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Rail transport in Great Britain

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For transport in Northern Ireland, see rail transport in Ireland
Class 180 Multiple Unit of First Great Western at speed near Yate, Bristol, England. Top speed is 200 km/h (125 mph)

The British railway system is the oldest in the world. It consists of almost 16,536 km (10,274 miles) of standard gauge track, of which 4,928 km (3,062 miles) is electrified.

Brief history and overview

Great feats of engineering were performed in its creation. Examples from the Victorian era are the building of the Forth Rail Bridge, or the replacement of 177 miles (285 km) of broad gauge rail with standard gauge in a single weekend from May 21, 1892. Such feats are not things of the past; recent and current examples are the building of the Channel tunnel for the link to the Continental railway systems, and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link from London to the tunnel.

The system was originally built as a patchwork of local rail links operated by small private railway companies. Over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries these amalgamated or were bought by competitors until only a handful of larger companies remained (see railway mania). The entire network of was brought under government control during the first World War, and a number of advantages of amalgamation and planning were revealed. However, the government resisted calls for the nationalization of the network (first proposed by William Gladstone as early the 1830s). Instead, from January 1 1923 the remaining companies were grouped into the "big four", the Great Western Railway, the London and North Eastern Railway, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway companies. These were joint stock public companies and they continued to run the railway system until December 31 1947.

The growth in road transport during the 1920s and 1930s greatly reduced revenue for the rail companies. Rail companies accused the government of favouring road haulage through the subsidised construction of roads. The railways entered a slow decline owing to a lack of investment and changes in transport policy and lifestyles. There was no new construction after 1914 and a backlog of maintenance had built-up by 1939. The network was again taken under government control during the second World War. The maintenance backlog greatly increased during the war, and the private sector was unable to deal with this after the war ended. After 1945, for both practical and ideological reasons, the government decided to bring the rail service into the public sector.

From the first moment of 1948, the "big four" were nationalised to form British Railways (latterly "British Rail") under the control of the British Transport Commission. Although BR was a single entity, it was divided into five regional authorities in accordance with the existing areas of operation. Though there were no initial changes to the service, usage increased and the network became profitable. Regeneration of track and stations was completed by 1954. In the same year, changes to the British Transport Commission, including the privatisation of road haulage, ended the coordination of transport in the UK. Rail revenue fell and in 1955 the network again ceased to be profitable. The mid-1950s saw the rapid introduction of diesel and electric rolling stock, however the expected transfer back from road to rail did not occur and losses began to mount.

The desire for profitability led to a major reduction in the network during the mid-1960s after the Stedeford Committee, chaired by Dr Richard Beeching, reviewed the railway network (also known as the "Beeching axe"). Many branch lines, particularly in rural areas, were closed because they were deemed inefficient. The closure of stations serving rural communities removed much feeder traffic from the main line passenger services. The closure of many freight depots that had been used by larger industries such as coal and iron led to almost all freight transferring to road haulage. This neutralised any savings made by the closures, and the network began to decline again. The closures were extremely unpopular with the general public at that time, and remain so today.

Although passenger services experienced a brief renaissance with the introduction of high-speed inter-city trains in the 1970s, the decline of the rail network continued. Passenger levels have fluctuated since this time, increasing during periods of economic growth and falling during recessions. The 1980s saw severe cuts in government funding and above-inflation increases in fares. The service became more cost-effective but increasingly unreliable. In the early 1990s the five geographical Regions were replaced by a Sector organisation, where passenger services were organised into Inter City, Network SouthEast, Other Provincial Services sectors, etc. This new organisation showed promise of being a more efficient organisation of the railways, but within a couple of years of its implementation the structure was fragmented by the privatisation process.

British Rail was privatised in 1996. The track and infrastructure was devolved to a company called Railtrack, whilst ticketing and passenger and freight operations were franchised to individual private sector operators (originally 25 passenger and 4 freight operators). The government claimed that privatisation would see an improvement in passenger services: this outcome has yet been realised, although passenger levels initially increased to the level they had been at in the late-1980s. A series of major rail accidents after privatisation — at Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield, Potters Bar, and Selby — caused widespread loss of confidence in the safety of rail travel.

After the Hatfield crash, speed limits were drastically reduced throughout Britain and train travel was seriously disrupted for months. Railtrack came close to bankruptcy due to the enormous cost of additional safety measures and was effectively re-nationalised, when ownership of the railway system was transferred to the newly-created "not for profit" company limited by guarantee, Network Rail on October 3, 2002. The private rail companies are heavily subsidised but much of the investment has not gone into regeneration or modernisation. However, the government has resisted public pressure to return the network to the public sector.

For a more detailed history refer to History of rail transport in Great Britain

Geography & infrastructure

Great Britain is an island roughly triangular with an acute apex. The capital, London, is in the south-east. Main railway lines radiate from London in many directions; the major lines are discussed elsewhere (see linkbox, below).

At the end of September 2003 the first part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, a high speed link to the Channel Tunnel and on to France and Belgium, was completed, significantly adding to the rail infrastructure of the country. The rest of the link, from north Kent to St Pancras railway station in London, is planned to open in 2007. A major programme of remedial work on the West Coast Main Line is ongoing. Template:Britishmainlines

Passenger services

Passenger train services in the UK are, in the main, structured on the basis of regional franchises awarded by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) to Train Operating Companies. There were 26 such regional franchises up to April 2004, though ultimately fewer companies since multiple franches were let to single companies such as Arriva, National Express and Stagecoach. A number of regional or specific rail services are let by regional government authorities, or, such as the Heathrow Express, through other arrangements not involving the SRA.

