FAQS
Tickets / Seating
All tickets are sold online.
Tickets cannot be purchased by phone or in person at the railway.
We accept all major credit and debit cards, and payments are processed securely through Stripe.
Our full range of dates, times and prices can be found on our website.
Yes! We are pleased that we are now able to offer Klarna as a payment option. Klarna helps you to spread the cost of your tickets.
Our carriages have seating arranged in groups of four around a table, or in pairs.
Your seats will be allocated by our customer service team.
Please note: We reserve the right to seat bookings in any way we deem necessary. You may share your table with another family if your booking is not in a group of four.
Our carriages all come from heritage stock and all differ. Photos and video are for illustrative purposes only and we reserve the right to change our carriages for operational reasons at any time.
If you are making multiple bookings and would like to be seated together, please use the link below. However, we can never guarantee that separate bookings will be seated together. We recommend making one group booking where possible, as this gives your group the best chance of being seated together.
Please note that if your booking contains multiple families, you may be split across tables. For example, if you book for six people made up of two families of three, you may be seated with four people around one table and two at another. In this case, we suggest making separate bookings, although we still cannot guarantee that two tables will be together.
If you make an additional purchase, this will not automatically be attached to your original booking. You must contact us using the linked bookings form so we can link the bookings together. If you wish to add an additional person to your party, please contact customer services directly.
Please note: We reserve the right to seat bookings in any way we deem necessary.
If you are booking more than 32 tickets, please click the button below. This will allow our team to review your requirements and assist with larger group arrangements to ensure the best seating options are available for your party.
If you are booking fewer than 32 tickets, please go to our website to book as normal. You can complete your booking online, and your tickets will be allocated through our standard reservation system.
Make a change to my booking
You can add a Baby on Lap to your order.
These tickets are £5 more expensive, this entitles them to the Silver Sleigh Bell given to them by Santa himself, making it all the more special.
You are able to add another ticket(s) to your order.
Please go to the website to make your purchase and then complete the 'link my booking' form to be seated together.
Arriving / Parking
The event takes place in Royal Tunbridge Wells at the Spa Valley Railway. Guests will board the train at West Station, TN2 5QY, where the magical journey will begin.
Please plan to arrive 30-45 minutes before your scheduled start time to allow enough time for check-in and boarding, so you don’t miss any of the festive fun.
Pyjamas of course!
We encourage our guests to wear pyjamas and robes just as the characters did in the film!
As the event takes place in winter and is partly outdoors, we ask guests to bring a warm coat and a brolly, and to wear sensible, sturdy shoes.
No slippers please! We are a working railway with some uneven floors and it can get a little muddy, we would hate for you to ruin your bunny rabbit slippers!
Unfortunately, timings for the event are extremely strict. If you are on your way and running late, please continue to travel, as we will do everything we can to assist you on-site.
However, even if the train has not yet departed, there are strict cut-offs for boarding. The doors will be locked at these times and cannot be reopened for late arrivals—just like a normal train.
As the event takes place in winter in the United Kingdom, please allow extra time for travel if the weather looks poor, on top of the additional time we recommend.
Please note: we do not offer on-site parking at the railway, and there is no parking available in the streets around the station.
Guests will need to make their own parking arrangements.
Disabled Parking:
Disabled guests can be dropped off directly at the railway.
For accessible parking options, please refer to the council website.
Important Notes:
The event takes place in December, so please prepare for wintry road conditions. Weather in England can be unpredictable, but the event will run as scheduled—even in rain or snow.
PNP Events and Spa Valley Railway are not liable for road closures, delays, or missed trains due to weather or circumstances beyond our control. No refunds will be given if you miss the train for these reasons.
Please plan to arrive 30-45 minutes before your scheduled start time to allow enough time for check-in and boarding, so you don’t miss any of the festive fun.
The Experience
Your e-tickets will be sent to you 14 days before your visit.
Please take a moment to check your junk or spam folders just in case the email has ended up there. You should be looking for an email from ETIX.
If you have any trouble finding your tickets, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us — we’re happy to help!
You are on board the train for approximately 1 hour.
Once your experience is over, you can spend as much time in our gift shop as you wish. We usually find that guests spend around 15–30 minutes there.
In total, guests are usually with us for around 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Please note that the time on your ticket is the time your experience starts and is not the time the train departs.
