Editing Heritage railway (section)

===United Kingdom ===
{{main|List of British heritage and private railways}}
[[File:Tal-Y-Llyn Dolgoch Abergwynolwn 1951.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Talyllyn Railway]] in 1951, the year it opened as a heritage railway]]
In Britain, heritage railways are often railway lines which were run as commercial railways but were no longer needed (or closed down) and were taken over or re-opened by volunteers or non-profit organisations. The large number of heritage railways in the UK is due in part to the closure of many minor lines during the 1960s' [[Beeching cuts]], and they were relatively easy to revive. There are between 100 and 150 heritage railways in the United Kingdom.

A typical British heritage railway will use [[steam locomotive]]s and original [[rolling stock]] to create a period atmosphere, although some are concentrating on diesel and electric traction to re-create the post-steam era. Many run seasonally on partial routes, unconnected to a larger network (or railway), and charge high fares in comparison with transit services; as a result, they focus on the tourist and leisure markets. During the 1990s and 2000s, however, some heritage railways aimed to provide local transportation and extend their running seasons to carry commercial passenger traffic.
[[File:GWR inspection saloon on Severn Valley Railway.jpg|left|thumb|[[Severn Valley Railway]]]]

The first standard-gauge line to be preserved (not a victim of Beeching) was the [[Middleton Railway]]; the second, and the first to carry passengers, was the [[Bluebell Railway]].

Not-for-profit heritage railways differ in their quantity of service and some lines see traffic only on summer weekends. The more successful, such as the [[Severn Valley Railway]] and the [[North Yorkshire Moors Railway]], may have up to five or six steam locomotives and operate a four-train service daily; smaller railways may run daily throughout the summer with only one steam locomotive. The [[Great Central Railway (heritage railway)|Great Central Railway]], the only preserved British main line with a double track, can operate over 50 trains on a busy timetable day.

After the privatisation of main-line railways, the line between not-for-profit heritage railways and for-profit [[branch line]]s may be blurred. The [[Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway]] is an example of a commercial line run as a heritage operation and to provide local transportation, and the Severn Valley Railway has operated a few [[Rail freight transport|goods trains]] commercially. A number of heritage railway lines are regularly used by commercial freight operators.

Since the Bluebell Railway reopened to traffic in 1960, the definition of private [[standard gauge]] railways in the United Kingdom as preserved railways has evolved as the number of projects and their length, operating days and function have changed. The situation is further muddied by large variations in ownership-company structure, rolling stock and other assets. Unlike [[community rail]]ways, tourist railways in the UK are [[Vertical integration|vertically integrated]] (although those operating mainly as [[charities]] separate their [[Charitable organization|charitable]] and non-charitable activities for accounting purposes).