98-485: The Senior Railcard is an annual card available to people aged 60 and over, which gives discounts on certain types of railway ticket in Britain . The Railcard has existed in various forms since 1975; the current version is priced at £ 30.00 and is valid for one year, with a 3-year card available for £70. It is one of a wide variety of discounted and concessionary fare schemes available on Britain's railway network. During
196-599: A 50% discount was now given on Sealink ferry services to all destinations. In the next few years, until the next major revision in 1985, the main changes to the Railcards' conditions related to the qualification criteria. From January 1978, these were extended slightly, with people aged 60 or over who received Widow's Pensions or War Widow's Pensions being included. From January 1980, anybody resident in Britain and aged at least 60 (for women) or 65 (for men), and British people living abroad but meeting these age criteria, could buy
294-484: A UK domestic train service was the Hull Trains 07.30 King's Cross to Hull , which covered the 125.4 km (77.9 miles) from Stevenage to Grantham in 42 minutes at an average speed of 179.1 km/h (111.3 mph). This was operated by a Class 180 diesel unit running "under the wires" at the time, and is now operated by Class 802 Paragon bi-mode units, operating on electric power on this section. This
392-523: A combination of a transparent carbonless copy paper top copy, for the customer; and a backing card, for retention by British Rail. The customer signed the receipt, handed it back; and, in return, was given the signed top copy and the train tickets. APTIS was derived from a private venture ticketing system, the General Purpose ticket-issuing system, developed by Thorn EMI in 1978. It had 25 kB of memory. British Rail invited 23 firms to tender for
490-493: A discount is available, the level is 34%, as it has been since the changes of 1992; and the types of tickets which receive discounts remains largely the same. The discount is also available on most new ticket types introduced since then, such as SuperAdvance and Virgin Value . Similarly, there has been little change in the types of ticket excluded from receiving discounts; these are summarised here . The restriction on journeys made in
588-612: A full year), on which the holder's name, address, pension book number and signature had to be added. Holders had to meet one of the following criteria: The discounts available were relatively limited in relation to those available with the current Railcard: At first, the Railcard cost £4.32 (£4.00 + 8% value added tax charge), although this was soon reduced to £4.00 when the VAT charge was removed. A major change occurred as from 1 April 1976. A separate "Day Returns Only" Railcard, priced at £3.00,
686-635: 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 , via Heathrow Airport , relieving traffic on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). Conventional high-speed rail technology would be used as opposed to Maglev . The rolling stock would be capable of travelling on
784-657: 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 network . These include Belfast , Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff , Edinburgh, Exeter , Glasgow , Leeds , Liverpool, London and Manchester . There are four main goods operating companies in
882-652: A number of other joint railways such as the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway and the Cheshire Lines Committee as well as special joint railways such as the Forth Bridge Railway, Ryde Pier Railway and at one time the East London Railway ). The "Big Four" were joint-stock public companies and they continued to run the railway system until 31 December 1947. The growth in road transport during
980-422: A record 22.7 billion net tonne kilometres (14 billion net ton miles) of freight movement were recorded in 2013–4, against 16.6 billion (10.1 billion) in 1986–7, an increase of 38%. Coal made up 36% of the total net tonne kilometre , though its share was declining. Rail freight had increased its market share since privatisation (by net tonne kilometres) from 7.4% in 1998 to 11.1% in 2013. Growth
1078-468: A set list of around twenty stations, upon production of their pension book (to confirm their eligibility). All of these schemes were superseded by the introduction of the first Senior Citizen Railcard (as it was then known), valid throughout Britain, on 1 April 1975. This took the form of a large, thin card (British Rail form number BR 24889 ) with a pre-printed expiry date of 31 March 1976 (so Railcards issued later in 1975 were valid for less than
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#17330857187901176-684: A ticket-issuing system and Thorn EMI was successful. The first prototype was installed at Portsmouth & Southsea on 11 November 1982. APTIS, along with the portable system PORTIS , was adopted as part of British Rail's £31 million investment, which was authorised in 1983. The production APTIS machines had 300 kB of memory; this could be upgraded to 500 kB. Some 2,971 APTIS machines were scheduled to be installed at 1,600 staffed British Rail stations between August 1985 and September 1987. The first production APTIS tickets were issued in October 1986 at stations including Didcot Parkway and Abbey Wood ;
1274-607: A travel agency, and are endorsed with the council's details. The full price, rather than the price the resident pays, is usually shown. British Rail and, later, ATOC have collaborated with various organisations and businesses to offer free or reduced-rate Railcards, sometimes for periods shorter than one year. The television listings magazine TV Times is known to have offered reduced-rate Railcards to its readers for periods of approximately one month in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1997. The 1990 and 1991 promotions were run in January and offered
