Commuter and suburban heavy rail systems in the United Kingdom
Urban andsuburban rail plays a key role in public transport in many of the major cities of the United Kingdom. Urban rail refers to the train service between city centres and suburbs or nearby towns that acts as a main mode of transport for travellers on a daily basis. They consist of several railway lines connecting city centre stations of major cities to suburbs and surrounding towns.
Train services and ticketing are fully integrated with the national rail network and are not considered separate. In London, a route for Crossrail 2 has been safeguarded.
Overview
Advantages over light rail
Unlike most light rail systems, most urban rail networks are part of National Rail, which often allows easy interchange with mainline rail, and only one ticket needs to be bought if a journey includes both mainline and urban rail. Bicycles can be taken on board in the majority of cases, and existing railways can be used, rather than new light railways being built.
Increase in passenger rail by sector 1994–2015, as well as a comparison with the London Underground.
Urban rail usually has higher capacity than light rail because of longer trains (but often lower frequency), and higher average speed because of fewer stops.
In some cases, suburban railway networks have their own ticketing system, as in West Yorkshire.[4]
Services
A few urban railways offer service during peak times only, and others operate less frequent trains during the evenings and on Sundays.
Networks often encompass a few major stations in a large city, with other stations being medium or minor. Services can be provided by one train operating company operating exclusively on an urban rail network, such as in Merseyside, or by a company that also operates regional and national services, like in Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Belfast
Belfast area Class 3000 at DunmurryNI Railways Map, showing Belfast suburban rail in grey
During 2014/15, there were nearly 51 million rail passenger journeys in the TfWM area.[5] Birmingham has the highest proportion of rail commuters in England outside London.[6] In the past few decades the proportion of journeys into central Birmingham by rail has grown sharply: 29% of journeys into Birmingham city centre in the peak hours were made by rail in 2015,[5] compared to 17% in 2001, 12% in 1991.[7][8]
Most of the Birmingham and West Midlands County local suburban lines are centred on New Street station, including the Cross-City Line, the Chase Line and the Coventry-Wolverhampton Line. Three suburban routes, known collectively as the Snow Hill Lines run through Snow Hill and Moor Street stations. Services run at ten-minute frequencies on the busiest routes, with most other routes operating at least a 15–20 or 30 minute frequency. Routes are listed below:
The West Midlands Combined Authority, created in 2016, is pursuing plans to restore local passenger services to the Camp Hill line in southern Birmingham, which is currently freight only, by constructing new chords into Birmingham Moor Street station.[9] Restoration of local passenger services to the freight only Walsall to Wolverhampton Line, is also being pursued.[10][9]
Great Western Railway class 158 at Bristol Temple MeadsUrban rail network in and around Bristol, including planned Portishead and Henbury lines
There are 13 suburban and two main-line stations (Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway) in Bristol, all operated by Great Western Railway. The only suburban line is the 13.5 mile long Severn Beach Line with 11 stations and 1.25 million journeys in 2016/7. The operator estimates that 57% of travellers on the line commute, rather than travelling for leisure.[12] Services run every half an hour to Avonmouth and continue every hour to Severn Beach.[13] As part of the MetroWest local rail expansion project, a further two suburban lines from Bristol Temple Meads to Henbury and Portishead were due to open in 2021[14] and 2023[15] respectively. Services also run from Gloucester - Westbury and Cardiff Central - Taunton via Bristol.
Transport for Wales operates the stations and services. In February 2008, the Ebbw Valley Railway re-opened after 45 years with an hourly service to Cardiff Central.[18] Until the line's closure in 1962, passengers had had to change at Newport.
The Maesteg line is incorporated into the wider network: trains continue to Cheltenham Spa from Cardiff Central. The Vale of Glamorgan Line serves Cardiff Airport.
However, the network neglects large residential areas in the south-west and east of Cardiff,[19] although the South Wales Main Line runs through these areas without any stations. These areas include Caerau in the south-west and Rumney and St Mellons in the east.
Between 1995 and 2001, the network (except the Maesteg Line) was operated by Valley Lines. It then became part of the Wales & Borders franchise before becoming part of the Arriva Trains Wales franchise in 2003, and subsequently the KeolisAmey Wales franchise in 2018.
Since 2021, works on the South Wales Metro have taken place to transform the Valley Lines into a Light Metro service, with brand new larger trains and much more frequent services. Electrification began in 2021 for the new trains which will run at a core frequency of 18 trains per hour.
Schematic Map of the services of the Devon Metro network as of July 2024, including the section of the West of England Line branded as the East Devon Line by the DCRP.
