List of named passenger trains of the United Kingdom

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This article contains lists of named passenger trains in the United Kingdom. These are specific regular journeys identified by a special name in the timetable, not to be confused with the names of engines or individual physical train rakes. One-off charter and sporadic special trains are not included.

More information Train name, Company/ies ...
List
Train name Company/ies Journey endpoints Dates operated
21st Century Limited[1][2] Grand Central London King's Cross – Sunderland (one way only) 2008[2] – 2010[citation needed]
Aberdonian[3][4][5] BR
Serco		 Aberdeen – London King's Cross (sleeper service - later Night Aberdonian)[6] 1927 – ?2012
Jan – Mar 2016
Aberdonian BR Aberdeen – London King's Cross (daytime InterCity 125 service) ?1977 – 1994
Admiraal de Ruijter BR / NS London Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay – ferry – Hoek van Holland Haven – Amsterdam Centraal 1987 – 1989
Antwerp Continental (boat train) LNER London Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay – Harwich Town[7] ? – 1954
Armada[8] GWR London Paddington – Plymouth ? – present
Atlantic Coast Express[9][10][11][12] SR / BR London Waterloo – Plymouth, Ilfracombe, Sidmouth, Exmouth, Bude, Padstow, Torrington 1926 –
1948 – 1964
Atlantic Coast Express[8] GWR London Paddington – Newquay 2008 – present
Belfast Boat Express (boat train)[13] BR Manchester Victoria – Heysham and Morecambe ? – 1960 – 1975
Benjamin Britten[14] BR / NS London Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay– ferry – Hoek van Holland Haven – Amsterdam Centraal 1987 – 1989[15]
Birmingham Pullman[i][16] BR London Paddington – Wolverhampton Low Level 1960 – 1966
Bon Accord[17] Aberdeen – Glasgow Buchanan Street 1949 – 1968
Bournemouth Belle (Pullman train)[16] SR / BR London Waterloo – Bournemouth Central/Bournemouth West 1931 – 1967
Brighton Belle (Pullman train)[16] SR / BR London Victoria – Brighton 1934 – 1972
Brighton Limited (Pullman train) LBSCR 1887 – 1908
Brighton Pullman Limited (Pullman train)[18] 1898 – 1908
Bristol Pullman (Pullman train)[16][i] BR London Paddington – Bristol Temple Meads 1960 – 1973
Bristolian[19] GWR (original) / BR / GWR London Paddington – Bristol Temple Meads non-stop[20] (original); London Paddington to Weston-super-Mare (current) 1935 – present
Broadsman[21][22] BR London Liverpool Street – Cromer and Sheringham 1950 – 1962
Caledonian[23] BR / Virgin Glasgow Central – London Euston 1957 – 1964
? – 2005[24]
Caledonian Sleeper (night train) InterCity West Coast /
ScotRail (British Rail) / ScotRail (National Express) / First ScotRail / Caledonian Sleeper		 London Euston – Edinburgh Waverley
London Euston – Aberdeen
London Euston – Fort William
London Euston – Glasgow Central
London Euston – Inverness		 1996 – present
Cambrian Coast Express[25] GWR (original) / BR London Paddington (later London Euston) – Aberystwyth
London Paddington – Pwllheli		 1927 – 1991
Capitals Limited[11] BR London King's Cross – Aberdeen
(non-stop London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley)		 1949 – 1952 (succeeded by Elizabethan)
Capitals United Express[26] London Paddington – Cardiff Central
London Paddington – Fishguard Harbour		 1956 – 1963
Capitals United[8] GWR London Paddington – Swansea 2010 – present
Carmarthen Bay Express GWR London Paddington – Tenby 1927[27] – ????
Carolean Express[28] LNER London King's Cross – Edinburgh Waverley May 2023 – present
Cathedrals Express[29] BR / GWR London Paddington – Oxford – Hereford 1957 – present
Cheltenham Spa Express
(also known as The Cheltenham Flyer)[30]		 GWR (original) / BR / GWR London Paddington – Cheltenham Spa 1929 – present
Clansman[6] BR Inverness – London Euston via Birmingham New Street 1974[31] – 1984
Comet[11][32][33] BR London Euston – Manchester London Road 1949[34] – 1962
