Editing British Rail (section)

== <span class="anchor" id="Privatisation of British Rail"></span>Privatisation ==
[[File:GBR rail passengers by year 1830-2023.png|thumb|alt=Line graph|Passenger rail usage in Great Britain, 1830–2021]]
[[File:UK total rail subsidies 1986-2015.png|thumb|UK rail subsidy 1985–2015 (in 2015 terms), showing the huge increase after the Hatfield crash]]
{{Main|Privatisation of British Rail|Impact of the privatisation of British Rail}}
In 1989, the narrow-gauge [[Vale of Rheidol Railway]] was preserved, becoming the first part of British Rail to be privatised. Between 1994 and 1997, in accordance with the [[Railways Act 1993]], the core activities of British Rail were privatised.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=12 |title = Railways Act 1993 |author = Her Majesty's Government |year = 1903 |via = The Railways Archive |publisher = Her Majesty's Stationery Office |access-date = 26 November 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060520015332/http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=12 |archive-date = 20 May 2006 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher = [[House of Commons Library]] |url =  http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01157/SN01157.pdf |title = Railways: privatisation, 1987-1996 |date = 18 March 2010 |first = Louise |last = Butcher}}</ref>  Ownership of the track and infrastructure passed to [[Railtrack]] on 1 April 1994. Passenger operations were later [[Franchising|franchised]] to 25 private-sector operators.<ref>{{cite journal |url = https://www.socresonline.org.uk/7/1/strangleman.html |first = Tim |last = Strangleman |date = 2002 |title = Nostalgia for Nationalisation – the Politics of Privatisation |journal = Sociological Research Online |volume = 7 |number = 1 |pages = 92–105 |doi = 10.5153/sro.701 |s2cid = 144684740 |access-date = 5 December 2022 |archive-date = 5 December 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221205024644/https://www.socresonline.org.uk/7/1/strangleman.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name = "trainselloff bbc2000">{{cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/982037.stm |title = The great train sell-off: Who dunnit? |work = BBC News |date = 20 October 2000 |access-date = 5 December 2022 |archive-date = 5 December 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221205033050/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/982037.stm |url-status = live }}</ref> Of the six freight companies, five were sold to [[Wisconsin Central Limited|Wisconsin Central]] to form [[DB Cargo UK|EWS]] while [[Freightliner Group|Freightliner]] was sold in a [[management buyout]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.ews-railway.co.uk/about/history.html |title = EWS Railway—Company History |access-date = 26 November 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060930234359/http://www.ews-railway.co.uk/about/history.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 30 September 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = Secretary of State for Transport - Written Answers |url = https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199697/cmhansrd/vo961127/text/61127w12.htm |publisher = Hansard |date = 27 November 1996}}</ref>

[[File:Waterloo-city-1992.jpg|thumb|alt=Underground train in a station|The [[Waterloo & City line]] was part of [[Network SouthEast]].]]
The [[Waterloo & City line]], part of Network SouthEast, was not included in the privatisation and was transferred to [[London Underground]] in April 1994.<ref>{{cite magazine |title = LUL to take over the Drain |magazine = [[Modern Railways]] |issue = 547 |date = April 1994 |page = 201 }}</ref> The remaining obligations of British Rail were transferred to [[BRB (Residuary) Limited]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title = BRB Residuary axed as Government cuts back on Quangos |magazine = [[Rail Express]] |issue = 175 |date = December 2012 |page = 10}}</ref>

