Editing Rail transport in Great Britain (section)

===Nationalisation===
{{Main|History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994}}
From the start 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 six (later five) regional authorities in accordance with the existing areas of operation. Though there were few initial changes to the service, usage increased and the network became profitable. Regeneration of track and railway stations was completed by 1954. In the same year, changes to the British Transport Commission, including the privatisation of road haulage, ended the coordination of transport in Great Britain. 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, but 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, with [[Imperial Chemical Industries|ICI]] manager Dr. [[Richard Beeching]] commissioned by the government under [[Ernest Marples]] with reorganising the railways. Many branch lines (and a number of main lines) were closed because they were deemed uneconomic ("the [[Beeching Axe]]" of 1963), removing much feeder traffic from main line passenger services. In the second Beeching report of 1965, only the "major trunk routes" were selected for large-scale investment, leading many to speculate the rest of the network would eventually be closed. This was never implemented by BR.

Passenger services experienced a renaissance with the introduction of the [[InterCity 125]] trains in the 1970s. Passenger levels fluctuated since then, increasing during periods of economic growth and falling during recessions. The 1980s saw severe cuts in government funding and above-inflation increases in fares,<ref>{{cite book|title=British Rail 1974–1997: From Integration to Privatisation |last=Gourvish |first=Terry |page=277}}</ref> In the early 1990s, the five geographical Regions were replaced by a Sectored organisation, in which passenger services were organised into [[InterCity (British Rail)|InterCity]], [[Network SouthEast]] and [[Regional Railways]] sectors.