List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom

This article only covers companies operating trains on Network Rail lines. For other companies, see List of British heritage and private railways. There are many companies operating trains in the United Kingdom, including the 23 operators of franchised passenger services, officially referred to as "train operating companies" or TOCs, as distinct from "freight operating companies".

Passenger operators in Great Britain

Franchised passenger operator structure in Great Britain

Sector of British Rail	Franchise	Pre-grouping Company	Original privatised operator	Current operator(s)
InterCity	InterCity East Coast	Great Northern Railway	Great North Eastern Railway	Virgin Trains East Coast
	InterCity West Coast	London & North Western Railway	Virgin West Coast	Virgin Trains
	Great Eastern	Great Eastern Railway	Anglia Railways	Abellio Greater Anglia
	Great Western	Great Western Railway	Great Western Trains	Great Western Railway
	Midland	Midland Railway	Midland Mainline	East Midlands Trains
	CrossCountry	N/A	Virgin CrossCountry	CrossCountry
Network SouthEast	Essex Thameside	London, Tilbury & Southend Railway	LTS Rail	c2c
	Chiltern	Great Central Railway	Chiltern Railways	Chiltern Railways
	Gatwick Express	N/A	Gatwick Express	Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern
	Great Eastern	Great Eastern Railway	First Great Eastern	Abellio Greater Anglia and TfL Rail
	Thames	Great Western Railway	Thames Trains	Great Western Railway
	Island Line	Isle of Wight Railway	Island Line Trains	South West Trains
	North London	North London Railway	Silverlink	London Midland London Overground Rail Operations
	South Eastern	South Eastern & Chatham Railway	Connex South Eastern	Southeastern
	South Central	London, Brighton & South Coast Railway	Connex South Central	Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern
	South Western	London & South Western Railway	South West Trains	South West Trains
	Thameslink	N/A	Thameslink	Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern
	West Anglia Great Northern		West Anglia Great Northern	Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (services to King's Cross & Moorgate) Abellio Greater Anglia and London Overground (services to Liverpool Street)
Regional Railways	North West	Predominantly London & North Western Railway	North Western Trains	Arriva Trains Wales First TransPennine Express Northern Rail
	North East		Northern Spirit
	Scotland	Caledonian Railway, Glasgow and South Western Railway, Great North of Scotland Railway, Highland Railway & North British Railway	ScotRail	Abellio ScotRail
	South Wales & West	Cambrian Railways, Great Western Railway	Wales & West	Arriva Trains Wales Great Western Railway
	Valley Lines	Barry Railway, Cardiff Railway, Great Western Railway, Rhymney Railway, Taff Vale Railway	Valley Lines	Arriva Trains Wales
	Merseyrail Electrics	N/A	Merseyrail Electrics	Merseyrail
	Central		Central Trains	CrossCountry London Midland East Midlands Trains

Current passenger operators

The following operate the National Rail network.

