard take to arrive?

If you have ordered a plastic 16-25 Railcard online, please allow up to 5 working days for delivery. If you paid for 'Special Delivery' and placed your order before 15:45pm, your Railcard will be delivered within two days (Monday to Thursday) or three days (Friday to Sunday).



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Once your online payment has been successful you will receive an email confirmation and acknowledgement of your application number (this confirmation cannot be used to buy discounted tickets). If you have ordered a plastic Railcard, please allow 5 working days for delivery.

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Physical Railcard: we aim to dispatch your Railcard within one working day of you ordering it, but it's probably best to allow up to 5 working days for your Railcard to arrive.

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Apply in person You can also apply for your Railcard by visiting any staffed station ticket office and get your Railcard on the same day! Just be sure to allow yourself plenty of time between purchasing your Railcard and when you need to depart for your journey.

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To buy online, simply click 'Buy Now' on the website homepage and follow the instructions on the screen. Under 'Choose the type of Railcard you would like' you can select if you want a 'Digital' or a 'Plastic' Railcard. You will be asked to provide a digital passport-style photo if you select 'Digital'.

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You can get your Railcard in a digital format to be stored in the National Rail Railcard app on your phone or tablet, or as a physical card. You can use your Railcard to buy tickets online, at a ticket office, from a ticket machine, and over the phone.

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You will need to provide proof of your Railcard and either the original and additional tickets that you have purchased, or if you have not yet paid, details of the notice to pay or notice of Penalty Fare.

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A: Yes. You must show your valid Family & Friends Railcard (digital or plastic) when you buy your ticket and travel on the train. Failure to present a valid Railcard will mean you have to pay a full fare or you may on certain services be liable for a Penalty Fare.

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Your head and shoulders should be in close-up, with your face clearly visible and filling approximately 70% of the frame (in the same way it would for a passport or driving licence). The image must be in sharp focus. Please make sure that your face is not obscured by hats or hair.

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If you bought it at a station, provided you can produce the completed Receipt portion of your original application form, then you can apply for your lost or damaged Railcard to be replaced at any staffed station ticket office.

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If you bought your physical Railcard at a rail station, you must carry your separate 16-25 Photocard that was issued at the time of purchase (or where appropriate a 'Permit to travel without Photocard') and you must present this in any circumstance where you present your physical Railcard (i.e. when buying tickets and ...

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If you forget your Railcard you will either be required to buy a new ticket or you may on certain services be liable for a Penalty Fare. However, a train company will normally allow you to claim back this extra expense on the first occasion in each year where this happens.

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To view your Railcard in the app, you'll need to first log in to your account with the same email address you purchased with. After logging in, navigate to the Account tab and tap on Your Railcards to bring up the list of Railcards you've purchased. Then tap on Download Railcard to download it to your device.

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If you are aged 26-30 years old and still in full-time education, you can choose whether to buy a 26-30 Railcard, or buy a 16-25 Railcard as a mature student. Mature students who are over the age of 30, can only choose the 16-25 Railcard option and apply as a mature student.

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Why can't the Network Railcard be used before 10:00am Monday to Friday? The Network Railcard is designed to promote off-peak leisure travel. This means that it encourages people to use trains outside of the busy commuting period which occurs before 10:00am Monday to Friday.

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The Railcard is for your use only, and provides discounts only on tickets bought for your own use.

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You can store your digital Railcard on up to two devices at a time. If you want to add it a third, you will need to remove it from one of your existing devices using the steps descirbed above.

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