United Kingdom - General Information

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Country Name

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Nomenclature: "Great Britain" comprises the countries of England, Wales, and Scotland. "United Kingdom" (in full: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) comprises Great Britain and the Province of Northern Ireland. "British Isles" is a purely geographical description for the British mainland and the island of Ireland; the latter contains the Province of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are usually regarded as part of the British Isles, although independent of the UK government. All but the Republic of Ireland (which is entirely independent of the UK) are under the British Crown (monarchy).

National Railway System

Most infrastructure in Great Britain is owned by Network Rail, a company controlled by the government's Department for Transport (DfT). Most passenger train services are provided by operators under franchise agreements with DfT, Transport for London, Merseytravel, Transport Scotland or the Welsh Government. Most franchisees are subsidiaries of major bus companies or national railways from other countries, principally Deutsche Bahn and Nederlandse Spoorwegen. A UK Government subsidiary, DfT OLR Holdings Limited, manages franchises that have got into financial or other difficulties. The Scottish Government intends to introduce a public-sector bidder for the next ScotRail franchise, with David MacBrayne Limited as a likely candidate. Full details of passenger train operators are given by links from the Rail Delivery Group website. Maps showing where the operators ply are at Barry Doe's and Project Mapping websites. Passenger train operations collectively are known as 'National Rail'.

The operator of each train is indicated in the electronic National Rail Timetable and its printed derivatives by means of two-letter codes; for a de-coder and a chronology of privatisation and transfer/re-branding of Great Britain's passenger railway franchises to date go to the Rail Chronology website. Basic customer information about and links to the websites of each TOC are available through the National Rail website. Some further information about franchise periods and past franchisees can be found in the DfT and Wikipedia websites. The Wikipedia list is usually more up to date and accurate than the DfT schedule!

A small number of operators provide passenger services on the national network which are not franchised by the DfT. These include Eurostar which is a unitary undertaking (Eurostar International Ltd) managed by SNCF, which has a 55% interest in the company. Private investors acquired the UK government's 40% stake in 2015 and SNCB/NMBS owns the remaining 5%. In addition

  • Eurotunnel operates a shuttle service for motor vehicles through the Channel Tunnel; this does not carry foot-passengers (although cyclists can be carried by arrangement)
  • North Yorkshire Moors Railway operates timetabled steam trains through between Pickering/Goathland, Grosmont and Whitby during the summer.
  • Swanage Railway intends to run a service between Swanage and Wareham during the summer from 2020. Trains were operated on behalf of Swanage Railway by West Coast Railways in 2017, but in 2018 and 2019 there was just a limited Saturday service by the local franchisee, South Western Railway.
  • West Coast Railways operates timetabled steam trains between Fort William and Mallaig during the summer.

Railways in Northern Ireland are owned by Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (which remains state-owned) and are operated as the N I Railways (NIR) division of Translink.

All freight trains in Great Britain are operated by competing companies under "open access" conditions. The principal companies are:

  • DB Cargo UK (formerly English Welsh and Scottish Railway, now a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn of Germany)
  • Freightliner (owned by US railroad Genesee & Wyoming Inc)
  • Colas Rail (part of the Bouyuges group);
  • Direct Rail Services (owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority)
  • GB Railfreight (owned by Infracapital, an infrastructure equity investor).

Direct Rail Services also operates a few Fife commuter services for ScotRail. DB Cargo UK, in particular, and GB Railfreight, to a lesser extent, operate charter passenger trains. GB Railfreight also operates the Caledonian Sleeper trains on behalf of the franchisee, Serco Caledonian Sleepers Limited.

There are no longer any revenue freight trains in Northern Ireland.

Neither the Isle of Man nor the Channel Isles (îles Anglo-Normands) is legally part of the UK but the Isle of Man's active railways and tramways are to be found at the UK and Irish Heritage Railways website and under Trams respectively.

Official Website

Language

English. In addition Welsh is spoken in most parts of Wales, and Gaelic is used to a limited extent in north-west Scotland.

Currency

Pound sterling. Banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland issue their own notes, which are valid throughout the UK and usually accepted without question. Channel Islands and Manx notes (but not coins) are technically legal tender in the UK, but are best changed at banks.

