British Railways
From Railways
British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the railway system from the nationalisation of the 'Big Four' companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997.
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[edit] History
[edit] Background
The rail transport system in Great Britain developed during the 19th century. After the grouping of 1923 by the Railways Act 1921 there were four large British railway companies, each dominating its own geographic area. These were the Great Western Railway (GWR), the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and the Southern Railway (SR).
The London Underground and the Glasgow Subway were independent concerns and there was a small number of independent light railways and industrial railways, which did not contribute significant mileage to the system. Neither were tramways considered part of the system.
During the Second World War (1939 — 1945), the railways were taken into state control. They were heavily damaged by enemy action and were run down aiding the war effort.
- See Pregrouping companies for more details
[edit] Nationalisation
The Transport Act 1947 made provision for the nationalisation of the network, as part of a policy of nationalising public services by Clement Attlee's Labour Government. British Railways came into existence from 1 January 1948, under the control of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission (BTC).
Most independent railways were not taken into BR. A small number of independent lines were nationalised but were taken into the National Coal Board rather than BR.
The Northern Counties Committee lines owned by the LMS in Northern Ireland were quickly sold to the Stormont Government, becoming part of the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) in 1949.
[edit] BR Components
The following railway companies were gathered into British Railways:-
The Big Four
- Great Western Railway
- London, Midland and Scottish Railway
- London and North Eastern Railway
- Southern Railway
Joint Companies wholly owned by two or more of the big four :-
- Axholme Joint Railway
- Birkenhead Railway
- Bristol Port, Railway and Pier
- Brynmawr and Western Valleys Railway
- Cheshire Lines Committee
- Chester and Birkenhead Railway
- Dumbarton & Balloch Joint Railway
- Dundee and Arbroath Railway
- Great Western and Great Central Joint Committee
- Halesowen Railway
- Halifax High Level and North & South Junction Railway
- Halifax and Ovenden Junction Railway
- Ludlow and Clee Hill Railway
- Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway
- Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway
- Manchester and Stockport Railway
- Marple, New Mills and Hayfield Junction Railway
- Methley Joint Railway
- Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway
- Newark and Leicester Railway
- Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne and Guide Bridge Junction Railway
- Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway
- Severn and Wye and Severn Bridge Joint Railway
- Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
- Shrewsbury and Welshpool Railway
- Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway
- Somerset and Dorset Railway
- South Yorkshire Joint Railway
- Swinton and Knottingley Joint Railway
- Tenbury Railway
- Tottenham and Hampstead Junction Railway
- Vale of Towy Railway
- West London Extension Railway
- West Yorkshire Railway
- Widnes Railway
- Wrexham and Minerva Joint Railway
Independent companies nationalised but left out of the grouping :-
- East Kent Light Railway
- Grangemouth Railway
- Kent and East Sussex Light Railway
- Kings Lynn Dock and Railway
- Manchester Ship Canal Company (Railways)
- Mersey Railway
- North Devon and Cornwall Junction Railway
- Southport and Cheshire Lines Extension Railway
- West London Railway
- Whitechapel and Bow Railway
[edit] British Railways
The new system was initially split into six regions along the lines of the Big Four :
- Eastern Region (ER) — southern LNER lines.
- North Eastern Region (NER) — northern LNER lines in England.
- London Midland Region (LMR) — LMS lines in England and Wales.
- Scottish Region — LMS and LNER lines in Scotland.
- Southern Region — SR lines.
- Western Region (WR) — GWR lines.
As time went on minor reorganisations resulted in the merging of the Eastern & North Eastern regions and a general reduction to a purely geographic basis. This process was hastened with the end of steam and the Beeching Plan cuts. It was most notable around Birmingham, along the Liverpool - Hull axis and in North and Mid- Wales.
These regions would form the basis of the BR business structure until the 1980s. They retained a level of independence, though there was also some centralisation.
[edit] 1955 Modernisation Plan
The 1955 Modernisation Plan, detailed in the British Transport Commission's (BTC) Modernisation and Re-equipment of British Railways argued for spending £1,240 million over a period of 15 years. Services were to be made more attractive to passengers and freight operators, thus recovering traffic which was being haemorrhaged to the roads. There were three important areas:
- Electrification of principal routes
- Large-scale introduction of diesel and electric traction with new coaching stock to replace the steam locomotives of British Railways
- Resignalling and track renewal
A government White Paper was produced in 1956, stating that modernisation would help eliminate BR's monetary deficit by 1962.
The modernisation plan however failed to take into account the effect that mass-road transport would have upon the traditional role of the railways, and as a result much money was wasted by heavy investment in things like marshalling yards, at a time when small wagon-load traffic was in rapid decline.
BR was also hampered by out of date regulations which regulated charges for freight, and also forced the railways to transport unprofitable freight. This hampered the railways ability to compete with road transport and made profitability impossible.