1372-583: A £6.00 reduction in the purchase price, while in 1997 an £8.00 reduction (equivalent to 50%) applied between late August and late September. Tickets were issued in bulk at the Harrington Dock agency in Liverpool, as illustrated, and showed a blank "Price". Free Railcards with short validity periods, designed to attract potential Railcard users who may not have considered buying one, have been given away with jars of Horlicks malted milk powder (spring 1998), on
1470-776: Is 70. The UK has the 17th largest railway network in the world ; despite many lines having closed in the 20th century, due to the Beeching cuts , it remains one of the densest networks. It is one of the busiest railways in Europe , with 20% more train services than France , 60% more than Italy , and more than Spain , Switzerland , the Netherlands , Portugal and Norway combined, as well as representing more than 20% of all passenger journeys in Europe. The rail industry employs 115,000 people and supports another 250,000 through its supply chain. After
1568-452: Is a large programme of upgrades to the network, including Thameslink , Crossrail , electrification of lines , in-cab signalling , new inter-city trains and new high-speed lines . According to historians David Brandon and Alan Brooke, the railways brought into being our modern world: The railways started with the local isolated wooden wagonways in 1560s using horses. These wagonways then spread, particularly in mining areas. The system
1666-672: Is according to the Office of Rail and Road and includes open access operators such as Grand Central and Hull Trains . There are 2,579 passenger railway stations on the Network Rail network. 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 and city centres. Major stations lie for
1764-650: Is partly attributed to a shift away from private motoring due to growing road congestion and increasing petrol prices, but also to the overall increase in travel due to affluence. Passenger journeys in Britain grew by 88% over the period 1997–98 to 2014 as compared to 62% in Germany, 41% in France and 16% in Spain. The United Kingdom is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC country code for United Kingdom
1862-416: Is unusual, although examples are known from the 1980s from the former Beverley Borough Council and Lancashire County Council , both valid on rail services only in those areas. It is more common for local authorities to offer residents the full Railcard at a reduced price (or even free of charge). Examples from around England include: Such tickets are issued in bulk at a local station's ticket office or at
1960-448: The APTIS , PORTIS/SPORTIS and other computerised ticket issuing systems, a "status code" field is provided on each ticket issued. This is left blank if an adult is travelling at full (undiscounted) fare; but if any discount or other special condition applies, a code of up to five letters appears. When APTIS and PORTIS (the predecessor of SPORTIS) were introduced, from late 1986, the Railcard
2058-632: The Class 252 , reached a world speed record for diesel trains of 143.2 mph, while the main fleet entered service limited to a service speed of 125 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
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#17330857187902156-571: The Class 91 , intended for passenger service at up to 140 mph (225 km/h), and thus branded as the InterCity 225 . The Class 91 units were designed for a maximum service speed of 140 mph, and running at this speed was trialled with a 'flashing green' signal aspect under the British signalling system . The trains were eventually limited to the same speed as the HST, to 125 mph, with higher speeds deemed to require cab signalling , which as of 2010
2254-588: 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 , is awarded by Transport Scotland , and 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
2352-409: The Department for Transport 's Transport Ten Year Plan called for an 80% increase in rail freight. Statistics on freight are specified in terms of the weight of freight lifted, and the net tonne kilometre , being freight weight multiplied by distance carried. 116.6 million tonnes of freight was lifted in the 2013–4 period, against 138 million tonnes in 1986–7, a decrease of 16%. However,
2450-476: The Department for Transport . Transport for Wales Rail is owned by Transport for Wales , a Welsh Government owned company, with no current plans to re-privatise the latter. On 1 April 2022, ScotRail was put under public ownership by the Scottish Government , under Transport Scotland as ScotRail operating on the same day. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a huge fall in the number of passengers using
2548-455: The Edmondson railway ticket first introduced in the 1840s. APTIS issued impact printed tickets on credit-card sized card ticket stock, with a magnetic stripe on the centre of the reverse which could be encoded to operate ticket barriers ; it could also use plain non-magnetic ticket stock. APTIS could issue receipts for passengers paying by debit card or credit card . These receipts were
2646-701: The 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. Train fares cost 2.7% more than under British Rail in real terms on average. 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 subsidies in Europe are higher. However, passengers are also able to obtain some of
