TrainpalAvis 

Why have I got to give one star for this review it doesn’t warrant any stars !!
How stupid is refunds for cancelled train £8.30p for return fare
Navigate app then pay for first class stamp drive to post office pay for tracking etc £3.70p , send tickets and track post to address in Edinburgh then wait up to 15 days for refund
How easy would it be to take photos of tickets and email

No wonder this country is going to the dogs !!

Came to know about this via FirstDirect perks offering 15% (about £5 discount) on a £35 railcard.
How do they work?
All railcards are issued via Trainpal app and a train ticket purchase using the app is necessary to activate the railcard as per terms and conditions. Redeeming the railcard is so difficult on the app, and the app is not user friendly. Once redeemed the app displays railcard but you are free to use other sites to purchase discounted tickets. but remember to show the railcard on Trainpal app. This bit felt like a deception hence 1 star.

Bought what was sold as first class tickets but on collection they were standard class. Totally fraudulent and almost impossible to pursue as any legal dispute is referred to their parent company Trip based in China.
Scam.

Appalling lack of customer service now app is definitely not working like it had done!
I have used this app for over a year now, and it has been good booking routes that take longer, but therefore are cheaper to London, but yesterday it started having a glitch, a blip whereby everything I search for said, every train on every day, on every time for the foreseeable future was 'sold out', which could not possibly be the truth, so something is definitely now wrong with the app. There is no customer services.There is no proper communication, a big communication barrier - you try to chat with an agent typing via their app and they don't understand and you have to repeat and say as clearly as possible the situation...hours of typing & retyping!!!!!You phone the numbers, and
that's just recorded messages that are not fit for purpose and don't let you get through to a human being. zilch, customer service. No recognition of loyalty, absolutely pathetic and ridiculous and not sorting the problem out over two days still.....appalling lack of any customer service or any respect towards loyal customers!

They lie and rip you off. Vile

I have found my first two uses of Trainpal to be excellent (mid July and mid August 2025). I am getting a better ap' service than with Trainline and cheaper tickets. I received updates about change of train times which was very useful too.

I booked a train ticket through TrainPal’s website. During the payment process, something went wrong — I clearly saw an error message, and I didn’t receive the usual confirmation email right away. Thinking the first payment hadn’t gone through, I tried again using the TrainPal app just a few minutes later.

Both transactions ended up being processed, which means I was charged twice for the same trip. The timestamps on the two tickets are only about six minutes apart — and in reality, the gap was even shorter. The delay in receiving the first confirmation email is a clear sign that there was a technical problem on TrainPal’s side, not an error on my part.

TrainPal’s support team has so far refused to issue a refund, claiming everything on their end was “normal.” I strongly disagree because:
• I personally saw an error message on your website.
• No one would ever intentionally buy two identical tickets just minutes apart.
• The late arrival of the first confirmation email clearly indicates a payment processing issue.

I believe this refusal is unfair and unprofessional. This was my first and last time using TrainPal, and I am now formally requesting once again that you review the records carefully and issue a full refund for the duplicate payment.

I like this app
Use very easy and discount as well

I bought a ticket for 8 trips for the month. My understanding of a month is from the 1st to 30th or 31st. I wanted to use my last tickets in the last week of the month only to find out that the last date to them is the 28th. I cannot get hold of them to obtain a refund. £190.00 stolen from me. DO NOT USE THEM. I will be letting my entire contact list know not to use them.

Avoid!!! I spent £350 on train tickets for 9 of us and on the day the train was cancelled. The app said I was eligible for a refund all seemed good. I’ve had e mails to say the refund has been completed but i’ve still not received the money. There’s no way i’ve found to actually speak to anyone to try and sort it out so i’ve had no choice but to go through my credit card company to get the money back which could take 3-5 months! Will never use them again.

Dreadful company. I foolishly purchased a senior rail card only to find that to “activate” it you have to use the app to buy your rail tickets. Just to “activate” my card I bought a single, very short trip ……. I am now unable to find my card and can’t find anyway of contacting anyone to help. STAY AWAY!!!!!

Cannot contact anyone to find out why the app won't let me open an account. You can only contact them once you have an account. I've lost the money I've paid TrainPal for a railcard and bought one else. No refund or apology offered.

Bought a network rail card, downloaded the app. Impossible to register the card. Network rail card does not even come up as an option. Zero help. Rubbish

Works fine for tickets but no option to remove or change debit card. So after I got a new card I had to delete my account and move on. No way to contact them.

SCAM, paid for a railcard from the martin lewis article expecting to save some money however was left £26 out of pocket and didn't receive a railcard.

I cannot get through to them at all I paid £20 for one year rail card and received nothing

It is almost impossible to get through to Customer Service. There is no phone number to call, and the email address that Trainpal provides is so overloaded that my mail bounces back "because there is a temporary problem delivering the message." What kind of company is this? The most apt description is 'Mickey Mouse'.

The reviews speak for themselves. It's a system that's there to steal your money if you want a refund.
I have only used Trainpal a few times to mix it up with Trainline; however, never again. I paid £47.21 for my ticket and needed to cancel, but the refund was £1.27 total scam, stating most of the train ticket was non-refundable, not easy to read, unlike Trainline, which is very clear, and to be honest was £10 cheaper if your ticket was non-refundable, and when you're in a rush, you can certainly make an error. Trainpal's app is misleading, but then I am used to the trainlines app, better the devil you know comes to mind. I have now deleted the app and my account with Trainpal.

I have used them for a few years now with no issue. But i have to admit lately it’s giving me a vibe I don’t like. It’s like s gambling site distracting you with gimmicky “cash back” “lucky spin”etc. it needs to just stick with offering reasonable train fare.

Wish I had seen the reviews before. Won't use anymore.
Avoid. Useless customer service