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The United Kingdom consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and previously consisted of Great Britain and the whole of Ireland. Rail transport systems developed independently on the two island masses of Great Britain and Ireland, and most of the railway construction in the Republic of Ireland was undertaken before the creation of the
Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between the ...
in 1922. Thus, the logical division to discuss the history and present-day state of railways in these areas is by geographical division, rather than the nationalist division of nation states. The United Kingdom is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The
UIC Country Code The UIC Country Code is a two digit-number identifying countries in which members of the International Union of Railways (UIC) are active. The UIC has issued numbering systems for rolling stock ( UIC wagon numbers) and stations that include the cou ...
for United Kingdom is 70. * Rail transport in Great Britain discusses rail transport on Great Britain, comprising England, Scotland and Wales. Here, the vast majority of the railway system standardised on the . **
Rail transport in Scotland The transport system in Scotland is generally well-developed. The Scottish Parliament has control over most elements of transport policy within Scotland, with the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity holding portfolio ...
discusses rail transport in Scotland. ** Rail transport in England discusses rail transport in England. ** Rail transport in Wales discusses rail transport in Wales. *
Rail transport in Ireland Rail transport in Ireland (InterCity, commuter and freight) is provided by Iarnród Éireann in the Republic of Ireland and by Northern Ireland Railways in Northern Ireland. Most routes in the Republic radiate from Dublin. Northern Ireland ...
discusses rail transport on the island of Ireland, comprising the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Here, a system using a
broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
of developed. Additionally, there are rail systems in two Crown Dependencies, namely: *
Rail transport in the Isle of Man The Isle of Man has a rich transport heritage and boasts the largest narrow-gauge railway network in the British Isles with several historic railways and tramways still in operation. These operate largely to what is known as "Manx Standard Gau ...
discusses rail transport on the Isle of Man, which has the largest narrow gauge railway network in the
British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
, with several historic railways (and tramways) still in operation. * Rail transport in Alderney discusses the railway in
Alderney Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest ...
, in the
Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (french: Bailliage de Guernesey; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is an island country off the coast of France as one of the three Crown Dependencies. Separated from the Duchy of Normandy by and under the ...
, the only working railway in the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey ...
. None of the
British Overseas Territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...
have railways at present, although some, such as
Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...
were historically served by railways.
Gibraltar ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibra ...
is accessible by the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and Moroccan rail systems. Hong Kong was the last dependent territory to have an extant rail system. Similarly, for the history of rail transport, rather than the current situation (described in the above articles), see history of rail transport in Great Britain and
history of rail transport in Ireland The history of rail transport in Ireland began only a decade later than that of Great Britain. By its peak in 1920, Ireland had 3,500 route miles (5,630 km). The current status is less than half that amount, with a large unserviced area arou ...
. The United Kingdom, despite its island geography, runs three separate cross border train services: * Eurostar — Eurostar is the name of both the train operating company (TOC) ''and'' the service running passenger services from London to Paris,
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and Amsterdam through the
Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...
. * Enterprise — Enterprise is the name of the international joint passenger service operated between
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
and Dublin by Northern Ireland Railways and . * — (Irish Rail) is the name of the national railway system operator of Republic of Ireland, who run a limited service between Newry via Dublin to Bray via the Northern Commuter, which operates one early morning per weekday. File:Eurostar at St Pancras railway station.jpg, Eurostar at St. Pancras International File:Enterprise Train Lisburn 2007.jpg, Enterprise train at Lisburn


See also

*
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...
* Great British Railways *
High-speed rail in the United Kingdom High-speed rail in the United Kingdom is provided on five upgraded railway lines running at top speeds of and one purpose-built high-speed line reaching . Trains currently travel at 125 mph (200 km/h) on the East Coast Main Line, Gr ...
* Inter-city rail in the United Kingdom * Irish Sea tunnel * Rail transport in Guernsey * Rail transport in Jersey *
Rail transport in the Isle of Man The Isle of Man has a rich transport heritage and boasts the largest narrow-gauge railway network in the British Isles with several historic railways and tramways still in operation. These operate largely to what is known as "Manx Standard Gau ...
* Railway electrification in Great Britain * Rapid transit in the United Kingdom * Train overcrowding in the United Kingdom * Transport in the United Kingdom *
Travelling Post Office A Travelling Post Office (TPO) was a type of mail train used in Great Britain and Ireland where the post was sorted en route. The TPO can be traced back to the earlier days of the railway, the first ever postal movement by rail being performe ...
* UK Ultraspeed *
Urban rail in the United Kingdom Urban or suburban rail plays a key role in public transport in many of the United Kingdom's major cities. Urban rail refers to the train service between city centres and suburbs or nearby towns that acts as a main mode of transport for travelle ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rail Transport In The United Kingdom