When and where are rail replacement buses free?

[Joseph T]

The only times I have ever ridden a rail replacement bus have been between NBT and TWI, the first of which I was told by the station master that it was free after asking how to pay the fares for using it. I may be going to Reading next month, during which there will be replacement buses between there and Bracknell, and I'm wondering if a ticket will be required for it unlike within the TfL fare zones.

 

[AlterEgo]

Chiltern: West Ealing to West Ruislip is de facto free. No ticket is required.

 

[JonathanH]

The only times I have ever ridden a rail replacement bus have been between NBT and TWI, the first of which I was told by the station master that it was free after asking how to pay the fares for using it.

No replacement bus is strictly free.

There is some ambiguity / leniency about Oyster / Contactless PAYG in London because there is no apparent facility made available to touch in at the stations at either end of the journey.

If travelling on a route where there is no Oyster / Contactless PAYG validity, it is difficult to argue that a ticket does not need to be held. Passengers may be refused access to travel on a replacement bus without a valid ticket.

See https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/huddersfield-rrb-ticket-inspection.291707/
and in particular this post.

Perfectly legitimate to check tickets and refuse travel to those who don't have a valid one (provided the usual opportunities to buy are still available at the station).

However Penalty Fares can't be issued, nor do the usual railway laws (e.g. the Byelaws or RoRA) apply so checks after alighting are fairly pointless. They have to be before boarding.

That said, some operators will put ticket collectors at major stations to meet replacement buses and sell tickets to passengers without them.

 

[30907]

The only times I have ever ridden a rail replacement bus have been between NBT and TWI

Your user details suggest these are Norbiton and Twickenham - correct?

Please follow forum policy and don't leave it to guesswork.

 

[RJ]

Lack of enforcement isn’t the same thing as free travel, even if people say it is. Some of these people end up posting in the disputes and prosecutions section once this life view undergoes a correction!

Technically, a ticket or validated card is required to travel. Not everyone is in a place to say don’t pay, but sometimes there won’t be anybody checking tickets for bussed legs. When there’s buses where I work, people are advised to buy their ticket at the other end of the bus journey. We don’t sell tickets unless people need one for their onward journey and access to validators is blocked unless someone needs to touch out.

Certainly I’ve seen SWR and TfW revenue protection staff checking tickets of people boarding or alighting from replacement buses.

 

[ChilliSauce]

I recall a period of time back when it was a replacement bus between Barnsley and Wakefield Kirkgate .. (the bus then continued onto Westgate) ...because of planned works near Horbury.

Northern ticket inspection taking place at the door of the bus....no ticket...no get on !

 

[Trainguy34]

I know that normally drivers don't care if you have a ticket at places near me, particularly since they're hired in and I don't think they get on well with the contract somehow so it doesn't really matter to them!

 

[JonathanH]

I know that normally drivers don't care if you have a ticket at places near me, particularly since they're hired in and I don't think they get on well with the contract somehow so it doesn't really matter to them!

The driver has no role in revenue protection, even less in checking actual tickets, but clearly they can refuse to carry someone at their discretion.

 

[izvor]

Another issue (particularly in the TfL area) has been passengers tapping for the first (train) leg of their journey, then wondering how to tap off when they complete their journey on a RR bus. I imagine this is getting even more complicated with the expansion of contactless and Oval.

 

[gray1404]

So does this mean if a customer has encounters a ticket check at the end of a replacement bus journey, they can simply refuse to engage if they don't have a ticket and no intention of buying one?

 

[mmh]

Another issue (particularly in the TfL area) has been passengers tapping for the first (train) leg of their journey, then wondering how to tap off when they complete their journey on a RR bus. I imagine this is getting even more complicated with the expansion of contactless and Oval.

You could just tap off when you leave the station - why would you not?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Apr 2026 ==

So does this mean if a customer has encounters a ticket check at the end of a replacement bus journey, they can simply refuse to engage if they don't have a ticket and no intention of buying one?

I doubt such a ticket check has ever taken place. It sounds completely impractical.

 

[njr001]

TFL RRB’s can be a problem if they are part way through your journey. Whilst you there is no check that you have a Oyster or contactless card when boarding the bus, I have been charged for two separate journeys which required a call TO TFL to resolve.

 

[RJ]

I doubt such a ticket check has ever taken place. It sounds completely impractical.

TfW frequently do them with their revenue protection staff.

 

[EYFanatic]

I doubt such a ticket check has ever taken place. It sounds completely impractical.

Certainly in my experience, the custom for RRB work in and out of Hull has been for no ticket checks on buses "operated" by either Transpennine or Northern. For the benefit of doubt, I have always had a ticket for such services but I remember a woman telling me she loves replacement buses because it saves her money that week without having to pay because there are never checks

 

[mmh]

TfW frequently do them with their revenue protection staff.

Checking alighting passengers? I'm afraid I find that unlikely.

