Editing Transport in the United Kingdom (section)

==Rail transport<span class="anchor" id="Rail"></span>==
{{see also|Rail transport in the Isle of Man|Rail transport in Guernsey}}
[[File:Uk_ireland_railway_network.png|thumb|United Kingdom and Ireland railway network]]
The rail network in the United Kingdom consists of two independent parts, that of Northern Ireland and that of Great Britain. Since 1994, the latter has been connected to [[mainland Europe]] via the [[Channel Tunnel]]. The network of Northern Ireland is connected to that of the [[Republic of Ireland]]. The National Rail network of {{convert|10072|mi|km}} in Great Britain and 189&nbsp;route&nbsp;miles (303&nbsp;route&nbsp;km) in [[Northern Ireland]] carries 1.7&nbsp;billion passengers and 110 million tonnes of freight annually.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/previous-data/previous-statistical-releases|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20180605092252/http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/previous-data/previous-statistical-releases|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 June 2018|title=Previous statistical releases &#124; Office of Rail and Road|website=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk|access-date=15 June 2020}}</ref><ref name=UICRS>{{cite web |url=http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/synopsis_2014.pdf |title=Railway Statistics – 2014 Synopsis |publisher=UIC (International Union of Railways) |location=Paris, France |date=2014 |access-date=8 November 2015}}</ref>

Urban rail networks are also well developed in London and several other cities. There were once over {{convert|30000|mi|km}} of rail network in the UK. The UK was ranked eighth among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index assessing intensity of use, quality of service and safety.<ref name="2017-ERPI">{{cite web |url=https://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/transportation-travel-tourism-2017-european-railway-performance-index  |title=the 2017 European Railway Performance Index |date=8 January 2021 |publisher=Boston Consulting Group}}</ref>

=== Great Britain ===
[[File:800006_London_Paddington.jpg|thumb|[[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] Hitachi class at [[London Paddington station|London Paddington Station]]]]
{{main|Rail transport in Great Britain}}
The rail network in Great Britain is the oldest such network in the world. The system consists of five high-speed main lines (the [[West Coast Main Line|West Coast]], [[East Coast Main Line|East Coast]], [[Midland Main Line|Midland]], [[Great Western Main Line|Great Western]] and [[Great Eastern Main Line|Great Eastern]]), which radiate from London and other major cities to the rest of the country, augmented by regional rail lines and dense commuter networks within cities and other high-speed lines. [[High Speed 1]] is operationally separate from the rest of the network, and is built to the same standard as the [[TGV]] system in France.

The world's first passenger railway running on steam was the [[Stockton and Darlington Railway]], opened on 27 September 1825. Just under five years later the world's first intercity railway was the [[Liverpool and Manchester Railway]], designed by [[George Stephenson]] and opened by the Prime Minister, the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] on 15 September 1830. The network grew rapidly as a patchwork of literally hundreds of separate companies during the [[Victorian era]], which eventually was consolidated into just four by 1922, as the boom in railways ended and they began to lose money.

Eventually, the entire system came under state control in 1948, under the [[British Transport Commission]]'s Railway Executive. After 1962 it came under the control of the [[British Railways Board]]; then British Railways (later [[British Rail]]), and the network was reduced to less than half of its original size by the infamous [[Beeching cuts]] of the 1960s when many unprofitable branch lines were closed. Several stations and lines have since been reopened in England and [[Rail transport in Wales|Wales]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Restoring Your Railway Fund |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62d6c9e6d3bf7f28583b0179/restoring-your-railway-programme-update.pdf |journal=GOV.UK |via=DFT}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Restoring Your Railway Fund |url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2023-0014/ |website=House of Commons|date=3 October 2025 |last1=Page |first1=Marguerite |last2=Tyers |first2=Roger }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Moore |first=Catherine |date=2022-06-21 |title=Nine more abandoned rail schemes win cash for restoration |url=https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/nine-more-abandoned-rail-schemes-win-cash-for-restoration-21-06-2022/ |access-date=2024-01-09 |magazine=New Civil Engineer |language=en}}</ref>

