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The 'transport system in the United Kingdom' is well developed. A radial road network of 29,145 miles (46,632 km) of main roads is centred on London, Edinburgh and Belfast, whilst, in Great Britain, a motorway network of 2,173 miles (3,477 km) is centred on Birmingham, Manchester and London. There are a further 213,750 miles (342,000 km) of paved roads. The National Rail network of 10,072 route miles (16,116 route km) in Great Britain and 189 route miles (303 route km) in Northern Ireland carries over 18,000 passenger and 1,000 freight trains daily. Urban rail networks are also well developed in London and several other cities. Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest international airport, and the UK has a considerable network of ports which received over 558 million tonnes of goods in 2003-04.
The government department overseeing transport is the Department for Transport, although some matters, such as local roads, are devolved responsibilities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Contents

Transport trends

Railways

Great Britain

Northern Ireland

Rapid transit

Trams and Light Rail

Roads

Buses

Water

Ports and harbours

Merchant marine

Other shipping

Inland waterways

Air transport

External links

See also

References

Transport trends

Since 1952 (the earliest date for which comparable figures are available), the UK has seen a dramatic shift away from the use of public transport and towards the use of private transport, for both passengers and freight.
In 1952 just 27% of distance travelled was by car or taxi; with 42% being by bus or coach and 18% by rail. A further 11% was by bicycle and 3% by motorcycle. The distance travelled by air was negligible.
By 2003 85% of distance travelled was by car or taxi; with just 6% being by bus and 6% by rail. Air, pedal cycle and motorcycle accounted for roughly 1% each. In terms of journeys, slightly over 1,000,000,000 are made per annum by main line rail, 1,100,000,000 by London Underground and other metro systems, 4,500,000,000 by bus, and 21,000,000 on domestic air flights.
Passenger transport has grown significantly in recent years. Figures from the DTI ^[1] show that total passenger travel inside the UK has risen from 403 billion passenger kilometres in 1970 to 797 billion in 2004.
Freight transport has undergone similar changes, greatly increasing in volume and shifting from railways onto the road. In 1953 89,000,000,000 tonne kilometres of goods were moved, with rail accounting for 42%, road 36% and water 22%. By 2002 the volume of freight moved had almost trebled to 254,000,000,000 tonne kilometres, of which 7.5% was moved by rail, 26% by water, 4% by pipeline and 62% by road.
This shift from rail to road is both caused by, and a cause of, changes in the relative sizes of their networks; wheareas the rail network has halved from 31,336 km in 1950 to 16,116 km today, the motorway network, which today is 3476 km long, did not exist in 1950. It has also been caused by rising economic affluence, the move of the population away from city centres, and changes in industry.

Railways

:''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 route miles (16,116 route 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 route mile 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).

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. The Channel Tunnel Rail Link 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 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 mixed results with healthy passenger growth, mass refurbishment of infrastructure and investment in new rolling stock being offset by concerns over safety, punctuality, network capacity and the overall cost to the taxpayer.
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), most of which are franchises awarded by the UK Government. Examples include First Group, GNER 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 1435 mm 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 (200 km/h) on the InterCity lines. On the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, linking London with the Channel Tunnel, 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 now), during succesive administrations.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) both owns the infrastructure and operates passenger rail services. The Northern Ireland rail network is one of the few networks in Europe that carry no freight. It is publicly owned. NIR was united in 1996 with Northern Ireland's two publicly owned bus operators — Ulsterbus and Metro (formally Citybus) — under the brand Translink.
In Northern Ireland there is 342 km of track at 1600 mm gauge. 190 km of it is multiple track.

Rapid transit

Three cities in the UK 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 North London Line, operated by Silverlink (formerly by British Rail). Outside of London there is the Glasgow Subway and the Tyne and Wear Metro.
However, many other cities in the UK have rapid transit systems combined of local or light rail with bus and tram systems.

Trams and Light Rail

Tram systems were popular in the UK in the late 19th and early 20th century. However with the rise of 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 in the UK, as in other countries, as has light rail systems. Examples of this second generation of tram systems and light rail include:

★ DLR in East London

★ Manchester Metrolink in Greater Manchester

★ Sheffield Supertram in Sheffield

★ Midland Metro in the West Midlands

★ Tramlink in Croydon

★ NET in Nottingham

★ Merseytram in Merseyside and Cheshire

★ Solent Metrolink in The area Of the Hampshire coastline

★ Belfast Superlink Trams

★ Liverpool MetroTram Express

★ Chester Citylink

Roads

:''See also Driving in the United Kingdom''
The road network in the United Kingdom is extensive, with around 370,000 km of road, and is one of, if not the most, popular method of transportation. A high-speed motorway system, with a total length of 3300 km, was constructed from the 1950s onwards. The major motorways and trunk roads, many of which are dual carriageway, form the trunk network which links all cities and major towns. The maximum speed limit is 70 miles per hour (113 km/h) on motorways and dual carriages. Alongside the trunk network are various lesser A and B roads, and many unclassified roads.
The Highways Agency (an Executive Agency of the Department for Transport) is responsible for maintaining motorways and trunk roads in England. Other English roads are maintained by local authorities. In Scotland and Wales roads are the responsibility of Transport Scotland, an Executive Agency of the Scottish Executive, and the Welsh Assembly respectively. Northern Ireland's roads are overseen by the Roads Service, a section of the Department for Regional Development.
Toll roads are rare in the United Kingdom, though there are many toll bridges such as the Severn crossing. In 2003 the UK's first toll motorway, the M6 Toll, opened in the Birmingham area to relieve the congested M6 motorway. Congestion charging systems also operate in a few cities such as central London and Durham. The government is considering introducing further road pricing schemes.
Driving is on the left.
:''See also:'' Great Britain road numbering scheme, List of motorways in the United Kingdom

