The seven cross-country rail routes that would revitalise Britain
Last month saw welcomed reports that Arriva was bidding to run direct rail services from Newcastle to Brighton, due to start at the end of 2026. To be run by open-access operator, Grand Central, it would avoid London but pass through Gatwick and Birmingham en route.
Sadder news for cross-country rail lovers was the axing of the Aberdeen-Penzance train as of May 16, after more than 100 years of service. At 774 miles, it is the UK's longest service, linking Scotland to Cornwall, passing through a range of landscapes and stopping 35 times at towns and cities.
Britain's rail network likes to give with one hand and take away with the other. There has been recent talk of reviving direct services from Bolton and Rochdale to London, providing the two major Lancashire towns with connections they once enjoyed as a right. Rail services open up business as well as leisure opportunities; vineyards, hotels and local councillors in Kent are still protesting the closure of the Eurostar service sparked by the pandemic.
So what would be the ideal cross-country lines to reboot in order to promote domestic holidays and regional economies? Britain's railways really began with a cross-country line, between Liverpool and Manchester, in 1830. Who decided, for example, the network should be radial, with London as its hub? And why are so many of us deprived of trains to the many wonderful corners of the country?
Here are seven for starters. These physical lines still exist (though Dr Beeching axed many that made cross-country travel faster and more fluid in the 1960s), but to complete the journeys now you have to change trains, waste time, worry about your next reservation and getting a seat.
Modern trains are supposed to be faster, but most cross-country trips are sluggish when you consider the crow-flies distances. We can surely do better than this, so please let us know which lines and services you miss most in the comments section below.
The Midland hotel that stands prominently over the UK's largest expanse of tidal mudflats and sand is a striking reminder of a time when Morecambe was served by Midland Railways and known as Bradford-on-sea for the number of visitors it drew from the West Riding of Yorkshire.
The route used, known as the 'Little' North Western Railway, carried mill and factory workers from their smoke-smothered homes via the Yorkshire Dales and Forest of Bowland to the seaside. As well as regular services, there were 'Wakes Weeks' specials when industries closed down and entire towns and cities decamped to the coast.
At the time, the trains ran all over the country, with exotic-sounding services such as Oldham to Swansea and Bury to Heysham for Douglas on the Isle of Man. In Bradford's City of Culture year, and with the North due to get its own Eden Project in Morecambe isn't it time to reopen this grand old sunshine line, especially given the perennial question of how to revive the British seaside?
When direct service ended: 1966
Number of changes required in 2025: 1-2
Shortest duration in 2025: 2h 11m
Distance: 49 miles
Cheapest current cost: £12.70 single
I only know that this service existed as recently as the mid-1980s thanks to the avid timetable collectors who post fascinating facts on online rail forums. It was one of many Motorail services that operated between 1955-1995, allowing holidaymakers to deposit their Austin Allegros on to the back of trains and ride in comfort to their destination.
Stirling was a major hub, and was the gateway to the Highlands. Newton Abbot, often bypassed by tourists, is a useful point of departure for Dartmoor, Torbay and both coasts of Devon and Cornwall. Drives such as the NC500 (North Coast 500), Heart 200 and North East 250 in Scotland and South West 660 in England are great, but a relaunched Motorail – with competitive pricing – would allow us to travel greener, safer and without the tedious ordeal of the M4, M5 and M6.
When direct service ended: mid-1980s
Number of changes required in 2025: 1-4
Shortest duration in 2025: 8h 32m
Distance: 387 miles
Cheapest current cost: £161.70
Privatisation killed off services linking Newcastle, York, Scarborough and Hull to North Wales – with most trains stopping at Manchester, furthering the uncontrolled metropolitanisation of Britain. The loss is felt at several levels, exacerbating the 'East-West divide', shrinking the once booming tourism of Llandudno and the North Wales coast and, more subtly, making Britons – islanders all, with a rich maritime history – forget our once vital ports.
Boat trains used to connect all corners of the nation to ferry services to Ireland, Isle of Man and the continent. You could travel from Scotland and the north to Harwich Parkeston Quay. Today, the grandly monikered Harwich International is connected to, wait for it, nearby Manningtree. It's time to stop the rebranding and reconnect our ports.