2744-618: The Tyne and Wear Metro centred on Newcastle upon Tyne . Light rail systems in the form of trams are in Birmingham , Croydon , Manchester , Nottingham , Sheffield and 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 has the one remaining traditional tram system. Monorails, heritage tramways, miniature railways and funiculars also exist in several places. In addition, there are
2842-421: The 1920s and 1930s greatly reduced revenue for the rail companies. Rail companies accused the government of favouring road haulage through the subsidised construction of roads. The railways entered a slow decline owing to a lack of investment and changes in transport policy and lifestyles. During World War II , the companies' managements joined, effectively forming one company. A maintenance backlog developed during
2940-972: The 2010s, many upgrades have been under way, such as Thameslink , Crossrail , the Northern Hub and electrification of the Great Western Main Line . Electrification plans for the Midland Main Line and the Transpennine line between Manchester and Leeds have been scaled back. Construction of High Speed 2 is underway, with a projected completion date of 2026 for Phase 1 (London to Birmingham) and 2033 for Phase 2. A poll of 1,500 adults in Britain in June 2018 showed that 64% support renationalising Britain's railways. Currently, six franchises are under public ownership, and thus effectively nationalised. Four, LNER , Northern Trains , Southeastern and TransPennine Express , are operators of last resort owned by
3038-622: The BBC, this represents the largest shake-up in the UK's railways since privatisation. On 18 November 2021, the government announced the biggest ever public investment in Britain's rail network costing £96 billion and promising quicker and more frequent rail connections in the North and Midlands: the Integrated Rail Plan includes substantially improved connections north–south as well as east–west and includes three new high speed lines. In July 2024,
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3136-526: The British network the fifth most used in the world (Great Britain ranks 23rd in world population). Unlike a number of other countries, rail travel in the United Kingdom has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years, with passenger numbers approaching their highest ever level (see usage figures below). This has coincided with the privatisation of British Rail , but the cause of this increase is unclear . The growth
3234-602: The Network SouthEast area no longer received a discount, restricting Railcard holders to off-peak travel; and One Day Travelcard discounts became more restricted. From 1985, when the "One Day Capitalcard" (as it was then known) was introduced, Railcard holders gained a 50% discount. This applied from any Network SouthEast station either within or outside the Travelcard zonal area , and for Capitalcards valid for any combination of zones. The discount on "All Zones" Travelcards
3332-648: The Railcard were withdrawn completely; any accompanying children now had to pay the normal child fare. On the APTIS and PORTIS/SPORTIS ticket issuing systems, the status code CHSNC was used to denote a child travelling with a Senior Citizen Railcard holder. There have been, and continue to be, many variations on the standard Railcard; and as well as the regular discounts, various short-term or seasonal offers have been available to Railcard holders. Many local government areas , such as Borough Councils and District Councils, either provide discounted Railcards to residents or offer their own area-specific version. The latter
3430-532: The Railcard. Finally, from 30 March 1984, a further simplification took place: anybody aged 60 or over could hold one. This condition still applies as of 2007. Other additions included the introduction of certain discounts on Motorail services, London Underground journeys (these were charged at child rate for Railcard holders), through travel to the Isle of Man and various European destinations, and discounts on all-inclusive holidays by rail. 12 May 1985 saw changes to
3528-510: The UK Government permanently got rid of the rail franchising system. On 20 May 2021, the Government announced a white paper that would transform the operation of the railways. The rail network will be partly renationalised, with infrastructure and operations brought together under the state-owned public body Great British Railways . Operations will be managed on a concessions model. According to
3626-401: The UK, the largest of which is DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker, formerly English Welsh & Scottish (EWS)). There are also several smaller independent operators including Mendip Rail . Types of freight carried include intermodal – in essence containerised freight – and coal, metals, oil, and construction materials. The Beeching Cuts, in contrast to passenger services, greatly modernised
3724-598: The average Advance ticket in 1995 cost £9.14 (in 2014 prices) compared to £5.17 in 2014. Rail subsidies have increased from £3.4bn in 1992–93 to £4.5bn in 2015–16 (in current prices), although subsidy per journey has fallen from £4.57 per journey to £2.61 per journey. However, this masks great regional variation, as in 2014–15 funding varied from "£1.41 per passenger journey in England to £6.51 per journey in Scotland and £8.34 per journey in Wales." The public image of rail travel
3822-610: The average age to around 15 years by March 2021. 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 technical manuals , which are centrally produced for the network. 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) The following table