In 1994 and 1995, British Rail was split into infrastructure, maintenance, rolling stock, passenger and freight companies, which were [[Privatisation of British Rail|privatised]] from 1996 to 1997. The privatisation has delivered very mixed results, with healthy passenger growth, mass refurbishment of infrastructure, investment in new rolling stock, and safety improvements being offset by concerns over network capacity and the overall cost to the taxpayer, which has increased due to growth in passenger numbers. While the price of anytime and off-peak tickets has increased, the price of Advance tickets has dramatically decreased in real terms: the average Advance ticket in 1995 cost £9.14 (in 2014 prices) compared to £5.17 in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://raildeliverygroup.com/what-we-do/publications.html?task=file.download&id=263|title=How do fares here compare with the rest of Europe?|website=Raildeliverygroup.com|access-date=6 October 2015|archive-date=7 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007091206/http://raildeliverygroup.com/what-we-do/publications.html?task=file.download&id=263|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite news |title= Have train fares gone up or down since British Rail? |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21056703|website=BBC |access-date=2 August 2015 |date=22 January 2013}}</ref>

In Great Britain, the infrastructure (track, stations, depots and signalling chiefly) is owned and maintained by [[Network Rail]], a body of the [[Department for Transport]]. Passenger services are operated by mostly public [[train operating company|train-operating companies]] (TOCs), with private franchises awarded by the [[Department for Transport]] (in England), [[Transport Scotland]], and [[Transport for Wales]]. Examples include [[Avanti West Coast]], [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] and [[East Midlands Railway]]. Some other passenger TOCs make use of [[Open-access operator|open-access contracts]] or [[Concession (contract)|concessionary contracts]] for their operations, such as [[Hull Trains]] or [[Merseyrail]], respectively. Freight trains are operated by [[freight operating company|freight operating companies]], such as [[DB Cargo UK]], which are commercial operations unsupported by the government. Most train operating companies do not own the locomotives and coaches that they use to operate passenger services. Instead, they are required to lease these from the three [[Rolling stock company|rolling stock companies]] (ROSCOs), with train maintenance carried out by companies such as [[Bombardier Transportation|Bombardier]] and [[Alstom]].

Rail passenger revenue in 2018/19 increased in real terms year-on-year. In 2018/19, there was £18.1bn of public expenditure on railways, an increase of 12%.<ref name=":03"/> There were 1.8 billion rail passenger journeys in England. Light rail and tram travel also continued to grow, to the highest level (0.3 million journeys) since comparable records began in 1983.<ref name=":03"/>

In Great Britain there are {{convert|10274|mi}} of {{RailGauge|sg}} [[Standard gauge|gauge]] track, reduced from a historic peak of over {{convert|30000|mi}}. Of this, {{convert|3062|mi}} is electrified and {{convert|7823|mi}} is [[Double track|double]] or multiple tracks. The maximum scheduled speed on the regular network has historically been around {{convert|125|mph|km/h}} on the [[InterCity (British Rail)|InterCity]] lines. On [[High Speed 1]], trains are now able to reach the speeds of French [[TGV]]s. [[High Speed 2]], under construction, is a wide high-speed line connecting London with [[Birmingham Curzon Street railway station|Birmingham Curzon Street]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is HS2 |url=https://www.hs2.org.uk/what-is-hs2/ |website=HS2 Ltd}}</ref> The Network North programme consists of hundreds of transport projects mostly in [[Northern England]] and [[Midlands]], including new high-speed lines linking up major cities and railway improvements.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Network North |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/network-north |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref> To cope with increasing passenger numbers, there is a large ongoing [[History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to date#Timeline of improvements|programme of upgrades]] to the network, including [[Thameslink Programme|Thameslink]], [[Crossrail]], [[Railway electrification in Great Britain|electrification of lines]], [[European Rail Traffic Management System in Great Britain|in-cab signalling]], new [[Intercity Express Programme|inter-city trains]] and [[High Speed 2|high-speed lines]]. [[Great British Railways]] is a planned [[State ownership|state-owned]] [[public body]] that will oversee [[rail transport in Great Britain]]. The [[Office of Rail and Road]] is responsible for the economic and safety regulation of the UK's railways.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Home page {{!}} Office of Rail and Road|url=https://www.orr.gov.uk/home|access-date=2021-10-05|website=www.orr.gov.uk|language=en}}</ref>

===Northern Ireland===
{{further|Rail transport in Ireland}}
In Northern Ireland, [[Northern Ireland Railways|Northern Ireland Railways (NIR)]] both owns the infrastructure and operates passenger rail services. The Northern Ireland rail network is one of the few networks in Europe that carry no freight. It is publicly owned. NIR was united in 1996 with Northern Ireland's two publicly owned bus operators – [[Ulsterbus]] and Metro (formally [[Metro (Belfast)|Citybus]]) – under the brand [[Translink (Northern Ireland)|Translink]]. In Northern Ireland there is {{convert|212|mi}} of track at {{RailGauge|1600mm}} [[Irish gauge|gauge]]. {{convert|118|mi}} of it is double track.

