Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in the 1980s which existed until privitisation in the 1990s. The sector was originally called Provincial, and ran regional non-express services.

The other passenger regions created in the 1980s were InterCity (express services) and Network SouthEast (principally London commuter services).

Regional Railways was the most subsidised (per passenger km) of the three sectors.

Sprinterisation

Regional Railways' main act was the sprinterisation of the system in order to reduce costs. Older locomotive hauled trains were replaced by new Diesel multiple units (DMUs) in two large groups of classes. The first, Pacers, were modified buses and assigned TOPS numbers in the 14X range. Sprinters were assigned numbers in the 15X range and were faster.

• See also: British Rail brand names

Privitisation