Throughout the 1980s, BREL was subjected to repeated restructuring and job cuts; various works, such as Ashford, Shildon, and Swindon were closed permanently. The organisation was effectively cut in two when the maintenance arm was split off as British Rail Maintenance Limited in 1987. The British government sought to make BREL more internationally competitive. The design and building of trains was privatised in 1989,[1] purchased by the Swiss-Swedish conglomerate Asea Brown Boveri (40%), Trafalgar House (40%), and a management-employee buy-out (20%). After ABB became the sole shareholder in September 1992, it was subsumed into ABB Transportation.
A key activity of BREL was the manufacturing of new rolling stock for use by British Rail. Amongst those rail vehicles is the InterCity 125 trainset; produced between 1975 and 1982 and commonly referred to as the High Speed Train, was a diesel-powered high speed passenger train that travelled faster than any previous production British train.[6][7][8] In addition to production types, BREL built numerous prototypes, such as the Class 210DEMU and the experimental high-speed Advanced Passenger Train (APT) tilting train.[9]
BREL did not have a monopoly on the manufacture of new rail vehicles; various private companies, such as Brush Traction, Metro-Cammell, and Metropolitan-Vickers amongst others, also manufactured rolling stock for British Rail, although in general, it was built to specifications produced by BREL. Furthermore, BREL often acted as a subcontractor to a main contractor, such as GEC, which supplied traction equipment. These contracts typically required BREL to build the frames, body shells, and bogies and install the traction and ancillary equipment of the primary contractor. The majority of the electric locomotive construction programmes of the 1980s, such as Classes 89, 90, and 91, was carried out in this manner. The Sprinter and Pacer families of diesel multiple-units (DMUs) were also manufactured with an emphasis on collaboration and competitive forces.[10][11]
In addition to the domestic market, BREL pursued international sales. The Mark 2 carriage proved to be attractive abroad, and derivatives were exported to the Republic of Ireland, Kenya, and Taiwan. BREL's entry to the Chinese market in the late 1980s was hoped to lead to expansive orders for as many as 1,500 carriages.[10] Freight wagons of various sorts were produced for overseas customers in Sweden, Malaysia, Yugoslavia, and Bangladesh. BREL was also a major supplier of components and general engineering equipment to numerous businesses that were not primarily involved in railways, such as the British Steel Corporation.[4] During the 1980s, BREL produced the British Rail Class 58 freight locomotive, which it had developed with the intention of attracting international orders.[12][13]
Throughout the 1980s, various sites operated by BREL were permanently closed, including Ashford Works in 1981, Shildon in 1984, and Swindon in 1986.[14][15] During 1987, Doncaster, Eastleigh, Glasgow, and Wolverton were transferred to the newly-created BR Maintenance.[4][16] The maintenance requirements of British Rail's rolling stock was reduced as newer vehicles, such as the Mark 3 carriages, were introduced that were designed to minimise operating costs; British Rail also progressively increased its use of electric traction which required less maintenance than diesel-powered trains, further reducing demand for BREL's services and leading to cuts in personnel employed by the organisation.[10][17] The loss of such jobs and the closure of certain sites became a politically charged matter during the late 1980s, which included threats of industrial action and allegations of insufficient investment.[10][18][19]
As early as 1986, the British government were examining operations to privatise BREL and make it more competitive on the international market.[10] Accordingly, amid the wider privatisation of British Rail during the 1990s, BREL was sold via a management buyout, with management and employees owning 20% and Asea Brown Boveri and Trafalgar House 40% each.[20][21][18] At the time of the management buyout, BREL's locations comprised Crewe, York, and two separate works in Derby; Derby Locomotive Works was closed in 1991.[22][4] In March 1992, ABB bought out the other shareholders, making BREL a wholly-owned subsidiary. It was subsumed into ABB Transportation in September 1992.[23][24][4]
The vast majority of BREL's output was rolling stock for British Rail, including Mark 2 and Mark 3 carriages, the latter for locomotive haulage and InterCity 125 diesel High-Speed Trains. BREL built the NIR 80 Class diesel-electric multiple units for Northern Ireland Railways. Other Mark 3 derived vehicles included Class 150 diesel multiple units in the 1980s and numerous electric multiple units such as Classes 313 and 317.
ABB Ltd. is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Västerås, Sweden, and Zürich, Switzerland. It is traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zürich, the Nasdaq Nordic exchange in Sweden and the OTC Markets Group's pink sheets in the United States. It was ranked 340th in the Fortune Global 500 list of 2020 and has been a global Fortune 500 company for 24 years.
InterCity was a brand name introduced by British Rail in 1966 for its long-haul express passenger services.
A Driving Van Trailer (DVT) is a British purpose-built control car railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate with a locomotive in push-pull formation from the opposite end of a train. A key benefit of operating trains with DVTs is the requirement for fewer locomotives; for example, a second locomotive would otherwise have to join at the other end of the train after arrival at terminal stations to lead the train's onward journey.