Cornish Riviera Express[10][11] GWR (original) / BR / GWR London Paddington – Penzance 1904 – present
Cornish Scot[35] BR / Virgin CrossCountry Glasgow Central – Penzance 1987 – 2002
Cornishman GWR (original) London Paddington – Penzance 1890 – 1904
1935 – 1936
Cornishman[36] BR (Bradford Exchange) – Wolverhampton Low Level – Penzance and Kingswear 1951 – 1975
Cornishman BR Edinburgh Waverley – Penzance 1983 – 2002
Cornishman[8] GWR London Paddington – Penzance 2006 – present
Coronation[37] LNER London King's Cross – Edinburgh Waverley 1937 – 1939
Coronation Scot LMS Glasgow Central – London Euston 1937 – 1939
Cotswolds and Malvern Express GWR (original) / BR / Wales & West / GWR Bristol Temple Meads – Great Malvern
London Paddington – Hereford		 May 1884 – May 1997[38]
June 2024 – present[39]
Day Continental (boat train) LNER / BR London Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay 1946[40] – 1987 (succeeded by Benjamin Britten)[15]
Devon Belle[11] (Pullman train) SR / BR London Waterloo – Ilfracombe
London Waterloo – Plymouth		 1947 – 1954
Devon Express[8] GWR London Paddington – Paignton ? – present
Devon Scot[41] BR / Virgin CrossCountry Aberdeen – Carlisle – Plymouth 1988 – 2002
Devonian[32][42] LMS / BR Bradford Forster Square (Bradford Exchange from 1967; Leeds from 1980) – Sheffield Midland – Bristol Temple Meads (winter) – Paignton (summer) 1927 – 2002
Dorset Scot[43] BR / Virgin CrossCountry Poole – Newcastle – Edinburgh Waverley 1990 – 2002
East Anglian LNER / BR / Anglia / National Express East Anglia / Abellio Greater Anglia London Liverpool Street – Norwich 1937–present
The Easterling[22] BR London Liverpool Street – Lowestoft and Yarmouth South Town 1950 – 1958
The Elizabethan[4][5][11] (summer only) BR London King's Cross – Edinburgh Waverley (non-stop)[ii] 1953 – 1964
Emerald Isle Express[44] London Euston – Llandudno and Holyhead 1954 – 1960 – 1975; 1993 – 1997
Enterprise GNR(I) / UTA+CIÉ / NIR+IÉ Belfast Grand Central (Belfast Great Victoria Street from 1947 to 1976, Belfast Central from 1976 to 2018, and Belfast Lanyon Place from 2018 to 2024) & Dublin Connolly 1947–present
Essex Coast Express[45] BR London Liverpool Street – Clacton 1958 – 1968[46]
The European[47] Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central – Harwich Parkeston Quay 1983 – 1988
Fair Maid[4] London King's Cross – Perth 1957 – 1958 (succeeded by Morning Talisman)
Fenman BR[48] London Liverpool Street – Hunstanton; after 1969 to King's Lynn 1949 – 1968
Fife Coast Express[48]
(Ran as Fifeshire Coast Express 1912 – 1924)[49]		 NBR / LNER / BR St Andrews – Glasgow Queen Street 1948 – 1959
Flying Dutchman GWR (original)+BER London Paddington – Exeter St Davids 1849 – 1892
Flying Scotsman[4][5][10] GNR+NER+NBR / LNER / BR / GNER / NXEC / East Coast / VTEC / LNER London King's Cross – Edinburgh Waverley
From May 2011: Edinburgh to London, one way only[50]		 1862 – present[51]
Flying Carolean[52] GWR London Paddington – Swansea 2023 – present[52]
Golden Arrow[9][10][11][16] (boat train) SR / BR London Victoria – Dover Priory or Folkestone Harbour 1929 – 1972
Golden Hind BR / GWR London Paddington – Penzance 1964 – present
Granite City[10][11] ? / BR Aberdeen – Glasgow Buchanan Street 1933 – 1939; 1948 –
Harrogate Pullman[53] LNER London King's Cross – Harrogate and Newcastle 1923 – 1928
(Succeeded by the West Riding Pullman)
Harrogate Sunday Pullman[16][22] BR London King's Cross – Harrogate and Bradford Exchange 1950s – late 1960s
Heart of Midlothian[4][5] London King's Cross – Edinburgh Waverley 1951 – 1968
The Hebridean[54] LMS / BR Inverness – Kyle of Lochalsh 1933 – ????
1965 – ????
Highland Chieftain GNER / VTEC /LNER Inverness – London King's Cross 1984–present[55]
Highlandman LNER Fort William Perth Inverness – London King's Cross 1927 – 1939[56]
Highwayman[57] BR Finsbury Park – Newcastle via Sunderland 1970 – 1971
Hook Continental (boat train) LNER / BR London Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay 1927 – 1939; 1945 – 1987 (Succeeded by Admiraal de Ruijter)[15]
