End of the line for wasted Northern rail tickets

Northern, which operates services across the north, including between Sheffield and Lincoln, via Shireoaks, Worksop and Retford, has teamed up with rail ticketing app Seatfrog, to offer customers the opportunity to swap their ticket to another train on the same day, from just £2.50, through the Seatfrog app.

Northern said it marks a huge shift for the use of ‘advance purchase’ tickets, which until now, once purchased, were only valid on one service. Advance purchase ticket holders who need to swap to another service should visit trainswap.seatfrog.com

Mark Powles, Northern commercial and customer director, said: “Railcard discounts aside, advance purchase tickets offer the cheapest fares on our network, but with those low prices came strict restrictions on travel dates and times.

“As such, we know some customers with advance purchase tickets were frustrated when their plans changed, but they couldn’t easily change their train ticket.”

Using Seatfrog, Northern customers are able to change their advance purchase ticket starting from one day before their original departure date, up until just 10 minutes before their original train is due to leave the station.

Iain Griffin, co-founder of Seatfrog, said: “Two thirds of the 1.8 billion train tickets purchased every year are advanced tickets which cost less, but lock passengers into rigid travel plans with no wiggle room.

“We know life doesn’t work to a set timetable and from today Northern passengers will no longer have to miss out on unplanned life moments because of ticket restrictions.”