68-733: Wessex Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the Wessex Trains franchise from October 2001 until March 2006, when the franchise was merged with the Great Western and Thames Valley franchises to form the Greater Western franchise . In October 1996, Wales & West commenced operating the South West & Wales franchise in Wales and
136-687: A 100% FirstGroup subsidiary when the 24.5% shareholder bought out its partners. The TOCs were renamed First Great Western and First North Western . Go-Ahead Group bought the remaining 35% share in Thames Trains . Virgin Group sold a 49% share in Virgin Rail Group that operated the CrossCountry and West Coast franchises to Stagecoach . The completion of the rail link to Heathrow Airport led to Heathrow Express , an open-access operator outside
204-554: A company wholly owned by the Strategic Rail Authority , which would operate the franchise until it could be tendered again. New franchise holders Arriva Trains Wales and Merseyrail began operating. FirstGroup purchased GB Railways which owned the Anglia Railways and Hull Trains businesses. A policy where the majority of services (both long-distance and commuter) from each London terminal would all be operated by
272-521: A contactless debit/credit card. Contactless also covers some areas that Oyster doesn't such as the Elizabeth line to Reading, or the Thameslink station at Oakleigh Park. The most common types of tickets available include 'advance' tickets, that specify a specific route and timing between two destinations, 'off-peak' tickets, either as a single or a return, that allow a passenger to use a train at hours where
340-417: A fleet of Class 143s , Class 150s , Class 153s and Class 158s from Wales & West . Wessex Trains leased Class 31 locomotives from Fragonset to haul a set of Mark 2 carriages from 2002 on services from Cardiff and Bristol Temple Meads to Brighton and Weymouth . Wessex Trains' fleet was maintained at Cardiff Canton and Exeter depots. In 2002 as part of a franchise re-organisation by
408-501: A national network owner. Franchises were initially let by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF). This was in turn replaced by the Strategic Rail Authority , which has since been abolished. For England, franchising is now the responsibility of the Department for Transport in the majority of cases. In Scotland, it is the responsibility of Transport Scotland . In Wales, since 2017,
476-610: A national timetable and online journey planner facility, and the operation of the various Railcard discount schemes. Eurostar is also a member of the RDG, though it is not itself a TOC. For historical and geographical reasons the railway network of the United Kingdom is split into two independent systems: one in Great Britain (including the Isle of Wight ), and one in Northern Ireland, which
544-570: A number of technical manuals on which travel on the railways in Great Britain is based, such as the National Rail Conditions of Travel , via their website. Pocket timetables for individual operators or routes are available free at staffed stations. The last official printed timetable with up to 3000 pages was published in 2007. Now the only complete print edition is published by Middleton Press (as of October 2016). A digital version of
612-426: A valid ticket boarding a train at a station where ticket-buying facilities are available are required to pay the full Open Single or Return fare. On some services penalty fares apply – a ticketless passenger may be charged the greater of £20 or twice the full single fare to the next stop. Penalty Fares can be collected only by authorised Revenue Protection Inspectors, not by ordinary Guards. National Rail distributes
680-626: A wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London , operates trains nearly all on its own network serving mostly its own stations: It is not a Train Operating Company by the definition here.) The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) (formerly the Association of Train Operating Companies) provides a commonality for the TOCs and provides some centralised co-ordination. Its activities include the provision of
748-583: 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 . There are two types of TOC: most hold franchises let by the Department for Transport (DfT) through a tendering system, to operate services on certain routes for a specified duration, while a small number of open-access operators hold licences to provide supplementary services on chosen routes. These operators can run services for
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#1733085187282816-684: Is closely linked to the railway system of the Republic of Ireland. In Great Britain, passenger train services are operated by a number of companies, referred to as Train Operating Companies or TOCs, normally on the basis of regional franchises awarded by the DfT Rail Group. Until 2005 this role was performed by the Strategic Rail Authority . The infrastructure of the railways in England, Scotland, and Wales – including tracks and signalling –
