People come back to the railways

Railways were originally intended to carry mostly goods rather than passengers but in the 1970s, the value of carrying passengers overtook goods for the first time.

In the 1980s, rail use grew again. The roads and motorways which were so popular were now crowded with traffic, and there was less space to build new roads. People also started to realise that cars were not good for the environment and building railways had less impact on the environment than building roads.

In 1996, the railways were privatised. This means they went from being owned by the government, back to being owned by companies.

There are now over twenty train companies providing train services in Great Britain. For a list of train companies click here.

Britain now has the fastest growing railway network in Europe. In 2006/07 people made 1,164,000,000 (1 billion and 164 million) journeys by train and travelled a total of 46,500,000,000 (46.5 billion) kilometres.

The beginning of international rail travel

On 6 May 1994 Queen Elizabeth II and President Mitterrand of France opened the Channel Tunnel. In the same year Eurostar launched international rail services from Waterloo International which meant people could take the train from London all the way to Paris in France, or Brussels in Belgium.

In 2007 Eurostar moved their services to a new London home at the beautifully restored St Pancras International station.

The Eurostar services began with two trains a day between London and Paris, and London and Brussels. Today it operates up to 17 daily services to Paris and up to 10 daily services to Brussels.In 2007 8,260,000 (8.26 million) people travelled on Eurostar and since it started services in 1994 Eurostar has carried over 70,000,000 (70 million) passengers on more than 230,000 train journeys.

Eurostar trains can reach speeds of up to 186 miles per hour meaning that you can go from London to Paris (which is over 300 miles) on a train that doesn't stop anywhere else on the way, in only 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Other types of trains

Since the commencement of high speed train services like the Eurostar, trains have progressed in speed and efficiency and key developments have been made in all areas of the rail industry.

Tilt trains

In 2002 tilt trains were introduced which means the train can lean when it goes around bends. This new type of train allows it to go much faster without the need to build any new tracks. Since 2004 Virgin Trains have been using Pendolino tilt trains which can reach speeds up to 125mph on some of their services. 

The Maglev

The Maglev is a type of train that doesn’t have any wheels. Instead, they float above the track. Maglev is short for magnetic levitation which means using magnets to make the train rise up from the track, and it means they can go faster.

Some Maglevs have already been built in Germany and Japan, where trains have already run at an incredible 552kph (343 mph) on a test track. It is expected that Maglev trains will reach speeds of up to 800 kph (500 mph) by 2020.

The Bullet Train

The bullet train or the ‘Shinkansen’ as it is known in Japan was first developed to run as a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Opened in 1964 the network has expanded to link most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyuhu reaching speeds of up to 188mph.

You can board the National Rail Museum’s very own Japanese Bullet train and discover the story of the world’s fastest passenger railway network. Click here to go to the National Railway Museum website.

Why modern trains are good for the environment