Staffordshire trains 

County advice overview

Staffordshire is served by local and national rail routes. The West Coast Mainline links to major cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and London.

You can check access information at individual stations on the National Rail website. Just type the name of your station (or 3 letter code if you know it).

Key tips

When planning a journey by rail, you may wish to consider:

• Which train operator(s) you will be travelling with and whether they have any specific guidance for travelling with mobility equipment on their trains
• Booking outside of peak times, if possible, as this may improve your comfort if the train and platform are less crowded
• If you require passenger assistance and does this need to be booked in advance
• Using a travel card to reduce travel costs (if eligible)
• How you will travel to your onward destination after your rail journey. For example, will you need to book an accessible taxi or catch a bus?
• If your journey involves making one or more changes, it is sometimes cheaper to buy multiple tickets for each leg of the journey, rather than one ticket between the station of departure and final destination.

Operators

West Midlands Railway 

www.westmidlandsrailway.co.uk

Avanti West Coast

www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk

CrossCountry

www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk

Help with cost

Senior Railcard

A Senior Railcard is available to people over 60 and costs £30 for a year or £70 for three years. It gives a discount of 1/3 off rail journeys.

The Disabled Person’s Railcard

The Disabled Person’s Railcard costs £20 for a year and £54 for three years. It will entitle you to a saving of 1/3 off rail journeys.

You are eligible for the Disabled Person’s Railcard if you:

• receive Personal Independence Payments (PIP)
• receive Disability Living Allowance (DLA) at either:

the higher or lower rate for the mobility component, or the higher or middle rate for the care component

• have a visual impairment
• have a hearing impairment
• have epilepsy
• receive Attendance Allowance or Severe Disablement Allowance
• receive War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement
• receive War or Service Disablement Pension for 80% or more disability
• buy or lease a vehicle through the Motability scheme

Special assistance

If you are planning on travelling on National Rail services, you can request an assistance booking in advance – now up to 2 hours before your journey is due to start, any time of the day. 

Passenger Assist is a national system used by all train companies, which allows them to make the necessary arrangements for your journey.

How it works

If you have a disability, non-visible disability, or are elderly, you can pre-book journey assistance to make sure you get all the help you need for your journey, including changes, and connections that involve other train companies.

You can also “turn up and go” without booking assistance in advance. If you require assistance at short notice, make yourself known to a member of staff or use a Help Point when you arrive at the station.

You can request assistance either via the train company you are travelling with or nationally through National Rail.

Book Passenger Assistance via National Rail

Plan Assistance

Contact: 0800 022 3720 or text 60083

Lines are open 24 hours a day.

You can also book via a new app which allows you to request assistance using a smartphone. You receive a confirmation email once your request has been checked and confirmed. Passenger Assistance by Transreport page.

Book Passenger Assistance via individual train companies

CrossCountry

Travel Assistance

Contact: 0800 030 9224

West Midlands Railway 

Accessible Travel

Contact: 0800 024 8998

Avanti West Coast

Assisted Tavel

Contact: 08000 158 123

Travelling with mobility equipment

Train operators in Staffordshire can carry manual or powered wheelchairs up to a maximum size of 700mm wide by 1200mm long and not exceeding a weight of 300kg including the passenger.

As there are a limited number of spaces available to wheelchair users on each train, it is important that you book your space in advance.

However, the rules for scooters are different for each operator. If you are making a connection to an onward service with another operator, remember to check if you will need a permit for the connecting train.

West Midlands Railway

Passengers are welcome to travel with their mobility scooter. However, where possible, you are requested to transfer to a seat onboard for your own safety. Scooters which are larger than the sizes detailed above can be carried if folded and stored as luggage.

CrossCountry

When travelling with a mobility scooter, this must be folded and stowed in the luggage compartment.

Avanti West Coast      

All trains have dedicated spaces for wheelchair and mobility scooter users. These spaces are next to an entrance door and near to an accessible toilet and the on-board services team.

Assistance dogs

Assistance dogs are welcomed on trains, free of charge, and can travel in any part of the train.

Routes and timetable links

You can find help with planning your journey, train times and operators on the Transport for West Midlands website.

You can also check train times, ticket prices and routes at a number of different websites, such as:

National Rail

For train times and tickets.

Trainline

In addition to finding train timetables and buying your ticket, the Trainline website will give you information on live train times, including real-time journey and platform information with live train tracking. You can also check which trains are faster, and which stations they are stopping at.

Traveline 

You can plan local or long-distance journeys by bus, coach or train and check timetables with Traveline.

Traveline is a public transport information and journey planning service and is a partnership of transport companies, local authorities and passenger groups which have come together to bring you routes and times for all travel in Great Britain by bus, rail, coach and ferry and to provide it in as many different ways as possible.

You can use Traveline to plan your journey and find timetables, before you travel or during your journey. Contact Traveline: 0871 200 22 33