Digital tickets on your phone

For safe, contactless travel, they're conveniently on your phone, like everything else.

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What are digital tickets?

Digital tickets are QR codes that hold the same information as a paper ticket. An eticket and Mobile Ticket are two different types of digital ticket. We'll show you whichever option is available for your route when you book.

Choose these when booking your journey with us and scan them directly from your phone, no need to print.

Why use digital tickets?

Go contactless

Avoid touching station ticket machines

Easy to use

Scan at the ticket gate, or show to staff

Use offline

Once downloaded, you don’t need internet access

Avoid queues

Buy in advance and go straight to the platform

Quick access

Find all your tickets in one place

Sustainable travel

Less paper makes for a greener environment

Types of digital tickets

An eticket comes as a PDF attached to an email, which you can either open from your email or in our app.

Mobile Tickets are just like etickets, except you can only open them directly in our app and you need to ‘activate’ the ticket before you use it. Mobile Tickets can’t be shared or used on more than one device.

How do I use digital tickets?

We’ll show you whichever option is available for your route, just search your journey as normal.

eticket

  1. Open the email we send you with the PDF(s) attached – this is separate to your booking confirmation email
  2. If you like, you can add the eticket(s) to our app or Apple Wallet
  3. Scan the QR code from your phone at the ticket gate at the station, or show to staff

Mobile Ticket - you’ll need our app

  1. Open our app and go to My Tickets
  2. Tap your Mobile Ticket to activate it just before you travel – once activated, you can’t request a refund
  3. Scan the QR code from your phone at the ticket gate at the station, or show to staff

Where can I use digital tickets?

You can use digital tickets for the majority of UK train journeys. Some stations may not have ticket gates for you can scan your phone, but you can always just show a member of staff instead and they’ll let you through. You can also use etickets across Europe.

FAQs

Yes. If you’re travelling as a group using etickets, the lead passenger can forward the PDF attachments, so you can each open your ticket on your own device. Groups with etickets that have a GroupSave discount applied must travel together.

Mobile Tickets will be available in the lead passenger’s Trainline app, you can’t share the tickets with the group. You must travel together, regardless of whether you’re using GroupSave discount.

Yes, etickets are sent as PDF attachments, so you can open them on a different device if you need to. Mobile Tickets are linked to your device, so you have to remove it from one before you can open it on another.

Make sure you’re signed into your Trainline app, using the same account you used to book your ticket with. Your tickets will be in ‘My Tickets’. If you haven’t got the Trainline app, you can download it on iOS or Android.