In statistical terms, SRA franchised services in the 2002–3 period provided some 976 million journeys amounting to 39.7 billion passenger kilometres of travel. In terms of change comparison with the 1986–7 period shows the number of journeys up by 32% (from 738 million) and passenger kilometres travelled up by 29% (from 30.8 billion). Equally, takin a longer term view, the number of journeys in 2002–3 is lower than figures for 1950–60 period; the passenger kilometres figure, after being a flat trough from 1965–1995, surpassed the 1947 figure for the first time in 1998, and continues to rise steeply.

The key index used to assess passenger train performance is the Public Performance Measure which combines figures for punctuality and reliability. Performance against this metric has been expecially poor since mid-2000. From a base of 90% of trains arriving on time in 1998, the measure dipped to 75% in mid 2001, and by the end of the 2002–3 period, had only recovered to 80%.

The real increase in rail fares after accounting for inflation over the 1995–2004 period was 4.7%.

Average rolling stock age — thought to be an indicator of passenger comfort — fell slightly from the third quarter of 2001–2 to the third quater of 2003–4, from 20.7 years old, to 19.3 years old.

See List of UK Train Operating Companies

Freight services

There are four main freight operating companies, the largest of which is English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS). Types of freight carried include intermodal — in essence containerised freight — and coal, metals, oil, and construction material. Freight services have been in steady decline since the 1950s, although the Department for Transport's Transport Ten Year Plan calls for an 80% increase in rail freight measured from a 2000–1 base.

Statistics on freight are specified in terms of the weight of freight lifted, and the net tonne kilometre. being freight weight multiplied by distance carried. 87 million tonnes of freight was lifted in the 2002–3 period, against 138 million tonnes in 1986–7, a decrease of 37%. 18.7 billion net rail kilometres of freight movement were recorded in 2002–3, against 16.6 billion in 1986–7, an increase of 13%.

A symbolic loss to the UK rail freight industry was the custom of the Royal Mail, which from 2004 is discontinuing use of its 49-train fleet, and switching to road haulage after a near 170 year preference for trains. Red liveried mail trains have long been part of the tradition of the UK railways, not least because of the film Night Mail, for which W. H. Auden wrote the poem of the same name.

Leasing services

File:Class 47 railway locomotive - Fragonset Black livery - Victoria Water railway station - 280404.jpg
Class 47 railway locomotive, hired from Fragonset Railways, Virginia Water railway station, April 2004

A proportion of the rolling stock of British Rail was sold off to companies that lease or hire stock to passenger and freight operators, as well as to National Rail and railway maintenance companies. Leasing is relatively commonplace in public transportation, since it enables operating companies to avoid the complication associated with raising sufficient capital to purchase assets; instead, assets are leased and paid for from ongoing revenue.

There are three major leasing companies, and a number of smaller operations:

Leasing Companies

Spot-Hire Companies

Statutory framework

UK railways are run at arm's length from the government, through two government organisations, both of which have statutory powers under various Acts of Parliament (such as the Railways Act 1993, the Competition Act 1998 and the Transport Act 2000), and both of which receive Directions and Guidance from the from the Secretaries of State for Transport.

The two organisations share the same purpose, but have different jurisdictions; the two entered into a concordat in February 2002 to clarify demarcation and communications issues.

The Strategic Rail Authority is the statutory strategic planning and coordinating body for the rail industry, and the guardian of passenger and freight interests. It determines strategy for passenger and freight train services, let and manages franchises to operators, and enforces consumer protection franchise licence conditions. Following the 2004 Rail Review, the SRA is to be wound up and its responsibilities transferred to the Government and Network Rail.

The Office of the Rail Regulator has as its principal functions to regulate Network Rail's stewardship of the national rail network infrastructure, and to hold train operating companies accountable to the terms of their operating licence. In 2004 the single Rail Regulator was replaced by a ten-strong board at the Office of Rail Regulation.

In adition, safety in the railway industry is regulated and enforced by the Health and Safety Executive, and the National Audit Office provides audit reports on Network Rail to the House of Commons.

See also: Structure of the rail industry in the United Kingdom.

Local metro systems

A number of towns and cities have metro systems:

UK railway stations

Railway Industry

Statutory authorities

Network rail & signalling operations

Other national entities

Regional entities

  • Centro West Midlands Public Transport — Website
  • Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive — Website
  • Metro (West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive) — Website
  • Nexus (Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive) — Website
  • South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive — Website
  • Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive — Website
  • Transport for London — TfL — Website

Train franchises (and operating company)

(excluding metro companies such as London Underground and Tyne & Wear Metro)

Freight railway companies

Open operators and other non-franchised passenger operators

Historic railway companies

Early railway companies (1820s–1840s)

Companies That Went into the Grouping (1923)

  1. The Managing Committee for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway and the South Eastern Railway combined

Irish Lines absorbed by the LMSR

Companies That Avoided the Grouping

A small number of companies were not included in or did not actually disappear at the Grouping.

In most cases this was because they were 'Joint Lines', that is they were wholly owned by two or more other companies. If not all of the owning companies went into the same group then the joint company could not be grouped. Several of these had the word 'joint' in their title. Quite a number of joint lines did not operate any services, they owned the track, stations etc and the services were operated by the parent companies.

There were also a number of 'light' railways, and the companies that went to make up the 'London Passenger Transport Board', most narrow gauge lines, plus a (very) small number that simple got left out of the legislation

Joint Railways

LPTB Companies

Simply Omitted or already closed

Quite a number of these were not Standard Gauge, they include some quite famous names.

Grouping (1923–1947)

The Big Four

Heritage and private railways

There are also a number of heritage and private railways — see List of British heritage and private railways.

See also

References

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