Editing Rail transport in Great Britain (section)

==Passenger services==
{{See also|List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom}}
[[File:An LNER Azuma train on the East Coast Railway Line, geograph 6275180 by Walter Baxter.jpg|thumb|An [[London North Eastern Railway|LNER]] [[British Rail Class 800|Class 800 ''Azuma'']] train on the [[East Coast Main Line]] in [[Northumberland]]]]
[[File:800310 London Paddington to Swansea 1C00 - 50145952567.jpg|thumb|A [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|GWR]] [[British Rail Class 800|Class 800 ''Intercity'' ''Express Train'']] on a service from [[London Paddington station|London Paddington]] to [[Swansea railway station|Swansea]]]]

Passenger services in Great Britain were divided into regional franchises and run by mostly private (that is, non-state owned) [[train operating company|train operating companies]] from 1995 to 2020. These companies bid for seven- to eight-year contracts to run individual franchises. Most contracts in England are awarded by the [[Department for Transport]] (DfT), with the exception of [[Merseyrail]], where the franchise is awarded by the [[Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive]]. In Scotland, contracts for [[ScotRail (brand)|ScotRail]], is awarded by [[Transport Scotland]], and [[Rail transport in Wales|in Wales]], contracts for [[Transport for Wales Rail]], is awarded by [[Transport for Wales]], although the latter is currently publicly owned with no plans for franchising in the near future and ScotRail was brought into public ownership in 2022. Initially, there were 25 franchises, some franchises have since been combined, others nationalised. There are also a number of local or specialised rail services operated on an [[Open access operator|open access]] basis outside the franchise arrangements; examples include [[Heathrow Express]] and [[Hull Trains]].

Many franchises were effectively abolished due to the financial effects of the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic]]. The UK government proposed a new state-owned public body, [[Great British Railways]], which would operate a [[Concession (contract)|concession contract]] system on the network from 2023. {{As of|2023|11}}, legislation to establish the new body was said to be "unlikely" within the 2023–2024 parliamentary session.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lancefield |first=Neil |date=16 November 2023 |title=Minister admits rail reform legislation 'unlikely' before general election |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/rail-reforms-uk-trains-general-election-b2448496.html |access-date=5 January 2023 |website=The Independent}}</ref>

In the 2015–16 operating year, franchised services provided 1,718&nbsp;million journeys totalling (64.7&nbsp;billion billion passenger km) of travel, an increase over 1994–5 of 117% in journeys (from 761&nbsp;million) and just over doubling the passenger miles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.orr.gov.uk/media/16103|title=Passenger Rail Usage 2014–15 Q4 &#124; Office of Rail and Road|website=orr.gov.uk|date=4 June 2015 |access-date=10 July 2021|archive-date=10 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710190105/https://www.orr.gov.uk/media/16103|url-status=live}}</ref> The passenger-miles figure, after being flat from 1965 to 1995, surpassed the 1947 figure for the first time in 1998 and continues to rise steeply.

The key index used to assess passenger train performance is the [[Public Performance Measure]], which combines figures for punctuality and reliability. From a base of 90% of trains arriving on time in 1998, the measure dipped to 75% in mid-2001 due to stringent safety restrictions put in place after the [[Hatfield rail crash|Hatfield crash]] in October 2000. However, in June 2015 the PPM stood at 91.2% after a period of steady increases in the annual moving average since 2003 until around 2012 when the improvements levelled off.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/about/performance/|title=Performance and punctuality (PPM) – Network Rail|website=networkrail.co.uk|access-date=2 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208114925/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/about/performance/|archive-date=8 December 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:802201 and 802218 at Northallerton.jpg|thumb|Two [[TransPennine Express]] [[British Rail Class 802|Class 802 ''Nova 1'']] units passing through [[North Yorkshire]]]]

