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Travelling by Rail:
 Great Britain is extraodinarily well
endowed with rail lines (despite the drastic cuts that followed
the Beeching Report in 1963). It now has over 10,000 miles of
railway track on the mainland, serving 2500 stations, with a
further 300 miles of track in Northern Ireland. There are some
thirty different train operators. Inevitably the routes are subject
to a complex ticketing structure -always ask what the difference
in price would be to travel at different times, or to buy two
singles rather than a return ticket. Moneysavingexpert.com
has some good tips for getting the best price on train tickets.
Trains are super sustainable
in comparison with plane travel. According to figures published
by Eurostar, the CO2 emmissions resulting from
a return trip to Paris, are around ten times higher for the plane.
Happily the building of the channel
tunnel put many international rail routes within direct. reach
of the UK, although the traditional of young people doing Europe
by Eurorail has declined witrh the advent of cheap airfares.
From November 2007, Eurostar launched direct high speed services
from St
Pancras, putting Paris just 135 minutes and Brussels 111
minutes from North London.
The Eurostar and France's high
speed train, the TGV, will get you to your destination rapidly,
but nothing gives the same elegance as the legendary Venice-Simplon
Orient
Express, which offers exclusive travel from London to Paris,
Prague, Vienna, Warsaw, Krakow, Venice, Rome and Istanbul.
Most of the major international
Rail Companies are listed below; for more information on national
and international rail travel, see the brilliant site The
Man in Seat 61.
Rail tickets
- European
Rail -specialists in
European Rail and Eurail passes.
- Eurostar
-the high-speed train service linking London, Ashford, Paris,
Brussels, Lille, Avignon, Calais, Disneyland Resort Paris and
the French Alps.
- The TrainLine - tickets to any UK National Rail station.
- Orient Express
-the ultimate in train journeys throughout the UK, Europe, South
East Asia and Peru.
General information
- Books,
maps and railway guides
-a selected list.
- Department
for Transport -government
department responsible for all aspects of transport policy.
- European Rail Guide
- European rail pass and ticket sales and European travel information.
- National
Rail -gateway to the
rail network information on air-rail and sea-rail routes, rail
maps and much more.
- Network
Rail -the company resonsible
for the rail infrastructure -website includes rail timetables.
- Translink: Company responsible for all public
transport (bus and rail) in Northern Ireland.
- Transportwatch -site authored by transport planner
Paul Writhrington, that sets out to be non-governmental point
of reference for factual data dealing with Transport generally
and road and rail in particular.
- Rail
Future -the UK's independant
voice for train and railway users
- Railway ForumTrade association for entire rail industry.
- Railway Industry AssociationTrade association for rail supply industry.
- Railway Touring Co
-organise tours in vintage steam trains and fantastic locations
-routes include Hill Stations of India, The Devil's Nose in Ecuador,
Trans Sinerian Express, Hedjaz Railway and many other classic
routes.
- The
Office of the Rail Regulator
-appointed unde the 1993 Railways Act, responsible for all aspects
of regulating the rail system.
- Seat
61 -the Man in Seat 61
is a wonderful personal website devoted to world rail travel.
- Subway Navigator
-subway maps from around the world
- Train
taxi -guide to taxis
serving all train, tram, metro and underground railways in great
Britain.
International rail routes
Combined rail, underground and
light rail routes
Railway Operators
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