Editing British Rail (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994}}
[[File:British Railways filmstrip (2).jpg|thumb|British Rail filmstrip showing how the railways were unified under BR]]

=== Nationalisation in 1948 ===
{{Anchor|Nationalisation in 1948}}<!-- backup anchor for section links – do not rename -->
[[File:70013 Oliver Cromwell Carlisle Kingmoor.jpg|thumb|[[BR Standard Class 7 70013 Oliver Cromwell|BR steam locomotive 70013 ''Oliver Cromwell'']]]]
The rail transport system in Great Britain developed during the 19th century. After the grouping of 1923 under the [[Railways Act 1921]], there were four large railway companies, each dominating its own geographic area: the [[Great Western Railway]] (GWR), the [[London, Midland and Scottish Railway]] (LMS), the [[London and North Eastern Railway]] (LNER) and the [[Southern Railway (England)|Southern Railway]] (SR). During [[World War I]], the railways were under state control, which continued until 1921. Complete [[nationalisation]] had been considered, and the [[Railways Act 1921]]<ref>{{cite hansard |title = The State and the Railways |url = https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1920/aug/03/the-state-and-the-railways |series= [[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |house = [[House of Lords]] |date = 3 August 1920 |access-date = 14 March 2019 |column_start = 711 |column_end = 713 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090719130758/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1920/aug/03/the-state-and-the-railways |archive-date = 19 July 2009 |url-status = live }}</ref> is sometimes considered as a precursor to that, but the concept was rejected. Nationalisation was subsequently carried out after [[World War II]], under the [[Transport Act 1947]]. This Act made provision for the nationalisation of the network as part of a policy of nationalising public services by [[Clement Attlee]]'s [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] Government. British Railways came into existence as the [[business name]] of the [[Railway Executive]] of the [[British Transport Commission]] (BTC) on 1 January 1948 when it took over the assets of the Big Four.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=67 |title = Transport Act 1947 |author = Her Majesty's Government |year = 1947 |via = The Railways Archive |publisher = Her Majesty's Stationery Office |access-date = 25 November 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120325224406/http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=67 |archive-date = 25 March 2012 |url-status = live  }}</ref>

There were also [[joint railway]]s between the Big Four and a few light railways to consider (see [[list of constituents of British Railways]]). Excluded from nationalisation were industrial lines like the [[Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway]]. The [[London Underground]] also became publicly owned, becoming the [[London Transport Executive]] of the British Transport Commission. The [[Bicester Military Railway]] was already run by the government. The electric [[Liverpool Overhead Railway]] was also excluded from [[nationalized|nationalisation]].<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.citymetric.com/transport/liverpool-overhead-railway-was-legendary-it-worth-rebuilding-3575 |title = The Liverpool Overhead Railway was legendary – but is it worth rebuilding? |website = citymetric.com |date = 4 January 2018 |access-date = 25 April 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180426080003/https://www.citymetric.com/transport/liverpool-overhead-railway-was-legendary-it-worth-rebuilding-3575 |archive-date = 26 April 2018 |url-status = live}}</ref>

The Railway Executive was conscious that some lines on the (then very dense) network were unprofitable and hard to justify socially, and a programme of closures began almost immediately after nationalisation. However, the general financial position of BR became gradually poorer until an operating loss was recorded in 1955. The Executive itself had been abolished in 1953 by the Conservative government, and control of BR transferred to the parent Commission. Other changes to the British Transport Commission at the same time included the return of road haulage to the private sector; however, BR retained its own (smaller) in-house road haulage service.

