THE hunt is on for hundreds of free train tickets which have been concealed in copies of escapist novels after Great Western Railway launched a new campaign to tap into its passengers' love of books.

Citing a new study carried out by the railway operator that half of the nation’s young people admitted they daydream of getting away and exploring a new place at least once a week, they have taken to hiding hundreds of free train tickets within the pages of books at various locations.

The research by Great Western Railway (GWR) also reveals that when physically ‘escaping’ is not always possible, millennials turn to other means to let their minds run free, with over half (62 per cent) reading books to escape the stresses of everyday life compared to 58 per cent choosing to listen to music, and 22 per cent choosing to book a trip to escape.

A spokesman for GWR said: "The old age saying ‘there’s nothing like a good book’ rings true, even for today’s digitally savvy generation of 16 to 35-year-olds with 82 per cent of them agreeing that physical books are better than digital books.

"The feeling of turning the pages, the physical presence of books in a room, the smell of the printed paper, the fact that they never run out of battery and the ease of being able to share them with someone else were hailed as the main reasons for choosing physical books over digital ones.

"Interestingly 48 per cent of the South West’s millennials have thought about moving to the location their favourite book is set in.

"So to support millennials desires to escape on a city break, GWR is turning escapist fiction into a truly escapist reality.

"Hundreds of free GWR return tickets have been hidden inside the pages of the nation’s favourite escapist fiction – which can be found in libraries, independent bookshops, in train stations and on GWR trains across the country. There is even one Golden Ticket offering the lucky winner a three month Summer Season rail pass for endless immersive experiences in the beautiful South West.

"Could your ticket be hiding Across the Plains in Exeter? You may have to take A Mere Interlude and pop into a book shop in London to find one. One thing is for sure, you should have Great Expectations to find one of the hundreds of hidden tickets."

Some of the stations and book shops taking part include London Paddington, Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff Central, Exeter St David's and Oxford.

GWR has also selected numerous book shops to hide the tickets, citing the following shops as some of those selected:

London

Belgravia Books - 59 Ebury Street, Victoria, London, SW1W 0NZ

Luytens & Rubinstein Bookshop - 21 Kensington Park Road, London, W11 2EU

Bristol

Beware of the Leopard Books Factual - 66-69 St Nicholas Market, St Nicholas Street, Bristol, BS1 1LJ

Beware of the Leopard Fictional - 77 St Nicholas Market, St Nicholas Street, Bristol, BS1 1LJ

Exeter

Oxfam Bookshop - 98 South Street, Exeter, EX1 1EN

Topsham Bookshop - 27 Fore St, Exeter, EX3 0HD

Cardiff

Bear Island Book Exchange - Stalls 176-180, Cardiff Market, St Mary's Street, CF10 1AU

Oxford

The Last Bookshop - 7 New Inn Hall Street , Oxford, OX1 2DH

The Albion Beatnik Bookstore - 34 Walton Street, Oxford, OX2 6AA

For more information visit www.gwr.com/immerseyourself