Our military personnel are rightly valued throughout their service in HM armed forces. They make sacrifices and put themselves in danger to protect and serve our country. It is only right that we continue to show how much we value their efforts once they leave the armed forces too.

The Conservative manifesto promised to introduce a railcard for veterans. Rebecca is delighted to announce that the Government will make it available from 11 November this year (2020). This railcard will extend discounted train travel to the more than 830,000 veterans not covered by existing discounts.

It is important that our veterans have access to this railcard, supporting their access to vital work prospects and retraining opportunities, and making it easier for former members of the armed forces to stay in touch with friends and relatives.

This railcard will also allow their family to travel with them, potentially saving military families hundreds of pounds a year. This is a welcome measure, alongside a much wider set of commitments which are being announced by the Minister for the Cabinet Office today in the Government’s consultation response to last year’s consultation on the Strategy for our Veterans.

This new railcard is one of the first parts of this Government’s commitment to make the UK the best place to be a veteran anywhere in the world.