Exeter serves as the regional hub for rail transport in Devon. There are 8 suburban stations and two main-line stations within the city limits (Exeter St Davids and Exeter Central), with many more in the Greater Exeter area.
Local services:
Avocet and Riviera Lines, operated by GWR as a single continuous service (Exmouth - Paignton via the City Centre)
Under the Devon Metro project multiple new stations within the city and its environs have opened in recent years, with the goal to eventually establish a rapid-transit style service through incremental improvements to Exeter's existing urban rail network. Recent advancements in the scheme include the openings of Newcourt, Cranbrook and Marsh Barton railway stations, as well as an increased frequency of 2tph on the Riviera and Avocet Lines.[22][23]
Glasgow is Scotland's biggest city and has the UK's largest suburban rail network outside London. Much of the network is electrified, with some lines operated by diesel trains. Trains are operated by Abellio ScotRail; Transport Scotland oversees the management of routes, fares and timetables for all train services in Scotland - until 2005, train services around Glasgow were managed by Strathclyde Passenger Transport. Because of this historic split there are differences between train services in Strathclyde and the rest of Scotland. There is no first class travel in Strathclyde, and morning peak time finishes at 09:00 (rather than 09:15) with no evening peak time.
Glasgow Central and Glasgow Queen Street are the two mainline railway stations, both in the city centre. Services to the south leave from Central, and to the north leave from Queen Street. Two lines run underground east to west through the city centre: the North Clyde line through Queen Street and the Argyle Line through Central, from underground platforms below the mainline stations. The North Clyde and Argyle lines meet at Partick, which is also served by the Glasgow Subway. There are Glasgow Subway stations near Central (St Enoch) and Queen Street (Buchanan Street).
The partially underground Merseyrail network consists of three lines, the Northern Line, Wirral Line and City Line, which interconnect in Liverpool's city centre. The Northern and Wirral Lines run in tunnels in the centres of Liverpool and Birkenhead. Liverpool is the nucleus of the network, which sees 100,000 people a day travel through 68 stations on the electrified lines.[24] There are 21 stations on the City Line that serves the Merseyside area. The origins of the network are old, dating back 1848 and the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway, one of the world's first commuter lines, and to the 1886 Mersey Railway, which was the world's second oldest underground passenger railway. An early commuter was Nathaniel Hawthorne, United States consul to Liverpool, 1853–57.
The 75 mile long electric third rail Northern and Wirral lines are 100% dedicated Merseyrail lines operating separately from the City Line. The City Line currently uses diesel trains operated by Northern. The local passenger transport executive, Merseytravel, brands all suburban rail lines running through Merseyside as Merseyrail with stations inside Merseyside branded as Merseyrail stations.
The Northern and Wirral lines operate under the train operating company called Merseyrail. Suburban trains run on both the electrified lines.[25] The service operates at metro frequencies in central Liverpool and Birkenhead.
The City line is operated by Northern running into Merseyside from outside the region, receiving funding from Merseytravel. The City line consists of non-electrified lines heading east and one electrified running south. Liverpool Lime Street is the terminus of the City line, with a connection to the Wirral line at Lime Street underground station. There is also a connection with the Northern Line at Liverpool South Parkway in the south of Liverpool. The City Line is to be electrified to the Wigan and Manchester branches.[26]
Leeds-Bradford Line: Leeds - Bradford Forster Square or Interchange (not a separate line, but a composite timetable of all Leeds to Bradford services on the Airedale and Calderdale Lines.)
Urban rail services to Manchester nowadays forms part of the Northern network.
Around 25 million journeys are made on the Greater Manchester local rail network, compared to 34 million Metrolink tram journeys. Buses make up a far bigger number than both however with 225 million journeys per year.[29][30]
The biggest point of entry to the city is Manchester Piccadilly which accommodates 13 lines[31] on which services are provided up to around every 15 minutes.[32]
91 stations are within the Greater Manchester ticketing zone. There are links to the Metrolink tram network at Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Victoria, Manchester Deansgate, Altrincham, Navigation Road, Eccles (400m walk), Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne (from 2013), East Didsbury (200m walk) and Manchester Airport. Tickets bought for rail travel within Greater Manchester ticketing zone to the four city-centre stations (Deansgate, Oxford Road, Victoria and Piccadilly) are to "Manchester Central Zone", rendered on the ticket as "MANCHESTER CTLZ", and allow free tram travel within the Metrolink tram city fare zone (eight stops within the Piccadilly-Victoria-Deansgate station triangle).
c2c train bypassing Upminster BridgeThe London railway, underground, light rail and tram network, with those services every 10 minutes or less in red
The London network comprised 368 railway stations within the London Travelcard Zones. Stations in London (apart from Stratford International) are within Travelcard zones. Some stations outside Greater London, for example Chigwell in Essex, are within zones 4–6; many stations outside London are within zones 6–9, for example Amersham and Shenfield, but some stations much closer to the Greater London boundary, like Esher and Staines, are not in any zone. London has an integrated ticketing system via the Travelcard or Oyster card for buses, Docklands Light Railway, suburban rail, tram, Underground and Overground.