3920-435: The cards at a discount of around 20% (see below - Related Schemes). In the early years, applications could only be made in person at stations and travel agencies. Because applicants were required to hold a pension book or similar, this had to presented at the time the Railcard was purchased; the pension book number was then written on the front of the Railcard. Now, when a Railcard is bought in person, applicants must complete
4018-686: The case of the InterCity West Coast and InterCity East Coast franchises, applicants submit bids to return the most money to the government from operating the service. This has led to franchisees collapsing when passenger growth targets are not met as promised payments to the government cannot be paid and the franchise is exited early. In 2023, Network Rail held over £59.1 billion in debt, and £1.176 billion interest payments. Many of these debts were incurred by Railtrack and transferred to Network Rail when it collapsed. British Rail operations were privatised during 1994–1997. Ownership of
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4116-480: The cheapest fares in Europe if they book in advance or travel at off-peak times 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. 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
4214-440: The coordination of transport in Great Britain. Rail revenue fell and in 1955 the network again ceased to be profitable. The mid-1950s saw the rapid introduction of diesel and electric rolling stock, but the expected transfer back from road to rail did not occur and losses began to mount. The desire for profitability led to a major reduction in the network during the mid-1960s, with ICI manager Dr. Richard Beeching commissioned by
4312-723: The cover of "Active Life" magazine—a general-interest publication aimed at over-50s (March/April 1998 edition), by the charity Help the Aged (June 1998), and with "Saga Magazine" —similar to "Active Life" magazine, produced by the British organisation Saga (1999–2000). In addition to the standard discounts available over the years, many short-term promotional fares and ticket types have been made available to Railcard holders. Some of these have been in restricted geographical areas (or, since privatisation, on certain Train Operating Companies' services), while others have applied across
4410-416: The discount scheme from May 1987, with a saving of 34% available for Railcard holders. By this time, the "Day Returns Only" card could only be used to buy Cheap Day Returns, following the introduction of the "Cheap Day" fare to distinguish between peak-time and off-peak journeys. "Cheap Day Returns Only" wording began to appear on these Railcards accordingly; but they were withdrawn from 10 January 1988, with
4508-629: 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 mph with "minor modifications", with
4606-532: The early 1970s, some of British Rail's Regions offered a series of small, localised travel promotions for people of or near retirement age. The London Midland and Southern regions were particularly active in this, although other examples existed elsewhere. These promotions were characterised by restricted validity and geographical availability. For example, one Southern Region scheme introduced in 1970 offered pensioners half-price travel at off-peak times on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays only, for journeys from
4704-460: The end of September 2003, the first part of High Speed 1 , a high-speed link to the Channel Tunnel and onward to France and Belgium, was completed, significantly adding to the rail infrastructure of the country. The rest of the link, from north Kent to London St Pancras opened in 2007. A major programme of remedial work on the West Coast Main Line started in 1997 and finished in 2008. Since
4802-597: 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 . 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
4900-399: 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. As of August 2023 the following rolling stock on the British network is capable of 125 mph or more: In 2011, the fastest timetabled start-to-stop run by
4998-639: The financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic . The UK government proposed a new state-owned public body, Great British Railways , which would operate a concession contract system on the network from 2023. As of November 2023 , legislation to establish the new body was said to be "unlikely" within the 2023–2024 parliamentary session. In the 2015–16 operating year, franchised services provided 1,718 million journeys totalling (64.7 billion billion passenger km) of travel, an increase over 1994–5 of 117% in journeys (from 761 million) and just over doubling
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#17330857187905096-520: The first of a new 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 mph (to about 140 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 . The Intercity Express Programme for replacement of
5194-668: The five geographical Regions were replaced by a Sectored organisation, in which passenger services were organised into InterCity , Network SouthEast and Regional Railways sectors. The Railways Act 1993 divided the railways up, with Railtrack taking ownership of British Rail's property portfolio, tracks, signals, bridges and tunnels, Rolling Stock Operating Companies, and train operating companies. Passenger transport services were bundled together into franchises to facilitate cross-subsidy within franchises, with many regulations on ticket prices and types, regulated fare increases and "Parliamentary service" obligations. Companies submit bids to
