- Main articles: Rail transport in Great Britain, Rail transport in Ireland, Rapid transit in the United Kingdom
The rail network in the United Kingdom consists of two independent parts, that of Northern Ireland and that of Great Britain. Since 1994, the latter has been connected to mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel. The network of Northern Ireland is connected to that of the Republic of Ireland. The National Rail network of 10,072 miles (16,209 km) in Great Britain and 189 route miles (303 route km) in Northern Ireland carries over 18,000 passenger trains and 1,000 freight trains daily. Urban rail networks are also well developed in London and several other cities. There was once over 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of rail network in the U.K., however most of this was reduced over a time period from 1955 to 1975, much of it after a report by a government advisor Richard Beeching in the mid 1960s (known as the Beeching Axe).
[edit] Great Britain
The rail network in Great Britain is the oldest such network in the world. The system consists of five high-speed main lines (the West Coast, East Coast, Midland, Great Western and Great Eastern), which radiate from London to the rest of the country, augmented by regional rail lines and dense commuter networks within the major cities. High Speed 1 is operationally separate from the rest of the network, and is built to the same standard as the TGV system in France.
The world's first intercity railway was the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, designed by George Stephenson and opened by the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington on 15 September 1830. The network grew rapidly as a patchwork of literally hundreds of separate companies during the Victorian era, which eventually was consolidated into just four by 1922, as the boom in railways ended and they began to lose money. Eventually the entire system came under state control in 1948, under the British Transport Commission's Railway Executive. After 1962 it came under the control of the British Railways Board; then British Railways (later British Rail), and the network was reduced to less than half of its original size by the infamous Beeching cuts of the 1960s when many unprofitable branch lines were closed.
In 1994 and 1995, British Rail was split into infrastructure, maintenance, rolling stock, passenger and freight companies, which were privatised from 1996 to 1997. The privatisation has delivered very mixed results with healthy passenger growth, mass refurbishment of infrastructure and investment in new rolling stock, and safety improvements being offset by concerns over punctuality[citation needed], network capacity, and the overall cost to the taxpayer, though it has caused some minor lines to be badly neglected. It has also led to some confusion as to who looks after different aspects of the rail service among the general public. This is because for example, different companies run the tracks to those that run the trains and locomotives.
In Britain, the infrastructure (track, stations, depots and signalling chiefly) is owned and maintained by Network Rail, a not for profit company. Network Rail replaced Railtrack, which became bankrupt in 2002 following the Hatfield rail crash in 2000. Passenger services are operated by train operating companies (TOCs), which are franchises awarded by the UK Government or the Scottish Government. Examples include First Group, National Express East Coast and Virgin Trains. Freight trains are operated by Freight Operating Companies, such as EWS, which are commercial operations unsupported by government. Most Train Operating Companies do not own the locomotives and coaches that they use to operate passenger services. Instead, they are required to lease these from the three Rolling Stock Operating Companies (ROSCO’s), with train maintenance carried out by companies such as Bombardier and Alstom.
In Great Britain there is 16,536 km of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) gauge track. 4,928 km of track is electrified and 12,591 km is double or multiple tracks. The maximum scheduled speed on the regular network has historically been around 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) on the InterCity lines. On High Speed 1, trains are now able to reach the speeds of French TGVs. There was once over 30,000 route mile of rail network in the U.K., however this was reduced by two-thirds (to 10,072 miles (16,209 km) now), during successive administrations.
train tickets!!
How to find these cheap train tickets...
1. Book in advance, the earlier you book the more likely you are to find the cheaper fares still available. You can buy these tickets either online using the booking form on this page, or by phone or at a station, but buying online is easiest.
2. You can buy Advance fares a maximum of 12 weeks ahead, though it is sometimes less than this, maybe down to 9 weeks in some cases. If reservations aren't yet open for your date of travel, sign up for an automatic 'ticket alert' from TheTrainline.com and they'll email you the moment bookings open. Incidentally, if you look at a date beyond the period when reservations are open, some websites will still show train times with more expensive flexible tickets available (which don't require a reservation), just wait till reservations open & the cheap tickets will appear.
3. Like budget airline fares, Advance fares vary in price from train to train & day to day, so hunt around for the cheapest train. Obviously, Wednesday lunchtime is usually cheaper than Friday or Sunday afternoon...
4. If you can't find any cheap Advance fares on the date & time you want, use the 'Best Fare Finder' at www.thetrainline.com to track down the dates & times of day with the cheapest fares...
5. Advance fares are only valid on the train you've booked, no refunds, only limited changes to travel plans allowed... If you want flexibility, you'll need an Off-Peak or Anytime fare instead.
6. Bookings for Advance fares closes at 18:59 the day before travel. In practice they remove any remaining Advance fares at 23:59 on many routes, so it's worth trying even if you've just missed the deadline!
General train travel information: www.nationalrail.co.uk
Maps of the UK rail network...
-
The best free online map of the UK rail network is this: www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/print_maps/uk.pdf
-
This and similar maps are listed on www.nationalrail.co.uk/passenger_services/maps/, where you'll also find maps of the London area rail network, London & Southeast area rail network, and several regional areas.
-
An excellent Rail Map of Great Britain & Ireland is published by Thomas Cook, showing scenic routes, ferry routes and places of interest, buy this using the links on the right.
www.transportdirect.co.uk is the new government transport information website, designed to give train, bus, road and air information for any journey within the UK.
BritRail passes (unlimited train travel for overseas visitors)...
If you live overseas and plan to visit the UK, you can buy a 'BritRail' pass which gives unlimited train travel on all 20+ British train operators for various periods.
Is it worth buying a BritRail pass? A pass is only worth it if you're going to make a number of long-distance train trips around Britain, so don't bother with a BritRail pass if all you're going to do is make one long-distance trip, or a number of relatively short trips. For longer distances, a BritRail pass typically works out about the same as a normal 'Off-Peak' flexible ticket bought on the day of travel, it's more expensive than the cheaper 'Advance' tickets, but is far cheaper than the 'Anytime' tickets needed to travel in the Monday-Friday business peaks, see the 30-second guide to UK rail fares. So if you want to make early starts on Monday-Fridays and have complete all-day flexibility, a BritRail pass is a great idea, but if you're prepared to avoid the Monday-Friday morning & afternoon business peaks, and especially if you book cheap tickets in advance at www.thetrainline.com on a no-refunds, no-changes-to-travel-plans basis, ordinary point-to-point tickets will be the same or cheaper than a pass. Before investing in a BritRail pass, check that normal tickets wouldn't be cheaper for what you plan to do, using www.thetrainline.com or www.nationalrail.co.uk.
If you need hotel accommodation, click here. For budget backpacker hostels across the UK, see www.hostelbookers.com. BritRail passes are not available to UK residents.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario