We’re lifting Peak restrictions
To keep you moving this Christmas and to help you save those pennies, we’re lifting our Peak restrictions. That means all Avanti West Coast services from Friday 22 December to Sunday 7 January inclusive are Off-Peak. Buy an Off-Peak ticket for these dates and get all the flexibility you need – travel at any time.
When can I buy train tickets?
If you’re travelling on a weekday, tickets usually become available 12 weeks in advance. On weekends and bank holidays, they’re released 8 weeks ahead. This is because most planned engineering work takes place at weekends, so an amended timetable takes a little longer to be finalised.
Planning further ahead than 8-12 weeks? No problem. Sign up for a Ticket Alert 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.
Which ticket type should I choose?
If it’s the best value you’re after, our Advance fares are for you. You can save up to 70% by booking as soon as tickets are released! Check the calendar above to see which festive dates have tickets available and which are coming soon. You can set a Ticket Alert if your preferred travel date isn’t available yet and we’ll let you know as our great range of tickets go on sale.
If it’s flexibility you’d prefer, take advantage of our festive Off-Peak travel window and try an Off-Peak Return. As long as tickets are on sale for your outward travel date, you can keep your options open and return within one month. Just click the ‘Anytime’ tab when you’re choosing your return options on our website, or tap ‘Open return’ on our app. When you’re ready to head back, be sure to check before you travel to see all the confirmed departure times on your route and for live updates about any disruption.
Planned engineering work
Network Rail are carrying out major engineering work on 25 and 26 December (when no trains are running anyway) and additionally on New Year’s Day, Monday 1 January 2024. We’ll share more information here nearer the time, but we expect rail replacement buses in a number of locations on the West Coast Main Line on 1 January, and significantly extended journey times. We expect timetables to be confirmed 8 weeks ahead (around the start of November).
Last trains on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve
Due to engineering work the following day, the train service finishes much earlier than usual on Sunday 24 December (Christmas Eve) and Sunday 31 December (New Year’s Eve). The last trains of the day will all leave their origin stations before 6pm, so be sure to check before you travel and arrive in plenty of time for your train.
The last trains to and from our key destinations are listed below. If your destination isn’t listed, just pop your journey details into our journey planner and then try clicking ‘See later trains’ until you find the last one.
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