The transport system in the United Kingdom is well developed. A radial road network of 29'145 miles (46'632 km) of main roads is centred on London, Edinburgh and Belfast, whilst, in Great Britain, a motorway network of 2173 miles (3477 km) is centred on both Birmingham and London. There are a further 213'750 miles (342'000 km) of paved roads. The national rail network of 10'072 route miles (16'116 route 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. Urban rail networks are also well developed in London and several other cities. Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest international airport, and the UK has a considerable network of ports which received over 558 million tonnes of goods in 2003-04.

Transport trends

Since 1952 (the earliest date for which comparable figures are available), the UK has seen a dramatic shift away from the use of public transport and towards the use of private transport, for both passengers and freight.

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 1,000,000,000 are made per annum by main line rail, 1,100,000,000 by London Underground and other metro systems, 4,500,000,000 by bus, and 21,000,000 on domestic air flights.

Freight transport has undergone a similar change. In 1953 89,000,000,000 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 254,000,000,000 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; wheareas the rail network has halved from 31,336 km in 1950 to 16,116 km today, the motorway network, which today is 3476 km 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.

Railways

Main articles: Rail transport in Great Britain, Rail transport in Ireland
The rail network in the United Kingdom consists of two independent parts, that of Northern Ireland and that of Great Britain. Since 1994, the latter has been connected to mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel. The network of Northern Ireland is connected to that of the Republic of Ireland.

Great Britain

Virgin's Pendolino train.The rail network in Great Britain is the oldest such network in the world. The world's first intercity railway was the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, designed by George Stephenson and opened by the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington on September 15, [1830].

Until 1996 the rail network in Britain, and the passenger and freight services on it, were owned, operated and maintained by British Rail, a government-owned monopoly. In 1994 and 1995 British Rail was split into infrastructure, maintenance, rolling stock, passenger and freight companies, which were privatised from 1996 to 1997. Privatisation has proved controversial and the rail network has not yet experienced the full improvements that had been hoped.

In Britain, the infrastructure (track, stations, depots and signalling chiefly) is owned and maintained by Network Rail, a not for profit company. Network Rail replaced Railtrack, which became bankrupt in 2002 following the Hatfield Accident in 2000. Passenger services are operated by train operating companies(TOC's), most of which are franchises awarded by the UK Government. Examples include Virgin Trains, GNER and the First Group. Freight trains are operated by Freight Operating Companies, such as EWS, which are commercial operations unsupported by government. Most Train Operating Companies do not own the locomotives and coaches which they use to operate passenger services, being instead required to lease these from the Rolling Stock Operating Companies (ROSCOs)examples like HSBC and maintained by bombardier.

In Great Britain there is 16,536 km of 1435 mm gauge track. Of which, 4928 km is electrified and 12,591 km is double or multiple tracks. The maximum scheduled speed on the regular network has historically been around 125 miles per hour(200 km/h), on the Inter-City lines. On the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, linking London with the Channel Tunnel, trains are now able to go at the speeds of French TGVs.

Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) both owns the infrastructure and operates passenger rail services. The Northern Ireland rail network is one of the few networks in Europe that carry no freight. It is publicly-owned. NIR was united in 1996 with Northern Ireland's two publicly-owned bus operators — Ulsterbus and Metro (formally Citybus) — under the brand Translink.

In Northern Ireland there is 342 km of track at 1600 mm gauge. 190 km of it is multiple track.

Rapid transit
Three cities in the UK have rapid transit systems. Most well known is the London Underground (commonly known as the Tube), the oldest and longest rapid transit system in the world. Also in London is the separate Docklands Light Railway, though this is integrated with the Underground in many ways. Outside of London there is the Glasgow Subway and the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Trams and Light Rail

A vintage British tram, preserved at the National Tramway MuseumTram systems were popular in the UK in the late 19th and early 20th century. However with the rise of the car they began to be widely dismantled in the 1950s. By 1962 only Blackpool tramway remained. However in recent years trams have seen a revival in the UK, as in other countries. Examples of this second generation of tram systems include:

Manchester Metrolink in Greater Manchester
Sheffield Supertram in Sheffield
Midland Metro in the West Midlands
Tramlink in Croydon
NET in Nottingham

Roads

The road network in the United Kingdom is extensive, with around 370,000 km of road, and is one of, if not the most, popular method of transportation. A high-speed motorway system, with a total length of 3300 km, was constructed from the 1950s onwards, and links all major cities (though part of the A74 linking England and Scotland has not yet been upgraded). The maximum speed limit is 70 miles per hour (113 km/h). Alongside the motorway system are trunk roads, many of which are dual carriageway, various A and B roads, and many unclassified roads.

