Students who had already booked train tickets to travel home for Christmas before the announcement of the student travel window can now rebook their tickets to travel between 3-9 December without paying additional fees.

Students who bought an Advance ticket before 11 November for a date of travel after 9 December can now change their Advance tickets to travel during the window without paying a change of journey fee of up to £10.

Flexible tickets such as Off Peak or Anytime can already be rebooked to another date without payment of an admin fee.

The window from 3-9 December, coinciding with the end of the winter term, ensures that students can return home once the national lockdown restrictions have been lifted whilst minimising the risk of transmission of the virus to others.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

“Students will be eager to be at home with their families after an unprecedented autumn term, and travelling during this window enables them to do so as safely as possible.

“By waiving change of journey fees, they can now rebook their tickets without being left out of pocket.”

This is an extension of temporary measures introduced on 26 October allowing train operators and independent rail retailers to temporarily waive the usual change of journey admin fee for Advance tickets where passengers could not travel due to local Covid-19 restrictions.