Unlike cities like Liverpool/Merseyside, Sydney and Paris, several operators provide suburban rail services, but all are part of the National Rail system and ticketing is integrated. Some operators have government contracts but others, such as Southeastern, are owned by the state. Most stations are served at least every 20 minutes, with many stations and routes having four, six or more trains per hour.
Chiltern Railways serves eight stations within London from Marylebone, with up to two trains per hour. Sudbury & Harrow Road, London's least used station, has no services outside peak hours or at weekends.
There is a proposal for a Chiltern Metro Service between Marylebone and West Ruislip, operating at 4+ trains per hour, stopping at Wembley Stadium, Sudbury & Harrow Road, Sudbury Hill Harrow, Northolt Park, South Ruislip and West Ruislip. This would require a reversing facility at West Ruislip, and passing loops at Sudbury Hill Harrow and Wembley Stadium (part of the old down fast line is in use as a central reversing siding for stock movements and eight-car shuttles for stadium events).[33]
Southeastern operates over a large network in south-east London, with services reaching Kent and parts of East Sussex, covering 741km (460mi) of railway. Its London termini are Charing Cross, Victoria, Blackfriars, Cannon Street, London Bridge and St Pancras. Southeastern provides most of its stations with a frequency of 4-6 trains per hour. Stations on the Bromley North Line are served every 20 minutes.
Southern
Southern provides services in South London and between Central London and the South Coast, through East and West Sussex and Surrey, and parts of Kent and Hampshire.[35] Southern manages 167 stations and operates up to every 15 minutes on 14 lines south from London Victoria via Clapham Junction, and 10 from London Bridge. All Southern stations in the London Travelcard zones are served at least every 30 minutes during the working week with stations on the Tattenham corner line only receiving a train every hour on Sundays.
South Western Railway
TfL Rail Class 345 at London Liverpool Street in 2020
The SWR network is the busiest in the UK, serving the busiest railway stations in terms of passenger numbers (Waterloo) and in terms of trains per hour (Clapham Junction). All SWR stations in the suburban network (apart from Fulwell, Hampton, Berrylands, Thames Ditton, Hampton Court, Strawberry Hill and those on the Chessington Branch) have at least four trains per hour. Earlsfield is served by 16 trains per hour, while Vauxhall is served by 26 trains per hour.
This is a list of the largest urban rail networks in the United Kingdom outside London. London's suburban rail network has several operators and over 500 stations on many different lines.
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest mixed-traffic railway routes in Europe, carrying a mixture of intercity rail, regional rail, commuter rail and rail freight traffic. The core route of the WCML runs from London to Glasgow for 400 miles (644 km) and was opened from 1837 to 1881. With additional lines deviating to Northampton, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh, this totals a route mileage of 700 miles (1,127 km). The Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line connects the WCML to Edinburgh. However, the main London–Edinburgh route is the East Coast Main Line. Several sections of the WCML form part of the suburban railway systems in London, Coventry, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, with many more smaller commuter stations, as well as providing links to more rural towns.
Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of the city centre, it hosts long-distance intercity and cross-country services to national destinations including London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Reading, Southampton and Bournemouth; regional services to destinations in Northern England including Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle and York; and local commuter services around Greater Manchester. It is one of 19 major stations managed by Network Rail. The station has 14 platforms: 12 terminal and two through platforms. Piccadilly is also a major interchange with the Metrolink light rail system with two tram platforms in its undercroft.
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast Main Line from London Euston terminates at the station, as does the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Journeys from Lime Street cover a wide range of destinations across England, Scotland and Wales.
Manchester Oxford Road railway station is a railway station in Manchester, England, at the junction of Whitworth Street West and Oxford Street. It opened in 1849 and was rebuilt in 1960. It is the third busiest of the four stations in Manchester city centre.
Crewe railway station serves the railway town of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. It opened in 1837 and is one of the most historically significant railway stations in the world.
Leeds railway station is the mainline railway station serving the city centre of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on New Station Street to the south of City Square, at the foot of Park Row, behind the landmark Queens Hotel. It is one of 20 stations managed by Network Rail. As of December 2023, it was the busiest station in West Yorkshire, as well as in Yorkshire & the Humber, and the entirety of Northern England. It is the second busiest station in the UK outside of London, after Birmingham New Street.