5292-402: The following changes were made: security background (miniature repeats of the words "British Rail") was changed from the light green colour seen on most APTIS ticket stock to a dark pink; the upper and lower bands became dark brown; and part of the background was filled with the words "Senior Citizen Railcard" in cursive writing in white. This style lasted only until October 1988, at which point
5390-508: The form found inside the Senior Railcard leaflet available from ticket sales points and show proof of age. Online purchase requires registration using a valid e-mail address and password, and a UK passport or driving licence number for identification. Renewal of Railcards by post became possible in 1989; an agency based at Harrington Dock in Liverpool deals with all applications. During
5488-757: The franchising authority - often the Secretary of State for Transport, Passenger Transport Authority, or devolved government - competing for the lowest subsidy requirement and to invest in the railway over the lifespan of the franchise. There is also provision for subsidy between franchises, with profitable franchises demanding payments made to the government to cover a share of the losses from others. Examples of franchises include ScotRail , Great Western , and Southern Trains . Open Access Operators are entirely free to set their own services and fares unaffected by government regulations. Examples of such operators are Lumo and Grand Central , Hull Trains and Heathrow Express . In
5586-452: The goods sector, replacing inefficient wagons with containerised regional hubs. Freight services had been in steady decline since the 1930s, initially because of the reduction in manufacturing and then road haulage's cost advantage in combination with higher wages. Since 1995, however, the amount of freight carried on the railways has increased sharply due to increased reliability and competition, as well as international services. In 2000,
5684-652: The government resisted calls for the nationalisation of the network (first proposed by 19th century Prime Minister William Gladstone as early as the 1830s). Instead, from 1 January 1923, almost all the remaining companies were grouped into the "big four": the Great Western Railway , the London and North Eastern Railway , the London Midland and Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway companies (there were also
5782-463: The government under Ernest Marples with reorganising the railways. Many branch lines (and a number of main lines) were closed because they were deemed uneconomic ("the Beeching Axe " of 1963), removing much feeder traffic from main line passenger services. In the second Beeching report of 1965, only the "major trunk routes" were selected for large-scale investment, leading many to speculate the rest of
5880-469: The highest priced and least restricted. These are now known as "Open" tickets.) A 50% discount was now only available on Day Returns and the new off-peak equivalent, the Cheap Day Return. Further restrictions on journeys by ferry and ship were made in 1985 and 1986, while Rover and Ranger tickets of all types ("go-anywhere" multi-journey tickets covering particular geographic areas) were included within
5978-524: The historic London Underground and the Glasgow Subway . There are also many private railways , some of them narrow-gauge , which are primarily short lines for tourists. The main rail network is connected with that of continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1 , opened in 1994 and 2007 respectively. In 2019, there were 1.738 billion journeys on the National Rail network, making
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#17330857187906076-510: The initial period of rapid expansion following the first public railways in the early 19th century, from about 1900 onwards the network suffered from gradual attrition, and more severe rationalisation in the 1950s and 1960s. However, the network has again been growing since the 1980s. The UK was ranked eighth among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for intensity of use, quality of service and safety performance. To cope with increasing passenger numbers, there
6174-553: The morning peak in the former Network SouthEast area (now known as the "London and South East area") also remains. Railcards can be booked at railway stations, Rail Appointed Travel Agencies and other ticket-issuing locations; through the post (only for Railcard renewals, not for first-time purchases); by telephone, through Train Operating Company telesales facilities; and online at a dedicated website accessible from ATOC's central "Railcards" website. Some local authorities offer
6272-630: 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 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 , Crewe and Ely . Some other places expanded into towns and cities because of
6370-472: The national network and the company's spiralling costs set in motion a series of events which resulted in the collapse of the company and its replacement with Network Rail , a state-owned, "not-for-profit" company, with risks underwritten by the taxpayer. According to the European Railway Agency , in 2013 Britain had the safest railways in Europe based on the number of train safety incidents. At
6468-411: 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 basis outside the franchise arrangements; examples include Heathrow Express and Hull Trains . Many franchises were effectively abolished due to
6566-640: 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). 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