Yes, we schedule a steam engine to pull THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride.
The only time we won’t is due to circumstances beyond our control, where we reserve the right to use a substitute engine as required to ensure the event continues.
Yes, the train does move. You will be on board for approximately one hour. There may be movements backwards and forwards due to caribou or frozen lakes.
Whilst we attempt to run the event as close to THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride experience as possible we may need to, at short notice and due to technical or mechanical problems, make operational changes to enable the event to continue to run. This may include substituting a diesel locomotive or running the show on a static train.
Unfortunately, pets are not allowed on board.
Trained service animals and assistance animals are welcome to join us. Please contact Customer Services before your visit if you plan to bring an assistance animal on board
Please speak to a member of staff on arrival if you require any assistance or reasonable adjustments to help you in your visit.
Unfortunately, due to the limited space available on our heritage carriages, we are unable to allow pushchairs or car seats on board.
To ensure the safety and comfort of all our guests, we kindly ask that you leave these items on the platform.
Our trained marshals will be on hand to look after them for you throughout your journey, and you will be able to collect them again when you return.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation, as this helps us maintain a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone on the train.
Allergy/Dietary Information
We will offer an alternative hot chocolate and a snack free from many allergens, but unfortunately, we may not be able to accommodate all possible allergies or dietary requirements.
Please speak to a member of staff on the train if you require an allergy-friendly alternative. You are welcome to bring an alternative with you for members of your party who have allergies if you prefer.
Vegan Belgian Hot Chocolate
Ingredients: Fat reduced cocoa powder¹ 23%, glucose syrup, maltodextrin, Belgian Chocolate 10% (sugar, cocoa mass¹, fat-reduced cocoa powder¹, flavouring), sugar, fully hydrogenated coconut oil, gluten-free oat flour, refined coconut oil, thickener (guar gum), salt, emulsifiers (E322, E47), modified starch, hydrolysed pea protein, sweetener (aspartame²), stabilisers (E340, E340(i)), anti-caking agents (E551, E341 (ii)), flavouring (vanillin), colour (E160a).
Allergens: May Contain: Milk
² Contains a source of phenylalanine.
Vegan, Gluten-Free and Nut-Free Cookie
Ingredients: Flour Blend (Rice, Potato, Tapioca, Maize, Buckwheat), margarine (palm oil, rapeseed oil), sugar, Chocolate chips [sugar 58.5%; cocoa mass 33.0%; cocoa butter 8.0%; emulsifier: SOYA lecithin <1%; natural vanilla flavouring <1%], cornflour, rice flour, water.
Allergens: see ingredients in bold. May contain wheat.
Standard Hot Chocolate
Nestlé Alegria Hot Chocolate
Ingredients: Sugar, Skimmed Milk Powder (13.9%), Glucose Syrup, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder (10.4%), Coconut Oil, Thickener (E415), Flavouring, Anti-Caking Agent (E551), Acidity Regulator (E340), Stabilisers (E331, E452), Salt [Sodium Chloride, Anti-Caking Agent (E535)].
For allergens: see ingredients in bold.
Milk Chocolate Cookie
Ingredients: WHEAT flour (with calcium, iron, niacin & Thiamine), Sugar, salted butter (12%) (butter(MILK), Salt), Vegetable margarine (palm oil, rapeseed oil, water, emulsifier, mono- & di-glycerides of fatty acid), OATS, milk chocolate chunk (6%) (sugar, whole MILK powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, Whey powder (MILK), emulsifier; SOYA lecithin, vanilla extract), Brown sugar (sugar, Cane molasses), golden syrup, rapeseed oil, baking powder (raising agents: sodium acid pyrophosphate and sodium bicarbonate).
For allergens: see ingredients in bold.
Please refer to the allergy sheet on board the train; the chefs will bring it around.
We are sorry that you wish to return an item, or that your item is faulty.
Please contact Customer Services and they will be happy to assist. We will need your receipt number in order to process your request.
We also operate our online shop, North Pole Trading, where you can purchase a range of THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride items throughout the year
Golden tickets will be given out on the day of your event to ensure everyone has them on board and can join in with the fun activities.
Ticket Protection
We are pleased to be able to offer Ticket Protection through our third-party partner, Secure My Booking.