884-472: Is owned and operated not by the train companies but by Network Rail , which took over responsibility from Railtrack in 2002. Most passenger trains are owned by a small number of rolling stock companies (ROSCO) and are leased to the individual TOCs. However, a handful of TOCs own and maintain some of their own rolling stock. Train operating companies also operate most of the network's stations , in their role as station facility owners (SFO), in which they lease
952-479: Is the UK's largest and most accurate travel information website, peaking at more than 10 million visitors per day, more than its nearest competitors. The National Rail website includes a journey planner , fare and live departure information. The site is designed to complement the myriad different websites of Britain's privatised rail companies, so when users have selected which tickets they wish to buy, they are redirected to
1020-544: Is the joint responsibility of the Office of Rail and Road (allocation of paths) and Network Rail (timetable production and publication). Since March 2020 all ticket revenue has been collected by the Department for Transport, which also pays the operators' costs. Following the privatisation of British Rail there was no longer a single approach to railway corporate design. The look and feel of signage, liveries and marketing material
1088-850: Is the organisation which owns and manages most of the fixed assets of the railway network, including tracks, stations and signals. However, the national rail website domain is managed by The Rail Delivery Group on behalf of UK based train operating companies. According to their own website, they are a 'membership organisation that works on behalf of the rail industry to create a simpler, better railway for everyone in Britain.' The two generally coincide where passenger services are run. Most major Network Rail lines also carry freight traffic and some lines are freight only. There are some scheduled passenger services on privately managed, non-Network Rail lines, for example Chiltern Railways which runs on both Network Rail track and tracks owned by London Underground . Although
1156-563: The Elizabeth line (formerly TfL Rail ) are hybrids: Their services are operated via a concession awarded by Transport for London (TfL). They are part of National Rail as train operating companies , where tickets can be used in the same way as other operators, and shown in the National Rail timetable. However, under Transport for London, they are considered as separate networks. They are listed separately in all materials produced by TfL than National Rail, stations serving London Overground or
1224-411: The Elizabeth line only do not have the National Rail logo shown on either the station themselves or the tube map, and fares on these two networks are priced as TfL services, the same as London Underground , rather than National Rail services. The National Rail service status web page by TfL also does not list these two systems. London Overground also owns some infrastructure in its own right, following
1292-739: The Greater Anglia franchise on 5 February 2012. In September 2012, FirstGroup was awarded the right to operate the West Coast franchise which provoked a backlash from incumbent Virgin Trains West Coast. As a result of the Department for Transport having provided incorrect information during the bid process, the offer was withdrawn in October 2012 and £40 million of bid costs refunded. In September 2014, Govia Thameslink Railway took over services formerly operated by First Capital Connect as part of
1360-596: The InterCity East Coast franchise. National Rail National Rail ( NR ) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group , an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England , Scotland , and Wales . The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by the British Railways Board , from 1965 using
1428-582: The London Underground uses its own tracks in the majority of its network, it also runs on Network Rail tracks and shares tracks with National Rail services, both on its own tracks and on Network Rail tracks. Twenty-five privately owned train operating companies were each franchised for a defined term by government in 1996–97. They operated passenger trains in Great Britain. However, franchises have ceased to exist and are being replaced by operating contracts, which do not involve significant commercial risk for
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#17330851872821496-497: The London Underground , Docklands Light Railway , London Tramlink , Blackpool Tramway , Glasgow Subway , Tyne and Wear Metro , Manchester Metrolink , Sheffield Supertram , West Midlands Metro and Nottingham Express Transit . On the other hand, the largely self-contained Merseyrail system is part of the National Rail network, and urban rail networks around Birmingham , Cardiff , Glasgow and West Yorkshire consist entirely of National Rail services. London Overground and
1564-830: The Metro buses in Belfast and Ulsterbus coaches around the country. NIR is not a TOC under the terms of the Railways Act 1993 , which only applies to Great Britain. The cross-border service Enterprise (Belfast–Dublin) is jointly operated with Iarnród Éireann , the publicly owned national railway company of the Republic of Ireland. Upon privatisation in 1994, the three passenger-operating sectors of British Rail ( InterCity , Network SouthEast and Regional Railways ) were divided, and their existing operations were let as 25 franchises: The privatisation process began when BR's passenger sectors were divided into 25 train operating units which were gradually incorporated as publicly owned subsidiaries of
