With 11-16-year-olds across the North of England preparing to go back to school in September, Northern is urging parents to do their homework and find out about the Education Season Tickets on offer for their child’s commute.
The train operator has teamed-up with 124 secondary schools and university technical colleges across the length and breadth of its network to offer the special season ticket, which offers their students up to 75% off the normal adult fare.
On some routes, the savings are worth as much as £575 per year.
Education Season Tickets offer unlimited travel between two stations and are valid seven days a week. As such, they can be used at weekends and during the holidays – not just the 195 days per year that schools are open.
For a full list of participating schools and to purchase an Education Season Ticket for the new academic year, parents should visit: www.northernrailway.co.uk/tickets/educational-season
Sample savings across the network include:
| County | Sample route | Child’s ‘Anytime Day Return’ | Annual ‘Anytime Day Return’ cost based on 195 school days. | Annual ‘EST’ price | Equivalent daily cost using EST | Annual saving |
| Tyne & Wear | Dunston to Newcastle | £1.80 | £351.00 | £120.00 | £0.62 | £231.00 |
| Yorkshire | Knaresborough to York | £4.95 | £965.25 | £390.00 | £2.00 | £575.25 |
| Derbyshire | Chesterfield to Sheffield | £3.85 | £750.75 | £328.00 | £1.68 | £422.75 |
| Greater Manchester | Stockport to Manchester Victoria | £3.45 | £672.75 | £251.00 | £1.29 | £421.75 |
| Cheshire | Sandbach to Holmes Chapel | £1.80 | £351.00 | £132.00 | £0.68 | £219.00 |
| Lancashire | Kirkby in Furness to Roose | £3.40 | £663.00 | £266.00 | £1.36 | £397.00 |
| Cumbria | Carlisle to Dalston | £1.75 | £341.25 | £114.00 | £0.58 | £227.25 |
Mark Powles, customer and commercial director at Northern, said: “Parents can save hundreds of pounds per year by investing in an Education Season Ticket at the start of the academic year.
“They’ll also be able to rest assured their child will always have the means to get to and from school – and they won’t have to scramble around for the train fare each morning.”
Northern is investing in the largest network of digital ticket infrastructure of any train operator in the country – making it easier for customers to buy tickets – from Northern’s app, website or one of more than 600 ticket machines across the network.
Northern is the second largest train operator in the country, with nearly 2,000 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.
Photo credit – Northern Railway