UIC code

  • United Kingdom: numeric 70; alpha GB
  • Eurotunnel: numeric 69 (used only for accounting purposes and not shown on rolling stock).

Historically, the only British rolling stock to show UIC numbers were wagons passed to work on the now defunct train ferries from Harwich and Dover or through the Channel Tunnel. The Eurostar class 374 trains, which entered service in 2015, were the first UK-registered passenger stock to have UIC numbers, otherwise known as the European Vehicle Number (EVN). Rail Industry Standard RIS-2453-RST Vehicle Registration, Marking and Numbering, introduced in December 2017, requires the EVN to be used in Great Britain, but this is voluntary for existing vehicles not used on international traffic. UIC numbering is not used by NI Railways.

Timetable

Great Britain (England, Wales, Scotland)

The official National Rail timetable is published on Network Rail's website (see below), twice yearly (in mid December and mid May). Services on Mondays to Fridays, on Saturdays (or Mondays to Saturdays) and on Sundays are usually different and laid out separately in the timetable; there may be several alternative Sunday services, to allow for engineering work, during the currency of a timetable. Barry Doe provides a comprehensive guide to printed and on-line public transport timetables.

Journey Planner

National Rail Enquiries Journey Planner

The Realtime Trains and OpenTrainTimes websites provide a quick-reference way of checking the latest schedule (or amendment) for any particular train

Downloadable Timetable

Electronic National Rail Timetable

Working (Staff) Timetables

Network Rail Working Timetables

You can also check for the latest variations to working timetable details for specific trains on the Realtime Trains and OpenTrainTimes websites.

London Underground working timetables. DLR is not included.

Printed Timetable

From May 2020 there will be no comprehensive printed timetable for Great Britain. Publication of Rail Times for Great Britain by Middleton Press comes to and end with the December 2019 edition. This is a printed version of Network Rail's electronic National Rail Timetable and is a limited edition that needs to be ordered from the publisher.

Train operators (apart from TfL Rail, operators of London - Shenfield local service) produce timetable leaflets or booklets for specific services, which should be available at relevant stations. Long-distance operators manage to include all of their services in a single booklet, but Great Western is the only train operator to publish a single timetable book with details of all local services. This has to be paid for.

Engineering Information

National Rail's future engineering works

Northern Ireland

Journey Planner

On the Translink home page.

Downloadable Timetables

NIRailways Timetables

Printed Timetable

A series of four free leaflets is available.

Engineering Information

NIRailways Travel Updates

Maps

Printed Maps

  • The timetable book of all of Great Western's services comes with a passenger network map for the whole of Great Britain.
  • The Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland by S.K. Baker gives detailed and accurate coverage of the UK railway system, and is widely available. It is mostly at 1:350,000, but with enlargements of many urban areas; an updated edition is published every 2-3 years.
  • TrackMaps publish a series of track diagrams (formerly Quail Track Diagrams) in five regional volumes.
  • Northern Ireland Railways are in a volume covering the whole of Ireland published by Quail Map Co.
  • Historic atlases have been published by various other publishers.

Web-based Maps

Ticketing

There is no distance-related fare tariff in the UK, and fares are charged on a market basis. Certain fares are regulated and the amount by which franchised train companies can increase some fares is specified by the Department for Transport.

Standard walk-on fares are high, but a wide range of discounted fares is available. These are subject to restrictions as to days and times when they can be used. It can be difficult to obtain accurate information as to fares and their availability, even from official enquiry offices, because the pricing structure is complicated and the different train companies are all making their own special offers. The most heavily discounted fares usually oblige the passenger to travel on specified trains (with no opportunity to alter these) - and only a limited number of tickets may be issued for each service. Train operators are increasingly introducing special offers that can only be taken up through their website. Higher fares are charged for use of domestic trains on HS1, the high-speed line to Kent, except for through tickets between Kent and destinations beyond London.

