There are many companies operating trains in the United Kingdom, including the operators of franchised passenger services, officially referred to as train operating companies (TOCs), as distinct from freight operating companies.
There are also a number of light rail systems.
Operating companies have ceased to exist for various reasons, including withdrawal of the franchise, the term of the franchise has expired, bankruptcy or merger.
Operator | Type | Franchise | Parent(s) | Date started | Date ceased | Replaced by | Code |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abellio ScotRail | Franchise | ScotRail | Abellio | 1 April 2015 | 31 March 2022 | ScotRail (Scottish Government) | SR |
Anglia Railways | Anglia | GB Railways | 5 January 1997 | 31 March 2004 | One | AR | |
Arriva Trains Wales | Wales & Borders | Arriva UK Trains | 8 December 2003 | 13 October 2018 [8] | KeolisAmey Wales | AW | |
Arriva Trains Merseyside | Merseytravel contract | Merseyrail | February 2000 | 20 July 2003 | Merseyrail | ME | |
Arriva Trains Northern | Franchise | Regional Railways North East | 2 March 1997 | 12 December 2004 | AN | ||
Arriva Rail North | Northern | 1 April 2016 | 29 February 2020 | Northern Trains | NT | ||
Caledonian Sleeper (Serco) | Caledonian Sleeper | Serco | 31 March 2015 | 24 June 2023 | Caledonian Sleeper (Scottish Rail Holdings) | CS | |
Central Trains | Central | National Express | 2 March 1997 | 10 November 2007 | CT | ||
Connex South Central | Network SouthCentral | Connex | 13 October 1996 | 16 June 2001 | Southern | CX | |
Connex South Eastern | South Eastern | 26 May 1996 | 9 November 2003 | South Eastern Trains | |||
East Coast | InterCity East Coast | Directly Operated Railways | 14 November 2009 | 28 February 2015 | Virgin Trains East Coast | GR | |
East Midlands Trains | East Midlands | Stagecoach | 11 November 2007 | 17 August 2019 | East Midlands Railway | EM | |
First Capital Connect | Thameslink Great Northern | FirstGroup | 1 April 2006 | 13 September 2014 | Govia Thameslink Railway | FC | |
First Great Eastern | Great Eastern | FirstGroup | 5 January 1997 | 31 March 2004 | National Express East Anglia | GE | |
First Great Western Link | Thames | FirstGroup | 1 April 2004 | 31 March 2006 | First Great Western | FK | |
First North Western | North West Regional Railways | FirstGroup | 2 March 1997 | 12 December 2004 | NW | ||
First ScotRail | Scotrail | FirstGroup | 17 October 2004 | 31 March 2015 | Abellio ScotRail | SR | |
First TransPennine Express | TransPennine Express |
| 1 February 2004 | 31 March 2016 | TransPennine Express | TP | |
Gatwick Express | Gatwick Express | National Express | 28 April 1996 | 22 June 2008 | Southern | GX | |
Great North Eastern Railway | InterCity East Coast | Sea Containers | 28 April 1996 | 8 December 2007 | National Express East Coast | GR | |
Great Western Trains | Great Western | Great Western Holdings | 4 February 1996 | March 1998 | First Great Western | GW | |
Heathrow Connect | Open Access | — | Heathrow Airport Holdings, FirstGroup | 12 June 2005 | 19 May 2018 | TfL Rail | HC |
Island Line | Franchise | Island Line | Stagecoach | 13 October 1996 | 3 February 2007 | South West Trains | IL |
London Midland | West Midlands | Govia | 11 November 2007 | 9 December 2017 | West Midlands Trains | LM | |
London Overground Rail Operations | TfL concession | London Overground |
| 11 November 2007 | 12 November 2016 [9] | Arriva Rail London | LO |
Merseyrail Electrics | Merseytravel contract | Merseyrail | MTL | 19 January 1997 | February 2000 | Arriva Trains Merseyside | ME |
Midland Mainline | Franchise | Midland Main Line | National Express | 28 February 1996 | 10 November 2007 | East Midlands Trains | ML |
National Express East Anglia | Greater Anglia | 1 April 2004 | 5 February 2012 | Greater Anglia | LE | ||
