How early should you get to the train station?

How early should you get to the train station? For a local or commuter train when you've already got a ticket, about 5 minutes before departure is usually enough at a small station, and around 10 at a big one. For a long-distance train with a reserved seat, or if you still need to buy a ticket, give yourself 15 to 20 minutes. British trains have no check-in, so all you're really buying with that time is the walk to the platform and a bit of slack.

A quick answer by station and train

These are rules of thumb, not railway rules. The real answer depends on how long it takes you to get from the station entrance to the right platform, which is why it's worth timing once.

Why do big stations need more time?

Size, mostly. At a small station the platform might be twenty steps from the gate. At a big terminus or junction you've got ticket gates, crowds, long platforms and sometimes a separate set of platforms altogether. Manchester Piccadilly's platforms 13 and 14 are a fair walk from the main concourse. Clapham Junction means a footbridge or subway between platforms. London Waterloo and Birmingham New Street are big enough that it's easy to come in at the wrong end.

Then there's the platform announcement. At busy London termini such as Euston and King's Cross, the platform for a long-distance train is often only shown shortly before departure. Everyone waits under the screens, the platform pops up and there's a bit of a rush. Getting there early doesn't make the platform appear sooner, but it does mean you're standing in the right place with your ticket ready when it does. Our guide to London's main line stations covers which station goes where.

Do you need to be early for a reserved seat?

Not hugely early, but don't cut it fine. The doors close a little before the booked departure time on every train, and long-distance trains are long. If your reserved seat is in coach A and the train's sitting at the far end of the platform, that's a proper walk with a suitcase.

It also matters more if you're on an Advance ticket. Those are only valid on the train you booked, so missing it through your own lateness normally means buying a new ticket. That's an expensive way to save five minutes in a café.

What if you still need to buy a ticket?

Then add time. Ticket office queues can be long first thing, and machines aren't always quick, especially when you're working out which ticket you actually need. On many routes you're expected to buy before you board if there's a ticket office or a working machine, and you can be charged a penalty fare if you don't.

The easy fix is to buy on your phone before you leave home. Then it's just the walk to think about.

Work backwards from the train

Here's the simple version:

1. Look up the live departure time, not the timetable time.
2. Take off your timed walk from front door to platform.
3. Take off a buffer of a couple of minutes, more for a big station.
4. That's when you leave.

Doing this every morning in your head gets old quickly. A home departure board can do the sums for you. With TrainTicker you tell it how long your walk takes and it hides the trains you couldn't reach in time, so the first train on the board is the first one you can actually catch. Pair that with the platform walk you've timed and the question "should I go now?" answers itself. You can try the idea in the free live demo first.

Time the walk itself, once

Do it on a normal day, carrying your normal bag. Start at your front door, stop on the platform your train usually uses. Notice where the slow bits are: the crossing with the long wait, the steps up to the footbridge, the ticket gates that always seem to need a second tap.

Weather changes things too. Rain slows everyone down, and on frosty mornings you'll want to walk carefully rather than briskly. In winter it's worth checking for delays before you set off at all, which we cover in winter train travel tips.

Still missing trains?

If the sums are right and you're still running for it, the problem is usually the morning before the walk: a late start, a phone check that turns into ten minutes of scrolling, a bag that wasn't packed. How to stop missing your train goes through the habits that fix that.