Tickets for any rail journey in the UK can be purchased from any franchised operator's website, but the best price may be available from the operator whose service is being used. Various other websites act as 'consolidators' and will compare what is available in order to offer the best deal. It is sometimes possible to obtain a lower price for a journey by splitting it and buying a different ticket for each section. In such cases it is necessary to travel on a train that stops at stations where the validity of one ticket ends and another starts. This requirement does not apply if at least one of the tickets is a season ticket, rail rover or similar. It may also be found that a ticket to a station beyond one's destination is cheaper, but conditions need to be checked carefully. A break of journey may not be permitted, requiring an excess fare to be paid if exiting at an intermediate station.

Overseas visitors should endeavour to purchase a rover ticket, such as a BritRail or InterRail pass, before travelling to the UK. Various rail rovers are available within the UK, but they do not offer the value or wide validity of those available to foreign visitors, and many are not valid until after the morning peak period.

In various areas where all stations have automatic ticket machines, including on the London Underground and most other tram and metro networks, a penalty fares system applies. Passengers found without a ticket are likely to have to pay a fine on the spot.

First class seating tends now to be found only on principal routes; in Northern Ireland it is limited to principal trains on the international route between Belfast and Dublin (where NIRailways call it "First plus" while partner Iarnród Éireann call it "Premium"). Eurostar maintain three classes: Standard, Standard Premier and Business Premier. On some trains, including many of those operated by Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southeastern and Southern, there is no difference between first class and standard class seating.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure Authority

  • Great Britain: Network Rail
  • Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Railways Company Limited, through a subsidiary NIR Networks Limited

Network Statement

Network Rail. The Sectional Appendices are available here (scroll down to list of PDFs).

Translink

Gauge

  • Great Britain: Standard
  • Northern Ireland: 1600 mm [5 feet 3 inches]

Electrification

  • Great Britain: Mostly 25 kV 50 Hz. 750 V dc third rail is used on some lines in south east England and around Liverpool. The line between Pelaw and Sunderland is electrified at 1500V dc overhead, to allow use by Tyne & Wear Metro. The line between Tinsley North Junction and Rotherham Parkgate is electrified at 750V dc overhead, for use by Sheffield Supertram.
  • Northern Ireland: no electrified lines.

Rule of the road

Left.

Distances

Other railways

  • East London Line: Managed by Rail for London Limited, whose ultimate owner is Transport for London.
  • Eurotunnel: A partnership between the Channel Tunnel Group Limited and France-Manche S.A. that operates the Channel Tunnel under a long-term concession from the UK and French governments.
  • Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited owns the railway between London Heathrow Airport and the junction with the Great Western Main Line near Hayes & Harlington.
  • HS1 Ltd: The investor with a 30 years concession from the UK government to operate the high-speed line between London and the Channel Tunnel, though most aspects of day-to-day operation and maintenance are contracted out to Network Rail.

Crossrail Central Operating Section is the new and yet to open railway under Central London from Portobello Junction (Royal Oak) to Pudding Mill Lane Junction (Bow) and Abbey Wood. It is to be managed by Rail for London (Infrastructure) Limited (not the same as Rail for London Limited), whose ultimate owner is Transport for London.

Facilities exist for special through running between the national system and some tourist lines. British American Railway Services (a subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Holdings of the USA) operate two lines (Weardale Railway and Dartmoor Railway); both function principally as tourist lines.

It is intended that the railways from Cardiff to Rhymney, Coryton, Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare and Treherbert will transfer from Network Rail to the Welsh Government. They are to be managed by a lessee, Amey Keolis Infrastructure/Seilwaith Amey Keolis Limited.

Tourist lines

A current listing of UK and Irish heritage railways can be found at the UK and Irish Heritage Railways website.

Metro

London, Newcastle, Glasgow. Although part of the national railway system, the Merseyrail Electrics network in Liverpool is like a Metro. There are two separate networks in London. The Underground system is 630V dc third and fourth rail; the Docklands Light Railway is a fully-automated 750V dc third rail system. Glasgow and Merseyrail are third rail and Newcastle is 1500 V dc overhead. Glasgow Subway is 4 feet (1,219mm) gauge and was originally cable-worked. There are several lines where London Underground and main line trains share the same tracks. The Tyne & Wear Metro (Newcastle) operates to Sunderland over the Network Rail line from Pelaw. London Overground operates mostly on Network Rail lines under a contract let by the Mayor of London.