National Express East Coast | InterCity East Coast | 9 December 2007 | 13 November 2009 | East Coast | GR | ||
Northern Rail | Northern Rail | Serco-Abellio | 12 December 2004 | 31 March 2016 | Arriva Rail North | NT | |
Northern Spirit | Regional Railways North East | MTL | 2 March 1997 | February 2000 | Arriva Trains Northern | NS | |
North Western Trains | North West Regional Railways | Great Western Holdings | 2 March 1997 | March 1998 | First North Western | NW | |
ScotRail | ScotRail | National Express | 31 March 1997 | 17 October 2004 | First ScotRail | SR | |
Silverlink | North London Railways | 2 March 1997 | 10 November 2007 | SS | |||
Southeastern | Integrated Kent | Govia | 1 April 2006 | 16 October 2021 | Southeastern | SE | |
South Eastern Trains | South Eastern | Strategic Rail Authority | 9 November 2003 | 31 March 2006 | Southeastern | SE | |
South West Trains | South Western | Stagecoach | 4 February 2007 | 19 August 2017 [10] | South Western Railway | SW | |
Southern | South Central | Govia | 26 August 2001 | 25 July 2015 | Govia Thameslink Railway | SN | |
Thames Trains | Thames | Go-Ahead Group | 13 October 1996 | 31 March 2004 | First Great Western Link | TT | |
Thameslink | Thameslink | Govia | 2 March 1997 | 31 March 2006 | First Capital Connect | TR | |
TransPennine Express | TransPennine Express | FirstGroup | 1 April 2016 | 28 May 2023 | TransPennine Trains (trading as TransPennine Express) | TP | |
KeolisAmey Wales | Wales & Borders | Keolis/Amey | 14 October 2018 | 6 February 2021 | Transport for Wales Rail | AW | |
Valley Lines | Valley Lines | National Express | 13 October 1996 | 13 October 2001 | Wales & Borders | VL | |
Virgin Trains East Coast | InterCity East Coast |
| 1 March 2015 | 23 June 2018 | London North Eastern Railway | GR | |
Virgin CrossCountry | CrossCountry | Virgin Rail Group | 5 January 1997 | 10 November 2007 | VXC | ||
Virgin Trains West Coast | InterCity West Coast | 9 March 1997 | 7 December 2019 [11] | Avanti West Coast | VT | ||
West Anglia Great Northern (West Anglia Main Line and Lea Valley Lines) | West Anglia Great Northern | National Express | 5 January 1997 | 31 March 2004 | One | WN | |
West Anglia Great Northern (Great Northern and Fenline routes) | West Anglia Great Northern | National Express | 5 January 1997 | 31 March 2006 | First Capital Connect | ||
Wales & Borders | Wales & Borders | National Express | 14 October 2001 | 7 December 2003 | Arriva Trains Wales | WB | |
Wales & West | Wales & West | National Express | 13 October 1996 | 13 October 2001 | WW | ||
Wessex Trains | Wessex | National Express | 14 October 2001 | 31 March 2006 | First Great Western | WE | |
Wrexham & Shropshire | Open access | Wrexham to London | DB Regio | 28 April 2008 | 28 January 2011 | Ceased due to lack of profitability | WS |
In Northern Ireland, passenger trains are NI/Ireland government-owned by Translink or the National Transport Authority. The following brands are used:
Luxury railtours
In Northern Ireland
Most of the transport system in Ireland is in public hands, either side of the Irish border. The Irish road network has evolved separately in the two jurisdictions into which Ireland is divided, while the Irish rail network was mostly created prior to the partition of Ireland.
NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways, is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent company is the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), and is one of eight publicly owned train operators in the United Kingdom, the others being Direct Rail Services, Northern Trains, Transport for Wales Rail, Southeastern, LNER, ScotRail, and TransPennine Express. It has a common Board of Management with the other two companies in the group, Ulsterbus and Metro.
