List of named passenger trains of the United Kingdom

This article contains a list 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 or sporadic special trains are not included.

Train Name	Railway	Train Endpoints	Operated
21st Century Limited	Grand Central	London King's Cross – Sunderland (one way only)	2010
Aberdonian[1][2][3]	BR Serco	Aberdeen – London King's Cross (sleeper service - later Night Aberdonian)[4]	1927 – ?2012 Jan 2016 – March 2016
Aberdonian	BR	Aberdeen – London King's Cross (daytime High Speed Train 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[5]	? – 1954
Atlantic Coast Express[6][7][8][9]	SR / BR	London Waterloo – Plymouth, Ilfracombe, Sidmouth, Exmouth, Bude, Padstow, Torrington	1926 – 1948 – 1964
Atlantic Coast Express	GWR	London Paddington – Newquay	2008 – present
Belfast Boat Express (boat train)[10]	BR	Manchester Victoria – Heysham and Morecambe	? – 1960 – 1975
Benjamin Britten[11]	BR / NS	London Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay– ferry – Hoek van Holland Haven – Amsterdam Centraal	1987 – 1989[12]
Birmingham Pullman[13][14]	BR	London Paddington – Wolverhampton Low Level	1960–1966
Bon Accord	BR	Aberdeen – Glasgow Buchanan Street	1948-1968
Bournemouth Belle (Pullman train)[13]	SR / BR	London Waterloo – Bournemouth Central/Bournemouth West	1931 – 1967
Brighton Belle (Pullman train)[13]	SR / BR	London Victoria – Brighton	1934 – 1972
Brighton Limited (Pullman train)	LBSCR	London Victoria – Brighton	1887 – 1908
Brighton Pullman Limited (Pullman train)[15]	LBSCR	London Victoria – Brighton	1898 – 1908
Bristol Pullman (Pullman train)[13][14]	BR	London Paddington – Bristol Temple Meads	1960–1973
Bristolian[16]	GWR (original) / BR / GWR	London Paddington – Bristol Temple Meads non-stop[17]	1935 – present
Broadsman[18][19]	GER / BR	London Liverpool Street – Cromer and Sheringham	1947 – 1962
Caledonian[10]	BR	Glasgow Central – London Euston	1957 – 1964
Caledonian Sleeper (night train)	Caledonian Sleeper	London Euston – Edinburgh Waverley London Euston – Aberdeen London Euston – Fort William London Euston – Glasgow Central London Euston – Inverness	2004 – present
Cambrian Coast Express[20]	GWR (original) / BR	London Paddington (later London Euston) – Aberystwyth London Paddington – Pwllheli	1927 – 1991
Capitals Limited[8]	BR	London Kings Cross – Aberdeen (non-stop London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley)	1949 – 1952 (succeeded by Elizabethan)
Capitals United Express[21]	BR	London Paddington – Cardiff Central London Paddington – Fishguard Harbour	1956 – 1963
Capitals United	GWR	London Paddington – Swansea	2010 – Present
Carmarthen Bay Express	GWR	London Paddington – Tenby	1920s
Cathedrals Express[22]	GWR (original) / BR / GWR	London Paddington – Oxford – Hereford	1957 – present
Cheltenham Spa Express (also known as The Cheltenham Flyer)[23]	GWR (original) / BR / GWR	London Paddington – Cheltenham Spa	1923 – present
Clansman[4]	BR	Inverness – London Euston via Birmingham New Street
Comet[8][24][25]	BR	London Euston – Manchester London Road	1951 – 1962
Cornish Riviera Express[7][8]	GWR (original) / BR / GWR	London Paddington – Penzance	1904 – present
Cornish Scot	BR / Virgin	Glasgow Central – Penzance	1985 – 2002
Cornishman	GWR (original)	London Paddington – Penzance	1890 – 1904 1935 – 1936
Cornishman[26]	BR	(Bradford) – Wolverhampton Low Level – Penzance and Kingswear	1951 – 1975
Coronation	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 / Wessex Trains	Bristol Temple Meads – Great Malvern	May 1884 – May 1997 [27]
Day Continental (boat train)	LNER / BR	London Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay	1946[28] - 1987 (Succeeded by Benjamin Britten)[12]
Devon Belle[8] (Pullman train)	SR / BR	London Waterloo – Ilfracombe London Waterloo – Plymouth	1947 – 1954
Devon Scot	BR / Virgin	Aberdeen – Carlisle – Plymouth	1988 – 2002
Devonian[24][29]	LMS / BR	Bradford Forster Square – Sheffield Midland – Bristol Temple Meads (Winter) – Paignton (Summer)	1927 – 1960 – 2002
Dorset Scot	BR / Virgin	Poole – Newcastle Central – Edinburgh Waverley	1990 – 2002
East Anglian	LNER / BR / Anglia / One Anglia / National Express East Anglia / Abellio Greater Anglia	London Liverpool Street – Norwich	1937–present
The Easterling[19]	BR	London Liverpool Street – Lowestoft and Yarmouth South Town	1950 – 1958
Eastern Belle	LNER	London Liverpool Street – Clacton-on-Sea	1929–1939
Elizabethan[2][3][8] (summer only)	BR	London King's Cross – Edinburgh Waverley (non-stop)[30]	1953 – 1964
Emerald Isle Express[31]	BR	London Euston – Llandudno and Holyhead	1954 - 1960 - 1975, 1993 - 1997
Enterprise	GNR(I) / UTA+CIÉ / NIR+IÉ	Belfast Central (Belfast Great Victoria Street until 1976) & Dublin Connolly	1947–Present
Essex Coast Express[32]	BR	London Liverpool Street – Clacton	1958 - 1968[33]
Fair Maid[2]	BR	London King's Cross – Perth	1957-1958 (succeeded by Morning Talisman)
Fenman	BR[34]	London Liverpool Street – Hunstanton after 1969 to King's Lynn	1949 – 1968
Fife Coast Express[34] (Ran as Fifeshire Coast Express 1912 – 1939)[35]	NBR / LNER / BR	St Andrews – Glasgow Queen Street	1948 – 1959
Flying Dutchman	GWR (original)+BER	London Paddington – Exeter St Davids	1849 – 1892
Flying Scotsman[2][3][7]	GNR+NER+NBR / LNER / BR / GNER / Virgin Trains East Coast	London King's Cross – Edinburgh Waverley From May 2011: Edinburgh to London, one way only[36]	1862 – present[37]
Golden Arrow[6][7][8][13] (boat train)	SR / BR	London Victoria – Dover Priory or Folkestone Harbour	1929 – 1972
Golden Hind	GWR	London Paddington – Penzance	present
Granite City[7][8]	? / BR	Aberdeen – Glasgow Buchanan Street	1933 – 1939, 1948 –
Harrogate Sunday Pullman[13][19]	BR	London King's Cross – Harrogate and Bradford Exchange	1950s to late 1960s
Heart of Midlothian[2][3]	BR	London King's Cross – Edinburgh Waverley	1951 – 1968
Highland Chieftain	GNER	Inverness – London King's Cross	1984–present[38]
The Highlandman	LNER	Fort William Perth Inverness – London King's Cross	????–1930–????[39]
Hook Continental (boat train)	LNER / BR	London Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay	1927–1939, 1945–1987 (Succeeded by Admiraal de Ruijter)[12]
Hull Executive	BR / GNER Virgin Trains East Coast	Hull – London King's Cross	1978–present
Inter-City[20]	BR	London Paddington – Wolverhampton Low Level	1950–1965
Irish Mail[7] (boat train)	LNWR / LMS / BR / Virgin	London Euston – Holyhead	1849 – 1985, 1990s - 2002
Irishman[7][8] (boat train)	BR	Glasgow St Enoch – Stranraer	1951 ?