1632-698: The North East Regional franchise and the North West Regional franchise . In 2004, these were altered into the TransPennine franchise, for intercity services, and the Northern franchise, for local services that were awarded to First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail respectively. Some North West services were transferred to the Arriva Trains Wales franchise. In the same year, Thames Trains
1700-454: The Strategic Rail Authority , it was announced that the Great Western, Thames Trains and Wessex Trains franchises would be combined to form the Greater Western franchise . This was part of a Strategic Rail Authority strategy to reduce the number of train operating companies providing services from London terminal stations. Originally it was planned for Wessex Trains to take over the diesel services from Exeter St Davids to London Waterloo on
1768-558: The Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern franchise and branded them as Thameslink and Great Northern. Services operated by Southern , another Govia subsidiary, were merged into the new franchise in the following year. Hull Trains became a 100% subsidiary of FirstGroup when the 80% shareholder bought out its partners. In March 2015, a Stagecoach and Virgin joint venture trading as Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating
1836-501: The West Country services with the Welsh services transferred to Wales & Borders although Wessex Trains operated services to Cardiff . Wessex Trains ran the majority of local trains in the South West as seen in their route map. Services ran from Great Malvern and Cardiff to Brighton , Portsmouth , Weymouth and Penzance and on these secondary lines: Wessex Trains inherited
1904-479: The West Country . It also operated services to Liverpool Lime Street , Manchester Piccadilly , Birmingham International , Southampton Central , Brighton and London Waterloo . In 2001 the Strategic Rail Authority decided to re-organise the Valley Lines and Wales & West franchises, both being operated by National Express. Wales & West became Wessex Trains from October 2001. Wessex Trains retained
1972-634: The West of England Main Line operated by South West Trains as part of the South Western franchise . On 13 December 2005 the Department for Transport awarded the Greater Western franchise to FirstGroup and the services operated by Wessex Trains transferred to First Great Western on 1 April 2006. Train operating company In the railway system of Great Britain , a train operating company ( TOC )
2040-695: The passenger transport executive or other civic body responsible for administering public transport. One of these bodies, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (Merseytravel) is responsible for one of three National Rail franchises not awarded by central government, namely the Merseyrail franchise, while certain National Rail services in North London came under the control of TfL in November 2007 as London Overground. Two other franchises,
2108-548: The British Railways Board. They acted as shadow franchises prior to being put to tender: The opening of the Channel Tunnel saw operations by Eurostar begin from London Waterloo to Paris and Brussels . The franchising process was implemented, with various private companies taking over the shadow franchises. Three were awarded to management buyouts . The Great Western Holdings ' management also were awarded
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2176-635: The East Coast franchise. In April 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire began operating open access services between Wrexham and London Marylebone . In June 2008, the Gatwick Express franchise was integrated with the South Central franchise operated by Southern . The government announced that National Express East Coast would have its franchise to operate intercity services along the ECML terminated, and that
2244-474: The National Rail logotype and is displayed on tickets, the National Rail website and other publicity. The trademark rights to the double arrow symbol remain state-owned, being vested in the Secretary of State for Transport . The double arrow symbol is also a generic symbol for a railway station across Great Britain, and is used to indicate a railway station on British traffic signs. The National Rail (NR) logo
2312-417: The National Rail network and mostly operate for heritage or pleasure purposes rather than as public transport, but some have connections to National Rail track. National Rail services have a common ticketing structure inherited from British Rail . Through tickets are available between any pair of stations on the network, and can be bought from any station ticket office. Most tickets are inter-available between
