Inter-city rail in the United Kingdom
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In Great Britain, there are inter-city trains to numerous parts of the country. Most of these trains are high speed, and some operate into France and Belgium.
After the sectorisation of British Rail, inter-city trains were operated by InterCity. InterCity ran trains from London to Devon, Cornwall, Bristol, South Wales, Cheltenham, the Cotswolds, Oxford, the West Midlands, the East Midlands, North Wales, North West England, Yorkshire and the Humber, North East England, Scotland, East Anglia, and London Gatwick Airport. There were also numerous cross-country services, which were inter-city services that traversed several regions and usually avoided Greater London.
The UK's longest direct rail service is operated by CrossCountry from Aberdeen to Penzance, and takes 13 hours 23 minutes to complete.
Inter-city trains from London operate out of the following London terminals:
- London Paddington — trains to Devon, Cornwall, Bristol, South Wales, Cheltenham, the Cotswolds, Oxford and the West Midlands;
- London Euston — trains to North Wales, North West England, the West Midlands and Scotland;
- London St Pancras — trains to the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, France and Belgium;
- London King's Cross — trains to the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, North East England and Scotland;
- London Liverpool Street — trains to Essex and East Anglia.
The following train operating companies operate inter-city trains in Great Britain (operators marked with an asterisk are open-access operators):
- Caledonian Sleeper
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Trains
- Eurostar*
- Great Western Railway
- Greater Anglia
- Grand Central*
- Hull Trains*
- Virgin Trains East Coast
- Virgin Trains West Coast