===International rail services===
[[File:E320 Eurostar nearest the camera, older Alsthom stock behind at St Pancras.jpg|thumb|A [[Eurostar]] service at [[St Pancras railway station|St Pancras station]]]]
[[Eurostar]] operates trains via the [[Channel Tunnel]] to France, [[Transport in Belgium|Belgium]] and [[Netherlands|The Netherlands]]. The [[Enterprise (train service)|Enterprise]] which is a joint venture [[Northern Ireland Railways]] and [[Iarnród Éireann]] operates the [[Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border|cross border]] link between [[Northern Ireland]] and the [[Republic of Ireland]].

===Rapid transit===
[[File:Map_of_Urban_rail_in_the_UK.svg|thumb|Rapid transit, tram, and local commuter rail systems in the United Kingdom]]
{{main|Rapid transit in the United Kingdom}}
Three cities in the United Kingdom have [[rapid transit]] systems. The most well known is the [[London Underground]] (commonly known as the Tube), the oldest rapid transit system in the world which opened 1863.

Another system also in London is the separate [[Docklands Light Railway]]. Although this is more of an elevated [[light metro]] system due to its lower passenger capacities; further, it is integrated with the Underground in many ways. Outside London, there is the [[Glasgow Subway]] which is the third oldest rapid transit system in the world. One other system, the [[Tyne & Wear Metro]] (opened 1980), serves Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside, and has many similarities to a rapid transit system including underground stations, but is sometimes considered to be [[light rail]].<ref name="LRTA-UK">{{cite web |author=Michael Taplin |url=http://www.lrta.org/world/worldu-z.html#GB |title=Home – World Systems List index – World List U-Z – United Kingdom (GB) |publisher=[[Light Rail Transit Association]] (LRTA) |date=March 2013 |access-date=19 May 2014 |archive-date=21 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921115910/http://www.lrta.org/world/worldu-z.html#GB |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Liverpool Overhead Railway]] (opened 1893) was one of the first metros in the world but was dismantled  1956–1958 after years of neglect because nobody was willing or able to provide the funds for maintenance and repairs.

===Urban rail===
{{Main|Urban rail in the United Kingdom}}
[[File:803 001 Lumo Trains at Offord Cluny.jpg|thumb|[[Lumo (train operating company)|Lumo]] high-speed trains provide services from [[Northern England]] to Scotland and London.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-24 |title=Lumo hailed a success as rail is the preferred choice over air travel between Edinburgh and London |url=https://railuk.com/rail-news/lumo-hailed-a-success-as-rail-is-the-preferred-choice-over-air-travel-between-edinburgh-and-london/ |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=Rail UK |language=en-US}}</ref>]]
Urban commuter rail networks are focused on many of the country's major cities:
*[[Belfast]] – [[Belfast Suburban Rail]]
*[[Birmingham]] – [[West Midlands Trains#West Midlands Railway|West Midlands Railway]]
*[[Bristol]] – [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)#Commuter routes|Great Western Railway]] 
*[[Cardiff]] – [[Valley Lines]] 
*[[Edinburgh]] – [[ScotRail]]
*[[Exeter]] – [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)#Commuter routes|Great Western Railway]] 
*[[Glasgow]] – [[ScotRail]]
*[[Leeds]] – [[West Yorkshire Metro#MetroTrain|MetroTrain]]
*[[Liverpool]] – [[Merseyrail]]
*[[London]] – [[London Underground]], [[London Overground]], and [[Elizabeth line]]
*[[Manchester]] – [[Northern (train operating company)#Routes|Northern]] and [[TransPennine Express]]
*[[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] – [[Tyne & Wear Metro]]

They consist of several railway lines connecting city centre stations of major cities to suburbs and surrounding towns. Train services and ticketing are fully integrated with the national rail network and are not considered separate. In London, a route for [[Crossrail 2]] has been safeguarded.

===Trams and light rail===
{{See also|List of town tramway systems in England|Trams in London|Trams in Europe}}[[File:Two_M5000_trams_passing.jpg|thumb|[[Manchester Metrolink]] is the largest light rail system in the UK and is integrated into the city's [[Bee Network]].]]Tram systems were popular in the United Kingdom in the late 19th and early 20th century. However, with the rise of the [[automobile|car]] they began to be widely dismantled in the 1950s. By 1962 only the [[Blackpool tramway]] and the [[Glasgow Corporation Tramways]] remained; the final Glasgow service was withdrawn on 4 September 1962. Recent years have seen a revival the United Kingdom, as in other countries, of trams together with light rail systems.