 

[RJ]

Checking alighting passengers? I'm afraid I find that unlikely.

I’ve driven enough rail replacement buses out there to have witnessed it many times. They set up crowd control systems for boarding and alighting. Alighting passengers at certain stations are funnelled into a queue and their tickets are checked. If they don’t have one, they are required to buy one.

Sometimes ticket checks are carried out for boarding passengers by staff on the road and they are either sent to the station to buy one or must produce a ticket on their phone if they don’t have one. If they don’t then it’s a wait for the next one.

 

[AlterEgo]

TfW frequently do them with their revenue protection staff.

They regularly barrier the buses at Cardiff on busy weekends, yes. We've seen that on the forum before.

Checking alighting passengers? I'm afraid I find that unlikely.

It happens. https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/tfw-revenue-block-for-rail-replacement-buses.276143/

 

[The exile]

You could just tap off when you leave the station - why would you not?

But you’ve arrived by bus and are therefore outside the barriers (if it has them).

 

[Dr Hoo]

The only times I have ever ridden a rail replacement bus have been between NBT and TWI, the first of which I was told by the station master that it was free after asking how to pay the fares for using it. I may be going to Reading next month, during which there will be replacement buses between there and Bracknell, and I'm wondering if a ticket will be required for it unlike within the TfL fare zones.

Not a very helpful piece of advice from the Station Master on that occasion. Certainly not to be relied upon or regurgitated on every future occasion when you encounter an RRB.

 

[amahy]

In September 2024, I travelled between Manchester and Rochdale on an almost daily basis for 3 weeks during the closure for the Castleton bridge replacement. I experienced a grand total of zero ticket checks on any of the RRBs I used.

 

[mmh]

But you’ve arrived by bus and are therefore outside the barriers (if it has them).

You arrived by train and changed to a bus in this scenario.

 

[Bishops]

Have been checked by LNER staff many times before boarding at Darlo.

 

[blimmo]

What's the penalty for an alighting passenger without a ticket who refuses to pay for one?

 

[JonathanH]

What's the penalty for an alighting passenger without a ticket who refuses to pay for one?

A lack of enforcement is not valid justification for not paying a fare for a transport service.

The post I quoted in post 3 above does indicate no penalty but that doesn't make it appropriate to simply assume a free ride.

 

[blimmo]

A lack of enforcement is not valid justification for not paying a fare for a transport service.

The post I quoted in post 3 above does indicate no penalty but that doesn't make it appropriate to simply assume a free ride.

I'm not suggesting you shouldn't pay, rather questioning the efficacy of "required to buy a ticket when alighting".

 

[izvor]

You could just tap off when you leave the station - why would you not?

But you’ve arrived by bus and are therefore outside the barriers (if it has them).

You arrived by train and changed to a bus in this scenario.

You've arrived by bus in the scenario I described, having tapped in at a station for a train journey. You then have to make your way to the station - often a distance away - and then find a way to tap out. Not ideal or passenger friendly, and an encouragement not to bother with payment at all.

I've never seen a TfL or GTR revenue check on RR buses* - except for one or two "rogue" bus drivers (as mentioned upthread) who had to be dissuaded from doing this. Worked on them for 10 years. SouthEastern revenue squads did appear sometimes.

* just remembered them in force during a major block on the Brighton main line. Very much the exception, in my experience the priority (for TOCs) is to shift the passengers and take the revenue hit, which after all is not theirs to lose anyway for gross-cost franchises.

 

[AlterEgo]

What's the penalty for an alighting passenger without a ticket who refuses to pay for one?

There isn't one under the Bylaws or NRCoT. You can just leave, especially if the bus is not parked on railway property.

 

[Mainline421]

Chiltern: West Ealing to West Ruislip is de facto free. No ticket is required.

A ticket is required, that doesn't change just because Chiltern might not send revenue protection to check

There isn't one under the Bylaws or NRCoT. You can just leave, especially if the bus is not parked on railway property.

An RRB is a train as far as the NRCoT are concerned, at a bare minimum an undisounted Anytime single can be charged and is owed

 

[AlterEgo]

A ticket is required, that doesn't change just because Chiltern might not send revenue protection to check

It is not required. The bus both boards and deboards away from the station premises, and no facilities are available on the street where one picks up the bus. If they wish to sell tickets (for the bus nobody actually uses) they could send a member of staff with a ticket machine and contactless pad to do so. They need to offer contactless payment on that route as part of the condition of running it. They can't do that, so the bus is de facto free. Note the expression "de facto".

An RRB is a train as far as the NRCoT are concerned

Mmmm the smell of fresh worms from a can! Where does it say that?

at a bare minimum an undisounted Anytime single can be charged and is owed

That is not a penalty, notwithstanding the above. They would be allowed to charge the appropriate fare due. That is, in fact, all that can be charged under the passenger contract.