Concessionary fares on the British railway network

The revenue applicable to each TOC from the use of each Railcard is calculated by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), and voting rights and costs payable are attributed accordingly.

This amounts to approximately £400 million, of which £60M is estimated by the RDG to be attributable entirely to the existence of the Railcards – if they were not available, journeys to a total value of £60M per year would not be made by rail.

[4] The railcard costs £30.00 for a year (or until the holder's 18th birthday, whichever is sooner),[5] and offers up to 50% off rail fares, the same as child rate tickets.

[18] During its trial period, which lasted from 5 September 2011 until 19 May 2012, the main applicant for a Two Together Railcard must live within the West Midlands area (postcodes beginning B, CV, DY, WS or WV).

By 1989, another major change had taken place: only Cornwall residents could buy the Railcard; a Photocard (photographic identity card) was required; the Child version was withdrawn; Cheap Day Return discounts had been cut to 34%; the Tamar Valley Line (Plymouth–Gunnislake) was included in its entirety, although parts of it lie within Devon; and the design of the APTIS card (British Rail form number BR 4599/77) had changed significantly, now incorporating a stylised map of the Cornish peninsula and the railway lines serving the county.

The Railcard is only available to residents living in the boroughs of Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland and the Hambleton, Scarborough and Ryedale districts of North Yorkshire.

[31] Introduced in May 2000,[32] this costs £5.00 for one year, and is available to residents aged 16 or over of certain postal districts along the line of the route, which runs from Swansea to Shrewsbury.

[33] This costs £7.50 per year, and is available to applicants aged 16 or over who live in certain areas of the north and west Highlands of Scotland - principally the IV and KW postal districts.

A 50% discount is available for the cardholder for all journeys on the following routes, with up to two children accompanying the cardholder being charged a £2.00 flat fare: Railcards are issued after an application form is completed and submitted by post or to the ticket office at Dingwall, Fort William, Inverness, Kyle of Lochalsh, Mallaig, Oban, Thurso or Wick stations.

The "original" Highland Railcard scheme appears to date from 1988, as ticket stock (British Rail form number BR 4599/79) was being printed in that year,[35] but only the details of its subsequent relaunches are known.

The first change happened as from 1 October 1991, with a six-month Railcard being priced at £4.00 and giving a 34% discount on all ticket types for journeys between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh, Thurso and Wick.

The West Highland Railcard lasted just over five years, from 1 October 1993 until 3 January 1999, but the boundaries of its validity were extended, it changed from priced to free of charge, and the areas prospective holders had to live in to qualify were altered.

As with the Highland Railcard, a relaunch in September 1994 made the card free of charge; the route to Oban was included at the same time.

Standard Day Returns now receive the discount, although tickets bought with the Railcard cannot be used on the section of the Heart of Wales line between Swansea and Llanelli.

[44] The card issued to the partner was later made once again a Network Railcard costing £1 and subject to the substantial minimum fare rule.

The Department for Work and Pensions, through its executive agency Jobcentre Plus (formerly the Employment Service), administered a scheme whereby unemployed people can gain discounts of 50% on a wide range of travel and Season tickets.

The Employment Service authorised and issued the cards, originally called New Deal Photocards, which were valid for three months at a time.

A study undertaken jointly by Railfuture and the Rail Passengers Council (now known as Transport Focus) in April 2003 suggested that three million people would buy such a Railcard for £20.00 if it gave a one third discount on off-peak fares.

[48] The "most conservative forecast" indicated that 2.7 million people would buy a card at this price and with this discount, increasing passenger mileage per annum by 11% and rail industry profits by £50M.

The profit-maximising combination was found to be a price of £30.00 and a 50% discount on off-peak fares; passenger mileage would rise by an estimated 25% and profits would increase by £70M.

At all times, up to two children under the age of five may travel free of charge with an accompanying adult, and do not require a ticket (but see the Family Railcard article for one exception to this).

An alternative for TOCs is to use their own child flat fares where available in combination with adult GroupSave to offer discounts to mixed groups.

Items exceeding the weight or size parameters, including furniture, canoes, hang-gliders and large musical instruments, had to be issued with a ticket at the standard adult rate.

Since privatisation, the situation has become less clear-cut, with many Train Operating Companies allowing greater freedom for such items to be carried free of charge.

Some railway employees, their spouses or partners and their dependent children are able to travel on the railway network free of charge or at a substantial discount on the standard adult or child fare, depending on the type of staff travel pass, privilege pass or staff identity card they possess.

Employees, and in some cases their spouses and/or dependent children, of most railway companies in Europe west of the border of the former Soviet Union (excepting Sweden, which withdrew from the arrangements in 2001, and Albania which was never a member) can obtain tickets at a 50% discount on the full adult fare (75% discount in the case of employees of the Belgian, French, Irish, and Northern Irish railways).

A much smaller number of railways allow one coupon ticket per year on a reciprocal basis to each other's retired former staff, and sometimes to their spouses.

In 2005, c2c launched a scheme to allow people training guide dogs for the blind to travel on their services free of charge.

As part of the National Concessionary Pass scheme for buses, authorities have the option of adding extra concessions to their area for the benefit of local residents.

It is now required to pay a fee of £10 to add train & tram travel on to a concessionary pass for persons over the state retirement age.