Rail Transport in Great Britain - United Kingdom Stations - D

Rail Transport in Great Britain - D

United Kingdom Stations

There are 2,576 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 the most part in large cities, with the largest conurbations (e.g. Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow 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 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).

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

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