Train fares cost 2.7% more than under [[British Rail]] in real terms on average.<ref name="bbc.co.uk" /> For some years, Britain has been said to have the highest rail fares in Europe, with peak-time and season tickets considerably higher than other countries, partly because [[rail transport in Europe#Subsidies|rail subsidies in Europe]] are higher.<ref name="fullfact16082011">{{cite web|url=https://fullfact.org/blog/UK_Europe_rail_fares_prices_comparisons-2927|title=Do UK commuters pay the highest rail fares in Europe?|date=16 August 2011|access-date=24 September 2015|archive-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925144816/https://fullfact.org/blog/UK_Europe_rail_fares_prices_comparisons-2927|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35219018|title=Why are UK train tickets more expensive than in Europe?|work=BBC News|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=1 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401232007/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35219018|url-status=live}}</ref> However, passengers are also able to obtain some of the cheapest fares in Europe if they book in advance or travel at off-peak times<ref name="fullfact16082011" /> or purchase 'day-return' tickets which cost little more than a single ticket.

UK rail operators point out rail fare increases have been at a substantially lower rate than petrol prices for private motoring.<ref name="rail20110810p22"/> The difference in price has also been blamed on the fact Britain has the most restrictive [[loading gauge]] (maximum width and height of trains that can fit through tunnels, bridges etc.) in the world which means any trains must be significantly narrower and less tall than those used elsewhere. This means British trains cannot be bought "off-the-shelf" and must be specially built to fit British standards.

Average rolling-stock age fell slightly from the third quarter of 2001–02 to 2017–18, from 20.7 years old to 19.6 years old, and recent large orders from [[Bombardier Transportation|Bombardier]] and its acquirer [[Alstom]], as well as [[Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles|CAF]], [[Hitachi Rail|Hitachi]] and [[Stadler Rail|Stadler]], brought down the average age to around 15 years by March 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/html/html/eb76bd71-3fe0-4f1c-8f2a-977de6e833c0|title=Average Age of Rolling Stock by sector – Table 2.30|access-date=5 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119082041/http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/html/html/eb76bd71-3fe0-4f1c-8f2a-977de6e833c0|archive-date=19 November 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.railmagazine.com/news/network/new-trains-bring-down-average-age-of-uk-rolling-stock|title=New trains bring down average age of UK rolling stock|website=railmagazine.com|access-date=14 November 2018|archive-date=15 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115030640/https://www.railmagazine.com/news/network/new-trains-bring-down-average-age-of-uk-rolling-stock|url-status=live}}</ref>

Although passengers rarely have cause to refer to either document, all travel is subject to the [[National Rail Conditions of Travel]] and all tickets are valid subject to the rules set out in a number of so-called [[UK railway technical manuals|technical manuals]], which are centrally produced for the network.
[[File:Leicester - Abellio 222104 Lincoln service.JPG|thumb|An [[East Midlands Trains|EMR InterCity]] [[British Rail Class 222|Class 222 ''Meridian'']] at [[Leicester railway station|Leicester station]]]]

===Annual journey numbers===
Below are the estimated total number of journeys using heavy rail transport in Britain for each financial year. (This table does not include Eurostar, Underground or light rail services)

