Northern to offer students half price train tickets for the entire academic year

Northern is encouraging parents and guardians to lock in an early bird discount of 50 per cent off train tickets for the coming academic year.

The train operator hopes the discount will convince parents and guardians of children, aged under 16, to trust the train for their school run.  

The discount of 50 per cent off the child season ticket price for the 2025-26 academic year is available until 23:59 on Thursday, July 31. 

Season tickets for those under 16, and Year 11 students, purchased after this date will be 40 per cent off the normal child season ticket price. Term time tickets will also become available from this date. 

Some of the sample savings available for children attending schools across the Northern and TransPennine Express network include: 

Alex Hornby, commercial and customer director for Northern, said: "As we continue in our mission to make our railway accessible and as easy to use as possible, annual education season tickets are there to offer the best value for journeys to school and college.

"We're encouraging parents and guardians to take advantage of even bigger savings now before the end of July, where the discounts available will reduce. 

"Locking-in this early bird discount with a season ticket not only saves a lot of money; it ticks one more thing off the back to school list and it means no more faffing around with day or weekly tickets too." 

Tickets will be delivered in time for the new school term in September.  

It comes as operators Northern and TransPennine Express team up to offer school children maximum flexibility, with education season tickets now valid on both operator's services on a number of routes across the north.  

For more information and details of how to buy a ticket, visit: northernrailway.co.uk/tickets/educational-season. 

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,650 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.