Business Direct is SWR’s business and corporate train service platform that puts you and your organisation in control so you can book, plan, and manage your business travel how you want to.

Whatever your company’s objective, from saving money and reducing your carbon footprint to managing the wellbeing of yourself and your employees, business train travel can meet those needs.

You can buy train tickets for any time and any train company across Britain, not just on the SWR network, with no hidden fees or charges and absolutely no booking fees.



What is Business Direct?

SWR Business Direct is our train ticket management platform for businesses. You can book your rail tickets 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with ease. Employees can either travel the eco-friendly way and use eTickets or alternatively collect paper tickets from any station in Britain, without the need of the company credit card.

Your bespoke company account can be created in a matter of minutes and online training sessions are delivered at your convenience online.

You can create your own travel policies for either groups of people, departments or individuals and the reporting section presents a detailed breakdown of all your travel – who booked it, why they booked it and for those they want to promote their green credentials it can even track your carbon footprint.

Why should I choose Business Direct for my business?

Business Direct helps you managing your organization train bookings and offer several benefits to your company such as:

  • There is no fixed contract, no signing on fees or booking fees
  • Book, plan, and manage train tickets 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
  • Book anywhere in Britain, from Portsmouth in the South West to Pollokshields in Scotland
  • It’s easy to set up with account creation and online training completed in as little as 20 minutes
  • UK-based Account team to assist with bookings, training and queries

What are the features of Business Direct?

SWR Business Direct can help your organisation be in charge of your corporate booking needs. Business Direct will support you with:

Easy to use business train travel management platform

  • Create your own reporting flows and download reports in just a few clicks.
  • Record reasons for travel, client tracking, departmental authorisation, plus much more.
  • Create and manage your own business travel policies within the platform.
  • Create and manage an unlimited amount of user profiles to buy train tickets.
  • Ability to track your company carbon footprint against car (petrol and diesel) and air.
  • Keep track of where your team are in a centralised dashboard.
  • Download expense receipts.

Good value business train tickets

  • Our lowest fare finder helps find the cheapest train tickets at a click of a button, saving time and money
  • Buy train season tickets individually or in bulk, perfect for large organisations, and term-time season tickets for schools
  • Automatically calculates GroupSave discounts when buying train tickets for 3 or more people travelling together, saving you up to 34% on the total cost
  • Add-ons to train tickets include TfL London Travelcards, PlusBus and ferry tickets for the Isle of Wight, where applicable
  • Get rewarded every time you travel by train with SWR Rewards and 2FOR1 offers, great for after-work activities with colleagues
  • Payment by either debit or credit card, or account (billed 4 weekly with 21 day payment terms)
  • eTickets (PDF) to travel and help reduce your company carbon footprint further
  • Paper tickets can be collected from any train station in Britain using any major debit or credit card and not the company card, in conjunction with a secure process

How do I get Business Direct for my business?

Contact us by email at businessdirect@swrailway.com to set up a consultation. We aim to respond within five working days. 

Do train tickets include VAT?

No, train tickets in Britain are exempt from VAT.

Business train travel with SWR

Travel green with SWR

If you’re travelling on a South Western Railway service for business travel, you’ll be choosing the greener way to travel. On most of our routes, you’ll be travelling on an electric train making it a sustainable choice to get to your destination.

Free Wi-Fi

Whether you’re at a train station or on board a train, our free Wi-Fi service will help you catch-up on emails and work before you head into the office. We’re also the first train company to be introducing rail-5G on board Wi-Fi to our network bringing even better connectivity.

First Class Business Travel

South Western Railway First Class interior
First Class interior

SWR First Class is the perfect space for business travellers looking to relax, get work done or catch a few winks. With spacious seats, large tables and at-seat wireless charging, you’ll arrive feeling refreshed and stress-free ready to start your day.

Quiet Carriage

Need somewhere to focus? Where available, our Quiet Carriage can be a haven when noise in Standard Class is too distracting. Grab a seat and make use of the tables and power sockets before your next meeting or heading home. 

Download the SWR app

Before you set off on your journey, download the SWR app to help get you from A-to-B. As well as live train information such as the real-time travel updates and platform numbers, we can help you see how busy a train is and which carriage you’re likely to get a seat (where available).

Business Life

Looking for the latest in business travel inspiration and advice? Then read our blog Business Life, with tips from ways to maximise productivity on a work journey, a new business traveller wanting to make the best impression on a client, to a travel veteran looking for ways to enjoy their next business trip.