Kentish Belle (Pullman train) formerly the Thanet Belle	BR	London – to Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate	1951-58
Lakes Express, The	LMS / BR	London Euston – Windermere, Keswick, Workington
Lancastrian[24][25]	LMS / BR	Manchester London Road – London Euston	1928 – 1939, 1957 - 1962
Liverpool Pullman	BR	Liverpool Lime Street – London Euston and v.v.	1966 – 1974
Loreley (boat train)[11]	BR	Blackpool North – Manchester Piccadilly – Nottingham – Harwich Parkeston Quay	1988 – 1992
Man of Kent[8][40]	BR	London Charing Cross – Dover, Deal, Sandwich and Margate	1953 – 1961
Manchester Pullman	BR / Virgin	Manchester Piccadilly – London Euston and v.v.	1966 – 1990s
Mancunian[24][41]	LMS / BR	Manchester London Road – London Euston	1927 - 1966
Master Cutler[8]	LNER / BR / MML / EMT	Sheffield Victoria – London Marylebone after 1958 to London King's Cross, later to St Pancras[13] after privatisation from Leeds to London St Pancras via Sheffield. From 2008 no longer from Leeds starting again at Sheffield.	1947 – present
Mayflower[42]	BR / GWR	Kingswear and Plymouth – London Paddington	1957 – present
Merchant Venturer[7][8]	BR / GWR	London Paddington – Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare	1951 – present
Merchant Venturer	BR / GWR	London Paddington – Penzance via Bristol Temple Meads	present
Merseyside Express[8]	BR	London Euston – Liverpool Lime Street	1951 – 1966
Midland Pullman[13][14]	BR	Manchester Central – London St Pancras with midday infill London St Pancras – Nottingham	1960–1966
Mid-Day Scot[10]	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 Scotsman[2][3]	LNER / BR Serco	London Kings Cross – Edinburgh Waverley (sleeper train)	1930s to transfer of all Scottish sleepers to Euston Jan 2016 to Mar 2016
Norfolk Coast Express	GER / BR	London Liverpool Street – Cromer	1907 – 1914
The Norfolkman	BR	Sheringham – London Liverpool Street	1947 – 1962, 1993 – 2000
Norseman	BR	London Kings Cross – Newcastle Tyne Commission Quay (to connect with Bergen Line or Fred Olsen Line shipping services to Norway).	1947 – 1966
North Briton[7][8]	BR	Glasgow Queen Street – Leeds City	1952 – 1968, 1972 – 1975
Northern Irishman (sleeper train)[43]	BR	London Euston – Stranraer Harbour	1952 – 1966
Northern Lights	GNER / NXEC / VTEC	Aberdeen – London King's Cross	present
The Northumbrian[3][18]	BR	London Kings Cross – Newcastle Central	1949 – 1964
The 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	Manchester Central – London St Pancras	1938–1939
Pembroke Coast Express[8]	BR / GWR	London Paddington – Pembroke Dock	1953 – present
Pines Express[44]	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
Pullman Limited Express (Pullman train)[45]	LBSCR	London Victoria – Brighton (via Horsham route)	1881 – 1887
Queen of Scots (Pullman train)[2][3][7][8][19]	LNER / BR	Glasgow Queen Street – London King's Cross via Harrogate and Leeds Central	1927 – 1939 1948 – 1978
Red Dragon[8][46]	BR / GWR	London Paddington – Carmarthen	1950 – present
Robin Hood	BR / MML / EMT	Nottingham – London St Pancras	1958 – present
Royal Duchy[47]	BR / GWR	London Paddington – Penzance and Kingswear	1957 – present
Royal Highlander (sleeper train)[48]	BR	London Euston – Inverness	1927 – 1996
