Editing British Rail (section)

== Network ==

=== Regions ===
With its creation in 1948, British Railways was divided into regions which were initially based on the areas the former [[Big Four (British railway companies)|Big Four]] operated in; later, several lines were transferred between regions. Notably, these included the former [[Great Central Railway|Great Central]] lines from the Eastern Region to the London Midland Region, and the [[West of England Main Line]] from the Southern Region to Western Region
* [[Southern Region of British Railways|Southern Region]]: former Southern Railway lines.
* [[Western Region of British Railways|Western Region]]: former Great Western Railway lines.
* [[London Midland Region of British Railways|London Midland Region]]: former London, Midland and Scottish Railway lines in England and Wales.
* [[Eastern Region of British Railways|Eastern Region]]: former London and North Eastern Railway lines south of York.
* Anglia Region: split from Eastern Region in 1988.<ref>{{cite book |last = Baker |first = Stuart K. |title = Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland |edition = 5th |year = 1988 |orig-year = 1977 |publisher = Oxford Publishing Co |location = Yeovil |isbn = 0-86093-419-5|page = 40 |id = T419 }}</ref>
* [[North Eastern Region of British Railways|North Eastern Region]]: former London and North Eastern Railway lines in England north of York.
* [[Scottish Region of British Railways|Scottish Region]]: all lines, regardless of the original company, in Scotland.

The North Eastern Region was merged with the Eastern Region in 1967.

=== Sectorisation ===
[[File:BR InterCity Logo.svg|thumb|right|InterCity swallow Logo]]
[[File:Regional railways logo.svg|thumb|right|Regional railways logo]]

In 1982, the regions were abolished as the service provider (but retained for administration) and replaced by "business sectors", a process known as [[sectorisation]].

The passenger sectors were (by the early 1990s):
* [[InterCity (British Rail)|InterCity]] (express services).
** [[InterCity Sleeper (British Rail)|InterCity Sleeper]] (Night train services)
** [[Gatwick Express]] (express service to/from [[Gatwick Airport]])
* [[Network SouthEast]] (London commuter services).
** [[Stansted Express]] (express service to/from [[Stansted Airport]])
* [[Regional Railways]] (regional services).
** [[Alphaline]] (enhanced regional express passenger services) (Added in 1994)
** [[ScotRail (British Rail)|ScotRail]] (regional and sub-intercity services in Scotland).
** [[First TransPennine Express|TransPennine Express]] (sub-intercity services in the North).

In addition, the non-passenger sectors were: 
* [[Railfreight]] responsible for all freight operations, later subdivided into train operations.
* [[Trainload Freight]] took trainload freight. 
* [[Railfreight Distribution]] took non-trainload freight. 
** [[Speedlink]] a wagonload freight service utilising air-braked wagons.
* [[Freightliner Group|Freightliner]] took [[intermodal freight transport|intermodal]] traffic. 
* [[Rail Express Systems]] took parcels traffic.

The maintenance and remaining engineering works were split off into a new company, [[British Rail Maintenance Limited]]. The new sectors were further subdivided into divisions.

[[File:Maesteg Castle Street Station - geograph.org.uk - 3905158.jpg|thumb|Crowds on a railtour at [[Maesteg Castle Street railway station|Maesteg Castle Street station]] since reopened by BR as the [[Maesteg Line]]]]
This ended the BR blue period as new liveries were adopted gradually. Infrastructure remained the responsibility of the regions until the "Organisation for Quality" initiative in 1991 when this too was transferred to the sectors. The Anglia Region was created in late 1987, its first General Manager being John Edmonds, who began his appointment on 19 October 1987. Full separation from the Eastern Region – apart from engineering design needs – occurred on 29 April 1988. It handled the services from {{stnlnk|Fenchurch Street}} and {{stn|Liverpool Street}}, its western boundary being {{stnlnk|Hertford East}}, {{stnlnk|Meldreth}} and {{stnlnk|Whittlesea}}.<ref>{{cite magazine |date = December 1987 |editor-last = Slater |editor-first = John |title = Anglia Region created |magazine = [[Railway Magazine]] |location = Cheam |publisher = Prospect Magazines |volume = 133 |issue = 1040 |page = 758 |issn = 0033-8923}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |date = July 1988 |editor1-last = Slater |editor1-first = John |title = Anglia takes over |magazine = [[Railway Magazine]] |location = Cheam |publisher = Prospect Magazines |volume = 134 |issue = 1047 |page = 426 |issn = 0033-8923}}</ref>

The former BR network, with the trunk routes of the [[West Coast Main Line]], [[East Coast Main Line]], [[Great Western Main Line]], [[Great Eastern Main Line]] and [[Midland Main Line]], and other lines.