2380-569: The North West Regional Railways franchise. The remainder were divided between a handful of major transport operators: In Northern Ireland, NIR stopped using its own branding on the Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin when it purchased new rolling stock in conjunction with IÉ, instead launching Enterprise as a separate brand name. Great Western Holdings , which operated Great Western Trains and North West Trains, became
2448-462: The Scottish national franchise, currently operated by ScotRail , and the Welsh domestic franchise, operated by Transport for Wales , are awarded by the devolved governments of the two constituent nations. The Rail Delivery Group is the coordinating body of the train operating companies in Great Britain and owns the National Rail brand, which uses the former British Rail double-arrow logo and organises
2516-538: The brand name British Rail . Northern Ireland , which is bordered by the Republic of Ireland , has a different system. National Rail services share a ticketing structure and inter-availability that generally do not extend to services which were not part of British Rail. National Rail should not be confused with Network Rail . National Rail is a brand used to promote passenger railway services, and providing some harmonisation for passengers in ticketing, while Network Rail
2584-466: The buildings and associated land from Network Rail. Network Rail manages some major railway stations and several stations are operated by London Underground or other companies. Most passenger TOCs in Great Britain are privately owned. The majority of these hold franchises to operate rail services on specific parts of the railway and come under the auspices of the National Rail brand. In addition, companies are able to bid for "paths" (specific parts of
2652-404: The common ticketing structure. Many of the train operating companies are in fact parts of larger companies which operate multiple franchises. The railway network in Northern Ireland is managed differently from the rest of the UK. The sole company in Northern Ireland that operates trains is NI Railways , who are a subsidiary of Translink , the publicly owned transport corporation, which also runs
2720-518: The duration of the licence validity. The franchised operators have changed considerably since privatisation: previous franchises have been divided, merged, re-let to new operators, or renamed. Some privately-operated franchises have been taken over by a government-owned operator of last resort , due either to failing expectations or to events on the rail system as a whole. The term is also sometimes used to describe companies operating passenger or freight rail services over tracks owned by another company or
2788-434: The former British Rail Rail Alphabet lettering to varying degrees in station signage, although its use is no longer universal; however it remains compulsory (under Railway Group Standards) for safety signage in trackside areas and is still common (although not universal) on rolling stock. The British Rail typefaces of choice from 1965 were Helvetica and Univers , with others (particularly Frutiger ) coming into use during
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2856-514: The franchise would pass into the hands of public-sector company, Directly Operated Railways , which acted as the parent for East Coast . Grand Central open-access services from London to Bradford began on 23 May 2010. DB Regio's operations in the UK were integrated into those of Arriva following the acquisition of the latter by Deutsche Bahn in the previous year. Owing to continuing losses, Wrexham & Shropshire ceased operating on 28 January 2011. Abellio Greater Anglia began operating
2924-401: The franchising system, beginning its services from London Paddington to Heathrow with operating rights until 2023. The shareholdings of M40 Trains were restructured with John Laing owning 84% of the company with the remaining 16% held by former BR managers. MTL which operated Merseyrail Electrics and Northern Spirit and Prism Rail that operated c2c (renamed from LTS Rail earlier in
2992-537: The full timetable is available as a pdf file without charge on the Network Rail website; however, passengers are recommended to obtain their timetables from the individual train companies. The National Rail website, previously called National Rail Enquiries, handles an average of 2.5 million journey planning enquiries every weekday through its website, apps and contact centre, and through information services supplied to third parties (such as open access data feeds). It
3060-404: The most relevant train company website, where they can buy their tickets without booking fees. In 2012 the website was joined by a mobile app mirroring its functionality. The app is available for iPhone , Android and Windows Phone . In June 2020, a real time personalised messaging service, Alert Me, was launched, providing real-time disruption and crowding information via Messenger. This
3128-594: The name Wales & Borders . The remainder of Wales & West's services in the west of England were renamed Wessex Trains . John Laing bought out its partners in M40 Trains. Connex , having already lost the South Central franchise in 2001, was removed as franchisee of the South Eastern franchise in 2003 on the grounds of poor financial management. It was replaced as the franchise holder by South Eastern Trains ,
