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Great Britain has numerous intercity services traversing the country, however, unlike in other countries, these are not clearly defined. Most of these trains are high speed, and some operate into France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
In 1830, the first intercity railway in the world was built between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester in northwest England for the purpose of transporting both passengers and goods. [4] A railway mania ensued, with intercity railways springing up across the country. The UK's main intercity routes, the West Coast Main Line from London to Glasgow opened in 1849, and the East Coast Main Line from London to Edinburgh opened in 1860. [5] Before the Grouping in 1923, most services were operated by joint stock as various rail companies owned separate sections of track that intercity services operated over. Following the Grouping, intercity services were amalgamated with local services under the "Big Four", the London and North Eastern Railway, the Great Western Railway, the London Midland and Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway. Named trains became increasingly prominent during this period, as did the luxury of such services. These luxurious services included the Flying Scotsman on the east coast, the Royal Scot on the west and the Cornish Riviera Express in the south west.
In 1948 the Big Four were nationalised to form British Railways. However, after the demise of steam in 1968 the number of luxury services and named services declined. In 1966 the brand name Inter-city was introduced by British Rail. The hyphen was later dropped. [6] InterCity ran trains from London to South West England, Wales, the West Midlands, the East Midlands, North West England, Yorkshire and the Humber, North East England, Scotland and East of England. There were also numerous cross-country services, which were inter-city services that traversed several regions and usually avoided Greater London. Intercity was broken into varying franchises during the privatisation of British Rail.
Since privatisation, the boundary between inter-city and regional express has become increasingly blurred. Many services once considered regional express are now operated and marketed as intercity, examples include Transpennine Express and ScotRail. There are also numerous companies which operate a mixture of inter-city, regional express and local services.
The UK's longest direct rail service is operated by CrossCountry from Aberdeen to Penzance, and takes 13 hours 23 minutes to complete.
Inter-city trains from London operate out of the following London terminals:
The following train operating companies operate inter-city trains in Great Britain (operators marked with an asterisk are open-access operators and only inter-city routes listed):
In Northern Ireland, there are inter-city services between it and the Republic of Ireland known as Enterprise.
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest mixed-traffic railway routes in Europe, carrying a mixture of intercity rail, regional rail, commuter rail and rail freight traffic. The core route of the WCML runs from London to Glasgow for 400 miles (644 km) and was opened from 1837 to 1881. With additional lines deviating to Northampton, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh, this totals a route mileage of 700 miles (1,127 km). The Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line connects the WCML to Edinburgh. However, the main London–Edinburgh route is the East Coast Main Line. Several sections of the WCML form part of the suburban railway systems in London, Coventry, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, with many more smaller commuter stations, as well as providing links to more rural towns.
The InterCity 125 or High Speed Train (HST) is a diesel-powered high-speed passenger train built by British Rail Engineering Limited between 1975 and 1982. A total of 95 sets were produced, each comprising two Class 43 power cars, one at each end, and a rake of seven or eight Mark 3 coaches. The name is derived from its top operational speed of 125 mph (201 km/h). At times, the sets have been classified as British Rail Classes 253, 254 and 255.
Leeds railway station is the mainline railway station serving the city centre of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on New Station Street to the south of City Square, at the foot of Park Row, behind the landmark Queens Hotel. It is one of 20 stations managed by Network Rail. As of December 2023, it was the busiest station in West Yorkshire, as well as in Yorkshire & the Humber, and the entirety of Northern England. It is the second busiest station in the UK outside of London, after Birmingham New Street.
InterCity was a brand name introduced by British Rail in 1966 for its long-haul express passenger services.
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen in the north-east of Scotland. The company operates transport services in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
In the railway system of Great Britain, a train operating company (TOC) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993.
The British Rail Class 153 Super Sprinter are single-coach diesel-hydraulic railcars which were converted from two-coach Class 155 diesel multiple units in the early 1990s. The class was intended for service on rural branch lines, either where passenger numbers do not justify longer trains or to boost the capacity on services with high passenger volume.
York railway station is on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) serving the cathedral city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is 188 miles 40 chains (303.4 km) north of London King's Cross and on the main line it is situated between Doncaster to the south and Thirsk to the north. As of June 2018, the station is operated by London North Eastern Railway. It is the busiest station in North Yorkshire, the second busiest in Yorkshire & the Humber, and the fifth busiest in Northern England. In Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations by Simon Jenkins, the station was one of only ten to be awarded five stars.
Cross Country services on the British rail network carry passengers between regions on routes avoiding London termini.
Warrington Bank Quay is one of three railway stations serving the town of Warrington in Cheshire, England. It is a principal stop on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow Central. The station is a north–south oriented main-line station on one side of the main shopping area, with the west–east oriented Warrington West and Warrington Central operating a more frequent service to the neighbouring cities of Liverpool and Manchester.
First TransPennine Express was a British train operating company jointly owned by FirstGroup and Keolis which operated the TransPennine Express franchise. First TransPennine Express ran regular Express regional railway services between the major cities of Northern England as well as Scotland.
Liverpool South Parkway station is a railway station and bus interchange in the Garston district of Liverpool, England. It serves, via a bus link, Liverpool John Lennon Airport in the neighbouring suburb of Speke, as well as providing an interchange between main line services and the Merseyrail rapid transit/commuter rail network. Opened in 2006 on the site of the former Allerton railway station, it also replaced the nearby Garston station.
Transport in Scotland is facilitated by road, rail, air and water networks. The Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament has control over most elements of transport policy within Scotland, with the Cabinet Secretary for Transport holding portfolio responsibility within the Scottish Government. Transport Scotland is the Executive Agency responsible for the Scottish transport network.
The Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line is a main railway route which connects the Scottish cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, by means of their respective sections of the West Coast Main Line (WCML).
High-speed rail in the United Kingdom is provided on five upgraded railway lines running at top speeds of 125 mph (200 km/h) and one purpose-built high-speed line reaching 186 mph (300 km/h).
The Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line is a railway line in the West Midlands of England. It is a loop off the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Rugby and Stafford, via the West Midlands cities of Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton. The direct route between Rugby and Stafford is the Trent Valley line.
Urban andsuburban rail plays a key role in public transport in many of the major cities of the United Kingdom. Urban rail refers to the train service between city centres and suburbs or nearby towns that acts as a main mode of transport for travellers on a daily basis. They consist of several railway lines connecting city centre stations of major cities to suburbs and surrounding towns.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the United Kingdom.
East Midlands Railway is a British train operating company owned by Transport UK Group, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise.
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