Inter-city Rail

Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains.

There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country to country. Most broadly, it can include any rail services that are neither short-distance commuter rail trains within one city area, nor slow regional rail trains calling at all stations and covering local journeys only. Most typically, an inter-city train is an express train with limited stops and comfortable carriages to serve long-distance travel.

Inter-city rail sometimes provides international services. This is most prevalent in Europe, due to the close proximity of its 50 countries in a 10,180,000 square kilometre (3,930,000 sq mi) area. Eurostar and EuroCity are examples of this. In many European countries the word "InterCity" or "Inter-City" is an official brand name for a network of regular-interval, relatively long-distance train services that meet certain criteria of speed and comfort. This use of the term appeared in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and has been widely imitated.

Speed

The speeds of inter-city rail lines are quite diverse, ranging from in a mountainous area or on undeveloped tracks to on newly constructed or improved tracks. As a result, Inter-city rail may or may not fall into the category of higher-speed rail or high-speed rail. Ideally, the average speed of inter-city rail service would be faster than in order to be competitive with car, bus and other methods of transport.

Distance of inter-city rail

* 50–100 km

The distance of an inter-city rail journey is usually at least , although in many large metropolitan areas commuter and regional services cover equal or longer distances. Examples of countries with relatively short intercity rail distances with service patterns comparable to commuter rail include Belgium, Israel, The Netherlands, and Switzerland.

* 100–500 km

A distance of is a common journey distance for inter-city rail in many countries. In many cases, railway travel is most competitive at about two to three hours journey time. Inter-city rail can often compete with highways and short-haul air travel for journeys of this distance. Most major intercity railway routes in Europe, such as London to Birmingham, Paris to Lyon, and Lisbon to Porto cover this range of distances.

* 500–1,000 km

In journeys of , the role of inter-city rail is often replaced by faster air travel. Development of high-speed rail in some countries increases the share of railway for such longer-distance journeys. The Paris-Marseille TGV (, or 3 hours) and Tokyo-Aomori Shinkansen (, or 2 hours 59 minutes) are examples of this type of journey. In conventional non high-speed rail, overnight trains are common for this distance.

* 1,000 km or more

In some countries with a dense rail network, large territory, or less air and car transport, such as China, India, and Russia, overnight long-distance train services are provided and used practically.

In many other countries, such long-distance rail journey has been replaced by air travel except for tourism or hobbyist purposes, luxury train journeys, or significant cost benefit. Amtrak long-distance services in the United States, Via Rail's Canadian service in Canada, and the Indian Pacific in Australia are examples.

Faster high-speed rail of , such as the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway in China (, or 5 hours) and Tokyo-Sapporo in the proposed Hokkaido Shinkansen in Japan (, or 4 hours), may play a significant role in long-distance travel in the future.

Overview of Inter-city rail by country

Africa

Railways in Africa are still developing or not practically used for passenger purposes in many countries, but the following countries have inter-city services between major cities:

*Algeria: SNTF
*Egypt: Egyptian National Railways
*Morocco: ONCF (in French - Office National des Chemins de Fer du Maroc, National Office for Railways of Morocco)
*South Africa: Shosholoza Meyl
*Tunisia: Tunisian Railways (SNCFT)

Asia

East Asia

=China

=

Trains run by China Railway link almost every town and city in the People's Republic of China mainland, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xi'an, as well as onwards from Shenzhen across the border to Kowloon, Hong Kong. New high-speed lines from operation are constructed, and many conventional lines are also upgraded to operation. Currently there are seven High-Speed Inter-City lines in China, with up to 21 planned. They are operated independently from the often parallel High-Speed-Rail-Lines.

=Japan

=

Japan has six main regional passenger railway companies, known collectively as Japan Railways Group or simply as JR. Five JR companies operate the "bullet trains" on very fast and frequent Shinkansen lines that link all the larger cities, including Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and many more.

Many other cities are covered by a network of JR's " limited express" inter-city trains on , narrow gauge, lines. Major cities are covered by convenient train services of every one hour or more frequent. In addition to the JR Group, Japan has major private rail operators such as the Kintetsu, Meitetsu, Tobu Railway and Odakyu Electric Railway that operate "limited express" inter-city services.

=Hong Kong

=

Inter-city railway services crossing the Hong Kong-China border (often known as ''through trains'') are jointly operated by Hong Kong's MTR Corporation Limited and the Ministry of Railways of the People's Republic of China. Currently, Hung Hom station is the only station in the territory where passengers can catch these cross-border trains. Passengers are required to go through immigration and customs inspections of Hong Kong before boarding a cross-border train or alighting from such a train. There are currently three cross-border train services on the conventional line:
* Between Hong Kong and Beijing ( Beijing–Kowloon through train)
* Between Hong Kong and Shanghai ( Shanghai–Kowloon through train)
* Between Hong Kong and Guangzhou ( Guangzhou–Kowloon through train)

A new border-crossing service, the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link, has been approved and has been granted HKD 6.6 billion in funding by the Legislative Council's Finance Committee. The line has been opened in 2018 with a new station West Kowloon Terminus in the city centre.

=Taiwan

=

Taiwan Island's coastline is connected by frequent inter-city train services by Taiwan Railway Administration. Taiwan High Speed Rail, opened in 2007, covers the most populated west-coast corridor. Chinese：對號列車

There are Chu-kuang express (莒光號) and Tze-chiang limited express (自強號).