3196-415: The nation’s neglected railway industry". The NR title is sometimes described as a "brand". As it was used by British Rail, the single operator before franchising, its use also maintains continuity and public familiarity; and it avoids the need to replace signage. The lettering used in the National Rail logotype is a modified form of the typeface Sassoon Bold . Some train operating companies continue to use
3264-467: The operators. The Rail Delivery Group is the trade association representing the TOCs and provides core services, including the provision of the National Rail Enquiries service. It also runs Rail Settlement Plan , which formerly allocated ticket revenue to the various TOCs, and Rail Staff Travel, which manages travel facilities for railway staff. It does not compile the national timetable, which
3332-578: The overall National Rail timetable) to operate their own services, which the franchises do not operate – these operators are classed as open-access operators and are not franchise holders. Currently in Great Britain, there are three open-access operators: Hull Trains , which runs services between London King's Cross and Hull , Grand Central , which operates between King's Cross and Sunderland and between King's Cross and Bradford , and Lumo , which operates between King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley . In addition, there are operators that fall outside
3400-404: The purview of National Rail, which operate specific services which are recent additions to Britain's railways. The main examples are Eurostar, which operates to continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel , and Heathrow Express , which runs fast services from London to Heathrow Airport . A number of metropolitan railways on the network are operated by the local franchise holder in conjunction with
3468-433: The reopening of the former London Underground East London line and the extension to Barking Riverside . Eurostar is also not part of the National Rail network despite sharing of tracks and stations (along High Speed 1 ). Northern Ireland Railways were never part of British Rail, which was limited to England, Scotland and Wales. There are many privately owned or heritage railways in Great Britain which are not part of
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#17330851872823536-670: The responsibility for the specification and procurement of the Wales & Borders franchise belongs to Transport for Wales . In two parts of England, local government agencies are responsible: in Merseyside , the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive lets the Merseyrail franchise, while in London, Transport for London (TfL) oversees the new London Overground and Elizabeth line concessions. ( London Underground ,
3604-501: The routes operated by Silverlink in London, which were combined with the extended East London line in 2011. Services are controlled directly by TfL, with running of the trains themselves contracted to a private company as an operating concession. This is different from an ordinary franchise, as the train operator is not given control of the strategic aspects of the operation, such as pricing, timetabling and rolling stock procurement. In December 2007, National Express East Coast took over
3672-608: The running of the InterCity East Coast franchise from GNER . Grand Central also began operating its services between London and Sunderland as an open access operator. In January 2008, Laing Rail which owned M40 Trains and a 50% shareholding in London Overground Rail Operations was sold to Deutsche Bahn , becoming part of the DB Regio Group. In February 2008, One was re-branded by National Express as National Express East Anglia to bring it into line with
3740-444: The same carbon commitment, which was referred to as 'The Green Travel Pledge' and was cited on its website and via Rail Delivery Group media. In June 2023 the website was completely overhauled with an entirely new frontend retaining little of the old designs but the brand logo remained. The website is quoted as saying its website is, "cleaner, more modern, and full of better information". In addition, its original mobile website which
3808-517: The same franchise was partially enacted. In April 2004, One commenced operating the Greater Anglia franchise that combined the Anglia Railways and First Great Eastern franchises with the West Anglia Great Northern services radiating out from Liverpool Street . The remainder continuing to be operated as WAGN . In the North of England, prior to 2004 there were two regional franchises,
3876-402: The sectorisation period after 1983. TOCs may use what they like: examples include Futura ( Stagecoach Group ), Helvetica ( FirstGroup and National Express ), Frutiger ( Arriva Trains Wales ), Bliss ( CrossCountry ), and a modified version of Precious by London Midland . Several conurbations have their own metro or tram systems, most of which are not part of National Rail. These include