Hull Executive BR / GNER / NXEC / East Coast / VTEC Hull – London King's Cross 1978–2015
Inter-City[25] BR London Paddington – Wolverhampton Low Level 1950–1965
Irish Mail[10] (boat train) LNWR / LMS / BR / Virgin London Euston – Holyhead 1849 – 1985, 1990s – 2002
Irishman[10][11] (boat train) BR Glasgow St Enoch – Stranraer 1951 ?
John O'Groat[58] LMS Inverness – – Wick[58] 1936 – 39
Kentish Belle (Pullman train)
formerly the Thanet Belle		 BR London – – Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate 1951 – 58
Lakes Express LMS / BR London Euston – Windermere, Keswick, Workington 1927[59] – 1939; 1945 – 1965
Lancastrian[32][33] Manchester London Road – London Euston 1928 – 1939; 1957 – 1962
The Lewisman LMS Inverness – Kyle of Lochalsh 1933 – 1939
Liverpool Pullman BR Liverpool Lime Street – London Euston 1966 – 1974
Loreley (boat train)[14] Blackpool North – Manchester Piccadilly – Nottingham – Harwich Parkeston Quay 1988 – 1992
Man of Kent[11][60] London Charing Cross – Dover, Deal, Sandwich and Margate 1953 – 1961
Manchester Pullman BR / Virgin Manchester Piccadilly – London Euston 1966 – 1990s
Mancunian[32][61] LMS / BR Manchester London Road – London Euston 1927 – 1966
The Manxman[59] Liverpool Lime Street – London Euston 1927 – 1966
Master Cutler[11] LNER / BR / MML / EMR Sheffield Victoria – London Marylebone; after 1958 to London King's Cross, later to St Pancras;[16] after privatisation from Leeds to London St Pancras via Sheffield. From 2008 no longer from Leeds but again starting at Sheffield. 1947 – 2025
Mayflower[62] BR / GWR Kingswear and Plymouth – London Paddington 1957 – present
The Merchant Venturer[10][11] London Paddington – Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare 1951 – present
Merseyside Express[11] BR London Euston – Liverpool Lime Street 1949[34] – 1966
Midland Pullman[16][i] Manchester Central – London St Pancras
with midday infill
London St Pancras – Nottingham		 1960–1966
Mid-Day Scot[13] LMS / BR Glasgow Central – London Euston 1927 – 1965
Midlands Express BR / MML Sheffield – London St Pancras 1999 – 2008
Night Ferry SR / BR London Victoria – Paris Nord)
later also to Brussels (Midi/Zuid)
after 1948 also second-class coaches as far as Dover Western Docks		 1936 – 1980
Night Riviera GWR London Paddington – Penzance 19th century – present
Night Scot[63] LNWR / BR London Euston – Glasgow Central (sleeper train) From inauguration in 1927 it ran to Aberdeen, but this was soon after changed to Glasgow.
Night Scotsman[4][5] LNER / BR London King's Cross – Edinburgh Waverley (sleeper train) 1930s to transfer of all Scottish sleepers to Euston
Norfolk Coast Express GER London Liverpool Street – Cromer 1907 – 1914
The Norfolkman BR Sheringham – London Liverpool Street 1947 – 1962; 1993 – 2000
Norseman[64] London King's Cross – Newcastle Tyne Commission Quay (to connect with Bergen Line or Fred Olsen Line shipping services to Norway). 1947 – 1966
North Briton[10][11] Glasgow Queen Street – Leeds 1952 – 1968; 1972 – 1975
Northern Irishman (sleeper train)[65] London Euston – Stranraer Harbour 1952 – 1966
Northern Lights GNER / NXEC / VTEC Aberdeen – London King's Cross present
The Northumbrian[5][21] BR London King's Cross – Newcastle 1949 – 1964
Orcadian[58] LMS Inverness – to Wick 1936 – 1939
Olympic Javelin Southeastern High Speed London St Pancras – Ashford International 2012 – present
Palatine LMS / BR Manchester Central – London St Pancras 1938 – 1964
Peaks Express LMS 1938–1939
Pembroke Coast Express[11] BR / GWR London Paddington – Pembroke Dock 1953 – present
Pines Express[66] SR and LMS / BR Manchester London Road (or Manchester Mayfield), Liverpool and Sheffield Midland – Bournemouth West and Poole 1927 – 1967; revived in the 1980s/90s
Premier Service ATW / TfW Holyhead – Cardiff Central and return 2008 – present
Pullman Limited Express (Pullman train)[67] LBSCR London Victoria – Brighton (via Horsham route) 1881 – 1887