{{clear left}}

=== 1955 Modernisation Plan ===
{{Main|History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994#The Modernisation Plan}}
[[File:Bristol Pullman (8226781197).jpg|thumb|[[Blue Pullmans|Blue Pullman]] at [[Bristol Bath Road TMD]]]]
The report, latterly known as the "Modernisation Plan",<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=23 |title = Modernisation and Re-Equipment of British Rail |author = British Transport Commission |via = The Railways Archive |publisher = British Transport Commission |year = 1954 |access-date = 25 November 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061031102337/http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=23 |archive-date = 31 October 2006 |url-status = live  }}</ref> was published in January 1955. It was intended to bring the railway system into the 20th century. A government [[White Paper]] produced in 1956 stated that modernisation would help eliminate BR's financial deficit by 1962, but the figures in both this and the original plan were produced for political reasons and not based on detailed analysis.<ref name="last trains">{{cite book |last = Loft |first = Charles |year = 2013 |title = Last Trains – Dr Beeching and the Death of Rural England |publisher = Biteback |isbn = 9781849545006}}</ref> The aim was to increase speed, reliability, safety, and line capacity through a series of measures that would make services more attractive to passengers and freight operators, thus recovering traffic lost to the roads. Important areas included:
* [[Railway electrification system|Electrification]] of principal main lines, in the [[Eastern Region of British Railways|Eastern Region]], [[Kent]], Birmingham to Liverpool/Manchester and Central [[Scotland]]
* Large-scale [[dieselisation]] to replace [[steam locomotives of British Railways|steam locomotives]]
* New passenger and freight [[rolling stock]]
* [[Railway signalling|Resignalling]] and track renewals
* Modern [[marshalling yard]]s
* The closure of an unspecified but relatively small number of lines

The government appeared to endorse the 1955 programme (costing £1.2&nbsp;billion), but did so largely for political reasons.<ref name="last trains" /> This included the withdrawal of steam traction and its replacement by diesel (and some electric) locomotives. Not all modernisations would be effective at reducing costs. The dieselisation programme gave contracts primarily to British suppliers, who had limited experience of diesel locomotive manufacture, and rushed commissioning based on an expectation of rapid electrification; this resulted in numbers of locomotives with poor designs and a lack of standardisation.<ref name="b4873">{{cite book |title = British Railways, 1948–73: a business history |first=Terence Richard |last = Gourvish |author2 = N. Blake |publisher = Cambridge University Press |year = 1986 |pages = 286–290}}</ref> At the same time, [[Containerization|containerised]] freight was being developed.<ref name="b4873" /> The marshalling yard building programme was a failure, being based on a belief in the continued viability of [[wagon-load]] traffic in the face of increasingly effective road competition, and lacking effective forward planning or realistic assessments of future freight.<ref name="b4873" /> A 2002 documentary broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]] blamed the 1950s decisions for the "beleaguered" condition of the railway system at that time.<ref>{{Cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1989357.stm |title = Bad railways? Blame it on the 1950s |date = 16 May 2002 |work = BBC News |access-date = 25 September 2018 |language = en-GB |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180925180652/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1989357.stm |archive-date = 25 September 2018 |url-status = live}}</ref>

=== The Beeching reports ===
[[File:Beeching2.svg|thumb|right|upright|Network for development proposed in 1965 report ''"The Development of the Major Trunk Routes"'' (bold lines) {{legend-line|black solid 2px|To be kept}}{{legend-line|yellow solid 2px|To be closed}}]]
{{Main|Beeching cuts}}
During the late 1950s, railway finances continued to worsen; whilst passenger numbers grew after restoring many services reduced during the war, and in 1959 the government stepped in, limiting the amount the BTC could spend without ministerial authority. A White Paper proposing reorganisation was published in the following year, and a new structure was brought into effect by the Transport Act 1962.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=116 |title = Transport Act 1962 |author = Her Majesty's Government |year = 1962 |via = The Railways Archive |publisher = Her Majesty's Stationery Office |access-date = 25 November 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070819224356/http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=116 |archive-date = 19 August 2007 |url-status = live  }}</ref> This abolished the commission and replaced it by several separate boards. These included a British Railways Board, which took over on 1 January 1963.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1093 |title = nationalarchives.gov.uk |access-date = 17 March 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180317104642/http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1093 |archive-date = 17 March 2018 |url-status = live  }}</ref>
[[File:British Railways Delivery Truck London 1962.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Scammell Scarab]] truck in British Railways livery, London, 1962. British Railways was involved in numerous related businesses, including road haulage.]]

