Finding the best service for you

Helping our customers to travel with confidence

For travel at weekends you must have a seat reservation before you travel for the service you intend to travel on (especially if you are travelling with others). You can make a reservation by calling our Customer Relations team on 0345 603 4852 (opt. 3, then 1). Don't forget - Grand Central services are now available to book up to six months in advance, so it's even easier for you to plan ahead and take advantage of our lowest fares.

In the current environment, we know how quickly things can change for you and your plans, and what seems set in stone one day might be up in the air the next. That's why, during the ongoing pandemic, we're waiving our change fees for all tickets booked with Grand Central, including our lower-priced Advance tickets. Our Book with Confidence promise runs until 31 March 2022, and we'll be reviewing this as an industry throughout the rest of the year. 

Changing your seat reservation

If you made your reservation(s) when social distancing restrictions were still in place, you will be able to amend your seat reservations (subject to availability). If you purchased your tickets directly from Grand Central, please contact our Customer Relations team via email ([email protected]) to amend your reservation (subject to availability).

If you purchased your ticket via any other website, please contact them directly - we are unable to change ticket(s) purchased through other websites. 

Finding the right journey for you

To make sure you enjoy a comfortable journey, we recommend travelling on quieter services - the graphics below show the latest booking information for each of our services over the next two weeks.

• Green services have plenty of space available.
• Yellow services are a little busier.
• Orange services don't have many seats left.
• Red services are sold out

You can view our seating plans before you travel.

Grand Central seat availability

• Trains to/from Bradford, Low Moor, Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Pontefract Monkhill, Wakefield Kirkgate and Doncaster

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• Trains to/from Sunderland, Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Thirsk and York

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Book your tickets on Grand Central

Reserve your seat - and sit back and relax

For travel at weekends you must hold a seat reservation. Our Advance fares will always come with a seat reservation, but for all other fares you may need to make a reservation. To do so, simply call our Customer Relations team on 0345 603 4852 (opt.3, then 1). If you are travelling with friends and family and would like to be seated together, we would advise you to make a reservation to ensure you're seated together.

• How can I reserve a seat?
  • If you have purchased an Advance train ticket, this will come with a seat reservation by default
  • Grand Central Anytime or Off-Peak tickets are currently only being sold with reservations, however these can be changed (subject to availability) by contacting our customer relations team on 0345 603 4852 (option 3, then 1).
• When can I reserve seats?
  • Seats are available to reserve up to 5 minutes before departure (subject to availability).
• I don't have a reservation
  • If you have purchased an "Any Permitted" ticket, you may not have a seat reservation as these can be valid for any train service. If you wish to travel on a Grand Central service using this ticket, please contact our customer relations team on 0345 603 4852 (option 3, then 1) to arrange a reservation (subject to availability).
• My reserved seat was on train which has been cancelled
  • If your train has been cancelled, either check our social media for more information at Twitter or Facebook, or contact our customer relations team on 0345 603 4852 (option 3, then 1). You should not board the next available train unless explicitly told this is possible. You can also change your journey to any other Grand Central service without a fee. If you no longer wish you travel, you can claim a refund for your unused ticket(s). More information is available to view here. 
• There are no tickets available for a service I want to travel on
  • If there are no tickets or seats showing for a service, this means it has sold out and you will need to select an alternative service. We publish daily seat availability charts to let you know which trains currently have seats available.
  • We strongly recommend that you make a seat reservation before travelling with Grand Central. Our Advance fares will always come with a seat reservation as they're a requirement of the ticket type, but if you have any other ticket type you may need to make a reservation. Doing so is quick and easy - simply call our Customer Relations team on 0345 603 4852 (opt. 3, then 1).
• Why should I make a seat reservation?
  • We want you to feel relaxed and comfortable when you travel with Grand Central, so we always strongly recommend that you make a seat reservation before travelling with us. Advance tickets come with a mandatory seat reservation so you don't need to worry about making a reservation. To find out if you need to make a seat reservation, and to make one, just give us a call on 0345 603 4852 (opt. 3, then 1).
  • We post regular updates showing which of our services are the quietest. Simply view the seat availability updates above for more information. 

Reserve your seat