6664-462: The network would eventually be closed. This was never implemented by BR. Passenger services experienced a renaissance with the introduction of the InterCity 125 trains in the 1970s. Passenger levels fluctuated since then, increasing during periods of economic growth and falling during recessions. The 1980s saw severe cuts in government funding and above-inflation increases in fares, In the early 1990s,
6762-509: The new Labour government confirmed that passenger services would be brought back into public ownership upon the expiration of their contracts as part of the wider renationalisation of the rail network. Passenger services in Great Britain were divided into regional franchises and run by mostly private (that is, non-state owned) 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
6860-524: The official launch was by Transport Minister David Mitchell at the British Rail Travel Centre, Regent Street , London, on 18 November 1986. The first ticket was sold at Benfleet in January 1987. In 1988, the last of British Rail's Edmondson printing presses , located at the Paper and Printing Centre, Crewe , shut down. The last station to sell Edmondson tickets prior to full APTIS conversion
6958-538: The passenger miles. 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
7056-476: The period when the APTIS system was in use, this office had a single machine which validated Railcards with the location name MERSEYRAIL LPOOL and National Location Code 2202. (One such ticket is shown below .) The price of the "full" Railcard has been increased on several occasions since 1975. The shorter-lived "Day Returns Only" (and, later, "Cheap Day Returns Only") version also experienced regular increases. On
7154-545: The price of the "full" Railcard being increased from £12.00 to £15.00 at the same time. The APTIS ticket issuing system had been introduced in late 1986, and was still in the process of being rolled out across the British Rail network in 1988, so the APTIS "Cheap Day Returns Only" Railcard (form number BR 4599/18) is rarely seen. The first APTIS version of the full Railcard (BR 4599/17), with mauve upper and lower bands, also lasted until 10 January 1988, at which point
7252-529: The rail network. Examples include: Many millions of Senior Citizen and Senior Railcards have been sold since 1975. In 2015, when ATOC announced that railcards were to be digitally available as a download to mobile app, the number of Senior Railcards in circulation was stated to be 1,405,315. Rail transport in Great Britain The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest railway system in
7350-474: 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 ). High-speed inter-city rail (above 124 mph or 200 km/h)
7448-435: The railways, with journeys in 2020 being about 22% of the previous year, before rising again as travel restrictions eased. During 2020, all train operating companies entered into emergency measures agreements with the UK and Scottish governments. Normal franchise mechanisms were amended, transferring almost all revenue and cost risk to the government, effectively 'renationalising' the network temporarily. In September 2020,
7546-446: The range of fares which received discounts, and in some cases to the level of the discounts, in respect of the "full" version of the Railcard (which by now cost £12.00). The "Day Returns Only" Railcard still gave 50% discounts on those fares, but the full version now gave only a 34% saving on Standard Single and Return fares and the new off-peak Saver tickets. ("Standard" was the new name for the former "Ordinary" category of ticket, being
7644-454: The survey started) to 83% in 2013 and the number of passengers not satisfied with their journey dropped from 10% to 6%. Since privatisation, passenger levels have more than doubled, and have surpassed their level in the late 1940s. Train fares cost 2.7% more than under British Rail in real terms on average. However, while the price of anytime and off-peak tickets has increased, the price of Advance tickets has dramatically decreased in real terms:
7742-596: The tilting train Class 390 Pendolino fleet designed for this maximum speed of service were still built and entered service in 2002, and operates limited to 125 mph. Other routes in the UK were upgraded with trains capable of top speeds of up to 125 mph running with the introduction between 2000 and 2005 of Class 180 Adelante DMUs and the Bombardier Voyager DEMUs (Classes 220 , 221 and 222 ). The first implementation of high-speed rail up to 186 mph in regular passenger service in Great Britain
7840-541: The track and infrastructure passed to Railtrack , whilst passenger operations were franchised to individual private sector operators (originally there were 25 franchises) and the goods services sold outright (six companies were set up, but five of these were sold to the same buyer). The government said privatisation would see an improvement in passenger services and satisfaction (according to the National Rail Passenger survey) has indeed gone up from 76% in 1999 (when
7938-577: The various "New Generation" systems that have replaced APTIS and SPORTIS. From January 1980, special flat fares were introduced for children travelling with the Railcard holder. At first, up to four children (between 5 and 15 years of age inclusive) could travel per senior citizen, each paying £0.50 irrespective of the length of the journey. This was increased to £1.00 on 1 February 1981. From 12 March 1985, flat fares only applied in Second Class accommodation. Finally, on 5 January 1992, child discounts with
8036-470: The war and the private sector only had two years to deal with this after the war ended. After 1945, for both practical and ideological reasons, the government decided to bring the rail service into the public sector . From the start of 1948, the "big four" were nationalised to form British Railways (latterly British Rail ) under the control of the British Transport Commission . Although BR
