Planning your train journey

Here are some useful online resources that can help you to plan your train journey:

• National Rail Enquiries and National Rail Service Updates
• Find a taxi at a train station
• Find live departures and arrivals
• Combining cycling and rail travel

Passengers can also book direct with the train company. Companies that run services in Cheshire are:

• List of train operating companies

Passengers can also use the sites listed below to plan your journey and book tickets online.

• thetrainline
• Qjump
• mytrainticket
• raileasy

Railcards, Season Tickets and Plusbus

Railcards

• Senior Railcard
• Disabled Person's Railcard
• Family and Friends Railcard (buy online or from the station)
• 16 - 25 Railcard (buy online or from the station)
• Two Together Railcard (buy online or from the station)

Season Tickets

Regular rail users and commuters should consider annual season tickets. National Rail’s season ticket calculator is a useful tool to help passengers work out the cost.

PLUSBUS

Plusbus - combined bus and train ticket. If you travel by bus and rail to / from Crewe, Macclesfield or Congleton stations why not try PLUSBUS and save too. It gives you unlimited bus and tram travel (on participating operators services) around the whole urban area of participating towns. Use PLUSBUS to start your journey (to get to a rail station) and/or to end your journey (from station to your destination).

Planning a combined bus and train journey

You can also use the Traveline Journey Planner to find routes and times for your journey anywhere in Great Britain, or click on the icons at the top of the journey planning box to find live departures or look up a timetable for buses and trams that cover all the stops served.

You can also plan your journey with the help of the Traveline telephone service by calling 0871 200 22 33 (12p per minute from landlines and mobiles, plus your phone companies access charge).

The English Traveline call centre opening hours are 7am to 10pm most days. You can find full details on Travelines website.

You can find further information on the bus service timetable and journey planning page to help plan your journey.

Exploring Cheshire

Useful ideas for exploring Cheshire by train can also be found at:

• Go Cheshire - helping you to visit Cheshire by Train.
• Mid Cheshire Rail Partnership
• Visit Chester and Cheshire

Reclaim your fare after train delays

If a train is delayed it's possible to claim a full or partial refund. The exact time a journey needs to be late depends on the journey and company involved, but usually starts from 30 minutes. Contact your train operator for details of their compensation scheme.

Help when travelling by train for disabled passengers

National Rail and the train companies can provide you with help and assistance when using their services. If you need assistance passengers are recommended to book at least 24 hours in advance of travel.

Booking in advance enables train companies to check the accessibility of the stations you will be using, help you plan the journey best suited to your needs, and if necessary, arrange alternative transport to the nearest accessible station, a taxi for example.

The 24-hour notice period also gives the companies time, where possible, to relocate staff to assist you. This is important if you are going to travel at a time when a station is usually unstaffed.

To arrange assistance please contact the train company that you will be travelling with.

If you are not sure what train company you are travelling with, please contact National Rail Enquiries.

Telephone: 08457 48 49 50*

Textphone: 0845 60 50 600

* Calls to this number from landlines are charged at the local rate and may be recorded.