Operator	Type	Franchise	Parent(s)	Passenger satisfaction^[1]	Start date	Expiry date	Replaced
Abellio Greater Anglia	Franchise	Greater Anglia	Abellio	79%	000000002012-02-05-00005 February 2012^[2]	000000002016-10-15-000015 October 2016^[3]	National Express East Anglia
Abellio ScotRail	Franchise	ScotRail	Abellio	86%	000000002015-04-01-00001 April 2015	000000002025-03-31-000031 March 2025	First ScotRail
Arriva Trains Wales	Franchise	Wales & Borders	Arriva UK Trains	87%	000000002003-12-08-00008 December 2003	000000002018-10-13-000013 October 2018^[4]	Wales & Borders
c2c	Franchise	Essex Thameside	National Express	91%	000000001996-05-26-000026 May 1996	000000002029-11-10-000010 November 2029	Network SouthEast (London, Tilbury and Southend Division)
Caledonian Sleeper	Franchise	Caledonian Sleeper	Serco		000000002015-03-31-000031 March 2015	000000002030-03-31-000031 March 2030	First ScotRail
Chiltern Railways	Franchise	Chiltern Railways	Arriva UK Trains	90%	000000001996-07-21-000021 July 1996	000000002021-12-21-000021 December 2021^[4]	Network SouthEast (Chiltern Division)
CrossCountry	Franchise	New CrossCountry	Arriva UK Trains	84%	000000002007-11-11-000011 November 2007	000000002019-11-09-00009 November 2019^[3]	Central Trains (Birmingham – Stansted & Cardiff – Nottingham route) & Virgin Trains (CrossCountry franchise)
East Midlands Trains	Franchise	East Midlands	Stagecoach	88%	000000002007-11-11-000011 November 2007	000000002018-03-04-00004 March 2018^[5]	Central Trains (Liverpool – Norwich & East Midlands routes) & Midland Mainline
Eurostar	Open access	N/A	Eurostar International Limited, SNCF & NMBS/SNCB		000000001994-11-14-000014 November 1994	Never
First Hull Trains	Open access	N/A	FirstGroup	93%	000000002002-09-25-000025 September 2002	000000002019-12-01-0000December 2019
First TransPennine Express^[6]	Franchise	TransPennine	FirstGroup & Keolis	87%	000000002004-02-01-00001 February 2004	000000002016-03-31-000031 March 2016^[3]	Arriva Trains Northern & First North Western
Grand Central^[7]	Open access	N/A	Arriva UK Trains	95%	000000002007-12-18-000018 December 2007	000000002026-12-01-0000December 2026^[8]
Great Western Railway	Franchise	Greater Western	FirstGroup	82%	000000002006-04-01-00001 April 2006	000000002019-03-30-000030 March 2019^[9]	First Great Western, First Great Western Link, Wessex Trains
Heathrow Connect	Open access	N/A	Heathrow Airport Holdings FirstGroup	92%	000000002005-06-12-000012 June 2005
Heathrow Express	Open access	N/A	Heathrow Airport Holdings	93%	000000001998-06-23-000023 June 1998
London Midland	Franchise	West Midlands	Govia	86%	000000002007-11-11-000011 November 2007	000000002017-10-31-000031 October 2017^[10]	Central Trains (Birmingham routes) & Silverlink (Northampton Line)
London Overground	TfL concession	London Overground	MTR Corporation Arriva UK Trains	85%	000000002007-11-11-000011 November 2007	000000002016-11-12-000012 November 2016^[11]	Silverlink (North London Lines) & Abellio Greater Anglia (Liverpool Street-Enfield Town/Chingford/Cheshunt via Seven Sisters and Romford-Upminster )
Merseyrail	Merseytravel contract	Merseyrail	Serco-Abellio	93%	000000002003-07-20-000020 July 2003	000000002028-07-19-000019 July 2028^[4]	Arriva Trains Merseyside
Northern Rail	Franchise	Northern	Serco-Abellio	82%	000000002004-12-12-000012 December 2004	000000002016-03-31-000031 March 2016^[3]	Arriva Trains Northern & First North Western
North Yorkshire Moors Railway	Open access	N/A	Yorkshire Moors Railway Enterprises		000000002007-04-01-0000April 2007		(additional Grosmont—Whitby services)
Southeastern	Franchise	Integrated Kent	Govia	80%	000000002006-04-01-00001 April 2006	000000002018-06-24-000024 June 2018^[3]	South Eastern Trains
Southern / Thameslink and Great Northern	Franchise	Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern	Govia	48%	000000002014-09-14-000014 September 2014	000000002021-09-01-0000September 2021	First Capital Connect, Southern
South West Trains	Franchise	South Western	Stagecoach	87%	000000002007-02-04-00004 February 2007	000000002017-02-01-0000February 2017^[3]	South West Trains & Island Line
TfL Rail	TfL concession	Crossrail	MTR Corporation	N/A	000000002015-05-31-000031 May 2015	000000002023-05-30-000030 May 2023	Abellio Greater Anglia (Liverpool Street – Shenfield)
Virgin Trains West Coast	Franchise	InterCity West Coast	Virgin Group & Stagecoach	90%	000000001997-03-09-00009 March 1997	000000002017-03-31-000031 March 2017^[3]	InterCity (West Coast Division)
Virgin Trains East Coast	Franchise	InterCity East Coast	Virgin Group & Stagecoach	N/A	000000002015-03-01-00001 March 2015	000000002023-03-31-000031 March 2023^[12]	East Coast
West Coast Railways	Open access	N/A			000000001998-01-01-00001998	Never	(Fort William—Mallaig summer "Jacobite" services and charter operations)

There are also a number of heritage railways and light rail systems.

Defunct operating companies

Operating companies have ceased to exist for various reasons, including withdrawal of the franchise, the term of the franchise has expired, bankruptcy or merger.