Following semi-secret discussions on railway finances by the government-appointed Stedeford Committee in 1961, one of its members, [[Richard Beeching|Dr Richard Beeching]], was offered the post of chairing the BTC while it lasted and then became the first Chairman of the British Railways Board.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/beeching_prog1.shtml |title = Back to Beeching |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091003010237/http://www0.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/beeching_prog1.shtml |archive-date = 3 October 2009 |publisher = [[BBC Radio 4]] |date = 27 February 2010}}</ref>

A major traffic census in April 1961, which lasted one week, was used in the compilation of a report on the future of the network. This report – ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' – was published by the BRB in March 1963.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=13 |title = The Reshaping of British Railways – Part 1: Report |author = British Transport Commission |year = 1963 |via = The Railways Archive |publisher = Her Majesty's Stationery Office |access-date = 25 November 2006 |archive-url = https://archive.today/20101019045735/http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=13 |archive-date = 19 October 2010 |url-status = live  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=35 |title = The Reshaping of British Railways—Part 2: Maps |author = British Transport Commission |year = 1963 |via = The Railways Archive |publisher = Her Majesty's Stationery Office |access-date = 25 November 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061026155439/http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=35 |archive-date = 26 October 2006 |url-status = live  }}</ref> The proposals, which became known as the [[Beeching cuts]], were dramatic. A third of all passenger services and more than 4,000 of the 7,000 stations would close. Beeching, who is thought to have been the author of most of the report, set out some dire figures. One third of the network was carrying just 1% of the traffic. Of the 18,000 passenger coaches, 6,000 were said to be used only 18 times a year or less. Although maintaining them cost between £3{{nbsp}}million and £4{{nbsp}}million a year, they earned only about £0.5{{nbsp}}million.<ref>Richard Beeching "The Reshaping of British Railways", p. 15.</ref>

Most of the closures were carried out between 1963 and 1970 (including some which were not listed in the report), while other suggested closures were not carried out. The closures were heavily criticised at the time.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=236 |title = The Economics and Social Aspects of the Beeching Plan |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110605021806/http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=236 |archive-date = 5 June 2011 |author = Lord Stoneham |publisher = House of Lords |via = railwaysarchive.co.uk  |date = 1963}}</ref> A small number of stations and lines closed under the Beeching programme have been reopened, with further reopenings proposed.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/8099912.stm |title = Move to reinstate lost rail lines |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090617194906/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/8099912.stm |archive-date=17 June 2009 |publisher = BBC News |date = 15 June 2009}}</ref>

A second Beeching report, "The Development of the Major Trunk Routes", followed in 1965.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=14 |title = The Development Of The Major Railway Trunk Routes |via = The Railways Archive |publisher = British Railways Board |date = February 1965 |access-date = 27 March 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120418212554/http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=14 |archive-date = 18 April 2012 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work = The Times |title = The Second Stage of Dr. Beeching's Reorganisation Proposals |date = 17 February 1965 |page = 8}}</ref> This did not recommend closures as such but outlined a "network for development"; the fate of the rest of the network was not discussed in the report.

=== Post-Beeching ===
The basis for calculating passenger fares changed in 1964. In future, fares on some routes—such as rural, holiday and commuter services—would be set at a higher level than on other routes; previously, fares had been calculated using a simple rate for the distance travelled, which at the time was 3[[Penny#Name|d]] per mile second class, and 4½d per mile first class<ref>{{cite magazine |editor-first = B.W.C. |editor-last = Cooke |date = July 1964 |department = Notes and News |title = New fares structure |magazine = [[The Railway Magazine]] |volume = 110 |issue = 759 |page = 592 |publisher = Tothill Press |location = Westminster}}</ref> (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|{{#expr: 3 / 240}}|1964|r=2}}}} and £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|{{#expr: 4.5 / 240}}|1964|r=2}}}} respectively, in {{Inflation-year|UK}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}).

In 1966, a "[[racism in the United Kingdom|Whites only]]" recruitment policy for guards at [[Euston railway station|Euston station]] agreed between the local union branch and station management<ref>{{cite web |last1 = Davis |first1 = Rachael |title = Euston's first Black train guard who ended racial segregation on London's railway |url = https://www.mylondon.news/news/nostalgia/euston-station-black-train-guard-19910274 |website = MyLondon |date = 9 March 2022 |publisher = Reach plc |access-date = 3 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1 = Page |first1 = Chris |title = Resistance to change |url = https://www.railfuture.org.uk/article1722-Resistance-to-change |publisher = Railfuture Ltd |access-date = 3 April 2023}}</ref> was dropped after the case of [[Asquith Xavier]], a migrant from [[Dominica]], who had been refused promotion on those grounds, was raised in Parliament and taken up by the then Secretary of State for Transport, [[Barbara Castle]].<ref name="BBC-54272188">{{cite web |title = Asquith Xavier: Plaque honours train guard who fought Whites-only policy |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-54272188 |work = BBC News |access-date = 24 September 2020 |date = 24 September 2020}}</ref>