The InterCity 225 is an electric high speed train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer (DVT). The Class 91 locomotives were built by British Rail Engineering Limited's Crewe Works as a spin-off from the Advanced Passenger Train project, which was abandoned during the 1980s, whilst the coaches and DVT were constructed by Metro-Cammell in Birmingham and Breda in Italy, again borrowing heavily from the Advanced Passenger Train. The trains were designed to operate at up to 140 mph (225 km/h) in regular service, but are limited to 125 mph (200 km/h) principally due to a lack of cab signalling and the limitations of the current overhead line equipment. They were introduced into service between 1989 and 1991 for intercity services on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) from London King's Cross to Leeds, York and Edinburgh.
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 and 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).
The APT-E, for Advanced Passenger Train Experimental, was the prototype Advanced Passenger Train tilting train unit. It was powered by gas turbines, the only multiple unit so powered that was used by British Rail. The APT-E consisted of two driving power cars and two trailer cars. Each power car was equipped with four Rover-built Leyland 2S/350 gas turbines, which initially produced 300 hp each but were progressively uprated to 330 hp. Two GEC 253AY nose suspended traction motors provided the traction on the leading bogies. The vehicles were manufactured from aluminium and were approximately 70 ft long (21.34 m), with articulated bogies between them.
The Derby Works comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities designing and building locomotives and rolling stock in Derby, England. The first of these was a group of three maintenance sheds opened around 1840 behind Derby station. This developed into a manufacturing facility called the Midland Railway Locomotive Works, known locally as "the loco" and in 1873 manufacturing was split into locomotive and rolling stock manufacture, with rolling stock work transferred to a new facility, Derby Carriage & Wagon Works.
The British Rail Class 43 (HST) is the TOPS classification used for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train (formerly Classes 253 and 254) diesel-electric power cars, built by British Rail Engineering Limited from 1975 to 1982, and in service in the UK since 1976.
Swindon Works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986.
The British Rail Class 56 is a type of diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight work. It is a Type 5 locomotive, with a Ruston-Paxman power unit developing 3,250 bhp, and has a Co-Co wheel arrangement. Enthusiasts nicknamed them "Gridirons", due to the grid-like horn cover on the locomotive's cab ends fitted to nos. 56056 onwards. Under its Romanian railway factory nomenclature, the locomotive was named Electroputere LDE 3500, with LDE coming from Locomotivă Diesel-Electrică and the 3500 being the planned horsepower output.
The British Rail Class 46 is a class of diesel locomotive. They were built from 1961 to 1963 at British Railways' Derby Works and were initially numbered D138–D193. With the arrival of TOPS they were renumbered to Class 46. Along with the similar Class 44 and 45 locomotives, they became known as Peaks.
An electric multiple unit (EMU) is an electric self-powered train, capable of operating in multiple with other EMUs and without the need for a locomotive; these are typically passenger trains with accommodation in every vehicle and a driving position at each end. The term can also be used to describe a train that is a permanent formation with a non-driving power car, such as the Advanced Passenger Train. As of December 2010, two-thirds of the passenger carriages in Great Britain are formed in EMUs.
Cardiff Canton TMD is a diesel locomotive traction maintenance depot in Cardiff, Wales. Its depot code is CF. It is operated by Transport for Wales. The depot is used by Transport for Wales fleet and some Cross Country Class 170s.
Derby Litchurch Lane Works, formerly Derby Carriage and Wagon Works, is a railway rolling stock factory in Derby, England. It was opened in the 19th century by the Midland Railway. The plant has produced rolling stock under the ownership of the Midland Railway. It is now owned by Alstom.
The InterCity 250 was an electric railway project undertaken by British Rail in the late 1980s. The InterCity 250 train would have consisted of a Class 93 electric locomotive, nine Mark 5 coaches and a Mark 5 Driving Van Trailer operating in a push-pull formation. The British Rail project was cancelled in July 1992.
Diesel multiple units and railcars are trains, usually with passenger accommodation, that do not require a locomotive. Railcars can be single cars, while in multiple units cars are marshalled together with a driving position either end. As of December 2010, 23 percent of the rail passenger cars used on Network Rail are part of a diesel multiple unit.
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.
Network SouthEast (NSE), the sector of British Rail which ran passenger services in London and southeast England between 1986 and 1994, operated a wide variety of rolling stock during its existence. The majority of the network was electrified, and further electrification schemes took place during the 1986–1994 period; and the 7,000 vehicles owned by NSE in 1986 consisted of a mixture of electric, diesel-electric and diesel multiple units, diesel locomotives and the coaches they hauled.
The Holgate Road carriage works was a railway carriage manufacturing factory in the Holgate area of York, England.
↑ Semmens, Peter (1990). Speed On The East Coast Main Line: A Century and a Half of Accelerated Services. Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp.129–225. ISBN0-85059-930-X.
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