List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom

There are various types of train operating companies in the United Kingdom. These companies are usually classified by the type of train they operate.

Passenger operators in Great Britain

Current passenger operators

The following operate the services that comprise the National Rail network in Great Britain.

Operator	Type	Franchise	Parent(s)	Start date	Expiry date	Replaced
Arriva Trains Wales/Trenau Arriva Cymru	Franchise	Wales and Borders	Arriva Group	8 December 2003	2018	Wales and Borders
c2c (formerly known as LTS Rail)	Franchise	Thameside	National Express Group	26 May 1996	2011	Network SouthEast (London, Tilbury and Southend Division)
Caledonian Sleeper	Branded Service	Part of ScotRail	First Group	17 October 2004	2011
Chiltern Railways	Franchise	Chiltern	Laing Rail	21 July 1996	2022	Network SouthEast (Chiltern Division)
CrossCountry	Franchise	Cross Country	Arriva Group	11 November 2007	1 April 2016	Central Trains (Birmingham - Stansted & Cardiff - Nottingham route) & Virgin Trains (Cross Country franchise)
East Midlands Trains	Franchise	East Midlands	Stagecoach Group	11 November 2007	31 March 2015	Central Trains (Liverpool - Norwich & East Midlands routes) & Midland Mainline
Eurostar	Open-Access	N/A	Eurostar (U.K.) Ltd., SNCF & NMBS/SNCB	14 November 1994
First Capital Connect	Franchise	Great Northern/ Thameslink	First Group	1 April 2006	2015	Thameslink & West Anglia Great Northern Railway (Great Northern and Fenline routes)
First Great Western	Franchise	Greater Western	First Group	1 April 2006	2016	Great Western Trains, First Great Western Link, Wessex Trains
First ScotRail	Franchise	ScotRail	First Group	17 October 2004	2011	ScotRail
First TransPennine Express	Franchise	TransPennine	First Group & Keolis	1 February 2004	2012/2017	Arriva Trains Northern & First North Western
Gatwick Express	Franchise	Gatwick Express	National Express Group	28 April 1996	22 June 2008	InterCity (Gatwick Express Division)
Grand Central	Open-Access	N/A	Equishare Partners	18 December 2007	2011
Heathrow Connect	Open-Access	N/A	BAA & First Group	12 June 2005
Heathrow Express	Open-Access	N/A	BAA	23 June 1998
Hull Trains	Open-Access	N/A	First Group & Renaissance Trains	25 September 2000	2012
Island Line	Branded Service	Part of South Western	Stagecoach Group	4 February 2007	February 2017
London Midland	Franchise	West Midlands	Govia	11 November 2007	19 September 2015	Central Trains (Birmingham routes) & Silverlink (Northampton Line)
London Overground	TfL concession	London Overground	MTR Laing	11 November 2007	2014/2016	Silverlink (North London Lines)
Merseyrail	Merseytravel contract	Merseyrail	Serco Group & NedRailways	20 July 2003	2028	Arriva Trains Merseyside
National Express East Coast	Franchise	InterCity East Coast	National Express Group	09 December 2007	31 March 2015	Great North Eastern Railway
Night Riviera	Branded Service	Part of Greater Western	First Group	1 April 2006	2016
Northern Rail	Franchise	Northern	Serco Group & NedRailways	12 December 2004	September 2013	Arriva Trains Northern & First North Western
'one'	Franchise	Greater Anglia	National Express Group	1 April 2004	2011/2014	Anglia Railways, First Great Eastern & West Anglia Great Northern Railway (West Anglia Main Line and Lea Valley Lines)
Southeastern	Franchise	Integrated Kent	Govia	1 April 2006	31 March 2014	South Eastern Trains
Southern	Franchise	South Central	Govia	26 August 2001	20 September 2009	Connex South Central
South West Trains	Franchise	South Western	Stagecoach Group	4 February 2007	February 2017	South West Trains & Island Line
Stansted Express	Branded service	Part of Greater Anglia	National Express Group	1 April 2004	2011/2014
Virgin Trains	Franchise	InterCity West Coast	Virgin Group & Stagecoach Group	9 March 1997	31st March 2012	InterCity (West Coast Division)

There are also several heritage lines and light rail systems.

Defunct operating companies

A number of operating companies have ceased to exist for a number of reasons, including premature withdrawal of the franchise; the natural term of the franchise has expired; bankruptcy; or there has been a merger.