When direct service ended: 1980s
Number of changes required in 2025: 2
Shortest duration in 2025: 5h 8m
Distance: 180 miles
Cheapest current cost: £125
Britain's most scenic railway line, the Settle-Carlisle, is currently served by trains from Leeds, plus a Saturday-only, twice in each direction service from Manchester Piccadilly to Ribblehead, site of the celebrated viaduct. Opened in 1876 by Midland Railways – keen to compete with London & North Western, which dominated operations on what we now call the West Coast Main Line – the Settle-Carlisle follows the natural contours of the Pennines, in order to enable high-speed stream trains to carry passengers to and from Scotland.
London's Science Museum holds a glorious 1903 timetable for the direct service on 'the most interesting route, the only through route embracing the lovely valleys of the Ribble and the Eden, the home and haunts of Sir Walter Scott, and the land of Robbie Burns,' from London St Pancras to Edinburgh, Perth and Inverness. Why deprive southerners of the north's sublime line?
When direct service ended: 1982 (London St Pancras to Carlisle)
Number of changes required in 2025: 1
Shortest duration in 2025: 5h 25m
Distance: 262 miles
Cheapest current cost: £87.20
One of the most punished towns in the UK, in transport terms, is Stranraer in south-west Scotland. Only a few decades ago, it was connected to London Euston, Carlisle and Newcastle, and for a spell there was an Edinburgh-Stranraer boat train. Why did all the trains go to this lonely peninsular tip? Mainly for the ultra-short ferry crossing to Larne in Northern Ireland.
But the ferry no longer goes from Stranraer but from Cairnryan (a bus ride away), with Stena ships to Belfast (two hours 15 mins) and P&O ferry crossings to Larne (two hours). As for the station, it has trains to Ayr and Glasgow, and not many of them – every four hours on weekdays and only as far as Ayr on Sundays.
Rail fans agree the Stranraer line ranks just below the likes of the West Highland Line and Dingwall to Kyle for scenic views. Reopening a route via Hadrian's Wall to Newcastle would tick many boxes for history and heritage-lovers, and provide a useful east-west connecting service.
When direct service ended: 1993
Number of changes required in 2025: 3
Shortest duration in 2025: 5h 48m
Distance: 135 miles
Cheapest current cost: £72.70
The axing of the Aberdeen-Penzance service is precisely the opposite direction of the one CrossCountry should be following. It was only offered once a day (departing Aberdeen 8.20am, arriving Penzance 9.31pm – and only Plymouth-Aberdeen in reverse) but was a symbolic connection to the southwestern tip of the nation for Scotland and all of England.
There used to be Waterloo to Penzance trains too, offering an iron-road version of the A303, ideal for south-west Londoners and stockbroker belt second-homers wanting to enjoy a few bottles of Mumm en-route to Marazion. The UK is missing a trick in not offering a pan-national service.
There's no reason why someone can't offer a Penzance to Thurso/Wick service, using diesel- (or steam-) powered rolling stock. It would be a magnet for European rail fans and, at around 970 miles, would outclass many single-country lines for length. The UK's Trans-Siberian, in short, with Unesco sites at either end and the full gamut of towns, cities, landscapes, accents, cuisines and culture en route. Londoners can do a version of this trip on their handy Caledonian and Night Riviera sleeper trains. Why should everyone else have to drive or change 10 times to cross the nation?
When direct service ended: N/A
Number of changes required in 2025: 2-5
Shortest duration in 2025: 26h 21m
Distance: 583 miles
Cheapest current cost: £320.80
This is not strictly a cross-country line, but it's a parable of how we can break the hegemony of city hubs. As early as 1860, the GWR – yes, you read that correctly – was able to operate trains from London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside. By 1924, there were six down trains a day, some taking less than five hours.
The early route was via Reading and Oxford, but later took a shorter diagonal through Bicester and High Wycombe. Restaurant cars and sleepers were offered on some timings. Running till 1967, the Birkenhead Flyer and The Zulu stopped at Leamington Spa, Shrewsbury, Wrexham and Chester. As well as providing a connection to the port at Birkenhead – giving that town an identity beyond being 'somewhere you can see from Liverpool' – it opened up the Wirral, with New Brighton and Port Sunlight, as well as Shropshire and the Welsh Marches.
Today, the emphasis is on speed, not stopping and merely connecting A to B ie Liverpool Lime Street with London Euston, without any accounting for pleasure or leisure. These lines exist – why not allow open-access firms to target the holiday traveller on new city-swerving routes to places of extraordinary heritage and beauty?
When direct service ended: 1967
Number of changes required in 2025: 2
Shortest duration in 2025: 3h 12m
Distance: 178 miles
Current cost: £82.70
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