{|class="wikitable"  style="text-align:right"
|+ Annual journey numbers<ref name="ORR Table 1220 - Passenger Journeys" />
! Year
! Numbers<ref group =nb>Passenger numbers plus interchanges</ref>
! % change
|-
|2004–2005||1,044,566,371||
|-
|2005–2006||1,081,747,031||{{increase}}3.59
|-
|2006–2007||1,150,271,272||{{increase}}6.77
|-
|2007–2008||1,223,235,485||{{increase}}6.36
|-
|2008–2009||1,271,934,558||{{increase}}3.10
|-
|2009–2010||1,264,168,068||{{decrease}}7.62
|-
|2010–2011||1,350,664,449
|{{increase}}6.84
|-
|2011–2012||1,456,276,046||{{increase}}7.82
|-
|2012–2013||1,497,670,627||{{increase}}2.84
|-
|2013–2014||1,583,380,750||{{increase}}5.72
|-
|2014–2015||1,650,407,344||{{increase}}4.23
|-
|2015–2016||1,713,518,682||{{increase}}3.82
|-
|2016–2017
|1,727,475,717
|{{increase}}0.81
|-
|2017–2018
|1,703,998,197
|{{decrease}}1.36
|-
|2018–2019
|1,752,982,619
|{{increase}}2.87
|-
|2019–2020
|1,738,739,779
|{{decrease}}0.81
|-
|2020–2021
|387,885,468
|{{decrease}}77.69
|-
|2021–2022
|990,050,962
|{{increase}}155.24
|-
|2022–2023
|1,384,786,829
|{{increase}}39.87
|-
|2023–2024
|1,611,953,591
|{{increase}}16.40
|}
The following table is according to the Office of Rail and Road and includes [[open access operator]]s such as [[Grand Central (train operating company)|Grand Central]] and [[Hull Trains]].

{|class="wikitable"  style="text-align:right"
|+ Annual passenger numbers (millions)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/02136399-b0c5-4d91-a85e-c01f8a48e07e|title=Passenger journeys by year|access-date=7 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008112636/http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/02136399-b0c5-4d91-a85e-c01f8a48e07e|archive-date=8 October 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
! Year
! Long distance
! London and<br />South East
! Regional
! Non-franchised<br />operators
! Total
! Total % change
|-
|2002–2003||77.2||679.1||219.2|| rowspan="7" |0||975.5||
|-
|2003–2004||81.5||690.0||240.2||1,011.7||{{increase}}3.71
|-
|2004–2005||83.7||704.5||251.3||1,039.5||{{increase}}2.75
|-
|2005–2006||89.5||719.7||267.3||1,076.5||{{increase}}3.56
|-
|2006–2007||99.0||769.5||276.5||1,145.0||{{increase}}6.36
|-
|2007–2008||103.9||828.4||285.8||1,218.1||{{increase}}6.38
|-
|2008–2009||109.4||854.3||302.8||1,266.5||{{increase}}3.97
|-
|2009–2010||111.6||842.2||304.0||1.4||1,259.3||{{decrease}}0.68
|-
|2010–2011||117.9||917.6||318.2||1.8||1,355.6||{{increase}}7.65
|-
|2011–2012||125.3||993.8||340.9||1.5||1,461.5||{{increase}}7.82
|-
|2012–2013||127.7||1,032.4||340.9||1.7||1,502.6||{{increase}}2.81
|-
|2013–2014||129.0||1,106.9||350.5||1.9||1,588.3||{{increase}}5.70
|-
|2014–2015||134.2||1,154.9||364.7||2.1||1,655.8 ||{{increase}}4.25
|-
|2015–2016||138.3||1,202.8||374.2||2.3||1,717.6<ref>[https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/html/excel/a10e3c7b-7766-40ae-a87a-14c56cf85a63] {{Dead link|date=August 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>||{{increase}}3.72
|-
|2016–2017||143.5||1,196.8||388.7||2.4||1,731.5 ||{{increase}}0.80
|-
|2017–2018||144.8||1,171.2||389.6||2.4||1,707.9 ||{{decrease}}1.40
|-
|2018–2019||146.7||1,216.9||392.8||2.5||1,759.9 ||{{increase}}3.0
|}
{{reflist|group=nb}}

