Travel

Introduction Edit

The double-arrow symbol signifies a railway station or the rail network throughout Britain. It appears on all stations, road signs and maps.

With around 34,000km (21,000 miles) of lines, the National Rail passenger network of the United Kingdom is one of the densest and most used railway networks in the world. The rail network is comprehensive: almost all towns of importance, and many hundreds of villages, and all cities, are served by frequent daily passenger services. As for services across the English Channel from France and Belgium to the United Kingdom and vice versa, Eurostar (the cross-channel rail operator) has become the dominant carrier in cross-channel intercity passenger travel (on the routes that it operates) carrying more passengers than all airlines combined. Train travel is very popular in Britain - most services are now very busy, even on apparently rural lines; passenger numbers have been rising steadily, with passenger usage now as great as it was sixty years ago. In the last financial year, ending in April 2014, 1.59 billion passenger journeys were made in Great Britain, compared with the 35 million of the United States which has a population five times greater.

It is one of the fastest, most comfortable, convenient and enjoyable ways to explore Britain and by far the best way to travel inter-city. From High Speed 1, which connects London to Kent and mainland Europe, to preserved railways operating historic steam trains through idyllic countryside, to a visit to Shakespeare's birthplace at Stratford-upon-Avon, to modern inter-city services to bustling modern commercial centres, small unspoiled towns and villages, and the breathtakingly scenic lines of Scotland. the train can be an enthralling and affordable way to see all that the UK has to offer.

All infrastructure (e.g. track, bridges, stations etc.) is owned by the state while trains are operated by private companies (usually multinational transport companies) which bid for particular franchises. The system is tightly controlled by the national and devolved governments in London, Edinburgh and Cardiff which heavily subsidise it. Despite a controversial privatisation in the mid 1990s which resulted in the running of the system being split up into dozens of different organisations, the network provides seamless journeys even if travelling on various companies' trains - tickets can be purchased from any station in Great Britain to any other, irrespective of train company. The National Rail website provides timetables and a journey planner at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/.

The award-winning National Railway Museum [1] at York tells the story of Britain's railways and how they changed society from the 19th century to today, with many historic and record-setting locomotives, rolling stock and other exhibits. Admission is free.

This guide does not cover rail travel in Northern Ireland. which operates its own state-owned system called Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) which is separate and even uses a different track gauge (the Irish gauge). NIR is owned and controlled by the government of the Northern Irish Executive in Belfast. It is well-integrated with local and provincial bus services operated by Translink [2] and trains in the Republic of Ireland operated by Iarnród Éireann [3]. For more details on rail travel in Northern Ireland, see Rail travel in Ireland.

Please note also that some major towns (such as Bury and Oldham in Greater Manchester and a few other places) have no national rail service because the rail lines have been converted to light-rail. and as such are no longer part of the national rail system they cannot be found in the national timetables. Such towns are served by frequent electric services running on the old rail lines, often taking to the streets in the centre of these towns. Without exception, these light rail/tram services (such as in Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham and elsewhere) serve national rail stations, to connect with the national rail network, although through rail tickets may not be available. So, please be aware that if you are visiting a specific town in the UK, you can sometimes travel most of the way by train and then easily transfer to the local light-rail services.

Structure Edit

The ownership and structure is complex, but you won't notice when making a journey, although it may be discussed in the media (complaints about the service feature often in the news). The track, stations and infrastructure (except for preserved railways) are owned and maintained by Network Rail. a "not for dividend" company limited by guarantee and owned by the government. Basically this means the infrastructure is all state-owned.

General service levels and routes to be run are specified by the government, but the "detail" and actual level of service are chosen commercially by (and operated by) the commercial train companies, known as Train operating companies (TOCs). These lease or own rolling stock to run the passenger services demanded in their franchise contracts. Companies compete to win franchises for a certain number of years. Their continued permission to operate, or ability to win extensions or future franchises, depends on factors including value-for-money, performance and customer satisfaction. Government officials and transport ministers play a heavy role in the process.

The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) represents all the passenger train companies, and markets them collectively as National Rail. National Rail has inherited the iconic white-on-red "double-arrow" logo (see illustration) first used by British Rail in 1965, the former state-owned railway operator which was privatised in the 1990s (although the infrastructure was re-nationalised in the early 2000s). The iconic logo is used extensively to signify a railway station and on road signs, maps, tickets and other places.

Passenger Rail Companies Edit

Some train operating companies cover a particular geographical region, while others operate inter-city lines which pass through various regions. As of June 2015, the National Rail [4] network of passenger operating companies consists of the following companies. All are private commercial organisations (mostly subsidiaries of global transport companies like FirstGroup, Stagecoach, Arriva and Virgin).