The privatisation, proposed by the Conservative government in 1992, was opposed by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and the rail unions. Although Labour initially proposed to reverse privatisation,<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/blair-softpedals-over-reversing-br-privatisation-1567308.html |title = Blair soft-pedals over reversing BR privatisation |first = Donald |last = Macintyre |date = 10 January 1995 |newspaper = The Independent |access-date = 25 August 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150925155237/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/blair-softpedals-over-reversing-br-privatisation-1567308.html |archive-date = 25 September 2015 |url-status = live }}</ref> the [[New Labour]] manifesto of 1997 instead opposed Conservative plans to privatise the London Underground.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.labour-party.org.uk/manifestos/1997/1997-labour-manifesto.shtml |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020821164207/http://www.labour-party.org.uk/manifestos/1997/1997-labour-manifesto.shtml |url-status = dead |archive-date = 21 August 2002 |at = Railways |title = Labour Party Manifesto |year = 1997 |work = labour-party.org.uk (website unaffiliated with the official Labour Party)}}</ref> Rail unions have historically opposed privatisation, but former [[Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen]] general secretary [[Lew Adams]] moved to work for [[Virgin Rail Group]], and said on a 2004 radio phone-in programme: "All the time it was in the public sector, all we got were cuts, cuts, cuts. And today, there are more members in the trade union, more train drivers, and more trains running. The reality is that it worked, we’ve protected jobs, and we got more jobs."<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.pppcouncil.ca/pdf/cknw.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130625153929/http://pppcouncil.ca/pdf/cknw.pdf |archive-date = 25 June 2013 |title = TRANSCRIPT FROM THE BILL GOOD SHOW, CKNW RADIO, VANCOUVER – Interview with Lew Adams, Board Member, Strategic Rail Authority, UK |date = 26 November 2004 |publisher = Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships website |type = transcript |url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name="Virgin1">{{cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/196210.stm |title = Union boss hops on board Virgin |work = BBC News |date = 19 October 1998 |access-date = 22 September 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170831121820/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/196210.stm |archive-date = 31 August 2017 |url-status = live }}</ref>

The privatisation process began in 1994 when BR's passenger sectors were divided into 25 [[shadow franchise]]s.<ref>{{cite web |date = 18 March 2010 |title = Railways: privatisation, 1987-1996 |url = http://www.parliament.uk/briefingpapers/commons/lib/research/briefings/snbt-01157.pdf |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101013201522/http://www.parliament.uk/briefingpapers/commons/lib/research/briefings/snbt-01157.pdf |archive-date = 13 October 2010 |access-date = 14 September 2010 |publisher = House of Commons Library |page = 10}}</ref> These were publicly owned TOCs operating in the planned franchise areas, prior to the actual franchises being put to tender.
{|class="wikitable"
|+ Initial Train Operating Companies post-privatisation
|-
![[InterCity (British Rail)|InterCity]]||[[Network SouthEast]]||[[Regional Railways]]
|-
|[[Virgin CrossCountry]]||[[Chiltern Railways]]||[[Anglia Railways]] (Regional)
|-
|[[Great North Eastern Railway]]||[[Island Line, Isle of Wight|Island Line]]||[[Valley Lines (train operating company)|Valley Lines]]
|-
|[[Gatwick_Express#Express_service|Gatwick Express]]||[[c2c|LTS Rail]]||[[Central Trains]]
|-
|[[Anglia Railways]] (InterCity)||[[Silverlink]]||[[Arriva Trains Merseyside]]
|-
|[[FirstGroup#Operations|First Great Western]]||[[Network SouthCentral]]||[[First North Western]]
|-
|[[Midland Mainline (train operating company)|Midland Mainline]]||[[Connex South Eastern]] / [[Connex South Central]]||[[Arriva Trains Northern]]
|-
|[[Virgin Trains]]||[[South West Trains]]||[[ScotRail (National Express)|ScotRail]]
|-
|[[ScotRail (British Rail)|Caledonian Sleeper]]||[[Thameslink (train operating company 1997–2006)|Thameslink]]||[[Wales & West]]
|-
|||[[Thames Trains]]||
|-
|||[[West Anglia Great Northern]]||
|}
In advance of the opening of the [[Channel Tunnel]] in 1994, [[European Passenger Services]] was created as the BR division responsible for the UK component of [[Eurostar]] international services.<ref>{{Cite web |title = European Passenger Services Limited |url = https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02461708 |access-date = 19 January 2024 |website = Companies House}}</ref>