Operator	Type	Franchise	Parent(s)	Date started	Date ceased	Replaced by
Anglia Railways	Franchise	Anglia	GB Railways	000000001997-01-05-00005 January 1997	000000002004-03-31-000031 March 2004	one (National Express East Anglia)
Arriva Trains Merseyside	Franchise	Merseytravel contract	Arriva UK Trains	000000002000-02-01-0000February 2000	000000002003-07-20-000020 July 2003	Merseyrail
Arriva Trains Northern	Franchise	Regional Railways North East	Arriva UK Trains	000000002000-02-01-0000February 2000	000000002004-12-12-000012 December 2004	Northern Rail & First TransPennine Express
Central Trains	Franchise	Central	National Express	000000001997-03-02-00002 March 1997	000000002007-11-11-000011 November 2007	CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains & London Midland
Connex South Central	Franchise	South Central	Connex	000000001996-10-13-000013 October 1996	000000002001-06-16-000016 June 2001	Southern
Connex South Eastern	Franchise	South Eastern	Connex	000000001996-05-26-000026 May 1996	000000002003-11-09-00009 November 2003	South Eastern Trains
East Coast	Franchise	InterCity East Coast	Directly Operated Railways	000000002009-11-14-000014 November 2009	000000002015-02-28-000028 February 2015	Virgin Trains East Coast
First Capital Connect	Franchise	Thameslink Great Northern	FirstGroup	000000002006-04-01-00001 April 2006	000000002014-09-13-000013 September 2014	Thameslink and Great Northern
First Great Eastern	Franchise	Great Eastern	FirstGroup	000000001997-01-05-00005 January 1997	000000002004-03-31-000031 March 2004	one (National Express East Anglia)
First Great Western Link	Franchise	Thames	FirstGroup	000000002004-04-01-00001 April 2004	000000002006-03-31-000031 March 2006	First Great Western
First North Western	Franchise	North West Regional Railways	FirstGroup	000000001997-03-02-00002 March 1997	000000002004-12-12-000012 December 2004	Northern Rail, First TransPennine Express & Arriva Trains Wales
First ScotRail	Franchise	Scotrail	FirstGroup	000000002004-10-17-000017 October 2004	000000002015-03-31-000031 March 2015	Abellio ScotRail
Gatwick Express	Franchise	Gatwick Express	National Express	000000001996-04-28-000028 April 1996	000000002008-06-22-000022 June 2008	Southern
Great North Eastern Railway	Franchise	InterCity East Coast	Sea Containers	000000001996-04-28-000028 April 1996	000000002007-12-08-00008 December 2007	National Express East Coast
Great Western Trains	Franchise	Great Western	Great Western Holdings	000000001996-02-04-00004 February 1996	000000001998-03-01-0000March 1998	First Great Western
Island Line	Franchise	Island Line	Stagecoach	000000001996-10-13-000013 October 1996	000000002007-02-03-00003 February 2007	South West Trains
Merseyrail Electrics	Merseytravel contract	Merseyrail	MTL	000000001997-01-19-000019 January 1997	000000002000-02-01-0000February 2000	Arriva Trains Merseyside
Midland Mainline	Franchise	Midland Main Line	National Express	000000001996-02-28-000028 February 1996	000000002007-11-11-000011 November 2007	East Midlands Trains
National Express East Anglia	Franchise	Greater Anglia	National Express	000000002004-04-01-00001 April 2004	000000002012-02-05-00005 February 2012	Abellio Greater Anglia
National Express East Coast	Franchise	InterCity East Coast	National Express	000000002007-12-09-00009 December 2007	000000002009-11-13-000013 November 2009	East Coast
Northern Spirit	Franchise	Regional Railways North East	MTL	000000001997-03-02-00002 March 1997	000000002000-02-01-0000February 2000	Arriva Trains Northern
North Western Trains	Franchise	North West Regional Railways	Great Western Holdings	000000001997-03-02-00002 March 1997	000000001998-03-01-0000March 1998	First North Western
ScotRail	Franchise	ScotRail	National Express	000000001997-03-31-000031 March 1997	000000002004-10-17-000017 October 2004	First ScotRail
South Eastern Trains	Franchise	South Eastern	Strategic Rail Authority	000000002003-11-09-00009 November 2003	000000002006-03-31-000031 March 2006	Southeastern
Silverlink (previously North London Railways)	Franchise	North London Railways	National Express	000000001997-03-02-00002 March 1997	000000002007-11-11-000011 November 2007	London Midland & London Overground
Southern	Franchise	South Central	Govia	000000002001-08-26-000026 August 2001	000000002015-07-25-000025 July 2015	Connex South Central
Thames Trains	Franchise	Thames	Go-Ahead Group	000000001996-10-13-000013 October 1996	000000002004-03-31-000031 March 2004	First Great Western Link
Thameslink	Franchise	Thameslink	Govia	000000001997-03-02-00002 March 1997	000000002006-03-31-000031 March 2006	First Capital Connect
Valley Lines	Franchise	Valley Lines	National Express	000000001996-10-13-000013 October 1996	000000002001-10-13-000013 October 2001	Wales & Borders
Virgin CrossCountry	Franchise	CrossCountry	Virgin Group Stagecoach	000000001997-01-05-00005 January 1997	000000002007-11-11-000011 November 2007	CrossCountry, Virgin Trains (West Coast) & First TransPennine Express
West Anglia Great Northern (West Anglia Main Line and Lea Valley Lines)	Franchise	West Anglia Great Northern	National Express	000000001997-01-05-00005 January 1997	000000002004-03-31-000031 March 2004	one (National Express East Anglia)
West Anglia Great Northern (Great Northern and Fenline routes)	Franchise	West Anglia Great Northern	National Express	000000001997-01-05-00005 January 1997	000000002006-03-31-000031 March 2006	First Capital Connect
Wales & Borders	Franchise	Wales & Borders	National Express	000000002001-10-14-000014 October 2001	000000002003-12-07-00007 December 2003	Arriva Trains Wales
Wales & West	Franchise	Wales & West	Prism Rail	000000001996-10-13-000013 October 1996	000000002001-10-13-000013 October 2001	Wales & Borders & Wessex Trains
Wessex Trains	Franchise	Wessex	National Express	000000002001-10-14-000014 October 2001	000000002006-03-31-000031 March 2006	First Great Western
Wrexham & Shropshire	Open access	Wrexham to London	DB Regio Renaissance Trains	000000002008-04-28-000028 April 2008	000000002011-01-28-000028 January 2011	Closed due to lack of profitability