Passenger levels decreased steadily from 1962 to the late 1970s,<ref>The UK [https://web.archive.org/web/20041017235852/http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_transstats/documents/divisionhomepage/031571.hcsp Department for Transport] (DfT), specifically Table 6.1 from [http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_transstats/documents/downloadable/dft_transstats_613483.pdf Transport Statistics Great Britain 2006] {{webarchive |url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080908033415/http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_transstats/documents/downloadable/dft_transstats_613483.pdf |date = 8 September 2008 }} (4&nbsp;MB PDF file)</ref> and reached a low in 1982.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/social-trends-rd/social-trends/social-trends-40/social-trends-40---transport-chapter.pdf |title = UK Government Web Archive |access-date = 13 August 2017 |archive-url = http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105224526/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/social-trends-rd/social-trends/social-trends-40/social-trends-40---transport-chapter.pdf |archive-date = 5 January 2016 |url-status = bot: unknown  }}</ref> Network improvements included completing electrification of the [[Great Eastern Main Line]] from London to [[Norwich railway station|Norwich]] between 1976 and 1986 and the [[East Coast Main Line]] from London to [[Edinburgh Waverley railway station|Edinburgh]] between 1985 and 1990.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Cowley |first1 = Ian |title = Anglia East |date = 1987 |publisher = David & Charles |location = Newton Abbot, UK |isbn = 0-7153-8978-5 |pages = 43–47}}</ref><ref name = "raileng elect18">{{cite news |last1 = Shirres |first1 = David |title = ECML: Electrification as it used to be |url = https://www.railengineer.uk/2017/11/27/ecml-electrification-as-it-used-to-be/ |work = Rail Engineer |publisher = Rail Media Group |place = Coalville |access-date = 10 January 2018 |archive-date = 11 January 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180111165146/https://www.railengineer.uk/2017/11/27/ecml-electrification-as-it-used-to-be/ |url-status = dead }}</ref> A mainline route closure during this period of relative network stability was the {{nowrap|1,500 V DC}}-electrified [[Woodhead line]] between [[Manchester Piccadilly railway station|Manchester]] and [[Sheffield Victoria railway station|Sheffield]]: passenger service ceased in 1970 and goods in 1981.<ref>{{cite magazine |title = Over the Woodhead in the cab of ''Tommy'' |first = Christopher |last = Nicholson |pages = 43–47 |magazine = The Railway Magazine |date = September 2014 |volume = 160 |issue = 1,362 |issn = 0033-8923}}</ref>

A further British Rail report from a committee chaired by [[David Serpell|Sir David Serpell]] was published in 1983. The [[Serpell Report]] made no recommendations as such but did set out various options for the network, including, at their most extreme, a skeletal system of less than 2,000{{nbsp}}route{{nbsp}}km (1,240{{nbsp}}miles). The report was received with hostility within several circles, which included figures within the government, as well as amongst the public.<ref name="GH">{{cite news |last1 = Rogers |first1 = Roy |title = Hostile reception for Serpell options |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19830121&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |access-date = 15 February 2017 |work = The Glasgow Herald |date = 21 January 1983}}</ref> The reaction was so strong that [[Margaret Thatcher]], Prime Minister at that time, stated that decisions on the report would not immediately be taken. The Serpell report was quietly shelved, although the British Government was periodically accused by its opponents of implementing the report via stealth for some years thereafter.<ref name="GH20Jan1983p11">{{cite news |last1 = Rogers |first1 = Roy |title = Fresh ingredients that will be unpalatable to the rail industry |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19830120&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |access-date = 10 July 2020 |work = The Glasgow Herald |date = 20 January 1983 |page = 11}}</ref><ref name="Telegraphobit">{{cite news |title = Sir David Serpell |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2512056/Sir-David-Serpell.html |access-date = 22 February 2017 |work = The Telegraph |date = 6 August 2008}}</ref><ref name="IndObit">{{cite news |last1 = Dalyell |first1 = Tam |title = Sir David Serpell: Able and influential civil servant |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sir-david-serpell-able-and-influential-civil-servant-888236.html |access-date = 6 November 2017 |work = The Independent |date = 7 August 2008}}</ref>

