British Rail (British Railways before 1965) was the state-owned company responsible for rail transport in Great Britain from its inception in 1948 to its privatisation in the 1990s, with the organisation officially becoming defunct in 1997. From its creation until 1952, it was the trade name of the Railway Executive, the subsidiary of the British Transport Commission (BTC) responsible for railway operations. The Railway Executive was then abolished in order for British Railways to fall directly under the BTC. After the Transport Act 1962, it became an independent statutory corporation when the BTC was replaced by a new organisation whose official name was the British Railways Board. British Rail came about after the economic damage of World War II ended the viability of the Big Four system, which had begun in 1923 with the consolidation of hundreds of companies, most of which were unprofitable. By the passing of the Transport Act 1947, nationalisation was widely supported. The early years of British Railways were marred by poor decision making, a lack of standardisation, and misdiagnosis of the root problems with the railway system. The regions of British Railways remained separate with individual corporate identities, and high-speed train travel was limited to luxury Pullman trains. The 1955 Modernisation Plan, an effort by British Railways to invest and set a path forward, was ultimately a failure, and did little to change the gradual decline of the railway system. The last year the company made a profit was 1955. With the appointment of Ernest Marples as Minister for Transport began a gradual and targeted curtailment of the railway system in favour of road travel. The supposedly-independent Stedeford Committee served to justify this plan, and the British Transport Commission was abolished and replaced with the British Railways Board around the time that Richard Beeching, a member of the committee, was appointed to chair the organisation. His 1961 report, titled "The Reshaping of British Railways", was the defining moment of this campaign; its plan to end one third of all passenger services and close more than 4,000 of the total 7,000 stations was largely enacted throughout the 1960s. However, his time as chairman also saw the renaming of British Railways to British Rail, and the introduction of a single corporate identity, including, the Double Arrow logo; these design changes are widely seen a positive move in the direction of the organisation. Throughout the rest of the 1960s and 1970s, some further rationalisation was allowed by successive transport ministers, but further attempts for Beeching-like reductions in service were met with outcry from the press and public. Even during Margaret Thatcher's premiership, which saw swathes of austere cuts and privatisation, the core model of British Rail was maintained, with only its inherited ancillary services sold off. Around this time, limited railway electrification and upgrades had been progressing around the country, and although subsidiary train manufacturer British Rail Engineering Limited's work on the Advanced Passenger Train was to no avail, it influenced successful future successful designs. From 1982, sectorisation split British Rail into three passenger corporate identities: InterCity, Network SouthEast, and Regional Railways. Although InterCity showed it was able to make a surplus, John Major ultimately chose to privatise the railways through the Railways Act 1993, resulting in the dissolution of British Rail by 1997. The impact of this is frequently discussed, and is intended to be at least partially reversed by the incumbent government through their creation of Great British Railways.
General Main article: British Rail Overview of history: British Rail § History History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994
History
Preceding
History of rail transport in Great Britain 1923–1947 The Big Four – the four British railway companies who preceded British Rail: Great Western Railway London and North Eastern Railway London, Midland and Scottish Railway Southern Railway
1940s Attlee ministry List of constituents of British Railways British Rail § Before 1948: The Big Four and nationalisation British Rail § 1948–1954: Early years History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994 § The 1940s: Nationalisation
1950s and 1960s
The Modernisation Plan (1955) Stedeford Committee – supposedly independent committee used by Ernest Marples to justify his anti-rail measures The Beeching Reports (1961 and 1965) Beeching cuts List of closed railway stations in Great Britain List of closed railway lines in the United Kingdom British Rail § 1955–1960: The Modernisation Plan British Rail § 1961–1965: The Beeching era History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994 § The 1950s: Modernisation History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994 § The 1960s: Rationalisation
1970s and 1980s
Serpell Report (1982 and 1983) – anti-rail report, more extreme than Beeching's, which was by Margaret Thatcher shelved after huge backlash Sectorisation InterCity (originally Inter-City) Network SouthEast (originally London and South Eastern) Regional Railways (originally Provincial) British Rail § 1966–1982: Effects of the Beeching Cuts British Rail § 1982–1991: Sectorisation History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994 § The 1970s: HST and APT History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994 § The 1980s: Sectorisation
1990s
History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to date Privatisation of British Rail Impact of the privatisation of British Rail Great British Railways – the planned state body to replace the system of privatisation DfT Operator – rail holding company who has partially replaced franchises as a precursor to the creation of Great British Railways British Rail § 1992–1997: Privatisation History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994 § The 1990s: Privatisation
Structure
Regional structure Southern Region – former Southern Railway lines. Western Region – former Great Western Railway lines. London Midland Region – former London, Midland and Scottish Railway lines in England and Wales. Eastern Region – former London and North Eastern Railway lines south of York. Anglia Region – split from Eastern Region in 1988. North Eastern Region – former London and North Eastern Railway lines in England north of York. Scottish Region – all lines, regardless of the original company, in Scotland.
