How far in advance train tickets go on sale

Today tickets are on sale up to 18 November - that is 19 days ahead.

Sales open the same number of days before departure, and the window moves daily: tomorrow one more day appears, the day after another.

When my date goes on sale

Count 19 days back from the day you travel. If you need to travel in a month, you will be able to buy in a week or so.

Nobody has the ticket earlier. Seats appear in the carrier's system at the moment the sale opens - before that they do not exist, and no seller can open them sooner.

What to do while the sale is closed

Look at the timetable for your date. The train is already in it even though the tickets are not: you can see the departure time, the journey time and which carriages the train usually carries.

Come back on the opening day. Seats on busy routes go within hours, so it is worth looking that day rather than a week later.

Consider the coach. Coach tickets are sold months ahead, so a date the train has not opened yet is usually already available there.

Why the depth changes

It depends on the carrier and shifts from time to time. The figure on this page is measured daily - it is today's state of the sale, not a line copied from a handbook.