Trams

Birmingham/Wolverhampton (Midland Metro), Blackpool, Croydon, Edinburgh, Llandudno (cable worked), Manchester, Nottingham, Seaton (Devon) and Sheffield. The Croydon, Manchester, Midland Metro, Nottingham and Seaton systems include extensive running over routes that were previously part of the national railway system. The Manchester and Nottingham systems have been considerably extended in recent years and extensions to Midland Metro in Birmingham city centre came into use in 2016 and 2019. A second route through Manchester city centre came into use on 26 February 2017 and a branch to Trafford Park is under construction.

The Seaton and Llandudno lines are essentially tourist operations, and both are narrow gauge. There are other tourist lines of a mile or more at the National Tramway Museum (Crich, near Matlock) and at Beamish Open Air Museum (near Gateshead), plus several other shorter lines.

The Isle of Man has three narrow gauge tramways, which operate on a seasonal basis: Douglas Bay Horse Tramway - along the promenade in Douglas; the Manx Electric Railway - an inter-urban line between Douglas, Laxey and Ramsey; and the Snaefell Mountain Railway - from Laxey to Snaefell Summit. After a period of uncertainty, the threat that the horse tramway line in Douglas might be shortened seems to have been seen off by a vote in Tynwald (the Manx parliament) in January 2017.

The Tinsley Chord, which connects the Sheffield tram system to a freight line near Meadowhall, allows tram-trains to run between Sheffield city centre and Rotherham Parkgate over Network Rail lines. Public services commenced on Thursday 25 October 2018. Sheffield tram-trains are dual voltage vehicles that can run on the 750 V Overhead Lines (OHLE) of the tram network and the 25 kV OHLE of the national rail network; however the line to Rotherham Parkgate is initially energised at 750 V because there is no 25 kV electrification in the area.

Track plans for most of the significant tram systems in the United Kingdom are available on the Railway Codes site.

Recent and Future Changes

Most aspects of national railway operations are privatised, but infrastructure ownership has reverted to the public sector. There continues to be debate about the fragmented, expensive and complex nature of the system that has emerged, under the general oversight of the Department for Transport.

Route Closures and Service Reductions

Having undergone extensive cut backs in the 1960s, the present passenger network seems relatively secure. The closure of a passenger railway in the UK currently involves a lengthy legal process, and short-notice closures usually occur only if there is a sudden and dramatic infrastructure failure,or if the closure is deemed a "minor closure". Passenger services via the Channel Tunnel, or in connection with them, do not enjoy statutory protection from closure.

Some routes have been reduced to just one or two trains per day (or, in some cases, per week) in order to reduce operating costs without having to go through the closure procedure. These are included in the list of sparse services.

A newly-introduced passenger service can be designated as "experimental" for a period up to five years, during which time it may be withdrawn without the usual closure procedure needing to be followed. The passenger service between Yeovil Pen Mill and Yeovil Junction is "experimental" for five years from 13 December 2015, but is expected to become permanent.

Passenger services to be withdrawn

  • The railway between Nottingham and Worksop is to be diverted at Whitwell to allow expansion of a dolomite quarry. This will eliminate Whitwell Tunnel. No date is set for this, but planning permission to expand the quarry was granted in 2018.
  • Planned diversion of trains between Belfast and Dublin to a new terminal facility - the Belfast Hub - to be constructed close to Belfast Great Victoria Street may see the end of regular passenger services between Central Junction (Adelaide) and City Junction (City Hospital).
  • The London Underground service between Croxley and Watford is to be withdrawn in event of the Croxley rail link opening, which will divert services to Watford High Street. There is now considerable doubt as to whether the project will proceed.

Closures and significant service reductions in recent years are

Line closed

  • Old Oak Common West Junction - Park Royal - Greenford West Junction: Closed to passenger services in December 2018 to facilitate HS2 construction work.
  • Forres station and the line through it were replaced in October 2017 by a new station and line to the north. The new line is approximately on the original 1858 alignment of the Inverness & Aberdeen Junction Railway, which was not normally used by passenger trains after the line south to Dunkeld & Birnam, thence Perth, opened in 1863. The last trains via the old station ran on 6 October and the new line and station came into use on 17 October.

