Before boarding
Our Assisted Travel team can help you with booking tickets and reserving seats or space for your wheelchair. Should you need any assistance with luggage or getting off the train for example, we will arrange this for you. And when your train reaches its destination, you will be assisted off the train, if you need it, within 10 minutes of arrival. We will also give you booking assistance for all parts of your journey, regardless of the train company you are travelling with. To ensure you receive help at each stage of your journey, we will pass your details on to stations where you are getting on or off the train, even if these stations are not served by National Express East Coast.
All train companies subscribe to a national database known as the Assisted Persons Reporting Scheme (APRS). National Express East Coast supports the effective use of this system or any other system which may replace it.
Ideally, please try to call National Express East Coast Assisted Travel by 18.00 the day before you are due to travel. All calls are charged at a local rate from anywhere in the country.
National Express East Coast Assisted Travel (APRS System)
Phone: 08457 225 444 (select option 1 then option 6)
Textphone (Mini Com): 08451 202 067
Open 08:00-20:00 every day
You may also find the following websites helpful:
• Network Rail
• Department For Transport
Tickets and reservations
We recommend you to reserve your seats or space for your wheelchair in advance. This service is subject to availability and is free of charge. You can book through National Express East Coast Assisted Travel (08457 225 444, select option 1 then option 6).
You can collect tickets at Fastticket machines, which accept a Disabled Person’s Railcard. All new Fastticket machines will comply with the SRA Code. Find out which stations have Fastticket machines.
Disabled Person’s Railcard
You can buy discounted rail tickets with the Disabled Person’s Railcard. Another adult travel companion can also travel with you at the same discounted fare. The Railcard currently costs £14 and is valid for 12 months. For further details and to purchase a Disabled Person’s Railcard, please visit www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk. With the Railcard you can buy our full range of tickets and receive your discount on board a National Express East Coast train.
People registered as visually impaired
When a person registered as visually impaired travels with another person for any purpose and does not have a Railcard, the following discounts on full-fare tickets apply for both people:
Single – 34% discount
First or Standard Day Return – 50% discount
First or Standard Open Return – 34% discount
To get these discounts, you need to present a document confirming your disability when you buy your ticket.
Blind and partially sighted people can also be issued with one adult season ticket to cover two people. A different companion may travel on different days. There are no discounts if you are travelling alone and do not have a Railcard.