Concessionary rail travel

West Midlands Trains

The police officer’s valid Warrant Card is evidence of entitlement to free travel. Police officers are not required to purchase a ticket for travel wholly within the designated concession area. On the West Midlands Network this refers to travel between London Euston and Northampton only.

Hertfordshire Police/Bedfordshire Police/Thames Valley Police

Northamptonshire Police/Staffordshire Police

Uniformed, plain clothes and off duty of the above forces are permitted to travel free at all times on the West Midlands Train service on production of a valid Warrant Card.

Note Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) can travel free of charge for duty purposes i.e. in uniform, but not for residential or leisure purposes.

There are two concessions open to Hertfordshire Police officers on local trains.

Police officers are entitled to free travel whether in uniform or in plain clothes and on or off duty. These are entirely separate from the arrangements in place for the Metropolitan Police and are unaffected by their recent changes. They are as follows:

Transport for London

Hertfordshire Police officers, on production of their Warrant Card, are entitled to free travel on London Buses, London Underground, Tramlink, Docklands Light Railway and London overground services. Please see the below document for more information.

Thameslink/Great Northern Railway Ltd

Thameslink /Great Northern Railway Ltd have authorised the existing arrangements for free travel for Hertfordshire Police officers to continue for the life of the franchise.

You must produce your Warrant Card as authority to travel.

The concession is for travel between the below stations and all stations in between:

• Bedford to London Thameslink Stations (St Pancras International/Farringdon/City Thameslink/London Blackfriars/London Bridge – Thameslink trains only
• Peterborough to London King’s Cross/St Pancras International and all stations to London Bridge – Great Northern and Thameslink only
• King’s Lynn - Cambridge – London Kings Cross/St Pancras International and all stations to London Bridge – Great Northern and Thameslink only

The concession only applies to officers AFTER they have completed their 16-week training.

Special Constables can only travel free of charge when travelling to or from a prearranged police duty. * They must be fit for independent patrol, not available while still being coached / trained. 

Please note - it is your responsibility to know what train lines have the concession. If you are found to be travelling on any other lines or companies, or acting not in accordance with the agreement, PSD may be informed and you may be subject to a criminal and/or misconduct investigation.

The concession includes off duty and in or out of uniform

• Standard travel only not first class.
• There will be an expectation that if called upon by a conductor that you will assist them. If you don’t want to be called upon then pay for the journey.

For example, while there would be a duty to intervene if you witnessed an incident there may well be times when an incident occurs three carriages away that you would not be aware of.

By showing your Warrant Card you are indicating that the conductor may come to you to assist in an incident that you would otherwise be unaware of. As such if officers are aware that they will not be in a practical position to provide such assistance (this could be through a number of reasons such as intoxication or caring for a child/vulnerable person) then careful thought needs to be given before using the concession.

• If you are travelling with family and friends then they must hold valid tickets for the journey.
• If asked by a conductor to pay then you must pay. Politely request the conductor's name and then report the matter to the Police Federation who will ensure the conductor is appraised of the agreement to ensure it doesn't happen again. This does not mean you will get a refund.

It must be stressed to all officers that these are concessions not entitlements, if asked to pay please do so.

Professional Standards are aware of these concessions and, providing that you use them within the parameters as set, fully support them.