Passenger service withdrawn, line still open for other than regular passenger traffic:

  • Westbury East Loop Junction - Hawkeridge Junction: Service withdrawn May 2016, when the experimental service of one train each day, Monday to Friday, non-stop between Reading and Bath Spa ceased.

Regular passenger service replaced by a very limited one:

  • Watton-at-Stone - Stevenage: Since May 2019 this line has had a full service only at weekends, but just a very few trains early in the morning and late at night Mondays to Fridays. This is to allow a more frequent service on the main line through Stevenage. The full service will be reinstated in May 2020, when an additional track and platform have been completed at Stevenage.

Temporary Closures:

Work to upgrade the UK rail network is increasingly leading to lines being closed for extended periods. Severe weather and the age of much railway infrastructure has resulted in more temporary closures caused by landslips and other problems with earthworks. Current and planned temporary closures of four weeks or more are (earliest reopenings are listed first):

  • Reedham (Norfolk) - Great Yarmouth: From 20 October 2018 to 24 February 2020.
  • Kilmarnock - Dumfries: From 7 February to 16 March 2020, because of an embankment slip.
  • Redhill - Godstone: From 22 December 2019 to 31 March 2020, because of an embankment slip.
  • Salisbury - Romsey - Eastleigh: Part closure 18 February, full closure 19 February until 31 March 2020, because of an embankment slip.
  • Lingfield - East Grinstead: From 13 February 2020 until further notice, following an embankment slip.
  • CairnGorm Mountain Railway: From 28 September 2018 until further notice, because of structural problems. It is expected that repairs will not be undertaken before spring/summer 2020, and possibly later.
  • Rutherglen - Glasgow Central (low level) - Partick (Finnieston Junctions): From 14 March to 7 May 2021 for station refurbishment and track renewal.

Re-openings and Openings

Most projects involve upgrading existing routes, but some openings have occurred or are about to do so.

New and reinstated passenger services in recent years:

Extensive rebuilding of the Thameslink route between St Pancras and New Cross Gate was completed at the beginning of January 2018, but with traffic management and automatic train operation still to be fully commissioned. The line between Blackfriars and London Bridge (Metropolitan Junction) had been out of use since December 2014. Some passenger trains started using the rebuilt route between Blackfriars and Bricklayers Arms Junction (New Cross Gate) on 9 January 2018. The project includes a new line between the Thameslink station at St Pancras International and the East Coast Main Line at Belle Isle Junction, north of King's Cross. A limited passenger service over the line to Belle Isle Junction commenced on 26 February 2018. There has been more extensive use of the line since 20 May 2018.

A daily service, generally hourly, was introduced between Liverpool Lime Street and Chester via Runcorn and Frodsham on 19 May 2019. Previously the curve between Halton Junction and Frodsham Junction had been used by a single unadvertised train in one direction only on summer Saturdays.

Other new passenger services are:

  • Meadowhall South/Tinsley - Tinsley North Junction - Rotherham Central (Sheffield Tram Train operation substantially over a Network Rail freight line, opened on 25 October 2018)
  • Water Street Junction - Irwell Street Junction (Ordsall Chord), allows passenger trains to run direct between Deansgate and Manchester Victoria (December 2017)
  • New line at Forres (see closures above) (October 2017)
  • Yeovil Junction - Yeovil Pen Mill (December 2015 - "experimental" for five years)
  • Bicester South Junction - Gavray Junction, allows trains to run between London Marylebone and Oxford (October 2015) (until 10 December 2016 trains ran only as far as Oxford Parkway, but now run through to Oxford)
  • Newcraighall - Tweedbank (Borders Railway) (September 2015)
  • Whiteplatts Jn - Todmorden Jn (Todmorden Curve), allows trains to run direct between Todmorden and Burnley Manchester Road (May 2015)
  • Ebbw Vale Parkway - Ebbw Vale Town (May 2015)

Remodelling the railway at Reading has included construction of a new dive-under from the Wokingham line to the north side of the station, with a limited passenger service, a flyover west of the station used by fast trains to and from Didcot and an alternative route between Reading West and the north side of Reading station.

