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For transport in Northern Ireland, see rail transport in Ireland

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

Historical overview

Great feats of engineering were performed in its creation. Examples from the Victorian era are the building of the Forth Bridge, 1890, and the replacement of 177 miles (285 km) of broad gauge rail with standard gauge in the weekend of May 21, 1892. Such feats are not all 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 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 nationalisation of the network (first proposed by William Gladstone as early as 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. During the Second World War the companies' managements joined together, effectively forming one company. A maintenance backlog developed during the war, and the private sector only had two years 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 start 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 six (later five) regional authorities in accordance with the existing areas of operation. Though there were few 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, but 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 Sir Ivan Stedeford (Chairman & CEO, Tube Investments), reviewed the railway network. The committee was deeply split with Sir Ivan Stedeford favouring a consensual approach with a view to the longer-term outcome; but in the end a member of the Stedeford Committee, ICI manger Dr. Richard Beeching, was given the task by the government of re-organising the railways ("the Beeching Axe"). As Sir Ivan had foreseen, this policy resulted in many branch lines, particularly in rural areas, being closed because they were deemed uneconomic. The closure of stations serving rural communities removed much feeder traffic from main line passenger services. The closure of many freight depots that had been used by larger industries such as coal and iron led to much freight transferring to road haulage. The closures were extremely unpopular with the general public at that time, and remain so today.

Passenger services experienced a renaissance with the introduction of high-speed inter-city trains in the 1970s. 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, and the service became more cost-effective. In the early 1990s the five geographical Regions were replaced by a Sector organisation, where passenger services were organised into Inter City, Network SouthEast, and Other Provincial Services sectors. 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.

Railway operations were privatised during 1994-1997. Ownership of the track and infrastructure passed to Railtrack, whilst passenger operations were franchised to individual private sector operators (originally there were 25 franchises) and the freight services sold outright (six companies were set up, but five of these were sold to the same buyer). The government claimed that privatisation would see an improvement in passenger services: this outcome has not yet been realised, although passenger levels have increased to above the level they had been at in the late-1980s. A series of major rail accidents after privatisation — at Southall, Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield, and Potters Bar — 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. Most of the private rail companies are heavily subsidised but much of the investment has not gone into regeneration or modernisation, and the current annual subsidy (as at 2006 of £6.5bn), is some five times greater than that granted to British Rail. The privatisation has been widely accepted by journalists and the general public as a huge political failure, yet the incumbent Labour government has vehemently opposed a full scale renationalisation, despite Prime Minister Tony Blair's declaration in 1995 (then as Leader Of The Opposition) at the Labour Party Confenence that he was in favour of a "publicly accountable, publically owned railway". The government's reason for not opting for full renationalisation is that it would have to take on responsibility for Network Rail's £9.5bn debts as well as incur the costs of buying out the train operating companies and the rolling stock companies (ROSCO's).

However, many of the recent events, including the creation of Network Rail, the re-integration of infrastructure maintenance with operations, and the ongoing consolidation of franchises has led many journalists and industry spectators to suggest that the Government is effectively "renationalising by stealth", and returning to the fully integrated model of British Rail.

Geography and 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, but this has gone way over budget (£10bn), is running 4 years late and will still not bring the line up to the standards originally promised by Railtrack.

Passenger services

Passenger train services in the UK are, in the main, structured on the basis of regional franchises awarded by the Department for Transport (DfT) to Train Operating Companies. There were initially 25 such franchises, but the number of different operating companies is smaller as some firms, including FirstGroup, National Express and Stagecoach, have more than one franchise. In addition some franchises have since been combined. There are a number of local or specialised rail services operated on an 'open access' basis outside the franchise arrangements. Examples include the Heathrow Express and Hull Trains.

In the 2002–3 operating year, franchised services provided 976 million journeys totalling 39.7 billion passenger kilometres of travel, which was an increase over 1986–7 of 32% in journeys (from 738 million) and 29% in passenger kilometres (from 30.8 billion). On the other hand, taking a longer term view the number of journeys in 2002–3 was lower than for the 1950–60 period; the passenger kilometres figure, after being a flat 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 especially 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 recovered to only 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 quarter 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). There are also several smaller independent operators including Mendip Rail. 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 tonne 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 discontinued use of its 49-train fleet, and switching to road haulage after a near 170-year-preference for trains. Mail trains had 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

At the time of privatisation the rolling stock of British Rail was sold either directly to the new operators, as in the case of the freight companies, or to the three ROSCOs (ROlling Stock COmpanies) that lease or hire stock to passenger and freight operators. Leasing is relatively commonplace in transport, 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. Since 1994 there has been a growth in smaller spot-hire companies that provide rolling stock on short-term contracts. Many of these have grown thanks to the major selling-off of locomotives by the large freight operators, especially EWS.

ROSCOs have faced criticism from a number of quarters including Train Operating Companies such as GNER, Arriva and First group, on the basis that the ROSCOs are acting as an oligopoly to keep lease prices higher than would be the case in a more open market. Gwyneth Dunwoody the House of Commons Transport Select Committee chair, has called for an investigation into the companies, which currently lie beyond the control of the Department of Transport or the Strategic Rail Authority. Christian Wolmar has explained the high cost of leasing as due to the way the frachises are distributed to the Train Operating Companies. While the TOCs are negotiating for a franchise they have some freedom to propose different rolling stock options. It is only once they have won the franchise, however that they start negotiating with the ROSCOs. The ROSCO will know the TOCs requirements and also knows that the TOC has to obtain a fixed mix of rolling stock which puts the train operating company at the mercy of the ROSCO.(On the Wrong Line p291) However, Wolmar considers it a mistake to blame the ROSCOs who are simply behaving in the way commercial companies always behave. Ultimately the problem for Wolmar is the system and that is down to the government who are not prepard to seek a more workable solution (On the Wrong Line 289).

Leasing companies (ROSCO)

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 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 Rail Regulation 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. It replaced the Office of the Rail Regulator in 2004.

In addition, 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:

Railway stations

Most UK railway stations date from the Victorian era and are located on the edge of town centres. Major stations are generally in large cities, with a particular concentration in London, but some important railway junction stations lie in smaller cities, for example Crewe station and Carlisle station. Other places expanded into towns and cities because of the railway network, Swindon for example was little more than a village prior to the Great Western Railway siting their locomotive works there.

Railway industry

Statutory authorities

Network rail and signalling operations

Other national entities

Regional entities

See Passenger Transport Executive

See List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom.

Freight railway companies

Open access operators and other non-franchised passenger operators

Early railway companies (1820s–1840s)

Grouping (1923–1947)

Under the Railways Act 1921 the majority of the railway companies in Great Britain (and few in Northern Ireland) were grouped into four main companies, often termed the Big Four: the grouping took effect from 1 January 1923. The Big Four were: For a comprehensive list see List of railway companies involved in the 1923 grouping

Heritage and private railways

There are a number of private and heritage railways in Britain.

A list of British heritage and private railways is available.

See also

References

External links

Rail transport in Great Britain

Système ferroviaire britannique | イギリスの鉄道

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Rail transport in Great Britain".

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