East Midlands Railway (EMR) is urging students to book ahead and follow a number of simple steps when using its services to get home for the Christmas period.

The Government has recently announced a travel window from Thursday 4th to Wednesday 9^th  December to support students in returning home for the festive period. To help students through this process, EMR is asking them to plan ahead and use its website or app to book their tickets. If they subsequently test positive after making a online booking their journey can be moved to another day – without cost.

Student customers are also being asked to use EMR’s Seat Finder tool to identify quieter trains and avoid busier services, the tool can be found on its website.

As well as keeping a safe distance from other passengers and colleagues, customers are also reminded that they must wear a face covering at all times when on the train and inside stations. When inside carriages, all passengers are asked to avoid sitting next to one another where possible and if they are sitting on a table seat, to sit diagonally opposite.

If passengers are feeling unwell they should stay at home and get a test.

Neil Grabham, Customer Services Director at East Midlands Railway, said: “We are delighted to be able to support students and help them get home to their families for Christmas.  In recent weeks, we’ve been in touch with local universities across our network and have worked hard to put plans in place for our student customers.

Of course though, this will be a team effort, so to help the week go as smooth as possible we are urging students to follow a few simple steps. These include booking tickets ahead of their journey, using our Seat Finder tool to avoid busy journey times, and to follow all the safety advice that can be found online and in our stations.

“We look forward to welcoming student customers next week and wishing them an early Merry Christmas.”