Rail Transport in Great Britain - Regional Entities/Freight Companies - J

Rail Transport in Great Britain - J

Regional Entities

Transport for West Midlands
TfGM (Transport for Greater Manchester)
Merseytravel
Metro (West Yorkshire Metro)
Nexus (Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive)
Travel South Yorkshire (South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive)
SPT (Strathclyde Partnership for Transport)
TfL (Transport for London)

Freight Companies

GB Railfreight
DB Cargo UK
Freightliner
Direct Rail Services
Colas Rail
Devon and Cornwall Railways
Mendip Rail

Open Access and Other Non-Franchised Passenger Operators

Eurostar
Grand Central
Heathrow Express
Hull Trains
Venice-Simplon Orient Express (VSOE)

Heritage and Private Railways

Many lines closed by British Railways, including many closed during the Beeching cuts, have been restored and reopened as heritage railways. A few have been relaid as narrow-gauge but the majority are standard-gauge. Most use both steam and diesel locomotives for haulage. Most heritage railways are operated as tourist attractions and do not provide regular year-round train services.

Proposed Line Re-Openings

Several pressure groups are campaigning for the re-opening of closed railway lines in Great Britain.

These include:

Ashington–Bedlington–Newcastle
Marlow Branch (Bourne End–High Wycombe)
Cambridge–Oxford, East West Rail This project was approved by the Government in November 2011.
Carmarthen-Aberystwyth line
Colne–Skipton, Skipton-East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership
Great Central Railway Notts–Leicester
Lynn and Hunstanton Railway
Peak Rail: (Matlock–Bakewell). Under-funded line
Portishead Railway from Portishead to Bristol Temple Meads
South Staffordshire Line (Stourbridge–Walsall-Lichfield)
St Andrews Rail Link (Leuchars–St Andrews)
Wealden Line (Uckfield–Lewes)
Woodhead Line (Hadfield–Penistone)
York to Beverley Line (York–Beverley)

From 1995 until 2009, 27 new lines (totalling 199 track miles) and 68 stations were opened, with 65 further new station sites identified by Network Rail or government for possible construction. On 15 June 2009 the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) published the report Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network, detailing schemes around England where it believed there was a commercial business case for passenger network expansion.

The published proposals involved the re-opening or new construction of 40 stations, serving communities with populations of over 15,000, including 14 schemes involving the re-opening or reconstruction of rail lines for passenger services. These would be short-lead-time local projects, to be completed in timescales ranging from 2 years 9 months to 6 years, once approved by local and regional governments, Network Rail and the Department for Transport, complementing existing long-term national projects.

Links with Adjacent Countries

Great Britain (standard-gauge)
France (Eurostar) via the Channel Tunnel
Formerly by Train ferries.
Belgium (Eurostar) via France using the Channel Tunnel.
Netherlands (Eurostar) via France and Belgium using the Channel Tunnel.

Rail-Ferry-Rail Services

Netherlands – Dutchflyer rail/sea/rail service
Ireland – SailRail service via Holyhead, Stranraer or Fishguard

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a huge fall in the number of passengers using the railways, with journeys in 2020 being about 22% of the previous year, before rising again as travel restrictions eased. The UK Government funded private TOCs through grants during the pandemic, however many still had financial difficulties.

Rail Transport in Great Britain Overview

Infrastructure Company: Network Rail (until 2024)

Major Operators:

National Rail franchisees

Independent operators

State-owned operators

Ridership: 1.738 billion (2019/20)

Passenger km: 66.8 km (41.5 mi) billion (2019/20)

System Length Total: 15,811 km (9,824 mi)

Electrified: 5,374 km (3,339 mi)

No. Stations: 2,576

Rail Holidays
Rail Vacations

Luxury Trains
Luxury Tours

International Trains
International Tours