The 1980s and 1990s saw the closure of some railways which had survived the Beeching cuts a generation earlier but which had seen passenger services withdrawn. This included the bulk of the [[Chester and Connah's Quay Railway]] in 1992, the [[Brierley Hill railway station|Brierley Hill]] to [[Walsall railway station|Walsall]] section of the [[South Staffordshire line]] in 1993, while the [[Birmingham Snow Hill railway station|Birmingham]] to [[Wolverhampton Low Level railway station|Wolverhampton]] section of the Great Western Railway was closed in three phases between 1972 and 1992.

=== Transport Act 1968 ===
{{Main|Transport Act 1968}}
Following the election of [[Labour government, 1964–1970|Labour]] in 1964, on a platform of revising many of the cuts, [[Tom Fraser]] instead authorised the closure 1,071&nbsp;mi of railway lines, following the recommendations from the ''[[Beeching cuts|Beeching Report]]'' even lines not considered closing.<ref>{{cite book |last = Henshaw |first = David |title = The Great Railway Conspiracy |publisher = McDermott|page = 165 |edition = Third |year = 2013 |isbn = 978-0-957651 1-0-4}}</ref> After he resigned in 1967, his replacement [[Barbara Castle]] continued the line and station closures but introduced the first Government rail subsidies for socially necessary but unprofitable railways in the [[Transport Act 1968]]. Part of these provisions was the creation of a [[passenger transport executive]] or PTE within larger metropolitan areas. Prior to this, public transport was run by individual local authorities and private companies, with little co-ordination. The PTEs took over the responsibility (but not ownership) of managing local rail networks.

The 1968 Act created five new bodies. These were:

* [[West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive|West Midlands PTE]] on 1 October 1969
* [[Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive|SELNEC PTE]] (South East Lancashire & North East Cheshire) on 1 November 1969 (now ''Greater Manchester'')
* [[Merseytravel|Merseyside PTE]] on 1 December 1969 (now Liverpool City Region)
* [[Tyneside Passenger Transport Executive|Tyneside PTE]] on 1 January 1970 (now ''Tyne and Wear'')
* [[Strathclyde Partnership for Transport|Greater Glasgow PTE]] on 1 June 1973 (now ''Strathclyde'')

This was the first real subdivision of BR since its inception in 1949, and likely saved many lines earmarked for closure,{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} notably the [[Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway]], which [[Northern line (Merseyrail)|now]] forms part of the [[Merseyrail]] network.

=== Sectorisation ===
[[File:Charing Cross station geograph-3300926-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|thumb|[[Network SouthEast]] [[British Rail Class 465|Class 465]] at [[Charing Cross railway station|Charing Cross]]]]
Upon sectorisation in 1982, three passenger sectors were created: [[InterCity (British Rail)|InterCity]], operating principal express services; London & South East (renamed [[Network SouthEast]] in 1986) operating commuter services in the London area; Provincial (renamed [[Regional Railways]] in 1989) responsible for all other passenger services.<ref name="Thomas" /> In the [[metropolitan county|metropolitan counties]] local services were managed by the [[Passenger Transport Executive]]s. Provincial was the most subsidised (per passenger km) of the three sectors; upon formation, its costs were four times its [[revenue]].<ref name="Thomas">{{cite Q|Q112224535 |author-link = David St John Thomas|first1 = David St John|last1 = Thomas |last2 = Whitehouse |first2 = Patrick}}</ref> During the 1980s British Rail ran the [[Rail Riders]] membership club aimed at 5- to 15-year-olds.

Because British Railways was such a large operation, running not just railways but also ferries, steamships and hotels, it has been considered difficult to analyse the effects of nationalisation.<ref>{{cite book |last = Boocokc |first = Colin |title = Spotlight on BR: British Railways 1948–1998 Success or Disaster? |year = 1998 |publisher = Atlantic Transport |isbn = 978-0-906899-98-4}}</ref>

Prices rose quickly in this period, rising 108% in real terms from 1979 to 1994, as prices rose by 262% but RPI only increased by 154% in the same time.<ref>{{cite book |title = British Rail 1974–1997: From Integration to Privatisation |last = Gourvish |first = Terry |page = 277}}</ref>