Coronavirus (COVID-19) travel information

The latest Government advice asks public to continue to work from home if they can. 

If you do need to go to work, you should consider using alternative means of transport such as walking or cycling. If you do need to use our services, this should be for essential journeys only, where another method of transport is not available.

We want to reiterate the government’s advice that there will be space for as little as a tenth of the usual number of people on the railway so people should only travel by train if absolutely necessary. Please help us, our people and those who need to travel by not making unnecessary journeys. If you do have to travel, plan ahead, consider others and stay safe.

We need your help because, while we will do everything we can to enable social distancing it may not be possible at all points throughout a journey, for example at particular pinch points. To stay safe, people should keep their distance as much as possible. People should also plan ahead, leave longer for their journey, travel at quieter times and use contactless or buy their ticket online.

We are still working with government to ensure that, as it has done over the last two months, the railway continues to support the national response to coronavirus.

We are working hard to make travelling with us safe. Measures we have, and are, putting in place, include: frequently cleaning commonly touched areas of trains and at stations; floor stickers, posters and announcements around safe social distancing; encouraging cashless transactions, and putting in place queuing systems where necessary.   

We need your help because, while we will do everything we can to enable social distancing, it may not be possible to maintain a 2 metre distance, such as when boarding and alighting our services.

People should also plan ahead, leave longer for their journey, travel at quieter times and use contactless or buy their ticket online.

In line with government advice, if you need to travel by train and you need assistance, staff will continue to provide help so that you can get to your home station safely.

While it is not a requirement to book ahead, we strongly recommend that you contact us on 0800 5282 100 to discuss your journey as soon as possible.

If you require assistance, we're asking our station colleagues to speak to you to understand what help you need whilst minimising contact with you.

For example, if you need to use a lift, it may be our colleague will assist you into the lift but they may not accompany you into the lift.

We are strongly encouraging everyone that needs to purchase a ticket to go contactless or to buy online before they travel – this might mean getting a smartcard where possible or buying another type of digital ticket. This will help with social distancing at the station and reduce unnecessary contact with other people.

We are strongly encouraging everyone that needs to purchase a ticket to use contactless or to buy online before they travel – this might mean getting a smartcard where possible or buying another type of digital ticket. This will help with social distancing at the station and reduce unnecessary contact with other people.

Several staffed ticket offices will remain open for These are:

• Aldershot
• Andover
• Basingstoke
• Bournemouth
• Bracknell
• Clapham Junction
• Earlsfield
• Eastleigh
• Egham
• Fareham
• Farnborough
• Farnham
• Feltham
• Fleet
• Fratton
• Havant
• Kingston
• Mortlake
• New Malden
• Norbiton
• Petersfield
• Portsmouth
• Putney
• Raynes Park
• Richmond
• Salisbury
• Southampton Airport Parkway
• Surbiton
• Teddington
• Twickenham
• Vauxhall
• Walton on Thames
• Waterloo
• Weybridge
• Wimbledon
• Winchester
• Woking
• Wokingham
• Worcester Park

All other ticket offices will be open during the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and some Sundays

No, we’re not currently requiring passengers to reserve a seat.

We are going to need people’s help to ensure that those who really need to travel by train can do so safely. As government has said, there will be space for as little as a tenth of the usual number of passengers. So, people should only travel if they really need to, and then at quieter times.

If it is not possible for you to safely get on the train, we will ask you to wait for the next service.

If you are unable to board the last service please speak to a member of station staff or use the help point so we can arrange alternative transport for you.

We are working hard to make travelling with us safe. Measures we have, and are, putting in place, include: frequently cleaning commonly touched areas trains and at stations; floor stickers, posters and announcements around safe social distancing; encouraging cashless transactions, and putting in place queuing systems where necessary.

However, it may not always be possible to maintain a 2 metre distance, such as when boarding and alighting our services.

We are encouraging customers to purchase tickets online to minimise the time they spend at the station and any social contact. You could use a smart card or a mobile ticket.

Paper tickets are still available for those who need them – these can be bought through ticket machines.

To reduce contact between passengers and staff, we are no longer accepting cash at our ticket offices or ticket machines.

It is currently not possible to renew a season ticket that has been cancelled. Season tickets have to be cancelled with proof that the ticket has been destroyed, in order to prevent fraud.

During lockdown, we have put in place systems to refund season tickets remotely to minimise contact between passengers and staff, keeping them safe.

Yes, Delay Repay will still apply against the revised timetable and passengers can submit their claims through our Delay Repay page.

We appreciate that our service levels have reduced, however we hope customers can understand that this is for their safety, the safety of our staff and following Government advice to help limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Consequently, we will not be offering extra compensation to customers who cannot travel on their usual service, as our revised timetable still facilitates essential journeys.

Please note that, due to Covid-19, our customer contact centre operations are restricted, which unfortunately means you cannot contact us by phone. We are currently prioritising refund applications although due to the increased number of refunds these may take a little longer than normal to process. These are being dealt with in date of application order. See our COVID-19 refund policy for advice on requesting a refund.

Yes, our guards will still be present on every train service as well as staff at stations across the network to offer advice and assistance to customers.

Our station Help Points also remain in operation.

The British Transport Police will continue to conduct their regular patrols in order to keep passengers safe.

If customers see any suspicious or anti-social behaviour, they should contact a member of staff or British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 or via text on 61016. In an emergency always dial 999.

Our lost property office is currently closed until further notice. You can register your lost property, but we will be unable to reunite you with any lost property until the lost property office opens again.