=South Korea

=

Almost every major town and city in South Korea is linked by railway, run by Korail. ITX-Saemaeul is operated in most Main railway lines like Japanese limited express or German Intercity. Also, Mugunghwa-ho is the most common and most popular type of intercity rail travel like German Regional-Express. In addition, Seoul and Busan are linked by a high-speed train line known as KTX, which was built using French TGV technology.

South Asia

=Bangladesh

=

=India

=

Indian inter-city trains are run by Indian Railways. With of rail routes and 6,800 stations, the railway network in India is the third-largest in the world (after Russia and China) and the largest in the world in terms of passenger kilometres. The Vande Bharat Express, Gatimaan Express Tejas Express, Tejas-Rajdhani Express, Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Jan Shatabdi Express and Duronto Express are the fastest Inter-city services in India of which the Vande Bharat Express is the fastest train of India. All long-distance journeys generally require a reservation and unreserved travel is allowed in some trains.

=Pakistan

=

=Sri Lanka

=

Southeast Asia

=Burma

=

=Cambodia

=
There is only one train service in Cambodia, from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, stopping at Doun Kaev (Takeo) and Kampot.

=Indonesia

=

In Indonesia, PT Kereta Api operates inter-city services in many cities, especially in Java. Inter-city serves some of Indonesia's major cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Padang, and Palembang. In Jakarta metropolitan area (or Jabodetabek), KRL Jabotabek operates the inter-city and commuter. Currently under construction is an elevated high-speed rail line between the Western Javanese cities of Jakarta and Bandung which aims to reduce travel times and alleviate congestion.

= Laos

=
In recent years construction has started on a China-funded higher-speed railway link, the Boten–Vientiane railway, commonly referred to as the China-Laos Railway. A fully electrified higher-speed railway line, it is part of a long-term goal of connecting China with the rest of Southeast Asia. The line runs from Boten near the China-Laos border to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, using CRRC high/higher-speed EMU trains.

=Malaysia

=

Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Malayan Railways) operates loco-hauled express trains called KTM Intercity along Peninsular Malaysia and into Singapore. At the Malaysia–Thailand border, connections to State Railway of Thailand trains are available. KTM Intercity trains are diesel-powered and run on a single-track system. The rail track is gradually being duplicated and electrified. On the completed Central to Northern section (border), KTM runs the higher-speed Electric Train Service (ETS).

=Philippines

=

As of February 2020, the Philippine National Railways does not have a regular inter-city rail service although the agency is planning on rebuilding new railway lines. Prior to the 1970s, the main island of Luzon had a relatively expansive narrow-gauge railway network, but government prioritization towards highway construction and the effects of multiple natural disasters gradually led to the decline and abandonment of most intercity rail services. Until the 2000s, PNR had two inter-city rail services: the Bicol Express and the Mayon Limited. The Bicol Express leaves Manila and passes through cities of Manila, Pasay, and Muntinlupa, along with the provinces of Laguna, Quezon, and Camarines Sur before arriving at Naga City. The trip clocks 10 hours or 600 minutes. The Mayon Limited connects Minola and Ligao in hours. However, the now 2022, successful North-South Commuter Railway is under construction until 2023. A new railway in the Philippines is planned in the future.

=Thailand

=
Currently Thailand has a sizable meter-gauge intercity rail network radiating outwards from Bangkok, transporting around 60 million passengers every year. Construction is underway to connect Bangkok with the city of Nakhon Ratchasima using a dedicated high speed rail line.

=Vietnam

=
Trains in Vietnam, run by Vietnam Railways, link Hanoi, Hué, Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Southwest Asia

=Iran

=

=Israel

=
Israel Railways operates inter-city services between all the four major metropolitan areas of Israel: Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be'er Sheva and Haifa. However, due to the small geography of Israel, most of the railway services have a more suburban service pattern, with many short stops at stations between the major city centres.

Europe

Western and Central Europe

In Europe, many long-distance inter-city trains are operated under the InterCity (often simply IC) brand. ''InterCity'' (or, initially, "Inter-City" with a hyphen) was first conceived as a brand name by British Rail for the launch of its electrification of the major part of the West Coast Main Line in 1966, which brought new express services between London and the major cities of Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. It later became the name of one of British Rail's new business sectors in the 1980s and was used to describe the whole network of main-line passenger routes in Great Britain, but it went out of official use following privatisation. The introduction of the British Rail Class 43 (HST) helped InterCity become an iconic brand in the 1970s.

The principal network of international express trains in continental Europe is called EuroCity, even though some IC trains also cross borders.

High-speed railways have relatively few stops. The German high-speed train service was named InterCityExpress, indicating its evolution from older InterCity trains. Other high-speed lines include the TGV (France), AVE (Spain), Treno Alta Velocità (Italy), Eurostar (United Kingdom–France and Belgium), Thalys (Netherlands–Belgium–Germany and France) and Railjet (Germany-Austria–Czechia/Hungary).

In Great Britain, the inter-city rail links are now operated by a number of private companies as well as Continental State owned railways such as Avanti West Coast, LNER, East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry, TransPennine Express, Greater Anglia and First Great Western

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