The Huddersfield line is the main railway line between the English cities of Leeds and Manchester, via Huddersfield. It is one of the busiest MetroTrain lines. The route travels south-south-west from Leeds through Dewsbury. After a short westward stretch through Mirfield, where it runs on the ex-L&YR section, it continues south-west through Huddersfield, using the Colne Valley to its headwaters. The long Standedge Tunnel, just after Marsden, crosses under the watershed; the majority of the run down to Manchester is in the Tame Valley. From Manchester, some services continue to Manchester Airport and others to Liverpool.
Chesterfield railway station serves the market town of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Midland Main Line, which connects Sheffield with London St Pancras. Four tracks pass through the station which has three platforms. It is currently operated by East Midlands Railway.
Stockport railway station serves the large market and industrial town of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. It is located 6 miles south-east of Manchester Piccadilly, on a spur of the West Coast Main Line to London Euston.
Warrington Bank Quay is one of three railway stations serving the town of Warrington in Cheshire, England. It is a principal stop on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow Central. The station is a north–south oriented main-line station on one side of the main shopping area, with the west–east oriented Warrington West and Warrington Central operating a more frequent service to the neighbouring cities of Liverpool and Manchester.
There once were four direct railway routes between Liverpool and Manchester in the North West of England; only two remain, the two centre routes of the four. The most northerly and the most southerly of the four routes are no longer direct lines. Of the remaining two direct routes, the northern route of the two is fully electric, while the now southern route is a diesel-only line. The most northerly of the four has been split into two routes: the western section operated by Merseyrail electric trains and the eastern section by diesel trains, requiring passengers to change trains between the two cities. The fourth route, the most southerly of the four, has been largely abandoned east of Warrington; the remaining section caters mainly for freight trains.
Lichfield Trent Valley is one of two railway stations that serve the city of Lichfield in Staffordshire, England; the other being Lichfield City in the city centre. It is a split-level station: low level platforms serve the Trent Valley section of the West Coast Main Line, with a single high level platform being the northern terminus of the Cross-City Line.
Liverpool South Parkway station is a railway station and bus interchange in the Garston district of Liverpool, England. It serves, via a bus link, Liverpool John Lennon Airport in the neighbouring suburb of Speke, as well as providing an interchange between main line services and the Merseyrail rapid transit/commuter rail network. Opened in 2006 on the site of the former Allerton railway station, it also replaced the nearby Garston station.
Wrexham General is the main railway station serving the city of Wrexham, north-east Wales, and one of the two serving the city, alongside Wrexham Central. It is currently operated and mostly served by Transport for Wales, with some additional services provided by Avanti West Coast to London Euston.
Railway electrification in Great Britain began in the late 19th century. A range of voltages has been used, employing both overhead lines and conductor rails. The two most common systems are 25 kV AC using overhead lines, and the 750 V DC third rail system used in Southeast England and on Merseyrail. As of October 2023, 6,065 kilometres (3,769 mi) (38%) of the British rail network was electrified.
The Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line is a railway line in the West Midlands of England. It is a loop off the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Rugby and Stafford, via the West Midlands cities of Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton. The direct route between Rugby and Stafford is the Trent Valley line.
The City Line is the brand name used by Merseytravel on suburban rail services in the Liverpool City Region starting eastwards from the mainline platforms of Liverpool Lime Street railway station.
Liverpool in North West England, is a major British city with significant road, rail, and ferry networks, in addition to an international airport and a well-known dock system. As with most other major UK cities, Liverpool's transport infrastructure is centred on its road and rail networks. Public transport services within the city are controlled and run by Merseytravel.
The Northern Hub was a rail upgrade programme between 2009 and 2020 in Northern England to improve and increase train services and reduce journey times between its major cities and towns, by electrifying lines and removing a major rail bottleneck in Manchester. It was predicted to stimulate economic growth in the region. The project had several elements but the prime objective was to eradicate the bottleneck in Manchester and allow trains to travel through the city at speed without stopping. The project was announced as the Manchester Hub in 2009. The project's steering partnership involved Network Rail, Deutsche Bahn, First TransPennine Express, Northern Rail, East Midlands Trains, CrossCountry, Freightliner, the Department for Transport, Transport for Greater Manchester and Merseytravel.
The Birmingham station group is a station group of three railway stations in Birmingham city centre, consisting of New Street, Moor Street, and Snow Hill. The station group is printed on national railway tickets as BIRMINGHAM STNS and does not include the airport station of Birmingham International, which is located some 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) east of the city centre next to Birmingham Airport and National Exhibition Centre.
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