A number of new curves and flyovers have been built, in order to increase network capacity by reducing conflicting moves. A flyover at Hitchin, used by most passenger trains towards the Cambridge line, came into use in 2013. New curves north of Ipswich and north of Doncaster are normally used only by freight trains. At Norton Bridge a new flyover to and from the Stoke-on-Trent line and a new down slow line towards Crewe came into use in March 2016.

On tourist / heritage railways:

  • the Mid-Norfolk Railway ran inaugural passenger trains to Worthing level crossing (North Elmham) on 19 and 20 May 2018, but regular services continue to terminate at Dereham. The railway aspires to continue to County School.
  • South Tynedale Railway extended from Lintley to Slaggyford (on the trackbed of the former Haltwhistle - Alston branch) from the 2018 season
  • the Gloucester Warwickshire Steam Railway extended passenger services to Broadway from Spring 2018.
  • the Gwili Railway extended their operation from Bronwydd Arms to Abergwili Junction (in the outskirts of Carmarthen) from 2 July 2017.
  • the Swanage Railway completed the restoration of a link with the national network when they reopened the line between Norden and Worgret Junction; through trains between Swanage and Wareham, on a seasonal basis, resumed on 13 June 2017.
  • the Mountsorrel branch, off the Great Central Railway, opened in autumn 2015 for occasional trains only.
  • Llangollen Railway extended passenger services from Carrog to a provisional terminus at Corwen in October 2014; trains will run to the permanent terminus in 2020.
  • The first (very short) section of the Aln Valley Railway officially opened in October 2013, from a new station on the edge of Alnwick, with a longer run available from December 2017. It is planned that the railway will reach the National Rail station at Alnmouth in 2020.
  • The first section of the re-opened Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, a narrow gauge line, is in operation between Woody Bay and Killington Lane. Extensions towards Lynton and to Blackmoor Gate are planned as the next phase of reconstruction.

Projects authorised or under construction are:

Crossrail (now known as the "Elizabeth Line") is a new line, almost entirely in tunnel, linking the railways from Paddington and from Liverpool Street, together with a branch from Whitechapel to Abbey Wood. Trains were due to start running between Abbey Wood and Heathrow Airport in December 2018, but this has been put back. It was hoped that some services would operate in 2020, but the line is not expected to open until mid-2021 at the earliest.

A new branch of the LUL Northern Line, from Kennington to Battersea, is expected to open in autumn 2021.

A grade-separated junction is being built at Werrington Junction, north of Peterborough. It is expected that passenger trains to and from Spalding will run via a new dive-under, so the present connection may become little-used.

The Scottish Government has announced that it intends to re-open the railway between Kirkcaldy (Thornton North Junction) and Levenmouth for passenger services. The UK Government has proposed introducing passenger trains over the freight line to Ashington and re-opening the railway to Fleetwood.

Work has started on construction of a high speed railway (HS2) from London to Birmingham, but the line will not be opened until 2026 at the earliest. A flythrough of the route is here. It is to be followed by Phase 2a as far as Crewe. It is intended that the line will subsequently be extended to Manchester and Leeds, with completion in the mid-2030s.

A second Crossrail line, linking lines in North East and South West London, is being designed so that parliamentary powers for its construction can be sought.

Preliminary work on construction of a link between the LUL Watford branch and the former Croxley Green branch was undertaken in 2016. However, the project has stalled, because of lack of agreement as to how further cost escalation would be funded, and can only be regarded as definitively dead, though there has been no formal announcement to this effect.

The DfT is seeking to get private companies to reopen railways or build new ones. It is intended that East West Rail will deliver the design, reconstruction and operation of the derelict line between Calvert and Bletchley. A Transport & Works Act Order for this scheme was granted in February 2020. The longer-term objective is to re-introduce trains between Oxford and Cambridge. Heathrow Southern Railway intends to build a new railway south-west from Heathrow Airport to link with the Staines to Windsor line, together with a branch to Virginia Water or Chertsey.

