Please follow Government advice

Please be aware that travel restrictions and local circumstances linked to the coronavirus pandemic may be different in Wales or Scotland, so if you are travelling to destinations in the devolved nations, please check details before you travel.

View Government guidance:

• Wales
• Scotland

Before you travel

• Do not travel if you have any COVID-19 symptoms, self-isolating as a result of coronavirus symptoms, sharing a household or support bubble with somebody with symptoms or if you’re clinically extremely vulnerable and cannot shield during your journey and have been advised by the NHS test and trace service that you should self-isolate. Please refer to the NHS website for more information.
• Buy your ticket online or on your phone before you get to the station preferably, so that you minimise your time at the station.
• We’re providing details of the busiest trains, so please check this information using our less busy trains tool.

Other important information

• If the last train is full and you are unable to board it, or train service disruption causes you to miss a scheduled connection for the last train, we will seek to provide replacement transport to get you to your destination station. Please contact a member of station staff or use the customer information contact facility available at the station (usually via the ticket vending machine) to seek assistance.

• In the interest of your safety, when stations or trains are at full social distancing capacity, station teams may at times prevent customers from entering the station, platform or from boarding a specific service if social distancing is being severely compromised. If this occurs during service disruption, our control teams will decide on a train by train basis whether to remove scheduled stops to reduce the impact on social distancing as best as possible.

• You should not board trains that you feel are too full and that you feel may therefore not be safe to travel on. Instead, you should wait for another train or speak to a member of staff.

• The government has made the wearing of face coverings mandatory, unless exempt, in England on trains and at stations/transport hubs. Regulations for other nations differ, government guidance can be found here.
• There are exemptions for people with disabilities or certain health conditions, such as respiratory or cognitive impairments that make it difficult for them to wear a face covering, and for children under 11. Find out more here.
• A maximum fine of up to £6,400 can apply.
• A face covering vending machine can be found at London Liverpool Street station and many of our staffed statins may provide you with one if needed.

• We're continuing to step up cleaning at our stations and on our trains, paying particular attention to high touch areas such as ticket gates, push buttons, door handles and grab rails. If you see anything you think isn’t as clean as it should be please don’t hesitate to tell a member of our staff.
• Hand sanitiser units are available at Stansted Express stations. We also use cleaning equipment - fogging guns and vacuum backpacks.
• Soap, water and toilet paper is topped up regularly in our toilets on stations and trains.
• Toilets are open at Stansted Airport, Tottenham Hale and London Liverpool Street.
• Discouraging the use of cash when buying tickets. We can still accept cash if you have no other means of payment.

• Floor markings, posters and taping off seating are in place at stations which make it clear how you can keep your distance.
• Queuing and one-way systems are in place to limit the number of people on platforms or in stations at any one time.
• Putting in queue systems and one-way systems where necessary to control the number of people on platforms or in stations at a time.
• We’re constantly monitoring the number of people using our train services to ensure there is capacity to enable social distancing.
• Reminding people to socially distance on our trains through announcements and pre-departure messaging.
• Deploying staff at some busier stations to help you follow all appropriate social distancing guidelines.
• Following Government and Public Health England advice on keeping customers safe.

• Our ticket refund policy changed from 7 September.  View current policy.

• Wear a face covering on our trains and at our stations. This is mandatory unless you're exempt.  Failure to do so could lead to a maximum fine of £6,400.
• Follow all Government and NHS hygiene guidance: wash your hands, cough or sneeze into your elbow or tissue – and throw tissues in the bin.
• There is liquid soap available at our stations and on-train toilets and hand sanitiser units are available at Stansted Airport, Bishops Stortford, Harlow Town, Tottenham Hale and London Liverpool Street.
• Comply with our queueing and one-way systems.
• Sit apart form others on the train and spread out along the carriage. Sit near a window if possible.
• Follow instructions about how you can keep your distance – listen to announcements, read posters and follow floor markings.
• Don’t leave your rubbish on the train or at the station, unless it’s in the bin so that our cleaners can spend more time cleaning than litter-picking. If you’re wearing a face mask or gloves, please don’t discard them on the train or at our stations.
• Listen to our staff. They’re trying to keep us all safe.
• Stand back and let people off the train before you board the train. Use all available doors and move down the train. Please get on and off the train as quickly as you can. 
• Don’t congregate at the front of the train on the approach to London Liverpool Street, or Stansted Airport.
• Only one person in a lift at a time, please.

• Reservations are not required on Stansted Express trains.

You are temporarily able to remove your face covering to eat and drink on the train or at stations, as long as you social distance and replace your covering when finished.

• Our food and drink retailers may not be open, so remember to bring a bottle of water and any food you may need for your journey.

• Train services to and from Stansted to London Liverpool Street operate half hourly Monday to Sunday, with 3 trains an hour at certain times of the day Monday to Friday. You can find out more with our Journey Planner.
• All of our ticket offices are open and normal ticket office hours apply.

• All station toilets are open as per normal opening times. For more information on station facilities, please view our station station information.
• All waiting rooms are open as per the normal opening times.

• Please book assistance before 10pm the night before to travel or 12 hours before you wish travel.  Sometimes it may not be possible to book in advance, in which case assistance will be available from station staff. 
• The call centre opening times have changed. You can contact the assisted travel line on Monday to Friday between 8am-8pm and 9am-5pm at weekends on 0800 028 2878 (free of charge) or via Textphone and Minicom: 18001 0800 028 2878.
•  If you need to request assistance outside of these times for travel the next day only, please call 0800 0223720.
• Alternatively, you can submit a request online.
• If your journey is for travel beyond the Stansted Express services on other operators’ services, please book 24 hours before travelling so we can meet their notice period requirements.

Passenger assistance may have changed slightly from pre-pandemic assistance to maintain social distancing. For example:

• Making sure that members of staff only make contact when absolutely necessary.
• Reminding customers in wheelchairs that they need to face forward wherever possible.
• Staff making sure that unless support is required, they are at least 2m away from customers whenever possible.
• Staff making sure that they wipe the handles and brakes on the chair before and after they have made contact with them.

We also can provide turn up and go assistance to those who haven’t pre-booked.