Rail transport in the United Kingdom |
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 governemnt 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 co-ordination 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 on Wikipedia (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.
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 franchesed 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, albeit 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 weeight 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 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
W. H. Auden's filmed poem, Night Mail.
Leasing services
Class 47 railway locomotive, hired from Fragonset Railways, Victoria 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:
- Angel Train Contracts, owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, and which claims to be the biggest rolling stock
company in Britain, with some 5,000 assets. website
- Forward Trust Rail Limited a lessor of domestic passenger rolling stock.
- Porterbrook Leasing Company, owned by the Abbey National Group, which leases some 3,500 locomotives, trains
and freight wagons. website
- Cotswold Rail, with a stock of some seven locomotives. website
- Fragonset Railways, a relatively diminuative operator with a stock of some 31 historical locomotives.
website
- GL Railease owned by GATX Capital, and Lomard, a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
- Harry Needle Railroad Company Ltd, an industrial and main line locomotive hire and overhaul company.
website
Statutory framework
UK railways are run at arms-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 juristictions; 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.
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 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)
Pre-Grouping (1923)
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
External Links
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