===Stations===
{{further|:Category:Railway stations in the United Kingdom}}
[[File:Clock and view over concourse, Waterloo Station, London.jpg|thumb|[[London Waterloo station]] is the [[List of busiest railway stations in Great Britain|busiest railway station]] in the UK. It is also the country's largest station in terms of floor space and has the greatest number of platforms.]]
There are 2,585 passenger railway stations on the Network Rail network.<ref name="ORR-infra-2023-24" /> This does not include the [[London Underground]], nor other systems which are not part of the national network, such as heritage railways. Most date from the [[Victorian era]] and a number are in or on the edge of [[town centre|town]] and city centres. Major stations lie for the most part in large cities, with the largest conurbations (e.g.  Birmingham, Bristol, [[Cardiff]], Edinburgh, [[Glasgow]], [[Liverpool]], and [[Manchester]]) typically having more than one main station. London is a major hub of the network, with 12 main-line termini forming a "ring" around [[central London]]. Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Bristol and [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] are major interchanges for many cross-country journeys that do not involve London. However, some important railway junction stations lie in smaller cities and towns, for example [[York railway station|York]], [[Crewe railway station|Crewe]] and [[Ely railway station|Ely]]. Some other places expanded into towns and cities because of the railway network. [[Swindon]], for example, was little more than a village before the [[Great Western Railway]] chose to site its locomotive works there. In many instances geography, politics or military considerations originally caused stations to be sited further from the towns they served until, with time, these issues could be overcome (for example, [[Portsmouth]] had its original station at [[Gosport]]).

===Inter-city===
[[File:British main lines railway diagram.png|thumb|right|Overview map of the north–south main lines in Great Britain]]
[[File:St Pancras railway station MMB 31 395018.jpg|thumb|A [[Southeastern (train operating company)|Southeastern]] [[British Rail Class 395|Class 395 ''Javelin'']] at [[St Pancras railway station]]]]
{{Main|High-speed rail in the United Kingdom|Inter-city rail in the United Kingdom}}

High-speed inter-city rail (above {{convert|124|mph|km/h|abbr=on|disp=or}}) was first introduced in Great Britain in the 1970s by British Rail. BR had pursued two development projects in parallel, the development of a [[tilting train]] technology, the [[Advanced Passenger Train]] (APT), and development of a conventional high-speed diesel train, the [[InterCity 125|High Speed Train]] (HST). The APT project was abandoned, but the HST design entered service as the [[British Rail Classes 253, 254 and 255]] trains. The prototype HST, the [[British Rail Class 252|Class 252]], reached a world speed record for diesel trains of 143.2&nbsp;mph, while the main fleet entered service limited to a service speed of 125&nbsp;mph, and were introduced progressively on main lines across the country, with a rebranding of their services as the ''[[InterCity 125]]''. With electrification of the [[East Coast Main Line]], high-speed rail in Great Britain was augmented with the introduction of the [[British Rail Class 91|Class 91]], intended for passenger service at up to 140&nbsp;mph (225&nbsp;km/h), and thus branded as the ''[[InterCity 225]]''. The Class 91 units were designed for a maximum service speed of 140&nbsp;mph, and running at this speed was trialled with a 'flashing green' signal aspect under the [[UK railway signalling|British signalling system]]. The trains were eventually limited to the same speed as the HST, to 125&nbsp;mph, with higher speeds deemed to require [[cab signalling]], which as of 2010 was not in place on the normal British railway network (but was used on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link). A final attempt by the nationalised British Rail at High Speed Rail was the cancelled [[InterCity 250]] project in the 1990s for the West Coast Main Line.

Post privatisation, a plan to upgrade the [[West Coast Main Line]] to speeds of up to 140&nbsp;mph with infrastructure improvements were finally abandoned, although the tilting train [[British Rail Class 390|Class 390]] ''Pendolino'' fleet designed for this maximum speed of service were still built and entered service in 2002, and operates limited to 125&nbsp;mph. Other routes in the UK were upgraded with trains capable of top speeds of up to 125&nbsp;mph running with the introduction between 2000 and 2005 of [[British Rail Class 180|Class 180]] ''Adelante'' DMUs and the [[Bombardier Voyager]] DEMUs (Classes [[British Rail Class 220|220]], [[British Rail Class 221|221]] and [[British Rail Class 222|222]]).