Sectorisation InterCity – express services InterCity Sleeper – night train services Gatwick Express – express service to/from Gatwick Airport Network SouthEast – London commuter services Stansted Express – express service to/from Stansted Airport Regional Railways – regional services Alphaline – enhanced regional express passenger services, added in 1994 ScotRail – regional and sub-intercity services in Scotland TransPennine Express – sub-intercity services in the North Railfreight responsible for all freight operations, later subdivided into train operations Trainload Freight – trainload freight Railfreight Distribution – non-trainload freight Speedlink a wagonload freight service utilising air-braked wagons Freightliner – intermodal traffic Rail Express Systems – parcels traffic
Classification and numbering schemes British carriage and wagon numbering and classification British Rail locomotive and multiple unit numbering and classification List of British Rail classes TOPS
Subsidiaries
British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) – replaced British Rail's own Workshops Division, and responsible for design and manufacture of train sets (1969–1989) British Railways ships Sealink – ferry company that operated as a subsidiary of British Rail British Transport Commission Police, later the British Transport Police Travellers-Fare – on-train catering brand from the 1970s British Transport Hotels – operated hotels at train stations
Branding and media British Rail § Branding and media British Rail brand names British Rail corporate liveries British Transport Films Advertisements: Night Mail (advert) – 1988 television advert The Age of the Train – 1970s advertising campaign Unified corporate identity British Rail Double Arrow Rail Alphabet – sans-serif typeface designed to increase readability British Rail corporate liveries § Rail Blue Design Research Unit – responsible for the Double Arrow and change of trade name
Rolling stock Locomotives by time period: List of LMS locomotives as of 31 December 1947 List of LNER locomotives as of 31 December 1947 List of British Railways steam locomotives as of 31 December 1967 List of British Rail classes List of British Rail departmental multiple unit classes List of British Rail diesel multiple unit classes List of British Rail electric multiple unit classes List of British Rail modern traction locomotive classes List of preserved British Rail diesel locomotives List of British Rail unbuilt locomotive classes Rolling stock storage and maintenance List of British Railways shed codes List of British Rail TOPS depot codes
Acts of parliament This is a list of all acts of parliament between 1921 and 1994 that relate to the creation, running, or privatisation of British Rail, its subsidiaries, or its executives.
Preceding Railways Act 1921 – reduced all railway companies to the 'Big Four'. London Passenger Transport Act 1933 – created the London Passenger Transport Board as a separate transport authority for London
During Transport Act 1947 – nationalised rail services into British Rail Transport Act 1953 – dissolved the Railway Executive Transport Act 1962 – dissolved the British Transport Commission in preference of five new bodies British Railways Act 1966 – gave British Rail greater power to acquire land Transport Act 1968 – created the public service obligation grant and passenger transport executives Railways Act 1974 – executed amendments to railway legislation made necessary by the United Kingdom's accession to the European Union Transport Act 1962 (Amendment) Act 1981 – allowed British Rail to discontinue experimental services more easily Transport Act 1981 – an act primarily known for introducing compulsory seatbelts, but which also contained minor railway-related amendments such as in relation to railway fire safety. Transport (Finance) Act 1982 – legislated the United Kingdom's membership in the European Company for the Financing of Railroad Rolling Stock (EUROFIMA) Level Crossings Act 1983 – updated the necessary features and responsibilities in relation to level crossings Channel Tunnel Act 1987 – permitted the construction of the Channel Tunnel Transport and Works Act 1992 – ended the need for a private bill in order to construct a new section of line
Succeeding British Coal and British Rail (Transfer Proposals) Act 1993 – gave the government the power to sell parts of British Rail into the private sector Railways Act 1993 – set out the full privatisation of British Rail British Railways Act 1994 – increased the powers of British Rail to acquire land
Personnel
Transport ministers As a secretary of state:
As a junior minister:
John Peyton (1970–1974) Fred Mulley (1974–1975) John Gilbert (1975–1976) As a secretary of state:
Timeline
Board chairmen Chairmen of the Railway Executive:
Sir Eustace Missenden (1948–1951) Sir John Elliot (1951–1953) Chairmen of the British Transport Commission:
Sir Cyril Hurcomb (1948–1953) Sir Brian Robertson (1953–1961) Dr Richard Beeching (1961–1963) Chairmen of the British Railways Board:
Dr Richard Beeching (1963–1965) Sir Stanley Raymond (1965–1967) Sir Henry Johnson (1967–1971) Sir Richard Marsh (1971–1976) Sir Peter Parker (1976–1983) Sir Robert Reid (1983–1990) Sir Bob Reid (1990–1995) John Welsby (1995–1999)
Timeline
Accidents and incidents List of accidents on British Rail List of rail accidents in the United Kingdom § 1948–1994: British Railways/Rail
Individual accidents and incidents
Successor companies
Passenger transport The original passenger franchisees that succeeded British Rail were:
Freight and parcels Trainload Freight was originally intended to be sold as three separate regional entities, but all were bought by North and South Railways (NSR), which then became English Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) Railfreight Distribution was split into Freightliner, which remained an independent company, and "Channel Tunnel", which was then sold to EWS in March 1997. Rail Express Systems (parcels) was sold to NSR in December 1995 On 28 June 2007, Deutsche Bahn announced it had agreed to purchase EWS, and so it became DB Cargo UK.
Other Railtrack – infrastructure and stations Waterloo & City line – became part of the London Underground in April 1994. BRB (Residuary) Limited – all other responsibilities of the BRB not released elsewhere
Image and legacy The wrong type of snow – a phrase used by British Rail to explain its service quality during one particular period of snow, which has become a general term for poor or lazy excuses. British Rail sandwich – often cited as the epitome of the perceived poor quality and hospitality of British Rail
Other British Rail flying saucer British Transport Police Channel Tunnel National Association of Railway Clubs
Primary sources
Legislation References to legislation are represented with a double dagger (‡).
Reports References to official reports, including accident reports, are represented with a reference mark (※).
Secondary sources
Citations
Bibliography