Queen of Scots (Pullman train)[4][5][10][11][22] LNER / BR Glasgow Queen Street – London King's Cross via Harrogate and Leeds Central 1927 – 1939; 1948 – 1978
The Red Dragon[11][68] BR / GWR London Paddington – Carmarthen 1950 – present
The Red Rose[69] BR London Euston – Liverpool Lime Street 1951 – 1966
Robin Hood BR / MML / EMR Nottingham – London St Pancras 1958 – 2025
Royal Duchy[70] BR / GWR London Paddington – Penzance and Kingswear 1957 – present
Royal Highlander (sleeper train)[71] BR London Euston – Inverness 1927 – 1996
Royal Scot[10][11] LMS / BR / Virgin Glasgow Central – London Euston 1927 – 1939; 1948 – 2005
Royal Wessex[72] SR / BR London Waterloo – Bournemouth Central, Weymouth and Swanage 1951 – 1967
Saint David[73] GWR London Paddington – Swansea present
The Scandinavian[74] BR Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay 1950
St Mungo[11] BR Aberdeen – Glasgow Buchanan Street 1948 – present
Scarborough Flyer[10][22] London King's Cross – Scarborough 1927 – 1963
Sheffield Continental EMR Sheffield – London St Pancras (one way only) 2008 – 2025
Silver Jubilee[75] LNER/BR London King's Cross – Newcastle / Edinburgh Waverley (1977) 1935 – 1939; 1977
South Wales Pullman[76][16][i] BR London Paddington – Swansea 1955–1966
South Yorkshireman[11] Bradford Exchange – Sheffield Victoria – London Marylebone 1948–1960
South Yorkshireman EMR Sheffield – London St Pancras 2008 – 2025
Southern Belle (Pullman train) LBSCR / SR London Victoria – Brighton 1908 – 1934
Sunny South Express[77] LNWR+LBSCR / LMS+SR Liverpool Lime Street – Brighton 1905 – 1939
Sussex Scot BR / Virgin CrossCountry Brighton – Glasgow Central
Brighton – Edinburgh Waverley		 1988 – 2002
Talisman[4][5] BR London King's Cross – Edinburgh Waverley 1956 – 1991
The Tees Thames[21] London King's Cross – Middlesbrough – Saltburn 1959 – 1961
Tees-Tyne Pullman[11][16][21] London King's Cross – Newcastle 1948 – 2004
Thames-Clyde Express LMS / BR Glasgow Central – Carlisle –Leeds – London St Pancras; before 1966 from Glasgow St Enoch 1927 – 1976
Thames Forth Express
 LMS Edinburgh Waverley – Carlisle –Leeds – London St Pancras
(Re-introduced in 1957 by BR as Waverley)		 1927 – 1939
Thanet Belle[11] (Pullman train)
later the Kentish Belle		 BR London – Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate 1948 – 1951
Torbay Express[11] GWR (original) / BR / GWR London Paddington – Paignton 1923 – present
The Tynesider[5][21] BR London King's Cross – Newcastle Central (sleeper train) 1950 – 1968
Ulster Express[78] LMS
BR		 London Euston – Morecambe and Heysham 1927 – 1975
Venice-Simplon Orient Express Orient Express London Victoria – Paris Est – Venice Santa Lucia 1982 – present
Waverley BR Edinburgh Waverley – Carlisle – Leeds – London St Pancras
(Re-introduction of the LMS service the Thames Forth Express)		 1957 – 1968
Welsh Dragon/Draig Gymreig Virgin London Euston – Holyhead 2004 – present
Welshman LMS London Euston – Holyhead
portions for Llandudno, Porthmadog & Pwllheli
The Wessex Scot[43] BR / Virgin CrossCountry Poole – Glasgow Central 1984 – 2002
West Riding Limited[79] LNER;BR;VTEC;LNER London King's Cross – Bradford Exchange (Bradford Interchange from 1978; Bradford Forster Square from c.1990) 1937 – present
West Riding Pullman[53] LNER London King's Cross – Harrogate and Newcastle 1928 – 1935; (succeeded by the Yorkshire Pullman)
Weymouth Wizard GWR Bristol Temple Meads – Weymouth 2014 – 2017
White Rose[16] BR Bradford Exchange – Leeds – London St Pancras 1949 – 1967
The William Shakespeare[80] BR London Paddington – Stratford-upon-Avon 1951
Y Cymro – The Welshman GWR Swansea and London Paddington 2017
Yorkshire Pullman[16][22] BR London King's Cross – Hull, Bradford Exchange and Harrogate 1935 – 1978
Yorkshire Pullman[81] BR London King's Cross – Leeds 1985 – 2004
Zephyr[2] Grand Central Sunderland – London King's Cross (one way only) 2008[2] – 2010[citation needed]
Close