Operator	Franchise	Parent(s)	Date ceased	Replaced by
Anglia Railways	Anglia	GB Railways	1 April 2004	'one'
Arriva Trains Merseyside	Merseyside	Arriva Group	June 2003	Merseyrail
Arriva Trains Northern	Regional Railways North East	Arriva Group	12 December 2004	Split into Northern Rail & TransPennine Express
Central Trains	Central	National Express Group	11 November 2007	Split into CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains & London Midland
Central Citylink	Part of Central	National Express Group	11 November 2007	Split into CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains & London Midland
Connex South Central	South Central	Connex	2001	Southern
Connex South Eastern	South Eastern	Connex	9 November 2003	South Eastern Trains
First Great Eastern	Great Eastern	First Group	1 April 2004	'one'
First Great Western Link	Thames	First Group	1 April 2006	Merged with First Great Western
First North Western	North West Regional Railways	First Group	12 December 2004	Split into Northern Rail & TransPennine Express
Great North Eastern Railway (GNER)	InterCity East Coast	Sea Containers	08 December 2007	National Express East Coast
Great Western Trains	Great Western	Great Western Trains Ltd	1998	First Great Western
Island Line	Island Line	Stagecoach Group	3 February 2007	Merged with South West Trains
Merseyrail Electrics	Merseyrail	MTL	February 2000	Arriva Trains Merseyside
Midland Mainline	Midland Main Line	National Express Group	11 November 2007	East Midlands Trains
Northern Spirit	Regional Railways North East	MTL	February 2000	Arriva Trains Northern
North Western Trains	North West Regional Railways	Great Western Trains	1998	First North Western
ScotRail	ScotRail	National Express Group	17 October 2004	First ScotRail
South Eastern Trains	South Eastern	Strategic Rail Authority	1 April 2006	Southeastern
Silverlink (previously known as North London Railways)	North London Railways	National Express Group	11 November 2007	Split into London Midland & London Overground
Thames Trains	Thames	Go-Ahead Group	1 April 2004	First Great Western Link
Thameslink	Thameslink	Govia	1 April 2006	First Capital Connect
Valley Lines	Valley Lines	National Express Group	14 October 2001	Merged with Wales and Borders
Virgin Trains (Cross Country franchise)	Cross Country	Virgin Group & Stagecoach Group	11 November 2007	CrossCountry, Virgin Trains (West Coast franchise), First TransPennine Express
West Anglia Great Northern Railway (West Anglia Main Line and Lea Valley Lines)	West Anglia Great Northern	National Express Group	1 April 2004	'one'
West Anglia Great Northern Railway (Great Northern and Fenline routes)	West Anglia Great Northern	National Express Group	1 April 2006	First Capital Connect
Wales and Borders	Wales and Borders	National Express Group	7 December 2003	Arriva Trains Wales
Wales and West	Wales and West	Prism Rail	14 October 2001	Split into Wales and Borders & Wessex Trains
Wessex Trains	Wessex	National Express Group	1 April 2006	Merged with First Great Western

Future operators

Operator	Type	Franchise	Parent(s)	Start date	Replaces
Wrexham & Shropshire	Open-Access	N/A	Laing Rail & Renaissance Trains	Spring 2008

Prospective Operators

• Grand Central has proposed running services between London and Bradford along the West Coast Main Line, and for proposed semi-fast services between Bradford and Doncaster under the name Grand Union.
• Renaissance Trains, the owner of Wrexham & Shropshire, has proposed running services to several destinations under a number of brand names:
  • Glasgow Trains has proposed to run services between Glasgow to Blackpool, Liverpool and Nottingham.
  • Humber Coast & City Railway are planning to run services between Cleethorpes and Lincoln to Stratford, London via Peterborough and Cambridge.

Passenger Operators in Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland passenger trains are still government-owned, under the auspices of Translink. The following brands are used:

• Northern Ireland Railways - (domestic services)
• Enterprise - (Belfast-Dublin service, jointly operated by Iarnród Éireann)

Railtour operators

• Compass Tours
• DPS Railtours
• Hertfordshire Rail Tours
• Pathfinder Tours
• Scottish Railway Preservation Society
• Venice-Simplon Orient Express
• Vintage Trains

Freight operators

• Direct Rail Services
• English, Welsh and Scottish Railway
• Fastline
• Freightliner
• FirstGBRf
• Mendip Rail

References

• List of Train Operating Companies on the National Rail website
• Barry Doe's colour-coded map showing operator(s) on each route (Large PDF)