Since the 1990s, a second generation of tram networks have been built and have started operating in [[Manchester Metrolink|Manchester]] in 1992, [[Sheffield Supertram|Sheffield]] in 1994, the [[West Midlands Metro|West Midlands]] in 1999, [[Tramlink|South London]] in 2000, [[Nottingham Express Transit|Nottingham]] in 2004 and [[Edinburgh Trams|Edinburgh]] in 2014, whilst the original trams in Blackpool were upgraded to second generation vehicles in 2012.

Four light rapid transit lines are opening in the Welsh Capital of [[Cardiff]] as part of the current [[South Wales Metro]]  plan Phase 1 in 2023, which will reach as far out of the capital as Hirwaun, a town 31 miles (50&nbsp;km) from Cardiff Bay, as well as three new lines planned to open by 2026.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ '''Tram/Light Rail systems in the United Kingdom'''
!  Primary<br />location
!  System
!  data-sort-type="number"|Date<br />opened
!  data-sort-type="number"|Line(s)
!  data-sort-type="number"|Stations
!  data-sort-type="number"|System<br />length
!  data-sort-type="number"|Passenger<br />Revenue
!  data-sort-type="number"|Passengers<br /> (2018/19)<ref name="17/18DfTstats">{{cite web |title=Light Rail and Tram Statistics - England 2018-19 |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/809894/light-rail-and-tram-statistics-england-2019.pdf |publisher=Department for Transport |access-date=1 February 2020}}</ref>
!  data-sort-type="number"|Change from<br /> previous year
|-
| [[Blackpool]]
| [[Blackpool Tramway]]
| 1885
| 1
| 38
| 17&nbsp;km
| £6.8M
| 5.2M
| {{increase|0.3}} 0.3%
|-
| [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] / [[Tyne & Wear]]
| [[Tyne & Wear Metro]]
| 1980
| 2
| 60
| 74&nbsp;km
| £51.9M
| 36.4M
| {{increase|0.1}} 0.1%
|-
| [[London]] (East)
| [[Docklands Light Railway]]
| 1987
| 3<ref name="DLR route map">{{cite web |title=DLR Route Map |publisher= [[Transport for London]]| website=tfl.gov.uk| date=May 2022| access-date=23 August 2024| url=https://content.tfl.gov.uk/dlr-route-map.pdf}}</ref>
| 45
| 34&nbsp;km
| £176.5M
| 119.6M
| {{decrease|-2.2}} 2.2%
|-
| [[Greater Manchester]]
| [[Manchester Metrolink]]
| 1992
| 8
| 99
| 105&nbsp;km
| £82.1M
| 41.2M
| {{increase|9.0}} 9.0%
|-
| [[Sheffield]]
| [[South Yorkshire Supertram]]
| 1994
| 4
| 50
| 34&nbsp;km
| £14.0M
| 11.9M
| {{decrease|-3.1}} 3.1%
|-
| [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]]<br>([[Birmingham]] and [[Wolverhampton]])
| [[West Midlands Metro]]
| 1999
| 1
| 26
| 21&nbsp;km
| £10.7M
| 5.9M
| {{increase|2.5}} 2.5%
|-
| London (South)
| [[Tramlink]]
| 2000
| 4
| 39
| 28&nbsp;km
| £23.5M
| 28.7M
| {{decrease|-1.3}} 1.3%
|-
| [[Nottingham]]
| [[Nottingham Express Transit]]
| 2004
| 2
| 51
| 32&nbsp;km
| £20.6M
| 18.8M
| {{increase|5.7}} 5.7%
|-
| [[Edinburgh]]
| [[Edinburgh Trams]]
| 2014
| 1
| 16
| 14&nbsp;km
| £5.4M<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-36458872|title = Edinburgh trams carry 5.38M passengers in a year|work=[[BBC News]]|date=6 June 2016|access-date=31 July 2016}}</ref>
| 15.7M<ref>{{cite web |title=Annual passenger revenue of Edinburgh Trams in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2014/15 to 2018/19 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1018553/edinburgh-trams-passenger-revenue/ |work=statista.com |access-date=2020-02-01}}</ref>
| {{increase|9.0}} 9.0%
|}