Most journeys in the UK are made by car, but public transport is widely used. The National Rail network connects every major town; long-distance services include the East and West Coast Main Lines, Cross Country, the Great Western Main Line and high-speed services to Kent. The London Underground (the "Tube") is the oldest underground railway system in the world, opened in 1863. Modern light-rail systems also operate in Manchester, Sheffield, Croydon, Edinburgh, Nottingham and Birmingham.
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The motorway network — M1, M6, M25 and others — was built mainly between the 1960s and 1990s. Long-distance buses are run by National Express in Great Britain and Translink in Northern Ireland. Most cities have local bus services run by private operators under contract with the local authority.
You may be asked which year the London Underground opened (1863), or what type of transport the Tube is (an underground railway).
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