====High Speed 1====
{{Main|HS1}}
The first implementation of high-speed rail up to 186&nbsp;mph in regular passenger service in Great Britain was the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (now known as [[High Speed 1]]), when its first phase opened in 2003 linking the British end of the [[Channel Tunnel]] at [[Folkestone]] with Fawkham Junction in Kent. This is used by international only passenger trains for the [[Eurostar]] service, using [[British Rail Class 373|Class 373]] and [[British Rail Class 374|Class 374]] trains. The line was later extended all the way into [[St Pancras railway station|London St Pancras]] in 2007.

After the building of the first of a new [[British Rail Class 395|Class 395]] train fleet for use partly on High Speed 1 and parts of the rest of the UK rail network, the first domestic high-speed running over 125&nbsp;mph (to about 140&nbsp;mph) began in December 2009, including a special Olympic Javelin shuttle for the [[2012 Summer Olympics]]. These services are operated by the [[South Eastern franchise]].

====Intercity Express Programme====
{{Main|Intercity Express Programme}}
The Intercity Express Programme for replacement of the domestic fleet of InterCity 125 and 225 trains on the existing national network was announced. In 2009 it was announced that the preferred rolling stock option for this project was the Hitachi Super Express family of multiple units, and they entered service in 2017 on the Great Western Main Line and in 2019 on the East Coast Main Line. The trains will be capable of a maximum speed of 140&nbsp;mph with "minor modifications", with the necessary signalling modifications required of the [[Network Rail]] infrastructure in Britain likely to come from the phased rollout of the Europe-wide [[European Rail Traffic Management System]] (ERTMS).

====Proposed and partly under construction====
=====High Speed 2=====
{{Main|High Speed 2}}
Following several studies and consultations on high-speed rail, in 2009 the UK Government formally announced the [[High Speed 2]] project, establishing a company to produce a feasibility study to examine route options and financing for a new high-speed railway in the UK. This study began on the assumption the route would be a new purpose-built high-speed line connected to High-Speed 1 to the Channel tunnel and from London to the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]], via [[Heathrow Airport]], relieving traffic on the [[West Coast Main Line]] (WCML). Conventional high-speed rail technology would be used as opposed to [[Maglev (transport)|Maglev]]. The rolling stock would be capable of travelling on the existing [[Network Rail]] infrastructure if required, with the route intersecting with the existing WCML and the East Coast Main Line (ECML). A cancelled second phase of the project was planned to reach further north to Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds, as well as linking into the [[Midland Main Line]].

=====Northern Powerhouse Rail=====
{{Main|Northern Powerhouse Rail}}

In June 2014, the chancellor of the Exchequer, [[George Osborne]], proposed a high-speed rail link [[Northern Powerhouse Rail]] (also known as High Speed 3 or High Speed North) between Liverpool and Newcastle/Sheffield/Hull. The line would use the existing route between Liverpool and Newcastle/Hull and a new route from to Sheffield will follow the same route to Manchester Victoria and then a new line from Victoria to Sheffield, with additional tunnels and other infrastructure.

