How Choo Choo makes money

Every accredited UK rail retailer, including train company apps (LNER, GWR etc), Trainline, and Choo Choo, receives a standard commission from the Rail Delivery Group on every ticket sold. For non-season tickets sold online, that rate is 4.5%, set by the RDG and the same across all retailers.

This commission is built into the fare itself. It does not appear as a separate line on your receipt, and it does not change the price you pay. The ticket costs the same whether you buy it through Choo Choo, a train company's own app, or a station ticket machine.

When Choo Choo finds you a cheaper fare using split ticketing, we take up to 15% of that saving as a commission. This is always shown clearly on the payment screen before you confirm.

For example: if the standard fare is £25.00 and Choo Choo finds a split saving of £5.00, your share of the saving is £4.15 and Choo Choo's share is 75p.

If no split saving is found, there is no commission of this kind. You just pay the standard fare.

There are none. The 4.5% industry commission already covers Choo Choo's operating costs on standard ticket sales, so we have no reason to charge you on top of that.

Building and running Choo Choo costs money. The commission we take from split ticket savings goes towards app development, design, customer support, server costs, and card processing fees. It is what makes the whole thing possible.