Royal Scot[7][8]	LNWR / LMS /BR / Virgin	Glasgow Central – London Euston	1862 – 1939 1948 – 2003
Royal Wessex[49]	SR / BR	London Waterloo – Bournemouth Central, Weymouth and Swanage	1951 – 1967
Saint David	GWR (original) / BR / GWR	London Paddington – Swansea	present
St Mungo[8]	BR	Aberdeen – Glasgow Buchanan Street	1948-
Scarborough Flyer[7][19]	BR	London King's Cross – Scarborough	1927 – 1963
Sheffield Continental	EMT	Sheffield – London St Pancras (one way only)	2008–present
Silver Jubilee[50]	LNER/BR	London King's Cross – Newcastle Central/ Edinburgh Waverley (1977)	1935 – 1939 & 1977
South Wales Pullman[13][14]	BR	London Paddington – Swansea	1960–1966
South Yorkshireman[8]	BR	Bradford Exchange – Sheffield Victoria – London Marylebone	1948–1960
South Yorkshireman	EMT	Sheffield – London St Pancras	2008 – present
Southern Belle (Pullman train)	LBSCR / SR	London Victoria – Brighton	1908 – 1934
Sunny South Express	LNWR+LBSCR / LMSR+SR	Liverpool Lime Street – Brighton	1905 – 1939
Sussex Scot	BR / Virgin	Brighton – Glasgow Central Brighton – Edinburgh Waverley	1988 – 2002
Talisman[2][3]	BR	London King's Cross – Edinburgh Waverley	1956 – 1991
The Tees Thames[18]	BR	London Kings Cross – Middlesbrough – Saltburn	1959 – 1961
Tees-Tyne Pullman[8][13][18]	BR	London King's Cross – Newcastle Central	1948 – 2004
Thames-Clyde Express	LMS / BR	Glasgow Central – Carlisle Citadel –Leeds City – London St Pancras before 1966 from Glasgow St Enoch	1927 – 1975
Thames Forth Express (also known as Waverley)	LMS / BR	Edinburgh Waverley – Carlisle Citadel –Leeds City – London St Pancras	1927 – 1968
Thanet Belle[8] (Pullman train) later the Kentish Belle	BR	London – to Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate	1948-51
Torbay Express[8]	GWR (original) / BR / GWR	London Paddington – Paignton	1923 – present
The Tynesider[3][18]	BR	London Kings Cross – Newcastle Central (sleeper train)	1950 – 1968
Ulster Express[51]	BR	London Euston – Morecambe and Heysham	1927 – 1975
Venice-Simplon Orient Express	Orient Express	London Victoria – Paris Est – Venice Santa Lucia	1982 – present
Virgin Invader	Virgin	London Euston – Liverpool Lime Street	2002 – ? (not 2010)
Welsh Dragon/Draig Gymreig	Virgin	London Euston – Holyhead	2004 – ? (not 2010)
Welshman		London Paddington – Llandudno London Paddington – Porthmadog Harbour London Paddington – Pwllheli
The Wessex Scot	BR / Virgin	Poole – Glasgow Central	1984 – 2002
Weymouth Wizard	GWR	Bristol Temple Meads – Weymouth	2014 – present
White Rose[13]	BR	Bradford Exchange – Leeds City – London St Pancras	1949 – 1967
William Shakespeare[52]	BR	London Paddington – Stratford-upon-Avon	1951
Y Gerallt Gymro / Premier Service[53]	ATW	Holyhead – Cardiff Central	2011 – present
Yorkshire Pullman[13][19]	BR	London King's Cross – Hull, Bradford Forster Square and Harrogate	1935 – 1978
Yorkshire Pullman[54]	BR	London King's Cross – Leeds	1995 – 2004
Zephyr	Grand Central	Sunderland – London King's Cross (one way only)	2010

The National Railway Museum has a wall 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*, where * indicates that the name is prefixed by the definite article and + indicates that more than one version is on display.

