Transport in the United Kingdom

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Transport in the United Kingdom

Transport in the United Kingdom is facilitated with well-developed road, air, rail, and water networks. A radial road network totals 29,145 miles (46,632 km) of main roads, 2,173 miles (3,477 km) of motorways and 213,750 miles (342,000 km) of paved roads. The National Rail

National Rail

National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies. ATOC is an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger Train Operating Company of Great Britain which now run the passenger services previously provided by the British Railways Board ....
network of 10,072 route miles (16,116 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.

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National Rail

Commuter rail in the United Kingdom

File:Urban rail in the UK.jpgCommuter rail, regional rail, urban rail or suburban rail, plays a key role in the public transport system of many of the United Kingdom's major cities....
are also well developed in London, Glasgow, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Birmingham and several other major cities. Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest international airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as Fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and Non-rigid airship take off and land. Aircraft may also be stored or maintained at an airport....
, and the UK has a considerable network of ports which received over 558 million tonnes of goods in 2003–2004.

Transport trends

Since 1952 (the earliest date for which comparable figures are available), the UK has seen a dramatic growth of car use, increasing its modal share, while the use of buses has significantly declined, and railway use has grown more slowly.

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 billion are made per annum by main line rail, 1 billion by light rail, 4.5 billion by bus, and 21 million on domestic air flights.

Passenger transport has grown significantly in recent years. Figures from the DTI 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 billion 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 billion 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; whereas the rail network has halved from in 1950 to today, the motorway network, which today is 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.

In 2008, the Department for Transport

Department for Transport

In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the Departments of the United Kingdom Government responsible for the English transport network and transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved....
stated that traffic congestion

Traffic congestion

Traffic congestion is a condition on networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased Queueing theory....
is one of the most serious transport problems facing the UK. According to the government-sponsored Eddington report

Eddington Transport Study

The Eddington Transport Study is an examination, by Sir Rod Eddington, of the impact of transport decisions on the economy and the environment of the United Kingdom, with recommendations on how the transport network should be modernised....
of 2006, bottleneck roads are in serious danger of becoming so congested that it may damage the economy.

Railways

Main articles: Rail transport in Great Britain
Rail transport in Great Britain

The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest in the world. It consists of of standard gauge track, of which 3062 is Railway electrification in Great Britain....
, Rail transport in Ireland
Rail transport in Ireland

Rail services in Ireland are provided by Iarnr?d ?ireann in the Republic of Ireland and by Northern Ireland Railways in Northern Ireland.The track gauge is Irish gauge....
, Rapid transit in the United Kingdom
Rapid transit in the United Kingdom

Rapid transit in the United Kingdom consists of five systems in four cities: the London Underground and Docklands Light Railway, Merseyrail, Tyne and Wear Metro and the Glasgow Subway....

The rail network in the United Kingdom consists of two independent parts, that of Northern Ireland and that of Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
. Since 1994, the latter has been connected to mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel

Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel , also known by the portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea rail transport tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent, Kent in England with Coquelles near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover....
. The network of Northern Ireland is connected to that of the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
. The National Rail

National Rail

National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies. ATOC is an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger Train Operating Company of Great Britain which now run the passenger services previously provided by the British Railways Board ....
network of 10,072 miles (16,116 km) in Great Britain and 189 route miles (303 route km) in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

conventional_long_name = Northern Ireland|native_name= Tuaisceart ?ireannNorlin Airlann|motto =|image_map = Europe location N-IRL2.png...
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 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

Richard Beeching

Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching , commonly known as Doctor Beeching, was chairman of British Railways and a physicist and engineer. He became infamous in Britain in the early-1960s for his report "The Reshaping of British Railways", popularly known as the Beeching Axe, which led to far-reaching changes in the railway network....
in the mid 1960s (known as the Beeching Axe

Beeching Axe

The Beeching Axe is an informal name for the HM Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom....
).