====High-speed rolling stock====
As of August 2023 the following rolling stock on the British network is capable of 125&nbsp;mph or more:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Maximum speeds in mph (km/h)
!|Family
!data-sort-type="number" |TOPS classification
!Operator and name
!|Type
!data-sort-type="number" |Recorded speed 
!data-sort-type="number" |Design speed
!data-sort-type="number" |Speed in service
|-
||[[Siemens Velaro|Siemens ''Velaro'']]
||[[British Rail Class 374|374]]
|[[Eurostar]] ''e320''
|[[Electric multiple unit|EMU]]
||219 (352)
||200 (320)
||186 (300)
|-
||[[British Rail Class 373|TGV ''TMST'']]
||[[British Rail Class 373|373]]
|[[Eurostar]] ''e300''
|EMU
||209 (334.7)
||186 (300)
||186 (300)
|-
| rowspan="8"|[[Hitachi A-train|Hitachi A-train ''AT300'']]
||[[British Rail Class 395|395]]
|[[Southeastern (train operating company)|Southeastern]] ''Javelin''
|EMU
||157 (252)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2008/06/10-hitatchi-hs-milestone.html|title=Bullet train in milestone run on HS1|date=10 June 2008|quote=earlier successful 'overspeed' test to check train stability and ride on 18th April, when the train achieved a maximum speed of 252 km/h|access-date=14 March 2015|archive-date=3 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403012246/http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2008/06/10-hitatchi-hs-milestone.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
||140 (225)
||140 (225)
|-
||[[British Rail Class 800|800]]
|[[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|GWR]] ''IET'', [[London North Eastern Railway|LNER]] ''Azuma''
||[[Electro-diesel multiple unit|BMU]]
||Not known
||140 (225)
||125 (200)
|-
|[[British Rail Class 801|801]]
|[[London North Eastern Railway|LNER]] ''Azuma''
|EMU
|
|140 (225)
|125 (200)
|-
|[[British Rail Class 802|802]]
|[[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|GWR]] ''IET''<br>[[TransPennine Express]] ''Nova 1''<br> [[Hull Trains]] ''Paragon''
|BMU
|
|140 (225)
|125 (200)
|-
|[[British Rail Class 803|803]]
|[[Lumo (train operating company)|Lumo]] ''(unnamed)''
|EMU
|
|140 (225)
|125 (200)
|-
|[[British Rail Class 805|805]]
|[[Avanti West Coast]] ''Evero''
|BMU
|
|140 (225)
|125 (200)
|-
|[[British Rail Class 807|807]]
|[[Avanti West Coast]] ''Evero''
|EMU
|
|140 (225)
|125 (200)
|-
|[[British Rail Class 810|810]]
|[[East Midlands Railway|EMR InterCity]] ''Aurora''
|BMU
|
|140 (225)
|125 (200)
|-
||[[InterCity 225]]
||[[British Rail Class 91|91]] + [[British Rail Mark 4|Mark 4 coaches]]
|[[London North Eastern Railway|LNER]] ''InterCity 225''
||Electric Loco
||162 (261)
||140 (225)
||125 (200)
|-
||[[Alstom]] [[Pendolino#United Kingdom|''Pendolino'']]
||[[British Rail Class 390|390]]
|[[Avanti West Coast]] ''Pendolino''
||EMU
||162 (261)<ref>{{cite news |work =Rail |location =Peterborough |date= 25 February 2009 |issue= 612}}</ref><!---INADEQUATE REFERENCE: needs page number and title of article---->
||140 (225)
||125 (200)
|-
|[[CAF Civity|CAF ''Civity'']]
|[[British Rail Class 397|397]]
|[[TransPennine Express]] ''Nova 2''
|EMU
|
|125 (200)
|125 (200)
|-
||[[InterCity 125]]
||[[British Rail Class 43 (HST)|43 (HST)]] + [[British Rail Mark 3|Mark 3 coaches]]
|[[ScotRail (brand)|ScotRail]] ''Inter7City''
||Diesel Loco
||148 (~240)
||125 (200)
||125 (200)
|-
||Class 67
||[[British Rail Class 67|67]]
|
||Diesel Loco
||143 (230)<ref>{{cite web |title=Class 67 |url=https://sremg.org.uk/diesel/class67.shtml |website=Southern Railway Email Group |access-date=10 March 2021 |archive-date=11 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511125324/https://sremg.org.uk/diesel/class67.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>
||125 (200)
||125 (200)
|-
||[[Alstom Coradia|Alstom ''Coradia'']] 
||[[British Rail Class 180|180]]
|[[Grand Central (train operating company)|Grand Central]] ''Adelante''
||[[Diesel multiple unit#Diesel–hydraulic|DHMU]]
||125 (200)
||125 (200)
||125 (200)
|-
||[[Bombardier Voyager|Bombardier ''Voyager'']]
||[[British Rail Class 220|220]]
|[[CrossCountry]] ''Voyager''
||[[Diesel-electric Multiple Unit|DEMU]]
||125 (200)
||125 (200)
||125 (200)
|-
||[[Bombardier Voyager|Bombardier ''Voyager'']]
||[[British Rail Class 221|221]]
|[[Avanti West Coast]] ''Super Voyager''<br>[[CrossCountry]] ''Voyager''
||DEMU
||125 (200)
||125 (200)
||125 (200)
|-
||[[Bombardier Voyager|Bombardier ''Voyager'']]
||[[British Rail Class 222|222]]
|[[East Midlands Railway|EMR InterCity]] ''Meridian''
||DEMU
||125 (200)
||125 (200)
||125 (200)
|}
In 2011, the fastest timetabled start-to-stop run by a UK domestic train service was the [[Hull Trains]] 07.30 [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross]] to [[Hull Paragon Interchange|Hull]], which covered the {{convert|125.4|km|abbr=in}} from [[Stevenage railway station|Stevenage]] to [[Grantham railway station|Grantham]] in 42{{nbsp}}minutes at an average speed of {{convert|179.1|km/h|abbr=on}}. This was operated by a [[British Rail Class 180|Class 180]] diesel unit running "under the wires" at the time, and is now operated by [[British Rail Class 802|Class 802 ''Paragon'']] bi-mode units, operating on electric power on this section. This was matched by several [[Leeds railway station|Leeds]] to London [[British Rail Class 91|Class 91]]-operated [[East Coast (train operating company)|East Coast]] trains if their two-minute recovery allowance for this section is excluded from the public timetable.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Taylor|first=Dr Colin|author2=John Heaton |title=World Speed Survey 2011|journal=Railway Gazette International|date=September 2011|volume= 167| issue =  9|pages=61–70}}</ref>