In the private sector:

  • The Leadhills & Wanlockhead Railway is constructing an extension from Glengonnar to Wanlockhead, with a planned completion date of 2020.
  • Moorland & City Railways have a stated intention to reopen the line between Stoke-on-Trent and Leek Brook Junction, to a junction with the Churnet Valley Railway, but progress seems to be languishing.
  • Most ambitiously, the two Great Central Railways at Loughborough are being linked by means of a reinstated bridge over the Midland Main Line.
  • The Rother Valley Railway has applied for a Transport and Works Act Order to rebuild the railway between Robertsbridge and Junction Road (Bodiam), but faces local opposition. A public inquiry into their proposals is expected in 2020.
  • The Royal Deeside Railway is extending its line to Crathes West Lodge.
  • Strathspey Railway is extending to Grantown-on-Spey and during summer 2014 and 2015 offered a limited service between its normal terminus at Broomhill and the river bridge at Dulnain.
  • The Helston Railway provides a short ride near Prospidnick, but plans to extend to Helston and eventually to Gwinear Road.

Electrification

Main line electrification in Great Britain came to a virtual standstill following railway privatisation, because private-sector train operators and rolling stock companies preferred the flexibility of diesel traction. The only schemes to proceed were between Crewe and Kidsgrove (near Stoke on Trent) (electrified for diversionary use), the reconstructed Larkhall branch line in Scotland and High Speed 1 (the Channel Tunnel rail link) [see below].

In 2009 Department for Transport policy shifted towards extending electrification, with significant schemes proposed and a few implemented. However, greatly increased costs have resulted in projects being curtailed and delayed. Poor cost estimating, increased safety standards, over-specification and loss of practical experience of electrification appear to be among the causes. In July 2017 the UK Government announced an end to plans for further railway electrification in England and Wales, with reliance instead on bi-mode diesel/electric trains. This will include converting some electric multiple-units to bi-mode working. There have also been experiments with battery operation. In contrast, the Scottish Government requires Network Rail to develop an electrification technical specification that can deliver an "efficient and affordable rolling programme of electrification".

Electrification schemes recently completed in England and Wales are:

  • London (Heathrow Airport Junction) to Cardiff, Chippenham (Christian Malford) and Newbury (Phased introduction of electric services between May 2017 and January 2020). The scheme was cut back to omit Swansea, Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Oxford and the Thames Valley branch lines.
  • Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley (May 2019)
  • Manchester to Preston via Bolton (February 2019)
  • Gospel Oak to Woodgrange Park via South Tottenham (January 2019, but limited electric service initially, because of delayed delivery of rolling stock)
  • Meadowhall to Rotherham (in connection with the Sheffield tram-train scheme; see under Trams above; October 2018)
  • Barnt Green to Bromsgrove (July 2018)
  • Preston to Blackpool North (May 2018)
  • Manchester Victoria to Ordsall Lane Junction (May 2015)
  • Wigan (Springs Branch Junction) to Huyton via St Helens (May 2015)
  • Earlestown to Edge Hill (March 2015)

Schemes under way and to be completed in England and Wales comprise:

  • Bedford to Corby and Market Harborough

In July 2018 the Transport Secretary provided assurances that the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade from Manchester to Leeds and York will include both major civil engineering work and electrification as part of a rolling programme.

The Welsh Government is sponsoring electrification of the Valley Lines from Cardiff to Ystrad Mynach, Coryton, Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare and Treherbert. Light rail vehicles are to be used from Cardiff to Coryton and on routes via Radyr. Tri-mode trains will be used from Rhymney to Penarth, Barry Island and the Vale of Glamorgan line, using battery power between Rhymney and Ystrad Mynach, and diesel south of Cardiff.

