Direct Rail Services (DRS) is a rail freight company in Great Britain. As of 2022, it is one of seven publicly owned railway companies in the United Kingdom, the others being NI Railways, LNER, Northern Trains, Southeastern, Transport for Wales Rail and ScotRail.
The InterCity 125 (originally Inter-City 125) or High Speed Train (HST) is a diesel-powered high-speed passenger train built by British Rail Engineering Limited between 1975 and 1982. A total of 95 sets were produced, each comprising two Class 43 power cars, one at each end, and a rake of seven or eight Mark 3 coaches. The name is derived from its top operational speed of 125 mph (201 km/h). At times, the sets have been classified as British Rail Classes 253, 254 and 255.
InterCity was introduced by British Rail in 1966 as a brand-name for its long-haul express passenger services.
A Driving Brake Standard Open (DBSO) is a type of railway carriage in Great Britain, converted to operate as a control car; this is not to be confused with DVTs, such as those in InterCity 225 sets. Fourteen such vehicles, numbered 9701 to 9714, were converted from Mark 2F Brake Standard Open carriages. Modifications included adding a driving cab and TDM equipment to allow a locomotive to be driven remotely. Using a system known as push–pull, the driver in the DBSO can drive the locomotive, even though it is at the rear of the train.
Cotswold Rail was an English company, based in Gloucester, which arranged the spot-hire of shunting and mainline locomotives.
FM Rail was a railway charter company based in Derby, England. The company was formed when spot hire company Fragonset Railways and charter operator Merlin Rail merged. It went into administration in 2006.
Riviera Trains Limited is a railway spot-hire company based at Burton-on-Trent and Eastleigh in England.
West Coast Railways (WCR) is a railway spot-hire company and charter train operator based at Carnforth MPD in Lancashire. Using buildings and other facilities previously owned by the Steamtown Carnforth visitor attraction, in June 1998 the company became the first privately owned company to be given a licence as a train operating company.
The Blue Pullmans were luxury trains used from 1960 to 1973 by British Rail. They were the first Pullman diesel multiple units, incorporating several novel features.
The Mark 2 family of railway carriages are British Rail's second design of carriages. They were built by British Rail workshops between 1964 and 1975. They were of steel construction.
The British Rail Mark 3 is a type of passenger carriage developed in response to growing competition from airlines and the car in the 1970s. A variant of the Mark 3 became the rolling stock for the High Speed Train (HST).
Hertfordshire Rail Tours was a company that operated charter trains in the United Kingdom. Founded in Hertfordshire by John Farrow, most of its trains started from London Terminals. The company was purchased by FM Rail in September 2005. FM Rail went into liquidation in December 2006, and the Hertfordshire Rail Tours business passed to Victa Westlink Rail, a joint venture between Victa Railfreight and Westlink.
Esken Limited, formerly Stobart Group Limited, is a British infrastructure, aviation and energy company, with operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company is registered in Guernsey but has its operational head office in London, England.
Compass Tours was a UK railtour organiser specialising in excursions with heritage diesel locomotives such as the Class 37, Class 40 and Class 47 and also using Steam Engines such as the LMS Black 5.
Pullman trains in Great Britain were mainline luxury railway services that operated with first-class coaches and a steward service, provided by the British Pullman Car Company (PCC) from 1874 until 1962, and then by British Railways from 1962 until 1972. Many named mainline service trains have subsequently used the word 'Pullman' in their titles, but most of these have been normal trains with increased first-class accommodation. Since 1982 however, some railtours have been operated by companies using Pullman coaches dating from the 1920s to 1950s to recreate the ambience of the heyday of Pullman travel.
A First Open or FO, is a type of railway carriage used by British Rail and subsequent operators since privatisation. They were first produced as British Railways Mark 1, and subsequently Mark 2, Mark 3, and Mark 4 variants were produced. This type of carriage is an "open coach" because of the arrangement of the seats inside – other types of carriage may be corridor based variants (FK) or have a brake compartment.
The Class 68 is a type of mainline mixed traffic diesel-electric locomotive manufactured by Stadler Rail for Direct Rail Services (DRS) in the United Kingdom. The design is derived from the Stadler Eurolight, and Stadler's product name for this variant is the UKLight.
Eddie Stobart Group is a British multimodal logistics company, with interests in road haulage, rail freight, deep sea and inland waterway transport systems and deep sea port, inland port and rail connected storage facilities, along with transport, handling and warehousing facilities in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Belgium. The company has its operational head office in Warrington, Cheshire.
The Northern Belle is a luxury train that operates day and weekend journeys around Britain from many different departure points. The train is named to recall the Belle trains of the 1930s, such as the weekly Northern Belle land cruise; operated by the London & North Eastern Railway every June from 1933 to 1939.
Stobart Rail Freight Ltd was a railway freight service operator in the United Kingdom. It came under the Rail division of Eddie Stobart Logistics, and carried intermodal freight for the group.