The Dublin Area Rapid Transit system is an electrified commuter rail railway network serving the coastline and city of Dublin, Ireland. The service makes up the core of Dublin's suburban railway network, stretching from Greystones, County Wicklow, in the south to Howth and Malahide in north County Dublin. The DART serves 31 stations and consists of 53 route kilometres of electrified railway, and carries in the region of 20 million passengers per year. In a similar manner to the Berlin S-Bahn, the DART blends elements of a commuter rail service and a rapid transit system.
Córas Iompair Éireann, or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of the Republic of Ireland, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport within the Republic and jointly with its Northern Ireland counterpart, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, for the railway service between Dublin and Belfast, via Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry and Portadown. The company is headquartered at Heuston Station, Dublin. It is a statutory corporation whose members are appointed by the Minister for Transport.
The history of rail transport in Ireland began only a decade later than that of Great Britain. By its peak in 1920, Ireland had 3,500 route miles (5,630 km). The current status is less than half that amount, with a large unserviced area around the border area between Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland.
Rail transport in Ireland is provided by Iarnród Éireann in the Republic of Ireland and by Northern Ireland Railways in Northern Ireland.
Iarnród Éireann, or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the Enterprise service between Dublin and Belfast. In 2019, IÉ carried a record peak of 50 million passengers, up from 48 million in 2018.
There are effectively two separate mainline railway systems in the United Kingdom – the Great Britain system and the Northern Ireland system, which are regulated and operated separately, and are constituted under separate pieces of United Kingdom legislation.
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 Iarnród Éireann (IÉ) / Northern Ireland Railways 201 Class locomotives are the newest and most powerful diesel locomotives operating in Ireland and were built between 1994 and 1995 by General Motors Diesel. They are model type JT42HCW, fitted with an EMD 12-710G3B engine of 3,200 hp (2,400 kW), weigh 108.862 tonnes and have a maximum speed of 164 km/h (102 mph).
Enterprise is the cross-border inter-city train service between Dublin Connolly in the Republic of Ireland and Belfast Grand Central in Northern Ireland, jointly operated by Iarnród Éireann (IE) and NI Railways (NIR). It operates on the Belfast–Dublin railway line.
The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I) or GNRI) was an Irish gauge (1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)) railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The governments of Ireland and Northern Ireland jointly nationalised the company in 1953, and the company was liquidated in 1958: assets were split on national lines between the Ulster Transport Authority and Córas Iompair Éireann.
The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) is a railway preservation group founded in 1964 and operating throughout Ireland. Mainline steam train railtours are operated from Dublin, while short train rides are operated up and down the platform at Whitehead, County Antrim, and as of 2023, the group sometimes operates mainline trains in Northern Ireland using hired-in NIR diesel trains from Belfast. The RPSI has bases in Dublin and Whitehead, with the latter having a museum. The society owns heritage wagons, carriages, steam engines, diesel locomotives and metal-bodied carriages suitable for mainline use.
The Belfast–Dublin Main Line is a main and the busiest railway route on the island of Ireland that connects Dublin Connolly station in the Republic of Ireland and Belfast Lanyon Place station in Northern Ireland. It is the only railway line that crosses the Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border.
Midleton railway station is a railway station situated in Midleton, a town in south-eastern County Cork, in Ireland.
InterCity is the brand name given to rail services operated by Iarnród Éireann that run between Dublin and other major cities in Ireland. InterCity branding is also used in other European countries by unaffiliated organizations.
Commuter is a brand of suburban rail services operated by Iarnród Éireann in the Republic of Ireland, serving the cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. This brand is distinct from the longer distance InterCity brand, and Dublin's higher frequency DART brand. Most Commuter services share a track with InterCity services. During the first decade of the new millennium, Iarnród Éireann put a significant amount of effort into upgrading its network, with new tracks, signalling, station upgrades and trains. Commuter services are operated by diesel multiple unit train sets.
This article deals with transport in the Greater Dublin Area centred on the city of Dublin in Ireland.
Arriva UK Trains Limited is the company that oversees Arriva's train operating companies in the United Kingdom. It gained its first franchises in February 2000. These were later lost, though several others were gained. In January 2010, with the take-over of Arriva by Deutsche Bahn, Arriva UK Trains also took over the running of those formerly overseen by DB Regio UK Limited.
Arriva Rail London is a train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains that operates the London Overground concession on behalf of Transport for London.