InterCity (British Rail) - A

InterCity (British Rail) - A

InterCity (or, in the earliest days, the hyphenated Inter-City) was introduced by British Rail in 1966 as a brand-name for its long-haul express passenger services (see British Rail brand names for a full history).

In 1986 the British Railways Board divided its operations into a number of sectors (sectorisation). The sector responsible for long-distance express trains assumed the brand-name InterCity, although many routes that were previously operated as InterCity services were assigned to other sectors (e.g. London to King's Lynn services were transferred to the commuter sector Network SouthEast).

InterCity Brand

EinterCity Etymology

InterCity derives from the prepositional of the Latin: inter- with City giving rise to meaning between cities.

The Inter-City Train

British Rail first used the term Inter-City in 1950 as the name of a train running between London Paddington and Wolverhampton Low Level. This was part of an overall policy of introducing new train names in the post World War II period.

The name was applied to the business express which ran from London in the morning and returned in the afternoon, and became part of the railway lore of the West Midlands. West Midlands residents always believed that it was the success of this one train that led to the adoption of the name as a British Rail brand in 1966.

This belief was supported by the timeline: in 1966 The Inter-City was heading towards its ultimate demise in 1967, when the mainline London-West Midlands service was consolidated into the newly electrified route via Rugby.

InterCity Brand

British Rail introduced the Inter-City brand for long haul passenger services in 1966.

Other InterCity (British Rail) Brand Users

The InterCity brand has also been adopted by countries in Europe.

InterCity Company

With sectorisation of British Rail in 1982 most long haul services became consolidated in the InterCity company which retained the brand. InterCity became profitable and one of Britain's top 150 companies, providing city centre to city centre travel across the nation from Aberdeen and Inverness in the north to Poole and Penzance in the south.

InterCity (British Rail) Overview

InterCity Main Region(s): All

InterCity Other Region(s): All

InterCity Fleet Size: 180

InterCity Stations Called At: 190

InterCity Parent Company: British Rail

InterCity Dates of Operation: 1966–1994

InterCity Successors: Great North Eastern Railway, Midland Mainline, Great Western Trains, Anglia Railways, Virgin Trains, Virgin CrossCountry

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