3944-510: The service is not busy, and 'anytime' tickets, which can be used on any train. Season tickets, which offer unlimited travel between two stations for a specified period, are also available. A 'rover' travel card ticket also exists that allows unlimited travel in a set area or on services of certain operators, for a certain period of time. Rovers which allow unlimited travel for only one day are sometimes referred to as ranger tickets, and are usually available for smaller areas. Passengers without
4012-498: The services of all operators on routes appropriate to the journey being made. Operators on some routes offer operator-specific tickets that are cheaper than the inter-available ones. Through tickets involving London Underground , or to some ferry services ( RailSail tickets) are also available. Oyster pay-as-you-go can be used on National Rail in Greater London from 2 January 2010. These same areas can also be journeyed to using
4080-570: The south-east of England, were replaced as the operator of the Network SouthCentral franchise by Govia , who began operating it under the name South Central . Also in 2001, a new franchise, the Wales & Borders franchise was created by the amalgamation of Valley Lines and the majority of services in Wales and the Borders held by Wales & West . The new franchise was initially operated under
4148-512: The website. However, the website was quickly reverted back to its original design the same day following customer accessibility feedback. In July 2021 the Department of Transport published the world’s first ‘greenprint’ to decarbonise all modes of domestic transport by 2050 in the UK. It was published two months before the climate summit COP26, and planned to provide a world-leading ‘greenprint’ to cut emissions from 'seas and skies, roads and railways'. The nationalrail.co.uk website also signed up to
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#17330851872824216-505: The year), Valley Lines Trains , Wales & West , and West Anglia Great Northern were purchased by Arriva and National Express respectively, resulting in the latter owning nine franchises. The two companies transferred to Arriva were renamed Arriva Trains Merseyside and Arriva Trains Northern. The first open access operator using the National Rail brand, Hull Trains , commenced running its services between King's Cross and Hull . In 2001, Connex , which had operated two franchises in
4284-526: Was a sub-domain (m.nationalrail.co.uk now redirects) was switched off. Earlier in 2024 National Rail's digital journey planner was also switched off and redirected to the new version. Online Journey Planner (OJP) was the engine used to plan routes, calculate fares and establish ticket availability. The OJP accesses real-time information directly from Darwin, meaning all journey plans take account of delays, schedule changes and train cancellations. The OJP data feed APIs are available for use under licence. Darwin
4352-634: Was followed in September 2021 by a similar service made available through WhatsApp. The service was closed in June 2023 leaving only a simple SMS based messaging service in place for customers. Both services were provided by a British transport technology company Zipabout. In April 2021 the National Rail website turned from colour to greyscale in a tribute to The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who had died. The gesture however backfired after users highlighted accessibility issues and complained they could no longer use
4420-741: Was introduced by ATOC in 1999, (previously British Rail logo as used from 1965), and was used on the Great Britain public timetable for the first time in the edition valid from 26 September in that year. Rules for its use are set out in the Corporate Identity Style Guidelines published by the Rail Delivery Group, available on its website. "In 1964 the Design Research Unit—Britain’s first multi-disciplinary design agency founded in 1943 by Misha Black, Milner Gray and Herbert Read—was commissioned to breathe new life into
4488-486: Was largely the preserve of the individual TOCs. However, railway reforms which are currently in progress will restore the pre-privatisation position, with design responsibilities for the whole network resting with the new 'guiding mind', Great British Railways. However, National Rail continues to use BR's famous double-arrow symbol , designed by Gerald Burney of the Design Research Unit . It has been incorporated in
4556-536: Was superseded by First Great Western Link and ScotRail (National Express) by First ScotRail . A new operator, Heathrow Connect , jointly run by BAA and First Great Western , began operating stopping services between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport complementing the Heathrow Express. Three new integrated franchises began operating in April 2006: Further integrations occurred in 2007. The first of these
4624-446: Was the South Western franchise ; this merged the original South West Trains franchise with the Island Line Trains franchise on the Isle of Wight and began operating in February 2007 under the name South West Trains, with Island Line retained as a separate brand. In November 2007, three new integrated franchises began operating: In addition to these three, a further new operator, London Overground Rail Operations , took control of
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