The Scottish Government has funded significant electrification in the central lowlands, recent schemes being:

  • Holytown to Kirknewton (Midcalder Jn) via Shotts (Some electric services April 2019, full service May 2019)
  • Croy (Carmuirs West Jn) and Camelon (Carmuirs East Jn) to Stirling, Dunblane and Alloa (December 2018)
  • Cumbernauld and Croy (Greenhill Upper Jn) to Polmont via Falkirk Grahamston (December 2018, but occasional use from May 2018)
  • Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh (Newbridge Junction) via Falkirk High (Phased introduction December 2017 to August 2018)

The line from Falkirk to Grangemouth has also been electrified for freight traffic, but there are proposals to reinstate a passenger service. Transport Scotland is pressing Network Rail to make more progress. Electrification to East Kilbride is expected by 2023/24 and plans are also being prepared for electrification to Kilmarnock, via Maryhill and from Dunblane to Perth. The ultimate objective is to see all lines in Scotland electrified, except the Far North, Kyle of Lochalsh and West Highland lines, and Girvan to Stranraer.

Older Changes

For details of changes more than five years ago see United_Kingdom - Older General Information.

Special Notes

Trains, other than Eurostar, are not identified in timetables and on departure sheets by numbers. Services are publicly identified by their journey and departure time, but with variations to allow for intermediate stops. There is no standard convention, but as an example a train would be described as the 09:00 London King's Cross to Edinburgh, though at an intermediate stop would probably be announced as the "10:32 Doncaster to Edinburgh, the 09:00 from King's Cross". An alpha-numeric system is used for operating purposes and these train reporting numbers can be found at Realtime Trains and OpenTrainTimes or through traveline (remember to uncheck all Mode of Transport boxes except "Train" and ensure end points are "Railway Station"); in the results see the column labelled "Service". Some operators have their own four-digit train numbering systems for reservation purposes which is displayed on train sides and reservation tickets.

Departure sheets listing trains from a station in chronological order are rarely used. The usual format is to list destinations in alphabetic order, and provide details of all trains to each, or to provide timetable posters. Most stations have electronic displays, which indicate all departures (and often arrivals) within the next hour or so.

It is unusual for information displays and announcements at stations and on trains to be in any language other than English (and Welsh in Wales), though station name signs in Scotland appear in Gaelic as well as English. Multi-lingual information is normally restricted to dedicated airport services and those using the Channel Tunnel.

No stations sell international tickets or can make international reservations, though there are facilities to make through bookings from certain stations by Eurostar. Even the range of tickets available from Eurostar is very limited. For guidance on booking travel to and from Europe visit The Man in Seat Sixty-One's website or see advice from National Rail.

Some carriages remain in service where it is necessary to open a window and use an outside handle to open an external door from inside but (apart from heritage operations and older carriages used on charter trains) all doors are now centrally locked when trains are underway. Selective door opening is increasingly used, particularly in London and South East England. Trains are longer than some station platforms and only doors within the platform are unlocked. Announcements and visual displays advise passengers which carriages they need to be in if wishing to alight. This also happens to a limited extent on the London Underground, but usually only affecting the rearmost pair of doors.

Facing pairs of seats in trains have traditionally had the same number, being distinguished by being either "facing" or "back" relative to the direction of travel. They are distinguished on seat reservation labels and tickets by suffixes F and B. This can cause some confusion with seat reservations on trains that reverse en route. The practice is being replaced by most operators by numbering each seat uniquely, particularly on new trains.

There are very few long-distance overnight trains in Great Britain (and none in Northern Ireland). Couchettes are not provided and seating, when available, is in saloons with non-reclinable seats, where passengers may have no control of the lighting. Completely new trains have been introduced on Anglo-Scottish overnight services, with four categories of accommodation.

Taking bicycles, other than folding ones, by train can be difficult. Space may be limited and some operators require advance reservations for bicycles. More information can be found at National Rail.

Train services at weekends, and especially Saturday evening and Sunday until mid-afternoon, can be extensively altered because of engineering work. With the paucity of alternative routes and a growing aversion to temporary single line working, buses frequently substitute for trains in such circumstances. There are an increasing number of initiatives to give extended overnight possessions Mondays to Thursdays, in order to reduce the extent of weekend closures. This results in late evening trains being replaced by buses.

The risk of terrorism in Great Britain should not be over-stated - but this is due in part to stringent precautions, so very few stations have left luggage facilities. Unattended luggage may be removed by the police and processes to check that it is safe can be very destructive.

Railway enthusiasts are welcomed on stations - for guidance when on and about stations refer to Network Rail's advice.

See also