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 travellers on a daily basis.

Advantages over light rail

As urban rail networks are part of the wider rail network, there is often easy interchange with mainline rail, rail cards being accepted. Bicycles can be taken on board in the majority of cases, and existing railways can be used, rather than new light railways being built.
Unlike most light rail systems, only one ticket needs to be bought if a journey includes both mainline and urban rail. Urban rail usually has higher capacity than light rail because of longer trains, and higher average speed because of fewer stops.
In some cases, suburban railway networks have their own ticketing system, like in West Yorkshire.

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.

Cities

Belfast

In Northern Ireland's capital, Northern Ireland Railways Belfast Suburban Rail serves Greater Belfast. Services run about every 20 minutes from 06:00 until 24:00 on:
Some services run between Larne and Portadown, calling at all stations. Belfast Suburban Rail serves 39 different stations on three lines.

Birmingham

Co-ordinated and subsidised by Transport for West Midlands, West Midlands Trains operates a network of 70 stations in the West Midlands county focused on Birmingham. West Midlands Trains operate the West Midlands suburban routes under the West Midlands Railway branding to distinguish them from their longer-distance routes. The main city-centre station is Birmingham New Street, operated by Network Rail, the other city-centre stations are Birmingham Snow Hill and Birmingham Moor Street. The other main stations in the West Midlands are and.
During 2014/15, there were nearly 51 million rail passenger journeys in the TfWM area. Birmingham has the highest proportion of rail commuters in England outside London. 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, compared to 17% in 2001, 12% in 1991.
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 below:
West Midlands Trains routes operating from :
Three lines, known collectively as the Snow Hill Lines operate from and stations:
Other routes operating from the TfWM area but not centred on Birmingham include:
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. Restoration of local passenger services to the freight only Walsall to Wolverhampton Line, is also being pursued.
Centro was established in 1969 following the Transport Act 1968. The Transport Act 1985 deregulated and privatised bus services across the UK. The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive co-ordinated the services of all local private bus operators and adopted the name of Centro shortly afterwards to distinguish itself from its previous role as an operator. In 2016 Centro was abolished and replaced by TfWM.

Bristol

There are 13 suburban and two main-line stations 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 for leisure. Services run every half an hour to Avonmouth and continue every hour to Severn Beach. As part of the MetroWest local rail expansion project, a further two suburban lines from Bristol Temple Meads to Henbury and Portishead would open in 2021 and 2023 respectively. Services also run from Gloucester - Westbury and Cardiff Central - Taunton via Bristol.
Other suburban stations lie on main lines, South Wales Main Line, Great Western Main Line and Wessex Main Line.
Commuter services operate to and from nearby Bath, as well as a Weston-Super-Mare to Bristol Parkway service via Bedminster.

Cardiff

The Valley Lines network of eight lines incorporates 20 stations in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, and 61 in surrounding towns and villages. Its hubs are Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Central. Train frequencies are up to every five minutes. The Ebbw Valley Railway also draws commuters to the capital.
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. 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, 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 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 Transport for Wales franchise in 2018.

Edinburgh

operates four commuter lines in and around the Scottish capital: the North Clyde Line, the Borders Railway, the Edinburgh to Dunblane Line and the Fife Circle Line. Edinburgh Waverley and Haymarket are the city's two major stations with connections to mainline services.
A project to open a rail link to Edinburgh Airport was cancelled in September 2007 by the Scottish Government in favour of construction of an Edinburgh Gateway station at nearby Gogar, which connects with the Edinburgh tram network to take passengers to the terminal. A proposal to re-open the Edinburgh suburban railway line has been made by campaigning groups.

