British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies, and was privatised in stages between 1994 and 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, it became an independent statutory corporation in January 1963, when it was formally renamed the British Railways Board.
The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industry was initiated by EU Directive 91/440 in 1991, which aimed to create a more efficient rail network by creating greater competition.
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. The company operates transport services in the United Kingdom, and Ireland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
The British Rail Class 357Electrostar alternating current (AC) electric multiple units (EMUs) were built by Adtranz at its Derby Litchurch Lane Works, England, in two batches from 1999 to 2002 at a cost of approximately £292 million.
The British Rail Class 158Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit passenger train, built for British Rail between 1989 and 1992 by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) at its Derby Litchurch Lane Works. They were built to replace many locomotive-hauled trains, and allowed cascading of existing Sprinter units to replace elderly 'heritage' DMUs. The Class 158's sister class, the Class 159 DMUs, are almost identical to the Class 158s; being converted from Class 158 to Class 159 in two batches to operate express services from London Waterloo to the West of England.
Eurostar International Limited (EIL) is the railway company operating the international Eurostar train services between London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels via the Channel Tunnel. Eurostar was previously operated by three separate companies in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, but this structure was replaced by EIL as a new single management company on 1 September 2010. EIL is owned by SNCF (55%), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) (30%), Hermes Infrastructure (10%) and NMBS/SNCB (5%).
Railway Gazette International is a monthly business magazine and news website covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Available by annual subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by transport professionals and decision makers, railway managers, engineers, consultants and suppliers to the rail industry. A mix of technical, commercial and geographical feature articles, plus the regular monthly news pages, cover developments in all aspects of the rail industry, including infrastructure, operations, rolling stock and signalling.
Press Gazette, formerly known as UK Press Gazette (UKPG), is a British media trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press. First published in 1965, it had a circulation of about 2,500, before becoming online-only in 2013. Published with the motto The Future of Media, it contains news from the worlds of newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and online, dealing with launches, closures, moves, legislation and technological advances affecting journalists.
Eversholt Rail Group is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO). Together with Angel Trains and Porterbrook, it is one of the three original ROSCOs created as a result of the privatisation of British Rail.
Regional Eurostar was a planned Eurostar train service from Paris and Brussels to locations in the United Kingdom beyond London. The services would have been run using a fleet of seven North of London, 14-coach British Rail Class 373/3 trainsets.
London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport from 1989, but until then it traded as LRT. This policy was reversed after the appointment of Sir Wilfred Newton in 1989, who also abolished the recently devised LRT logo and restored the traditional roundel.
Roger Ford is a British journalist specialising in rail transport. He is Industry and Technology Editor of the monthly trade and technical magazine Modern Railways, where he is probably best known for his authoritative column Informed Sources, noted for its in-depth analysis of railway technical, commercial and policy issues. He is also founding editor of Rail Business Intelligence.
The period from 1995 covers the history of rail transport in Great Britain following the privatisation of British Rail. During this period, passenger volumes have grown rapidly, safety has improved, and subsidies per journey have fallen. However, there is debate as to whether this is due to privatisation or to better government regulation. During this period, High Speed 1 and the West Coast Main Line upgrade were completed and more construction projects are currently under way. In this period the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic occurred which caused a precipitous fall off in rail travel demand.
Politico Europe is the European edition of the American news organization Politico reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in London, Berlin, Warsaw, Paris, and Frankfurt.
The Railway Gazette Group is a family of print and online business publications for the world rail transport industry. Based in Sutton, London, it is part of DVV Media Group, and forms part of the Hamburg-based Deutsche Verkehrs Verlag international publishing group.
The British Rail Class 800 Intercity Express Train or Azuma is a type of bi-mode multiple unit train built by Hitachi for Great Western Railway and London North Eastern Railway. The type uses electric motors powered from overhead electric wires for traction, but also has diesel generators to enable trains to operate on unelectrified track. Based on the Hitachi A-train design, the trains were built by Hitachi between 2014 and 2018.
Adrian Shooter is a British transport executive.
Metro Report International is a business journal for urban transport professionals which covers the metro, light rail, tram and commuter rail industries worldwide. It includes news and articles looking at urban transport around the world, with maps and project data. Coverage of the rolling stock market includes detailed listings of metro car and low-floor tram orders. News is published online, with the printed magazine issued twice per year.
The impact of the privatisation of British Rail has been the subject of much debate, with the stated benefits including improved customer service, and more investment; and stated drawbacks including higher fares, lower punctuality and increased rail subsidies. The privatisation of British Rail began in the 1990s.
Intermodal railfreight in Great Britain is a way of transporting containers between ports, inland ports and terminals in England, Scotland and Wales, by using rail to do so. Initially started by British Rail in the 1960s, the use of containers that could be swapped between different modes of transport goes back to the days of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway.
