Northern is offering quarter-price tickets to school students from September – but only if their school is enlisted on its Under 16 Education Season Ticket scheme.

The operator will apply a 75% discount to annual tickets bought through the scheme, which are available to buy from today (Tuesday 1 August). It aims to encourage more youngsters to travel by train to school, reducing the road congestion caused by the ‘school run’.

The ticket allows unlimited travel between any two stations on the Northern network. As it is valid seven days a week, the ticket can be used at weekends and during school holidays as well as for travel to and from school.

Last academic year, around fifteen thousand students commuted on Northern services every week. However, less than a quarter of them – 3,294 – used one of the heavily discounted Under 16 Education Season Tickets.

Northern runs this programme in conjunction with 166 secondary schools and university technical colleges (UTCs) across the North of England. However, there are a further 146 educational establishments located within one kilometre of a railway station served by Northern that have not yet signed up to the scheme. Between them, they have over one hundred thousand students.

Northern is encouraging parents and cares of children attending those schools and UTCs to email [email protected] so that Northern can enrol them into the scheme.

More information and details of how to apply for a ticket can be found on this website.

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “The school run can be one of the most stressful times of the day for parents – and we want to make it a thing of the past.

“With 75%-off the cost of their journey for anyone that signs-up for the full school year, our Under 16 Education Season Tickets offer one of the most generous discounts of any ticket scheme in the country.

“By encouraging students to use the train from an early age, we also hope to kickstart a lifelong habit of commuting by rail.”