===Local metro and other rail systems===
[[File:Map of Urban rail in the UK.svg|thumb|right|Map of local urban rail networks]]
[[File:LUL-S-Stock-arrives-Croxley.jpg|thumb|A [[London Underground S7 and S8 Stock|London Underground S-stock]] train]]
{{Main|Rapid transit in the United Kingdom|Commuter rail in the United Kingdom|List of modern tramway and light rail systems in the United Kingdom|List of British heritage and private railways}}
A number of towns and cities have [[rapid transit]] networks. Underground technology is used in the [[Glasgow subway]], [[Merseyrail]] centred on Liverpool, [[London Underground]] centred on London, [[London Overground]] and the [[Docklands Light Railway|London Docklands Light Railway]] centred on London, and the [[Tyne and Wear Metro]] centred on [[Newcastle upon Tyne]].

Light rail systems in the form of trams are in [[West Midlands Metro|Birmingham]], [[Tramlink|Croydon]], [[Manchester Metrolink|Manchester]], [[Nottingham Express Transit|Nottingham]], [[Sheffield Supertram|Sheffield]] and [[Edinburgh Trams|Edinburgh]]. These systems use a combination of street running tramways and, where available, reserved right of way or former conventional rail lines in some suburbs. [[Blackpool Tramway|Blackpool]] has the one remaining traditional tram system. Monorails, heritage tramways, miniature railways and funiculars also exist in several places. In addition, there are a number of heritage (mainly steam) standard and narrow gauge railways, and a few industrial railways and tramways. Some lines which appear to be heritage operations sometimes claim to be part of the public transport network; the [[Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway]] in Kent regularly transports schoolchildren.

Most major cities have some form of [[Commuter rail in the United Kingdom|commuter rail network]]. These include [[Belfast]], Birmingham, Bristol, [[Cardiff]], Edinburgh, [[Exeter]], [[Glasgow]], [[Leeds]], Liverpool, London and [[Manchester]].