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

Notes

1. LNER Passenger Services Timetable 7 October 1946 to 4 May 1947
2. Allen, C J. British Express Trains No 5 - Anglo-Scottish Services and Scottish Region; Ian Allan (1960)
3. British Railways (N E Region) leaflet BR 35109/1 Named Trains on the East Coast Main Line
4. British Rail Passenger Timetable 17 May 1982 to 15 May 1983
5. Allen, Cecil J. (1947);Titled Trains of Great Britain ; London, Ian Allan Ltd. ; Page 67
6. Allen, Cecil J. (1960). ABC of British Express Trains No 2 - Southern Region. Ian Allan. OCLC 226176356.
7. Cited as an example of one of the 'more than 50 named trains' run by British Railways in the 1952 edition of Facts and Figures about British Railways published by the British Transport Commission for railway employees
8. Bonavia, Michael R. (1979). The birth of British Rail. London: Allen & Unwin. OCLC 59803166.
9. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 468.
10. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 590.
11. Semmens, P.W.B. (October 1988). "Blackpool for the Continent". Railway Magazine (London). p. 638.
12. Cowley, Ian (1987). Anglia East - The Transformation of a Railway. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. p. 64. ISBN 0-7153-8978-5.
13. Advertised as a Pullman Train in November 1965 issue of the ABC Railway Guide
14. One of the Blue Pullman trains
15. Smail, H.C.P. (1955). "By Pullman to Brighton". Sussex County Magazine (Eastbourne) 29.
16. Allen, Cecil J. (1960). ABC of British Express Trains No 1 - Western Region. Ian Allan.
17. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 24.
18. Allen,C J. British Express Trains No 4 - Eastern, N E Regions; Ian Allan (1959)
19. British Railways Eastern Region Passenger Timetable 11 June to 16 September 1956
20. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 201.
21. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 141.
22. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 227.
23. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 159.
24. Allen, Cecil J. (1960). ABC of British Express Trains No No 3 - London Midland Region. Ian Allan. OCLC 226176429.
25. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 631.
26. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 207.
27. "The titled Trains of Britain - Part One". Railway Magazine. November 2011.
28. Haws, Duncan (1993). Merchant Fleets - Britain's Railway Steamers Eastern and North Western Companies + Zeeland and Stena. Hereford: TCL Publications. p. 204. ISBN 0-946378-22-3.
29. Bradshaw's January 1960, pp. 110, 700.
30. Advertised as non-stop in summer 1962 but stopped for crew change at Newcastle after introduction of Deltic traction
31. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 618.
32. Railway Magazine July 1958 p. 443
33. List of BR named trains
34. Bonavia, Michael Robert (1981). British Rail - the first 25 Years. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8002-4.
35. Lee, Charles E. (August 1958). "Named British Express trains". Railway Magazine (London). pp. 530–535.
36. Miles, Tony (July 2011). "East Coast reports successful start". Modern Railways (London). p. 14.
37. National Rail Timetable 23 May 2010 - December 2010, Table 26 (PDF). Network Rail. p. 4.
38. National Rail Timetable 23 May 2010 - December 2010, Table 26 (PDF). Network Rail. p. 5.
39. Nottingham Evening Post - Friday 8 August 1930
40. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 291.
41. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 629.
42. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 31.
43. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 572.
44. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 492.
45. Smail, H.C.P. (1955). "By Pullman to Brighton". Sussex County Magazine (Eastbourne) 29.
46. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 32.
47. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 69.
48. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 574.
49. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 440.
50. http://napier-chronicles.co.uk/silver_jubilee.htm
51. Bradshaw's January 1960, p. 571.
52. Allen, Cecil J (1974). Titled Trains of the Western. Shepperton: Ian Allan Ltd. pp. 22–23. ISBN 07110 0513 3.
53. http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/PremierService/
54. "Operations News: InterCity East Coast". Railway Magazine (London). March 1995. p. 69.

Works cited

• "Bradshaw's British Railways Official Guide No. 1507". London: Henry Blacklock. 4 January 1960.
• "The Titled Trains of Britain - Part 1: 'The Aberdonian' to 'The Norseman'". Railway Magazine (Horncastle, Lincs: Mortons Media): 14–46. November 2011. ISSN 0033-8923.