Frequently Asked Questions
Please click on the relevant question (below) to read our answer.
Yes, PLUSBUS day tickets can be purchased at the same time as train tickets online from most rail ticket retailing websites.
If you have a rail season ticket bought from Chiltern Railways, First Capital Connect, First Great Western, London Midland, ScotRail, Southern, Southeastern or TransPennine Express you can now buy a PLUSBUS season ticket online (when renewing an existing rail season ticket online).
You can choose how you obtain tickets bought online. The options are:
- posted to you (please allow up to 5 working days for delivery):
- couriered to you (some websites offer this option and will request a charge for next day delivery);
- you can pick them up at a self-service ticket vending machine at the station;
- you can collect at the station ticket office.
If you want to start your journey by bus (using your PLUSBUS ticket) then you must be in possession of your tickets, so get them by post, by courier or collect them in advance from a station.
Yes, if you take your valid train ticket to any train station ticket office, ask for PLUSBUS for either the origin and/or destination town of your rail journey. You will be asked to pay the appropriate PLUSBUS ticket price.
Train companies prefer customers to buy their tickets before getting on a train (where this is possible), from a ticket office, a self-service ticket vending machine or in advance by 'phone or online. If you are unable to buy your ticket before boarding the train, then you can buy your train ticket and your PLUSBUS ticket from the Conductor or Train Manager onboard (but some Railcard discounts may not be available).
Sorry, no. You must buy PLUSBUS before you wish to use the bus as it has to be bought in conjunction with a valid train ticket. Bus drivers are not able to issue PLUSBUS tickets.
Yes, with a valid National Railcard you will get 33% off the adult price of a PLUSBUS day ticket (Railcard discounts are NOT available with any season ticket, as the price of seasons is already heavily discounted).
Railcards which offer the discount:
- 16-25 Railcard;
- Disabled Persons Railcard;
- Family & Friends Railcard Online purchase is not available with this option Railcard.
- HM Forces Railcard;
- Network Railcard (or Gold Card);
- Seniors Railcard.
Please check the Railcard use restrictions.
The PLUSBUS ticket price includes unlimited local bus and tram travel around the whole urban area of town, on services of participating bus operators'. It does NOT include the cost of your train travel. However, PLUSBUS must be bought in conjunction with a valid train ticket.
In some towns, certain premium services (e.g. Airport express routes, Night buses and sporting event services) do NOT accept PLUSBUS tickets. These are listed as "excluded services" on each town-specific page of this website.
Yes, but you must buy or already have a season ticket for train travel as well. You can only buy a PLUSBUS season ticket for the towns that are named on your rail season ticket (not any intermediate town).
PLUSBUS season tickets are now available for nearly all PLUSBUS served towns and cities across Britain. Each PLUSBUS served town or city in Britain has its own page on this website. PLUSBUS season ticket prices are shown (where available) on the town-specific pages of this website. Season tickets are available for specific periods only: 7 consecutive days; 1-month; 3-months and a year.
The validity of your PLUSBUS season ticket does not have to match your rail season ticket validity, but your PLUSBUS ticket MUST expire either on the same date as your rail season ticket, or on a date before your rail season ticket expires.
If you have a PLUSBUS day ticket, sorry no. You can only travel by bus on the date printed on the ticket, which will also be the day that you travelled by train.
If you have a PLUSBUS season ticket, then yes, you can travel by bus on any day, until midnight on the date that the ticket expires (printed on the season ticket).
|
Yes, the tram networks listed below do accept PLUSBUS tickets for travel on their services:
We're sorry, the following tram systems do not yet accept PLUSBUS tickets: Croydon TramLink; Glasgow Subway; Manchester MetroLink; Tyne&Wear Metro. |
 |
Yes, a valid PLUSBUS ticket gives you unlimited bus travel on all bus and tram services of participating operators' in each town for the day or period that your ticket covers. So you can make as many bus journeys as you like, anywhere within the PLUSBUS zone.
Sorry, no. PLUSBUS is an integrated ticket that has to be bought and used with a train ticket. So you must be travelling by both the train and bus in order to buy and use PLUSBUS.
Sorry, no. At least one station (the origin or destination station) of your train journey must be located outside the towns PLUSBUS travel zone or metropolitan city region (Greater Manchester; South Yorkshire; West Midlands; West Yorkshire).
Example: If you are travelling by train from Derby station to Reading station and wish to travel by bus in Reading you can buy PLUSBUS for unlimited bus travel in the Reading zone. However, you cannot buy and use a PLUSBUS ticket if your train journey is between two local stations that are within the Reading PLUSBUS travel zone (e.g. Tilehurst and Reading).
No, PLUSBUS is not a bus operator. PLUSBUS is a National Rail ticket that is accepted for travel on the services of over 200 bus companies that have chosen to participate in this ticketing scheme. The names of participating bus operators are listed on the town-specific pages of this website.
PLUSBUS is a National Rail ticket, whose standard terms and conditions apply (including for ticket refunds). If you have bought a PLUSBUS ticket in advance from a station (or online) and do not want to use it, then you may claim a refund from the ticket office (or ticket agent) that took original payment, but you MUST do this within 28 days of the travel date shown on the ticket. You must also return the ticket. Some ticket offices (and agents) may charge an administration fee of up to £10 to process refunds.
PLUSBUS tickets bought online may not be refundable from some online agents.
If you have a PLUSBUS season ticket and have used it for a while, but then want a refund of the outstanding period, you can claim a refund from the issuing ticket office. In this case normal National Rail season ticket refund terms and conditions apply.
We have information on many other integrated ticketing schemes .
Visit traveline or call: 0871 200 22 33 (calls from landlines cost 10p/minute, calls from mobiles may cost more)
For information about a specific bus operators' services, try these main bus company websites:
You could also check our list of bus operators by town and region.
For Northern Ireland visit: translink
Yes, at specific stations.
East Midlands Trains and South West Trains are the first train companies whose ticket vending machines now automatically offer travellers PLUSBUS day tickets for their destination town. So you can avoid the ticket office queue and serve yourself with PLUSBUS.
Click here for a demonstration of how to buy a PLUSBUS day ticket for your destination town from a ticket vending machine.
Other Train Operating Companies will start programming their ticket vending machines to offer travellers PLUSBUS day tickets over the next few months - visit out 'news' page for details.
Please send us an email, with as much detail about your enquiry as possible (specific dates, times, exact locations, name of bus operator/train operator etc).
Send it to: feedback@plusbus.info
To plan a journey by train and/or bus or to check timetables, please visit: www.traveline.info