The Highways Agency (a division of the Department of Transport) is responsible for maintaining motorways and trunk roads in England. Other English roads are maintained by local authorities. In Scotland and Wales roads are the responsibility of the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly respectively. Northern Ireland's roads are overseen by the Roads Service, a section of the Department for Regional Development.

Toll roads are rare in the United Kingdom, though there are many toll bridges such as the Severn crossing. In 2003 the UK's first toll motorway, the M6 Toll road, opened in the Birmingham area to relieve the congested M6 motorway. Congestion charging systems also operate in a few cities such as central London and Durham. The government is considering introducing further road pricing schemes.

Driving is on the left.

See also: Great Britain road numbering scheme, List of motorways in the United Kingdom

Buses
Coaches, mainly run by National Express provide long-distance links. Scottish Citylink / Megabus operate most coaches within Scotland. Within regional areas, there is are various bus systems, that were usually originally owned by local councils, but have been deregulated and privatised under the Transport Act 1980. Notable bus companies are Stagecoach, Arriva, and First. As an exception bus (and rail) services in Northern Ireland remain regulated. Services in Northern Ireland are operated by Translink, a government owned company.

Water

Due to the United Kingdom's island nature, before the Channel Tunnel and the advent of air travel the only way to enter or leave the country was on water.

Ports and harbours
Approximately 95% of freight enters the UK by sea (75% by value). Three major ports handle most freight traffic:

Felixstowe on the east coast - the fourth largest seaport in Europe.
Tilbury, near London.
Southampton on the south coast.
There are many other ports and harbours around the UK, including the following towns and cities:

Aberdeen, Avonmouth, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Dover, Falmouth, Glasgow, Gloucester, Grangemouth, Harwich, Hull, Inverness, Leith, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Peterhead, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth, Scapa Flow, Sullom Voe, Tees, Tyne.

Merchant marine
For long periods of the last millennium Britain had the largest merchant fleet in the world, but it has slipped down the rankings. There are 429 ships of 1,000 GRT or over, making a total of 9,181,284 GRT (9,566,275 DWT). These are split into the following types: bulk carrier 18, cargo 55, chemical tanker 48, container 134, liquefied gas 11, passenger 12, passenger/cargo 64, petroleum tanker 40, refrigerated cargo 19, roll on/roll off 25, vehicle carrier 3. There are also 446 ships registered in other countries, and 202 foreign-owned ships registered in the UK. (2005 CIA estimate)

Other shipping
Passenger ferries operate internationally to nearby countries such as France, the Republic of Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Ferries also operate within the UK, connecting Scotland with Northern Ireland, Southampton with Isle of Wight and many smaller routes.

Cruise ships depart from the UK for destinations worldwide, many heading for ports around the Mediterranean and Caribbean.

The Solent is a world centre for yachting and home to largest number of private yachts in the world.

Inland waterways
Major canal building began in the UK after the onset of the Industrial revolution in the 18th century. A large canal network was built and it became the primary method of transporting goods throughout the country. However, by the 1830s with the development of the railways the canal network began to go into decline.

There are currently 1,988 miles (3200 km) of waterways in the United Kingdom, and the primary use is recreational. 385 miles (620 km) is used for commerce. (2004 CIA estimate)

Air transport

Main article: List of airports in the United Kingdom

There are 471 airports in the UK, of which 334 are paved. There are also 11 heliports. (2004 CIA estimates)

The British Airports Authority runs many of the UK's airports, its flagship being London Heathrow Airport, the largest traffic volume international airport in Europe and one of the world's busiest airports, and London Gatwick Airport, the second largest. The third largest is Manchester International Airport, in Manchester, which is run by Manchester Airport Group, which also owns various other airports.

Other major airports include London Stansted Airport in Essex, about thirty miles (50 km) north of London and Birmingham International Airport, in Birmingham.

Outside of England, Cardiff International Airport, Glasgow International Airport and Belfast International Airport, are the busiest airports serving Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

The largest airline in the UK is British Airways, who operate long-distance flights from the UK to all over the globe. Others include bmi, Easyjet, and Virgin Atlantic.