Inter-city rail

Inter-city rail services are express train passenger services which cover longer distances than commuter trains.

Europe

In Europe, many long distance inter-urban trains are operated under the InterCity brand. The term InterCity originated with British Rail's InterCity sector, but the term went out of official use in the UK following privatisation. The service became very popular in Britain in the 1970s thanks in part to an advertising campaign fronted by Jimmy Savile.

The principal network of inter-city trains in continental Europe is called EuroCity, distinguished from the InterCity network by its better support for international travels even though IC trains also traverse borders.

High-speed railways have particularly few stops. The German high-speed train line was named InterCity Express indicating evolution from older InterCity trains. Other high-speed lines include the TGV (France), AVE (Spain), and Treno Alta Velocità (Italy).

In Great Britain, the inter-city rail links are now operated by a number of private companies. In Ireland, the inter-city rail network is maintained by Iarnród Éireann and Northern Ireland Railways.

North America

In the United States, the inter-city trains are operated by Amtrak over a network that is far less dense than the European one. The most heavily used routes with the greatest ridership and schedule frequencies are in the Northeastern United States, on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. About one in every three users of mass transit in the United States and two-thirds of the nation's rail riders live in New York City. The two busiest passenger rail stations in the United States are Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, both in New York City. Passenger rail outside of the Northeast is infrequent and rarely used relative to networks in Europe and Japan.

Canadian inter-city trains are run by VIA Rail, and connect most of the major cities. International trains, run jointly by Amtrak and VIA Rail, connect New York with Toronto and Montreal, and Seattle with Vancouver.

The Mexican federal government discontinued almost all scheduled inter-city passenger trains in January 2000. Ferromex operates trains on two routes: Chihuahua to Los Mochis, and Guadalajara to Amatitan.

Central and South America

Most countries of Central and South America do not have a developed inter-city rail network, and international train services are almost non-existent.

Argentina has inter-city services on a number of routes, run by Ferrobaires, Ferrocentral, and Trenes Especiales Argentinos. Trains in Argentina are experiencing a revival, since the government intends to re-establish long-distance passenger trains between major cities.

Brazilian inter-city services operate on one route, from Vitória to Belo Horizonte.

Chile has inter-city services connecting Santiago to Concepción and Temuco, run by Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado.

Inter-city train services in Bolivia are operated by two train companies: Eastern and Western. The western network runs daily trains from Oruro to Tupiza, with both expresso (fast) and WaraWara (slow) trains. The eastern rail hub is Santa Cruz de la Sierra, with connections to Puerto Suarez and Villamontes, and international lines to Brazil and Argentina.

Africa

Inter-city services are reasonably well developed in North Africa, although sometimes prone to delay or interrupted by civil disturbances. Morroccan Railways and Egyptian National Railways run fast, air-conditioned trains linking the major cities in these countries.

South Africa has an extensive inter-city network run by Shosholoza Meyl, a division of Spoornet. The most famous inter-city services are the luxury Blue Train between Pretoria and Cape Town, the Trans-Oranje between Cape Town and Durban, and the Trans-Natal Express between Durban and Johannesburg.

Inter-city trains in Senegal and Mali are run by Transrail - a Canadian consortium. The Dakar-Bamako 'Express' (previously known as the 'Mali Express' or sometimes known locally as the 'Mistral International') runs weekly as of 2006. The government has agreed to pay for replacement rolling stock to improve the service.

Asia

The inter-city trains run by China Railways link almost every town and city in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, and Hong Kong. The Beijing-Shanghai Express Railway was scheduled for completion before the 2008 Summer Olympics, but is currently delayed due to controversy.

Indian inter-city trains are run by Indian Railways. With 63,000 km of rail routes and 6,800 stations, the railway network in India is the third biggest in the world (after Russia and China) and the biggest in the world in terms of passenger kilometres. All long-distance journeys require a reservation.

Trains in Vietnam, run by Duong Sat Viet Nam, link Hanoi, Hué, Danang, Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City. There is only one train service in Cambodia, from Battambang to Phnom Penh, running once a week.

All major towns and cities in South Korea are linked by railway, run by Korean National Railroad. In addition, Seoul and Pusan are linked by a high-speed train line known as KTX, which was built using French TGV technology.

There are six main regional railway companies in Japan, known collectively as Japan Railways. The shinkansen (bullet trains) link all the larger cities, including Niigata, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and Hakata.

Other Asian railway networks running inter-city services:

Oceania

In Australia, the national interstate network operated by Great Southern Railway connects all mainland Australian capital cities except Canberra and Brisbane. Intrastate inter-city trains that traverse shorter distances are operated by V/Line, CountryLink, Queensland Rail and Transwa. Many of Australia's inter-city trains are not true inter-city services, given their leisurely average speed and primary role to transport people between regional areas and the nearest capital city or for the tourist market. As a result, Australian networks refer to these services as "country" trains. Australians usually fly between capital cities, given the massive distance involved in travel in Australia and the lack of dedication to providing quality rail services by both the Commonwealth and State governments. The fastest intercity trains in regular service are the tilting trains used by Queensland Rail, which have a top speed of 160 km/h and an average of only 80 km/h.

In Australia, electrified interurban commuter railway systems are used to connect urban areas separated by long distances and use heavy rail equipment:

In Sydney CityRail operates an extensive interurban network of four main routes from Sydney. These run to Newcastle and the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands and the South Coast. CityRail has rebranded its interurban commuter services as "intercity".

In Brisbane CityTrain operates a smaller interurban commuter network of three lines which connect Brisbane to the Gold Coast in the south, the Sunshine Coast in the north and Rosewood in the west.

On these systems, services either run as limited-stop expresses in the suburban area (e.g. Blue Mountains services) or as shuttles terminating where the suburban lines end (e,g. Rosewood services).

In Perth a new electric interurban rail line running down the middle of the Kwinana Freeway will serve Mandurah by 2007.

A large scale non-electric project of four regional lines (Regional Fast Rail) is also planned for Victoria. Current interurban and intercity journeys outside the suburban area are usually locomotive-hauled, due to Victoria's lack of electrification outside of Melbourne.

Long-distance inter-city services in New Zealand are operated by Tranz Scenic.

External links

The Man in Seat 61 Information on train travel worldwide

Passenger rail transport

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