THE END OF THE SCHOOL RUN? Northern aims to entice more students from road to rail with 75%-off train tickets from September

The train operator is hoping to entice more students from road to rail from September with the offer of 75%-off train tickets for students’ commute to school.

The discount is available on annual tickets bought as part of their Under 16 Education Season Ticket scheme, which have gone on-sale today (Tuesday, 1 August).

For more information and details of how to apply for a ticket, parents should visit: www.northernrailway.co.uk/tickets/educational-season

Northern runs the programme in partnership with 166 secondary schools and university technical colleges (UTCs) across the North of England.

The ticket covers unlimited travel between any two stations on the Northern network seven days a week – which means they can be used for travel at weekends and during the school holidays too.

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “The school run can be one of the most stressful times of the day for parents – and we want to make it a thing of the past.

“With 75%-off the cost of their journey for anyone that signs-up for the full school year, our Under 16 Education Season Tickets offer one of the most generous discounts of any ticket scheme in the country.”

In the 2022-23 academic year, Northern welcomed around 15,000 student commuters on-board its services every week - but only 3,300 (3,294) of them travelled using one of the heavily discounted Under 16 Education Season Tickets, paying an average cost of £200.21 for the year.

Powles added: “By encouraging students to use the train from an early age, we also hope to kickstart a lifelong habit of commuting by rail.”

In addition to the secondary schools and UTCs already participating in the scheme, there are a further 146 educational establishments with over 100,000 students (109,013) located within 1km of a railway station served by Northern that have not yet signed-up to the scheme.

Parents and guardians of children attending those schools and UTCs are encouraged to email [email protected] so that Northern can enrol them into the scheme.

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