Great Western Railway is not offering £2 passes for U.K. residents

The claim

A Facebook post (archived here) claims that Great Western Railway (GWR), a U.K. train operator, offers a special pass for just £2. The pass supposedly allows U.K. residents unlimited free train travel for an entire year. It also suggests that the initiative supports social causes.

This post, made by the profile "Amazing savings — get your one-year pass now," has received more than 280 comments, with many users asking how to obtain the £2 pass. 

Additionally, some commenters claim to have already received the card, posting images below the post.

However, this information is false. GWR has confirmed that it has never made such an offer. 

This is not the first time a scam has targeted GWR, misleading passengers with fraudulent claims of discounted or free travel passes.

In fact

On X, GWR addressed a user's question about the claim's validity by stating that it was fraudulent. They explained: "Hi there, yes this is a scam. If it was real it would be posted by GWR, not by an account called 'Amazing savings - get your one-year pass now.' We have reported this. Please note that sharing this post increases the engagement on it, and it is pushed to more people."

Additionally, the images purporting to show the pass do not resemble any card ever issued by GWR. We also cannot find similar promotions on the company's website, announcement archive, or social media pages.

Furthermore, all the users who claimed to have received the card shared similar pictures. As the images lack any distinguishing features of the individuals holding the cards, verifying whether they are authentic is impossible.

A screenshot of comments below the post (Source: Facebook)

False information and scams like this are not new. Last year, profiles like "Discount for rail transport" posted fake claims about cheap tickets from GWR. Similar posts have also claimed that "Network Rail is giving away 150 travel cards," saying all you need to do is fill out a survey and pay a small delivery fee.

GWR has warned people to be cautious when interacting with Facebook pages offering such deals. It advises against sharing personal details and encourages users to report these posts to the platform where they appear.

The verdict

The posts claiming GWR sells very cheap tickets for unlimited travel throughout the year are false. The company has confirmed that this promotion does not exist.