Transport system in the UK

The factors covered are:

• Overview of the UK transport system

• Air

• Road

• Rail

• Sea

• Further information

1. Overview of the UK transport system

With an integrated system of airports, seaports, rail and road, businesses located in the UK can select the optimal method of moving people and freight between major cities and locations, both within the UK and internationally.

The main advantages of the UK transport system include:

• excellent air links to locations all over the world from world-class international airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Birmingham and Glasgow,

• an advanced and comprehensive road system that links all locations throughout the UK,

• a privatised rail network linking all locations across the UK and, through the Channel Tunnel, all locations in mainland Europe, and

• over 100 seaports across the UK, handling the largest volume of seaport traffic in Europe.

For detailed information on the UK transport system, please contact the Department for Transport (DFT) on +44 (0)20 7944 8300 or see www.dft.gov.uk

2. Air

The UK has the largest air transport system in Europe, accounting for 211 million passengers (Source: Eurostat, 2008) and has six of the top ten busiest international air routes .

The leading airports in the UK are:

• London Heathrow: the largest and busiest international airport in Europe and the third largest globally, handling over 67 million passengers a year. Ninety airlines fly to 186 destinations worldwide, operating an average of 1,300 flights a day. For further information, please see: www.baa.com/main/airports/heathrow/

• London Gatwick: the busiest single-runway airport in the world, with over 34 million passengers handled each year. Ninety airlines fly to 212 different destinations, operating an average of 690 flights a day. For further information, please see: www.baa.com/main/airports/gatwick/

• Manchester Airport: the third largest airport in the UK, handling 22 million passengers each year. Over 100 airlines fly to 225 different destinations, operating an average of 600 flights a day. For further information, please see: www.manairport.co.uk/

Other major international airports in the UK include Birmingham International, London Stansted, Nottingham East Midlands, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Newcastle, Robin Hood Airport (Sheffield), Cardiff and Belfast International.

Figure 2 (see PDF) shows the number of daily direct flights during the working week from selected UK airports to key global business destinations.

3. Road

The UK has an advanced and comprehensive road transport system, with a total of 380,000 kilometres of roads (Source: DFT, 2007). There are over 3,600 kilometres of motorways, all of which are toll-free except for the M6 Toll adjacent to the M6 in Birmingham.

Figure 3 (see PDF) gives examples of typical journey times by car from London to key national and international destinations.

The latest figures from the European Union (Source: Eurostat, 2007) show that 88 per cent of all UK freight is transported by road; indeed, in terms of servicing the UK market, lorries that collect from a central depot can deliver anywhere in the UK and return within 24 hours.

For specific quotations on individual freight consignments in the UK, mainland Europe and globally, please contact members of the following trade associations:

• Freight Transport Association: www.fta.co.uk

• British International Freight Association: www.bifa.org

• Road Haulage Association: www.rha.net

4. Rail

The UK has a privatised rail network linking all locations across the country and, through the Eurostar connection and the Channel Tunnel, key locations in Europe (See Figure 4 in PDF).

For further information about specific passenger rail journeys in the UK, please see: www.nationalrail.co.uk/planmyjourney

Privatisation of the rail network and the introduction of the Channel Tunnel rail route have led to increasing volumes of freight being transported by rail in the UK. A total of 22.6 billion tonnes/km of freight were transported by rail in 2005 (Source: Eurostat, 2007). For more information about rail freight, please see: www.rfo.org.uk/

5. Sea

The UK ports and harbours industry is one of the largest in Europe, with over 100 active ports operating across the UK. Major container ports are at Felixstowe, Southampton, Thamesport, Tilbury and Liverpool; major estuary ports include London, Tees, Hartlepool and Grimsby/Immingham.

UK ports handle over 570 million tonnes of freight each year, the largest volume in the European Union (see Figure 5 in PDF).

Most UK ports have been privatised and the majority are able to take containers. Same-day delivery is standard from most UK centres to locations in Europe such as Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris and Hamburg. Next-day delivery is routine to centres such as Marseilles, Frankfurt and Milan.

For further information concerning sea and waterway transport, please contact the British Ports Association: www.britishports.org.uk

6. Further information

This information sheet was updated in March 2008.

As information changes from time to time, please contact the organisations listed or UK Trade & Investment to confirm any item that you intend to rely on.

This information sheet was produced by the Marketing Group of:

UK Trade & Investment

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Kingsgate House

66-74 Victoria Street

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Tel: +44 (0)20 7215 4957

Email: enquiries@uktradeinvest.gov.uk

Website: www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk