About this site
About the 16-25 Railcard Guide and how we check our facts
The 16-25 Railcard Guide explains the 16-25 Railcard in plain English — for 16 to 25 year olds, mature students, and the parents who often end up paying for train tickets.
We’re independent — not the official site
Independent guide — not the official Railcard website and not connected to National Rail, the Rail Delivery Group or train companies. Buy railcards from the official railcard site.
The 16-25 Railcard is run by the rail industry through the Rail Delivery Group (the trading name of ATOC Ltd), which owns the Railcard logos. We don’t use their logos, colours or page designs, we don’t copy their text, and we only use the name “16-25 Railcard” to describe the product. You can buy a railcard on the official 16-25 Railcard site.
What’s here
Guides to who can get one, prices, buying digital or plastic, the discount and the £12 morning rule, which tickets it works on, London, renewing and lost or forgotten cards — plus a “will it pay for itself?” calculator, key figures, a glossary, quick answers and official links.
How every page is researched
- Official sources first. We work from the official 16-25 Railcard site, its FAQs and its terms and conditions, then TfL, GOV.UK and the retailers that sell the card. Each guide lists its sources, and they’re all on our sources page.
- Dated checks. Every guide shows when it was last checked. Figures that change — like prices and the minimum fare — live in one key figures table, so they’re updated in one place and the calculator uses them automatically.
- Our own words. We rewrite what we read to be clearer, and we never copy the official site.
- If sources disagree, we say so. Where official pages conflict (the 3-year age cut-off and the Travelcard minimum fare, for example) we tell you and suggest you check. If we can’t verify something, we leave it out.
About the calculator
The calculator takes a third off the fares you enter and subtracts the official card price. It’s a quick guide, not a quote — real fares are set by the train companies.
How the site is paid for
At the moment every link on this site is a plain link — we don’t earn from any of them. If that changes we’ll mark the links and explain on our affiliate disclosure page. It will never change what the guides say.
Who runs it
16-25 Railcard Guide is owned by Steven Smith. You can reach us at hello@16-25railcard.uk.
Found a mistake?
If something here is out of date or wrong, please tell us — ideally with a link to the official page that shows it. We correct errors as soon as we can and update the “checked” date.