Transport in England

England has a dense and modern transportation infrastructure. The Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network.

Rail

The British rail network is largely based on services originating from one of London's rail termini operating in all directions. Internal intercity services include:

• National Express East Anglia
  • London Liverpool Street to East Anglia: Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich (main branches include Southend, Clacton-on-Sea)
• National Express East Coast
  • London Kings Cross to the North East: Leeds, York, Newcastle upon Tyne (onwards to Scotland).
• Virgin Trains
  • London Euston to the midlands: Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry.
  • London Euston to the northwest: Liverpool, Manchester, Lancaster, Carlisle (onwards to Scotland).
• First Great Western
  • London Paddington to the southwest: Reading, Swindon, Bristol (onwards to South Wales), Exeter, Plymouth.
• South West Trains
  • London Waterloo to the south.
• c2c
  • London Fenchurch Street to Southend.
• Southern
  • London Victoria to the south: Southampton, Brighton.
• Southeastern
  • London St Pancras to the southeast: Ashford, Margate, Canterbury.
• Chiltern Railways
  • London Marylebone to the midlands: High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Banbury, and Birmingham.
• Grand Central Railway
  • London Kings Cross to York and Sunderland
• East Midlands Trains
  • St Pancras railway station to Corby, Melton Mobray, Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield, York, Scarborough, Lincoln and Leeds

Long distance travel that doesn't pass through London is generally referred to as cross country travel. Most services are operated by CrossCountry and often terminate in South East Wales or Scotland.

Regional train services are also operated by these, and other, train companies, and focus on the major cities, several of which have developed commuter and urban rail networks.

Rapid transit

Two cities in England have rapid transit systems. Most well known is the London Underground (commonly known as the Tube), the oldest and longest rapid transit system in the world. Also in London are the separate Docklands Light Railway (though this is integrated with the Underground in many ways), and the London Overground. Outside of London, there is the Tyne and Wear Metro, focused on Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Sunderland.

Trams and light rail

Tram systems were popular in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, with the rise of the motor bus and later the car they began to be widely dismantled in the 1950s. By 1962, only Blackpool tramway remained. However in recent years trams have seen a revival, as in other countries, as have light rail systems. Examples of this second generation of tram systems and light rail include:

• Docklands Light Railway in east London.
• Manchester Metrolink in Greater Manchester.
• Sheffield Supertram in Sheffield.
• Midland Metro in the West Midlands.
• Tramlink in Croydon.
• NET in Nottingham.

Rail links with adjacent countries

• Wales; yes.
• Scotland; yes.
• France; yes; via Channel Tunnel.
• Belgium; yes; via Channel Tunnel and France.
• Ireland; no; proposed via an Irish Sea Tunnel.

Road

Motorways

England contains a vast majority of the UK's motorways, dating from the first built in 1958 (part of the M6) to the most recent (M6 Toll). Important motorways include:

Note: There is no definition of a major motorway. Those in the table are particularly important due to their destinations, and other motorways exist. Where a major city (such as London) is given as a destination it is usually to give a general idea of the location, as most (London) motorways end outside the actual city (for example, the M40 actually ends in Buckinghamshire).

See also

• Transport in Northern Ireland
• Transport in Scotland
• Transport in Wales