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Rail travel in the United Kingdom Travel Guide


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A five carriage diesel-electric train crosses the Royal Border Bridge at Berwick-upon-Tweed with a northbound CrossCountry service from England to Scotland.
A five carriage diesel-electric train crosses the Royal Border Bridge at Berwick-upon-Tweed with a northbound CrossCountry service from England to Scotland.

With around 34,000km (21,000 miles) of lines, the passenger rail network of the United Kingdom is one of the densest and most popular railway passenger services in Europe. Some parts of the network are the oldest in the world, having been operating continuously since the 1830s. Despite near constant meddling by successive governments for much of their history, and chronic underinvestment in recent decades, the railways are still one of the most enjoyable, fastest, comfortable and convenient ways to explore almost every region of Britain. From High Speed 1, which connects London to mainland Europe to the breathtakingly scenic lines of the Highlands of Scotland, the train can be an affordable way to see all that the UK has to offer.

However, the complex system of privatised train operators serving an effectively state-owned network of stations and lines means that the choice of trains and fares can be confusing to the visitor. The structure of the industry is still very much in a state of flux as of 2010, with more reorganisation of how the railways are run likely to be on the cards in coming years.


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Rail travel in the United Kingdom Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

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