Exeter

Despite being a relatively small city, Exeter is served by four commuter lines/services. Nine railway stations are within its boundaries, which means the city is served exceptionally well by rail for a city of its size. The main hub of the network is Exeter St Davids which has six platforms and three operators serving the station. The three platform Exeter Central also serves as a hub for the network being located in the city centre. However, the only long-distance service that stops at the station is the West of England Main Line.
The Avocet Line runs from Exeter St Davids to Exmouth, a medium-sized commuter town and seaside resort, via Topsham, Exton and Lympstone.
The Riviera Line runs from Exeter St Davids to Paignton via Teignmouth, Newton Abbot and Torquay.
The Tarka Line is the only railway line that serves North Devon and runs from Exeter St Davids to Barnstaple via Crediton.
During rush hour, South Western Railway operate commuter services that terminate at Honiton. Otherwise, services operating on the line are inter city and continue to either terminate at Basingstoke or London Waterloo.

Glasgow

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 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 and Queen Street.
A bus services to Glasgow Airport operates from Paisley Gilmour Street station. Glasgow Prestwick Airport has its own railway station on the Ayrshire Coast line, and is the only airport in Scotland with its own station. A direct rail link from Glasgow Central to Glasgow International Airport was planned, but was cancelled in 2009.

Liverpool

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. There is 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 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. 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. 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 in the south of Liverpool. The City Line is to be electrified to the Wigan and Manchester branches.
The network includes the following lines:
or Liverpool Lime Street – –
or Liverpool Lime Street – –
or Liverpool Lime Street – St Helens Junction – –
or Liverpool Lime Street – Huyton – – – Blackpool North
or Hunts Cross – Liverpool South Parkway – Liverpool Central – Bootle –

Leeds

The West Yorkshire Metro oversees Northern suburban trains on 11 lines connecting urban centres such as Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield and small commuter towns and villages in the Leeds city region, branded as Metro.
The network incorporates the following lines, which often continue to longer distance destinations:
Commuting via rail by wealthy merchants living in North Cheshire and South Lancashire into the centre of Manchester was a fairly early phenomenon thanks to the opening of railways such as the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway, Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway & Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, in the 1830s & 1840s. All had stations in what were then the outskirts of Manchester, from where citizens could take a train into the centre of the city. Sale, Alderley Edge and Wilmslow are examples of early settlements that had railway stations in the early-mid-19th century and grew into sizable commuter towns.
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.
The biggest point of entry to the city is Manchester Piccadilly which accommodates 13 lines on which services are provided up to around every 15 minutes.
These include lines to/from Bolton, New Mills Central, Crewe, Liverpool Lime Street, Chester, Warrington Central, Hadfield / Glossop, Huddersfield and Southport.
There are also 11 routes from Manchester Victoria, all operated by Northern.
Routes are as follows:
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, Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne, East Didsbury and Manchester Airport. Tickets bought for rail travel within Greater Manchester ticketing zone to the four city-centre stations are to "Manchester Central Zone", rendered on the ticket as "MANCHESTER CTLZ", and allow free tram travel within the Metrolink tram city fare zone.
Transport for Greater Manchester co-ordinates rail services within Greater Manchester. It was established in 1969 as the SELNEC PTE following the Transport Act 1968, and was renamed the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive in 1974 before becoming TfGM in 2011.

Greater London

Stations in London 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, but some stations much closer to the Greater London boundary, like and, 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. Most stations are served at least every 20 minutes, with many stations and routes having four, six or more trains per hour.

c2c

runs from London Fenchurch Street through east London via Basildon to Southend Central and Shoeburyness, serving eight stations in Greater London.

Chiltern Railways

Chiltern Railways serves eight stations within London from Marylebone, with up to two trains per hour., London's least used station, has no services outside peak hours or on 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, passing loops at Sudbury Hill Harrow and Wembley Stadium.

Thameslink and Great Northern

The Thameslink and Great Northern network extends from Brighton to Bedford and from central London to Norfolk. Thameslink and Great Northern run two distinct services, Great Northern and Thameslink. The Great Northern route runs from King's Cross and Moorgate. Suburban services serve stations such as, and. Stations within London have three or six trains per hour, but stations on the Northern City branch were not served on weekends until December 2015.
The Thameslink route is undergoing a major upgrade due for completion in 2018. Trains run from to and from to Sutton. The network links Luton Airport, and Gatwick Airport and London Blackfriars, London Bridge and Wimbledon. Stations in the north London and some south London suburbs are served every 15 minutes, while stations in central London are served every 15 minutes for each service. Stations on the Wimbledon Loop Line are served every 30 minutes.