Buses

Coaches provide long-distance links throughout the UK: in England & Wales the majority of coach services are provided by National Express. Megabus run no-frills coach services in competition with National Express and services in Scotland in co-operation with Scottish Citylink. Within regional areas, there is are various local bus systems which in Great Britain were usually originally owned by local councils, but have been deregulated and privatised under the Transport Act 1980. Since deregulation the majority (80% by the late 1990s [1]) of these local bus companies have been taken over by one of the "Big Five" private transport companies: Arriva, First Group, Go-Ahead Group, National Express Group (owners of National Express) and Stagecoach Group. In Northern Ireland coach, bus (and rail) services remain state-owned and are provided by Translink.

Water

Due to the United Kingdom's island nature, before the Channel Tunnel and the advent of air travel the only way to enter or leave the country was on water, except at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Ports and harbours

Approximately 95% of freight enters the UK by sea (75% by value). Three major ports handle most freight traffic:

★ Felixstowe on the east coast - the fourth largest seaport in Europe.

★ Tilbury, near London.

★ Southampton on the south coast.
There are many other ports and harbours around the UK, including the following towns and cities:
Aberdeen, Avonmouth, Barry, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Dover, Falmouth, Glasgow, Gloucester, Grangemouth, Harwich, Hull, Kirkwall, Leith, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Peterhead, Plymouth, Poole, Port Talbot, Portsmouth, Scapa Flow, Sullom Voe, Swansea, Tees, Tyne.

Merchant marine

For long periods of the last millennium Britain had the largest merchant fleet in the world, but it has slipped down the rankings. There are 429 ships of 1,000 GRT or over, making a total of 9,181,284 GRT (9,566,275 DWT). These are split into the following types: bulk carrier 18, cargo 55, chemical tanker 48, container 134, liquefied gas 11, passenger 12, passenger/cargo 64, petroleum tanker 40, refrigerated cargo 19, roll on/roll off 25, vehicle carrier 3. There are also 446 ships registered in other countries, and 202 foreign-owned ships registered in the UK. ''(2005 CIA estimate)''

Other shipping

Passenger ferries operate internationally to nearby countries such as France, the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Norway. Ferries also operate within the UK, connecting Scotland with Northern Ireland, Southampton with Isle of Wight and many smaller routes.
Cruise ships depart from the UK for destinations worldwide, many heading for ports around the Mediterranean and Caribbean.
The Solent is a world centre for yachting and home to largest number of private yachts in the world.

Inland waterways

Major canal building began in the UK after the onset of the Industrial revolution in the 18th century. A large canal network was built and it became the primary method of transporting goods throughout the country. However, by the 1830s with the development of the railways the canal network began to go into decline.
There are currently 1,988 miles (3200 km) of waterways in the United Kingdom, and the primary use is recreational. 385 miles (620 km) is used for commerce. ''(2004 CIA estimate)''

Air transport

Main articles: List of airports in the United Kingdom

There are 471 airports in the UK, of which 334 are paved. There are also 11 heliports. ''(2004 CIA estimates)''
BAA is the UK's largest airport operator, its flagship being London Heathrow Airport, the largest traffic volume international airport in Europe and one of the world's busiest airports, and London Gatwick Airport, the second largest. The third largest is Manchester Airport, in Manchester, which is run by Manchester Airport Group, which also owns various other airports.
Other major airports include London Stansted Airport in Essex, about thirty miles (50 km) north of London and Birmingham International Airport, in Birmingham.
Outside of England, Cardiff International Airport, Glasgow International Airport and Belfast International Airport, are the busiest airports serving Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
The largest airline in the UK is British Airways, who operate long-distance flights from the UK to all over the globe. Others include bmi, easyJet, and Virgin Atlantic.

External links

★ Tom Harris will be delivering the keynote speech at Rail 2007 - Developing our rail network which will take place on the 17th May at the Birmingham ICC

See also

★ United Kingdom

★ UK topics

★ Transport in England

★ Transport in Scotland

★ Transport in Northern Ireland

★ Transport in Wales

★ Transport in the Republic of Ireland

★ Air transport of the Royal Family and executive of the United Kingdom

★ Royal Train

★ Transport Direct

References

1. http://www.dtistats.net/energystats/ecuk2_2.xls Passenger kilometres by bus, rail, air, motorcycle, pedal cycle, 1970 to 2004, URN No: 06/453, DTI