The National Railway Museum, York, has a wall in the Great Hall where the headboards of a number of named trains are displayed. These include:

ANGLO-SCOTTISH CAR CARRIER, BRISTOLIAN*, BROADSMAN*, CALEDONIAN*, CAMBRIAN RADIO CRUISE, CAPITALS LIMITED*+, CAPITALS UNITED EXPRESS, CHELTENHAM FLYER, COMET*, CONDOR (a named freight train, derived from CONtainer DOoR-to-Door), CORNISH RIVIERA EXPRESS, CORNISHMAN*, CTAC SCOTTISH TOURS EXPRESS+, CUNARD SPECIAL+, DAY CONTINENTAL*, DEVONIAN*, EAST ANGLIAN*, EMERALD ISLE EXPRESS, EMPRESS VOYAGER+, FAIR MAID*+, FENMAN*, HARROGATE SUNDAY PULLMAN*, HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN*, INTER-CITY*, IRISH MAIL*, LAKES EXPRESS*, LANCASTRIAN*, MANXMAN*+, MASTER CUTLER*, MAYFLOWER*, MERSEYSIDE EXPRESS*+, MID-DAY SCOT*+, MIDLANDER*, NIGHT SCOTSMAN*, NORFOLKMAN*, NORSEMAN*, NORTH BRITON*, NORTH YORKSHIREMAN*, NORTHERN IRISHMAN*+, NORTHUMBRIAN*+, PALATINE*, PEMBROKE COAST EXPRESS+, QUEEN OF SCOTS*, RED DRAGON*, RED ROSE*, ROBIN HOOD*+, ROYAL DUCHY*, ROYAL HIGHLANDER*+, SCARBOROUGH FLIER, SCARBOROUGH FLYER*, SHAMROCK*+, SOUTH WALES PULLMAN*, TEES-THAMES*, THAMES-CLYDE EXPRESS*, TORBAY EXPRESS, ULSTER EXPRESS, WELSH CHIEFTAIN*, WELSHMAN*, WEST RIDING*

* indicates that the name is prefixed by "THE".

+ indicates that more than one version is on display.[82]

See also railwaybritain.co.uk for a description of a number of Boat Trains, some of which are included in the lists above.

Notes

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