Ticket Protection allows you to recoup 100% of the paid ticket price if you are unable to make it to your event for a number of covered reasons, including illness, travel delay, adverse weather conditions and more.
To see what is covered please go to the Secure My Booking website.
Ticket protection MUST be added at the time of booking.
We CANNOT add it at a later stage.
You will be shown the option to add protection when booking.
All tickets must be covered or none at all.
If you have ticket protection, you can make a claim via the Secure my Booking website.
Please be aware, Secure My Booking's decision is final and we are not able to change this.
The Ticket Protection is non-refundable in any circumstance.
You are covered from the moment you purchase tickets.
Ticket Protection is provided by a third party company Secure My Booking and their Terms and Conditions are final.
They will make the decision if your situation is covered or not. We do not have the ability to override this decision.
Ticket protection is offered through our 3rd party partner, Secure My Booking.
Details are available on their website.
Accessibility / Disabilities / Carers
If you receive the highest rate of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), ADP or CDP, the enhanced rate of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), or you have an Access Card showing +1, we offer a 50% discount on the carer’s ticket.
First, purchase your tickets on the website at full price.
Then contact Customer Services, including your booking number and proof of entitlement. Our elves will then refund 50% of one ticket, minus the compulsory £3.00 booking fee.
Please note that there must be at least one full-paying adult on the booking in order to claim a carer’s ticket.
To qualify for a carer discount, you must provide one of the following:
- Highest rate of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), ADP or CDP
- Enhanced rate of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- An Access Card showing +1
We accept the following as proof of entitlement:
- A photo of a full official letter dated within the last 12 months from the Department of Work and Pensions OR
- A photo of an Access Card, both sides, clearly showing the photo and number.
We DO NOT accept
- Blue badges
- CEA Cards
- Bank Statements
- Doctors / Medical letters
We are unable to accept carers discounts for the following:
- Carer discounts cannot be used in conjunction with any other coupons, discounts or promotional offers.
- There MUST be at least one full-paying adult on the booking.
Please note that the Carer discount cannot be applied to bookings after 30 December. All requests must be submitted before this date.
Unfortunately, the carers discount is only available for tickets purchased directly through us. Tickets bought via third-party sellers are not eligible.
Customer Service & Refunds
To view our terms and conditions please refer to the website
We are unable to offer any cancellations, refunds, or reschedules therefore please be sure you can attend on the dates/times selected when you book. The train can depart in rain and snow. In the unfortunate event the train is unable to operate, you will be notified as soon as possible and given a refund of your Tickets or, if possible, the opportunity to reschedule.
As the event takes place in winter, please plan appropriately for the road conditions. Remember, this is England and the weather can vary dramatically, however, this event is not affected by the weather and will run no matter the weather conditions even in rain and snow. PNP Events is not liable for any road closures or delays.
You are only liable for a refund should We fail to run the event. There will be NO refunds for guests arriving late due to, but not limited to, poor weather, vehicle breakdowns, public transport, acts of god and anything covered in the Events Outside Our Control.
Booking fees and Ticket Protection are not refundable in any circumstance.
There is a £20 fee for any changes to the order (Including but not limited to Name, Address, Date, Time etc) up to 60 days before your event date and time.
If you sell your tickets to a third party, the £20 admin charge needs to be paid by You to change the name and address.
There will be NO changes to any tickets within 30 days of Your event date and time.
Before 60 days prior to Your event date and time – £20 charge
Between 60 days and 30 days prior to Your event date and time – 25% charge of your entire booking.
Tickets cannot be resold, raffled or used for a competition without approval from Us. Any unapproved transactions may result in tickets being cancelled.
In order to request a refund or exchange please contact us on the link below. Refunds shall only be made to the person who purchased the Tickets and, when possible, be made using the same payment method as was used to purchase the Tickets.
These Terms and Conditions do not and shall not affect your statutory rights as a consumer. For further information about your statutory rights contact Citizens Advice, Consumer Direct (http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/) or the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
Unfortunately, we cannot issue refunds for tickets purchased through third-party sellers.
Any refund requests must be directed to the original seller.
Please see our Terms and conditions for this information.
Please contact our Customer Service team who will be happy to help with your enquiry
No FAQs found.
Official Merchandise
Official THE POLAR EXPRESS Train Ride merchandise is available to purchase from North Pole Trading.
