Best Trainline Railcards and Tickets 2026: The 7 We'd Buy

SplitSave is the one thing on this list anyone can use. When you search a journey, Trainline checks whether buying separate tickets for parts of the route, say London to Stockport and Stockport to Manchester, costs less than one through ticket, and flags it with an icon. You stay on the same train; it simply has to stop at the split station. Trainline puts the average saving at £13 a trip, measured against the next cheapest fare it offered between July 2024 and June 2025. Railcards apply on top.

The weaknesses show up in the reviews. Some customers say SplitSave was added automatically and hard to remove, one found a cheaper fare booking direct with ScotRail, and another complained of trouble claiming Delay Repay on a split journey. You may also have to change seats partway.

The Two Together Railcard costs £35, which Trainline points out is £17.50 each, and takes a third off most fares across Great Britain when the two named holders travel together. Despite its reputation as the couples’ Railcard, it works for any pair aged 16 or over: friends, flatmates, colleagues, a parent and an adult child.

The catches are firm. It cannot be used before 09:30 on weekdays, so it is useless for the morning commute, and the discount only applies when both of you are on the train; travel alone and you pay full fare. It is sold here as a one-year card only. One Trustpilot reviewer who bought it for a single split-ticket trip found Trainline would not refund the Railcard when the train was cancelled.

This is the most flexible Railcard on the list. It takes a third off most Standard and First Class fares and works at peak times, which most Railcards do not. A one-year card is £35 and a three-year card £80, a saving of £25. The age rules are generous: you can buy the three-year card until the day before your 24th birthday and a one-year card until the day before your 26th.

The limits: a £12 minimum fare applies to journeys between 04:30 and 10:00 on weekdays (though not in July and August), and it cannot be used on season tickets. Mature students over 25, who can qualify through their college, cannot apply through Trainline. And because the card lives in the app, a flat phone means no Railcard, and possibly a Penalty Fare.

For family days out this is the biggest discount Trainline sells: a third off for up to four adults aged 16 or over and 60% off for up to four children aged 5 to 15. The adults and children do not need to be related, so grandparents and friends count. It costs £35 for a year or £80 for three years, against £105 for three separate cards.

The essential rule is that at least one child must travel with one of the two cardholders. A Trustpilot reviewer without children received this card as a perk, only discovered the rule after applying, and was left with a Railcard she could not use. Trainline’s page also notes that children travel for £1 each on Southeastern off-peak routes, so check that first if you live in the south-east.

Anyone aged 60 or over can buy a Senior Railcard, which takes a third off Standard and First Class fares across Britain and can be linked to an Oyster card for a third off Off-Peak travel around London. Since March 2025 it costs £35 for one year or £80 for three. Trainline’s own page is inconsistent about the three-year saving, quoting both £20 and £25; at current prices it is £25.

The format is the catch for some buyers. Trainline sells it only as a digital card in its app, which needs iOS 15 or a recent Android phone, and a flat battery means no discount. Several Trustpilot reviewers also report that a Senior Railcard was not applied to a booking, and that Trainline declined to refund the difference because the discount was shown before payment.

A Flexi Season is a bundle of eight day passes valid for 28 days between two stations you choose. Each pass gives unlimited travel from activation until 04:29 the next morning, at any time including peak, and you decide on the day which days to use. It suits someone in the office two or three days a week. There is no fixed price; the app shows the fare for your route and compares it with buying returns.

It has more restrictions than its name suggests. It is Standard Class only, cannot be used on the Underground or Overground, and accepts no Railcards except the 16-17 Saver and Jobcentre Plus discount card. Flexi Seasons cannot be changed, an activated pass cannot be refunded, and a refund on unused passes carries a £10 admin fee.

The 26-30 Railcard does what the 16-25 card does for the next age band: a third off most Standard fares, Advance tickets included, across Britain, usable at peak times, with an Oyster link for Off-Peak London travel. It costs £35 for a year. If you are about to turn 26, though, a one-year 16-25 card bought the day before your birthday buys you another year at the younger card’s terms.

It is narrower than it looks. The £12 minimum fare applies from 04:30 to 10:00 on weekdays with no summer exemption, and it is not valid on some First Class fares, Caledonian Sleeper, season tickets or Eurostar. Trainline sells it only as a one-year card.