Britrail pass

[bennorthyork]

I've heard that the Britrail pass can only be purchased outside the UK. As a UK resident can I ask a friend who lives outside the UK to buy one for meto use in the UK?

 

[WillPS]

No, officially it's only for use by people who do not normally live in the UK.

Unofficially, I don't think the conductor can demand to see your passport... so how could they possibly check?

 

[John @ home]

I don't think the conductor can demand to see your passport

A passport is not evidence of residence in a particular country.

 

[First class]

You could still have a British passport if you lived in a British overseas territory can't you, which i think looks the same (bar it having "European Union") on the front cover.

The FRPP states that a passport may be requested as proof of eligibility. Same rules apply for FIP journeys.

 

[jon0844]

I have a Swedish passport, although I do live in the UK, so I am now wondering whether I might be able to be a bit cheeky....!

 

[WillPS]

Well, like I say I don't actually see how the conductor could check, regardless of your nationality. If I'm gonna do an ALR I think I'd be tempted to use my American mate's address as a half-way house.

 

[Railjet]

Firstly, you need to distinguish between InterRail, available for European residents, and BritRail, available for non-European residents.

Regarding InterRail, the criterion is that you must have been resident in a country for at least six months irrespective of nationality to be able to buy an InterRail pass originating in that country. You may not use the InterRail pass in that country, but you may be able to get a discounted ticket to the border with an adjacent country at a discounted price. (This is great for someone who lives in, say, Luxembourg, but bad news if you live in Britain where you have to get across the Channel and no discounts are available).

Residence check: the onus is on the issuing office to check your residence. In practice, this means, for example, that if you buy a pass originating in Britain with a British passport, you are automatically assumed to live in Britain. If you are a non-national, you will be asked for some proof - this will depend on the issuing office in whatever country you live in.

The issuer writes your passport number on the pass - nothing to do with residence - and it is this document which you must produce, if asked, during a ticket check. It would otherwise be completely impracticable - imaging asking an ATW guard to check a Bulgarian residence permit, for example.

 

[bennorthyork]

Thanks all for your advice. So it sounds like I can't use an interail pass as I don't have a non-UK passport to go with it.

 

[Flying Snail]

Firstly, you need to distinguish between InterRail, available for European residents, and BritRail, available for non-European residents.

I don't know where you got that idea from, Britrail tickets are available to residents of all countries including all of Europe bar Britain.

As for passport checks, I have used Britrail passes regularly for many years and have never once been asked to show a passport, lucky that seeing as I never carry one in the UK. Earlier this year my father was asked for his by a Virgin Trains conductor.

Not that I would suggest to anyone to break the rules but the savings of Britrail and Interrail passes over ALRs are huge and the flexi-passes are a much better value product.

I don't know about inter-rail as i've never used them but the only requirement when buying britrail passes is that they aren't sold in Britain and obviously the on-line sales won't ship them to British addresses (or I would guess sell them to credit cards with British addresses).

 

[Railjet]

Britrail tickets are available to residents of all countries including all of Europe bar Britain.

You are right, previously there was that distinction but there is no longer - which begs the question why two products are needed. The InterRail Great Britain pass has fewer options so is therefore effectively redundant.

Interesting to see that prices are similar but not identical; for example, 8 days in 1 month, 1st class adult: €404 InterRail, €419 BritRail.