Most passenger services in Great Britain are now run by publicly owned operators, as the railway prepares for the transition to Great British Railways, though familiar brands such as LNER and Great Western Railway remain. Eurostar links London with Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. Two night trains, the Caledonian Sleeper to Scotland and the Night Riviera to Cornwall, run from London six nights a week.
Network length
16,000 km
Number of stations
2,600
Publicly owned operator of InterCity services on the East Coast Main Line, linking London King's Cross with Yorkshire, north-east England and Scotland.
Running long-distance and regional services from London Paddington to south-west England and south Wales, including the Night Riviera sleeper between London and Penzance.
Operator of long-distance services on the West Coast Main Line, linking London Euston with Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, north Wales and Glasgow.
Scotland's national train operator, running most services within Scotland, from the Glasgow and Edinburgh suburban networks to scenic rural lines such as the West Highland Line.
Operator of Britain's longest network, running trains that cross the country without serving London, on routes from Scotland and the north-east to the south-west via Birmingham.
Publicly owned operator running commuter services between London and south Essex.
Operator of the Caledonian Sleeper night trains between London and Scottish destinations.
Operator of services from London Marylebone to Oxford, Birmingham and the Chilterns.
Operator of services from London to Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield, plus regional trains.
An international high-speed operator linking London with Paris, Brussels, Rotterdam and Amsterdam through the Channel Tunnel. Since merging with Thalys in 2023, it also connects Paris with Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany under one brand.
Express service linking London Victoria with Gatwick Airport in around half an hour.
Publicly owned operator running services from London Liverpool Street across the east of England.
Commuter operator running services from London King's Cross to Cambridge, Peterborough and King's Lynn.
Express service linking London Paddington with Heathrow Airport in around 15 minutes.
Open-access operator running direct services between London King's Cross and Hull.
Suburban rail network serving Greater London.
Operator running low-cost services between London and Edinburgh.
Urban network running frequent trains across Liverpool and Merseyside.
Publicly owned operator running local and regional services across the north of England.
Publicly owned operator running services between London and Kent, including high-speed trains.
Commuter operator running services from London to Surrey, Sussex and the south coast, including Brighton.
Publicly owned operator running services from London to south-west London, Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset.
Cross-London network linking Bedford, Cambridge and Luton with Gatwick Airport and Brighton via central London.
Publicly owned operator running services across the north of England and into Scotland.
Welsh Government-owned operator running services throughout Wales and the border counties.
Operator of commuter and regional services around Birmingham and on the West Coast Main Line to London.
Best-in-class booking tools and APIs for European train tickets.
ÖBB (Österreichische Bundesbahnen) is Austria's national rail operator, running long-distance and regional services. About 50% of ÖBB's operations are international and its extensive night train network even covers routes that do not touch Austria at all.
+ 7The state-owned national rail operator in Slovakia is ZSSK (Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko). However, a good number of both long-distance and regional trains are run by other operators. A unified tariff and timetable system ensures smooth transfers between each operator's trains.
+ 2SJ is the dominant long-distance operator in Sweden, running high-speed services between the largest cities, with competition from VR on the Stockholm–Gothenburg route and Snälltåget between Stockholm and Malmö. Night trains link Stockholm with the far north through sleepers to beyond the Arctic Circle. Snälltåget's seasonal night train runs to Hamburg and Berlin. Regional trains run under brands such as Mälartåg, Öresundståg and Norrtåg.
+ 17The Italian state operator Trenitalia operates a wide network of high-speed trains (generally branded Le Frecce) as well as regional and local services. On high-speed lines, they face tough competition from private operator Italo, and there are other independent Italian regional operators such as Trenord.
+ 4The Netherlands has one of Europe's most intensively used rail networks. NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) dominates Intercity and Intercity direct services, while regional trains are operated by Arriva, Connexxion and Keolis on lines outside the main network.
+ 11Spain has the largest high-speed rail network in Europe. The connection between Madrid and Barcelona is its busiest line. The dominant operator is Renfe, which leads on long-distance routes, while local and regional routes are administered by the Spanish regions.
+ 1Rail services in Liechtenstein are run by Austrian national operator ÖBB. The main line runs from Buchs in Switzerland to Feldkirch in Austria, and fast international services generally cross the country without stopping. However, slower regional services connect Liechtenstein main station with the country's neighbours.
CFL (Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois) is the national operator of Luxembourg's compact rail network. Luxembourg became the first country in the world to make public transport free of charge nationwide where domestic journeys need no ticket at all. First class and cross-border travel still need booked and paid tickets. Direct TGV services link Luxembourg with Paris and direct trains also run to Brussels, Trier and Koblenz.
+ 3Vy is Norway's dominant passenger operator, running the Oslo commuter network, the Bergen line and the Oslo airport express. SJ Norge operates the northern and central lines which crosses the Arctic Circle. Go-Ahead runs the Sørlandet line between Oslo, Kristiansand and Stavanger. Night trains run on the main long-distance routes from Oslo, and direct daytime services link the capital with Stockholm and Gothenburg.
+ 3ČD (České dráhy) is the country's national rail operator, but there is an increasing number of private operators running both long-distance trains and local services in Czechia. The country is well connected to its neighbours by long-distance daytime rail services, European Sleeper runs a night train from Brussels via Berlin to Prague, and České dráhy ComfortJet services operate between Bratislava and Czechia.
+ 8DSB (Danske Statsbaner) runs the vast majority of intercity and regional services in Denmark, complemented by local railways such as Nordjyske Jernbaner in Jutland and Lokaltog on Zealand. Öresund trains cross to Malmö and southern Sweden every 20 minutes for most of the day, while direct EuroCity trains link Copenhagen with Hamburg and Snälltåget's seasonal Stockholm–Berlin night train runs through the country.
+ 6SBB CFF FFS is Switzerland's dominant national operator, with a dense, tightly integrated timetable spanning mainline, regional and mountain railways. Regional lines are run by operators such as BLS, the Rhaetian Railway and the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn. The latter two also operate the panoramic Glacier Express and Bernina Express. International services include Lyria to Paris, EuroCity to Milan, ICE to Germany and Railjets to Austria, plus Nightjet night trains as far as Hamburg and Amsterdam.
+ 27SNCF remains the dominant operator in France. Their high-speed TGV services connect Paris with most major French cities at speeds of up to 320 km/h. Competition has been growing since 2021, with Trenitalia running high-speed trains from Paris to Lyon, Marseille and Milan, while Renfe operates cross-border services between Lyon and Barcelona and between Marseille and Madrid. SNCF's Nuit night trains link Paris with destinations across the south, from Nice to the Pyrenees.
+ 8NMBS/SNCB runs virtually all passenger services across Belgium. As a major transit hub at the heart of Europe, Belgium is a key node for international services: from Brussels, Eurostar, ICE, IC direct and TGV services run into Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain and France. Night trains to Germany and Czechia are offered by ÖBB and European Sleeper.
+ 7The Principality of Monaco has a single station, Monaco Monte-Carlo. Rail services to and through the country are provided by French national operator SNCF.
DB (Deutsche Bahn) is the German national rail operator. While DB dominates long-distance routes, it provides only about half of all regional services. The rest are run by around 40 other operators. DB also offers many cross-border services into Germany's neighbouring countries, while international night trains are provided by ÖBB and European Sleeper.
+ 40Hungary's national rail operator MÁV is the dominant player in providing train travel in the country. The second largest operator is GySEV.
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