Concessionary Fares On The British Railway Network - Accompanied Animals and Articles

Accompanied Animals and Articles

All quotations and statistics in this section are taken from the May 1991 edition (No. 6) of the Ticket Examiners' Handbook, produced by the British Railways Board.

The British Railways Board made detailed provisions for the carriage of large and/or heavy items, pets and similar, and specific fare ranges and ticket status codes were set up within the APTIS and PORTIS/SPORTIS ticket issuing systems for these. In the later British Rail era, articles could be carried free of charge subject to the following conditions:

• Weight: not to exceed 154 lb (First Class) or 110 lb (Standard Class)
• Able to be "taken into the coach without inconvenience to other customers, or ... readily loaded and accommodated in the guard's van"

A charge of 50% of the standard adult fare, subject to a maximum fare of £4.00 or £8.00 (depending on the type of ticket held by the passenger), would be charged for the following:

• "Dogs, cats and other small inoffensive animals or birds" (maximum of two per passenger)
• Non-folding prams (maximum of two per passenger)
• Skis and surfboards (maximum of one per passenger)
• Cellos (maximum of one per passenger)
• Disabled persons' "runabout" or other electric vehicles (maximum of one per passenger; not permitted in InterCity 125, InterCity 225 or sliding-door trains)

In all of these cases, a ticket with the status code AAA would be issued for the article. This was represented as A A A on APTIS and PORTIS tickets until 1988. (Such tickets also showed NIL adults and NIL children, uniquely.)

Items exceeding the weight or size parameters, including furniture, canoes, hang-gliders and large musical instruments, had to be issued with a ticket at the standard adult rate.

Most railcards and certain other concessionary fares could be combined with the Accompanied Animals and Articles discount, resulting in much larger discounts on the standard adult fare. The status code RCAAA was used when a railcard was held.

Since privatisation, the situation has become less clear-cut, with many Train Operating Companies allowing greater freedom for such items to be carried free of charge. Appendix B of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage sets out the current allowances and fare details. The special status codes are no longer used.