Greater Anglia

operates frequent services from,, and to Liverpool Street station throughout the day along the Great Eastern Main Line, as well as from, and during the peak hours.
On the West Anglia and Lea Valley lines Greater Anglia run services from Liverpool Street to via Tottenham Hale and from Stratford via Tottenham Hale to. The Stansted Express links London to Stansted Airport and calls at Tottenham Hale. is a limited-service station.

Great Western Railway

operates from Paddington to Greenford, Slough, Reading and Oxford stopping at west London suburbs including Ealing Broadway, Southall and Hayes & Harlington. Great Western Railway also operate services to South Wales and Western England. Stations within London are served by two or four trains per hour.

London Overground

The London Overground is operated by Arriva Rail London under a concession let by Transport for London. The Overground includes the Watford Local, North & West London, East London & South and the Gospel Oak to Barking lines. It is the only National Rail service shown on the London Underground map. All stations are served at least every 20 minutes, with stations between and on the East London Line having 16 trains per hour in each direction.
On the West Anglia and Lea Valley lines, four trains per hour go to and four via, with two continuing to or.

Southeastern

operates over a large network in south-east London, with services reaching Kent and parts of East Sussex, covering 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 and stations on the Catford Loop Line every 30 minutes.

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. Southern manages 167 stations and operates up to every 15 minutes on 14 lines south from London Victoria via, and 10 from London Bridge. All but five Southern stations in the London Travelcard zones are served at least every 20 minutes.

South Western Railway

operates out of London Waterloo via Clapham Junction, with 160 million passenger journeys on the wider network each year. The SWR network is the busiest in the UK, serving the busiest railway stations in terms of passenger numbers and in terms of trains per hour. All SWR stations apart from Fulwell, Hampton, Berrylands, Thames Ditton, Hampton Court, Strawberry Hill and those on the Chessington Branch are served by at least four trains per hour. The residential station of is served by 16 trains per hour, while Vauxhall is served by 26 trains per hour.
SWR also operates longer distance services as far as Weymouth, Portsmouth, Bristol and Exeter.

Crossrail

is a project to connect the Great Western Main Line with the Great Eastern Main Line, via tunnels through central London, with a branch to. It is the largest construction project in Europe. Crossrail will start a full service in the 2020s, taking over suburban services operated by Abellio Greater Anglia to Shenfield, Heathrow Connect to Heathrow Airport and First Great Western to Reading.
Once opened, Crossrail will be one of three partially underground suburban rail networks in the United Kingdom as the network cannot be classed as a Metro system like the London Underground or the Glasgow Subway. The Merseyrail and Glasgow suburban rail networks also have below ground stations.
Crossrail 2 is a prospective line running north-east to south-west through London.

Newcastle upon Tyne

As well as the Tyne & Wear Metro, Wearside and Tyneside are linked by fast Northern trains. The whole network is made up of two lines, the Durham Coast Line and the Tyne Valley Line which link Newcastle with Carlisle, Hexham, Sunderland and Middlesbrough with 25 stations overall. These services are funded by Nexus and is one of four transport systems serving Tyne & Wear, with the others being the Metro, the Shields Ferry and the large bus network which serves the county and surrounding communities. Northern Rail also runs services that terminate at Chathill.

Plymouth

is served by the Tamar Valley Line which primarily runs through suburban areas in the west of the city. The line has nine stations and terminates at Gunnislake in the neighbouring county of Cornwall.
Five of the stations are within the boundaries of Plymouth while an extra two are within the West Devon district and another two are in Cornwall. The only railway station in Plymouth which is not served by this line is St Budeaux Ferry Road which is on the Cornish main line in the northwestern suburb of St Budeaux. The line may be extended to the eastern suburb of Plympton and two sites have been earmarked for a station.

Largest networks

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.