Finances got worse and the plan was reappraised in 1959. The new plan was to speed up modernisation, and rationalisation. Unfortunately it led to even more politically-based interference in railway management. In particular it meant that the various regions were given much more autonomy as the government of the day did not believe in central direction, and this in turn led to mass orders for new diesel types which were then in development, many of which proved unsatisfactory later. The program was further bedevilled by UK-based manufacturers of railway equipment believing that BR should act as a showcase for their wares, demanding a share of orders to provide this, and lobbying politicians when it was not forthcoming.
The British Railways Board (BRB) was created in 1962, taking over from the former British Transport Commission (BTC) which, in addition to the railway, was also responsible for the waterways (canals) and road freight transport.
[edit] The Beeching Axe and the Great Locomotive Cull
Main article:Beeching Axe
In 1963, BR chairman Dr. Richard Beeching published the Re-Shaping of British Railways calling for major rationalisation of the system. Many rural routes were unprofitable in the face of increasing competition from road hauliers and the private car. The Beeching Axe fell on most branch lines and some main lines. Some of these lines have since become heritage railways.
The early sixties also saw the "Great Locomotive Cull", with mass withdrawals of steam types, and their replacement with diesels, fewer of which were now needed on the now shrinking system. Steam traction's last stand came in the North-West of England in August 1968. The use of steam locomotives on independent industrial lines, particularly by the National Coal Board (NCB) continued into the 1970s. Many locomotives were preserved, not having been scrapped immediately on withdrawal, but most fell victim to the cutter's torch.
From 1958 to 1974 the West Coast Main Line was electrified in stages to the French voltage of 25kV 50Hz AC overhead line electrification. Many commuter lines around London and Glasgow were also electrified, and the Southern Region extended its 750V DC 3rd rail system to the Kent and Dorset coasts. However, electrification never reached the level to which it was effectively system-wide as on many other European railways.
[edit] British Rail
Main article: British Rail
Steam traction on British Railways ended in August 1968 and the system was rebranded as British Rail. This included the double-arrow logo, still used by National Rail to represent the industry as a whole (though some cynics claimed the logo meant the railway "didn't know if it was coming or going" and the logo was commonly referred to as the "arrow of indecision"), the standardised typeface used for all communications and signs, and the "rail blue" livery which was applied to nearly all locomotives and rolling stock.
During the 1960s the TOPS system for classifying locomotives and multiple units was introduced, and is the basis of the classification system. Hauled rolling stock continued to carry numbers in several separate series. Also during this time, yellow warning panels, characteristic of British railways, were added to the front of diesel and electric locomotives and multiple units in order to increase the safety of track workers.
[edit] Sectorisation
In 1970 the works had been split off into a new company, BREL (British Rail Engineering Limited). In the 1980s, the regions of BR were abolished and the system sectorised into five sectors. The passenger sectors were InterCity (express services), Network SouthEast (London commuter services) and Regional Railways (regional slow services). Railfreight took freight. The new sectors were further subdivided into divisions. This sectorisation ended the "BR blue" period as gradually new liveries were adopted. Infrastructure ...?
Other developments included the Channel Tunnel and Heathrow Express
[edit] Privatisation
- Main article: Privatisation of British Rail
On the advice of the Adam Smith Institute, under John Major's Conservative Government's Railway Act, 1993, British Rail was split up and privatised. This was a continuation of the privatisation of publicly-owned services policy of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government. The unpopular Conservative Government was facing a Labour victory at the May 1997 General Election and so privatisation was rushed through and was finished in November 1997.
BR was privatised within the business structure that was in place. Passenger services in each sector were franchised out to private companies, mostly bus operators. National Rail was created to organise ticketing. Freight operations were sold but mostly bought by one company, EWS. Railtrack controlled infrastructure. The Shadow Strategic Rail Authority was created to oversee and advise the government. The British Railways Board remained with some residuary functions.
Privatisation has had mixed results. Passenger growth has been stimulated, but this has been at extra cost to the taxpayer and passengers who have seen steady price increases since 1997. Freight has also increased however there is debate as to whether these increases in passengers and freight have been due to privatisation, or simply to an improved economy which usually results in more travel. Some analysts have pointed out that a similar rise in passenger numbers occurred in the late 1980s when the economy was buoyant, only to fall again in the recession of the early 1990s.
Railtrack's management proved to be incompetent and the government refused to continue to subsidise the losses of shareholders. It went insolvent, was put in receivership and was replaced by a not-for-profit publicly owned Network Rail. Some saw this as the first step towards renationalisation. But given the costs this is unlikely at the present. The Shadow Strategic Rail Authority's power became real when it dropped part of its name, becoming the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA).
[edit] See also
- British Rail brand names
- British Locomotive and Multiple Unit Numbering and Classification
- British Carriage and Wagon Numbering and Classification.
- London Underground
- List of UK Train Operating Companies
- Gerry Fiennes