Future operators

Arriva Rail North will begin operating the Northern franchise from 1 April 2016.
First Transpennine Express will from 1 April 2016 have First become the sole franchisee of the Transpennine Express franchise after the previous First/Keolis franchise ends.
Crossrail, a concession for the cross-London Maidenhead/Heathrow to Shenfield/Abbey Wood line. It has already taken control of its first services between Liverpool Street and Shenfield in May 2015 with the full franchise operating from 2018.^[13]
Renaissance Trains, former shareholder in Wrexham & Shropshire, has proposed:
- Glasgow Trains from Glasgow to Blackpool, Liverpool and Nottingham.^[14]
- Humber Coast & City Railway from Cleethorpes and Lincoln to Stratford, London, via Peterborough and Cambridge.^[15]
Alliance Rail Holdings's Great North Western Railway (GNWR) has approval from Network Rail and the ORR to operate services between Blackpool to Queen's Park station (it has provision rights to run to Euston railway station as engineering works relating to High Speed 2 are likely to affect access into Euston) from 2018^[16]
Go! Cooperative (GOCO) from Westbury (Wiltshire) to Birmingham Moor Street from 2014.^[17]

Passenger operators in Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland passenger trains are government-owned by Translink. The following brands are used:

Northern Ireland Railways
- Enterprise Belfast-Dublin service, jointly operated by Iarnród Éireann.
Iarnród Éireann

Railtour operators

Branch Line Society
Compass Tours
DPS Railtours
NENTA Train Tours
Pathfinder Tours
Railway Touring Company
Scottish Railway Preservation Society
Statesman Rail
Steam Dreams
UK Railtours
Venice-Simplon Orient Express (British Pullman and Northern Belle services)
Vintage Trains

In Northern Ireland

Railway Preservation Society of Ireland
Irish Traction Group
The Modern Railway Society of Ireland

Freight operators

Colas Rail
Devon and Cornwall Railways
Direct Rail Services
DB Schenker Rail (UK) (formerly English Welsh & Scottish Railway)
Freightliner Group
GB Railfreight
Mendip Rail

References

↑ National Passenger Survey Autumn 2010 Main Report
↑ "Pre-Qualification Process Document – Greater Anglia Franchise" (PDF). BBC News. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-24.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "DfT Rail franchise schedule" (PDF). Department for Transport. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
1 2 3
↑ DVV Media UK. "New East Midlands direct award franchise agreed". Railway Gazette.
↑ "Train Tickets – Save over 50% - First TransPennine Express". First TransPennine Express Trains.
↑ In May 2010 Grand Northern services began, branded Grand Central to allow a single fleet pool to be used.
↑ "10 year contract extension". grandcentralrail.com.
↑ DVV Media UK. "Five-year direct award Great Western franchise proposed". Railway Gazette.
↑ "London Midland wins franchise extension". Railnews. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
↑ Transport for London, Windsor House, 42-50 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0TL, enquire@tfl.gov.uk. "Media". tfl.gov.uk.
↑ "Media Centre". virgintrainseastcoast.com.
↑ "London Reconnections: TfL Board Meeting Summary: DLR, Overground and Other Ways of Travelling". londonreconnections.blogspot.com.
↑ "Glasgow Trains". Renaissance Trains. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
↑ "Humber Coast and City Railway". Renaissance Trains. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
↑ "04/05/12 – Alliance Rail Press Release". Alliance Rail Holdings. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
↑ "GOCO Train". GOCO. Retrieved 2011-11-25.

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