8134-518: The white lettering changed to brown. The Railcard was renamed Senior Railcard in May 1990. From 5 January 1992, several changes were made to the discounts available. Reduced fares for journeys wholly on the London Underground network were withdrawn; children accompanying the Railcard holder no longer travelled for a £1.00 flat fare (see here ); Day Singles and Day Returns for weekday journeys within
8232-469: 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 and its acquirer Alstom , as well as CAF , Hitachi and Stadler , brought down
8330-399: The world. The first locomotive-hauled public railway opened in 1825, which was followed by an era of rapid expansion. Most of the track is managed by Network Rail , which in 2017 had a network of 9,824 miles (15,811 km) of standard-gauge lines, of which 3,339 miles (5,374 km) were electrified . In addition, some cities have separate metro, light rail and tram systems, among them
8428-489: Was Emerson Park , on Network SouthEast 's Romford to Upminster Line , on 29 June 1989. APTIS survived in widespread use for twenty years, but in the early 2000s was largely replaced by more modern PC based ticketing systems although some APTIS were modified as APTIS-ANT (with no obvious difference to the ticket issued) Oyster card compatible machines in the Greater London area. The last APTIS machines were removed at
8526-486: Was a single entity, it was divided into six (later five) regional authorities in accordance with the existing areas of operation. Though there were few initial changes to the service, usage increased and the network became profitable. Regeneration of track and railway stations was completed by 1954. In the same year, changes to the British Transport Commission, including the privatisation of road haulage, ended
8624-622: 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 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,
8722-429: Was introduced alongside the original Railcard, whose price was raised to £6.00. The cheaper Railcard gave discounts only on Day Return tickets—not on any Singles or Ordinary (Period) Returns. From the same date, two major enhancements were made, both of which applied to both types of Railcard: discounted travel could take place on any day of the week, and First Class travel gained the same discounts as Second Class. Also,
8820-487: Was later built as a patchwork of local lines operated by small private railway companies. Over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, these amalgamated or were bought by competitors until only a handful of larger companies remained (see Railway Mania ). The entire network was brought under government control during the First World War and a number of advantages of amalgamation and planning were revealed. However,
8918-574: Was matched by several Leeds to London Class 91 -operated East Coast trains if their two-minute recovery allowance for this section is excluded from the public timetable. 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 London Docklands Light Railway centred on London, and
9016-426: Was named "Senior Citizen Railcard", and a status code of SNRCZ was used to identify a ticket bought with the Railcard. Following the renaming to "Senior Railcard" in January 1992, this was changed to SNR . The two codes were used alongside each other during the period in which both "Senior Citizen Railcards" and "Senior Railcards" were in circulation. The code SNR has been used exclusively ever since, including on
9114-550: 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 mph with infrastructure improvements were finally abandoned, although
9212-497: Was originally called "Advanced Passenger Ticket Issuing System" as it was being developed at the time of the Advanced Passenger Train . It was widely known as the All-Purpose Ticket-Issuing System , a description which was used during the development of the prototype devices. It led to the introduction, on the national railway, of a new standardised machine-printable ticket, the APTIS ticket , which replaced
9310-593: Was partly due to more international services including the Channel Tunnel and Port of Felixstowe , which is containerised. Nevertheless, as of 2008, network bottlenecks and insufficient investment in catering for 9' 6" high shipping containers restricted growth. APTIS APTIS was the Accountancy and Passenger Ticket Issuing System used on the British Rail/National Rail network until 2007. It
9408-472: Was reduced to 34% on 6 January 1991, although other zonal combinations still attracted a 50% discount. As from 5 January 1992, however, only the All Zones One Day Travelcard received any discount. (The level was maintained at 34%.) There have been few significant changes since then, with frequent changes in the design of the Railcard being the most noticeable. On all types of ticket for which
9506-441: Was severely damaged by a series of significant accidents after privatisation. These included the Hatfield accident , caused by a rail fragmenting due to the development of microscopic cracks. Following this, the rail infrastructure company Railtrack imposed over 1,200 emergency speed restrictions across its network and instigated an extremely costly nationwide track replacement programme. The consequent severe operational disruption to
9604-531: 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 Class 373 and Class 374 trains. The line was later extended all the way into London St Pancras in 2007. After the building of
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