116-412: The Network Railcard is a discount card introduced in 1986 by British Rail , upon the creation of their Network SouthEast sector in parts of Southern England . The card is intended to encourage leisure travel by rail by offering discounts for adults and accompanying children on a wide range of off-peak fares. The range of discounts available, and the price of the card, have varied since that time, but
232-467: A " Whites only " recruitment policy for guards at Euston station agreed between the local union branch and station management 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 . Passenger levels decreased steadily from 1962 to
348-521: A "network for development"; the fate of the rest of the network was not discussed in the report. 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 d per mile second class, and 4½d per mile first class (equivalent to £0.32 and £0.48 respectively, in 2023 ). In 1966,
464-485: A Corporate Identity Manual which established a coherent brand and design standard for the whole organisation, specifying Rail Blue and pearl grey as the standard colour scheme for all rolling stock; Rail Alphabet as the standard corporate typeface, designed by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert ; and introducing the now-iconic corporate Identity Symbol of the Double Arrow logo. Designed by Gerald Barney (also of
580-618: A Network Card. Upon the relaunch under the "Network Railcard" name, this facility was withdrawn. These discounted Network Cards were issued in bulk on British Rail's behalf at an agency in Slough , and carried an endorsement on the reverse to show which type of reduction applied. First Class supplement upgrade tickets were initially priced at a flat fare of £1.00 for both adults and children for any length of journey. This became £3.00 for adults and £1.50 for children in February 1990. The benefit
696-411: A committee chaired by 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 route km (1,240 miles). The report was received with hostility within several circles, which included figures within the government, as well as amongst
812-464: A discounted price of £10.00 There is no minimum fare for "Gold Card" discounts, and the ability to upgrade to First Class for a flat fare also remains. This includes cases where the annual season ticket is applied to an Oyster card . When the Network Card was introduced, it quickly became popular with the public: more than 500,000 were sold per year at first, and a noticeable increase in use of
928-430: A further 3.5% would attract a discount of less than 34%, and only 6.5% would still be subject to the full 34% discount as before. This reflects the fact that many journeys undertaken in the area are short and "local" in nature, and that the area as a whole is fairly small in size (as the map shows, it does not extend a very long way from London in any direction). To compensate for the problems and disruption experienced on
1044-437: A grander logo for the railways. BR's second corporate logo (1956–1965), designed in consultation with Charles Franklyn and inspired by the much more detailed BTC crest, depicted a rampant lion emerging from a heraldic crown and holding a spoked wheel, all enclosed in a roundel with the "British Railways" name displayed across a bar on either side. This emblem soon acquired the nickname of the "Ferret and Dartboard". A variant of
1160-414: A lack of standardisation. At the same time, containerised freight was being developed. 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. A 2002 documentary broadcast on BBC Radio 4 blamed
1276-531: A non-stop service to London during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Accordingly, during May 1984, the Gatwick Express service was launched using air-conditioned InterCity carriages. British Rail operated Gatwick Express through to its privatisation in April 1996, after which National Express took over operations under a franchising arrangement. One of the franchise commitments made by National Express
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#17327868529471392-443: A number of Class 423 4VEPs with increased luggage capacity (at the expense of fewer second class seats) and were redesignated as Class 427 4VEGs . The service however remained much the same, with the units attaching and detaching from Bognor Regis bound services running via Redhill . This led to somewhat extended journey times which meant the service lacked any real purpose, as the faster services began calling at Gatwick Airport from
1508-477: A platform of revising many of the cuts, Tom Fraser instead authorised the closure 1,071 mi of railway lines, following the recommendations from the Beeching Report even lines not considered closing. 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
1624-752: A private heritage railway. Other preserved lines, or heritage railways , have reopened lines previously closed by British Rail. These range from picturesque rural branch lines like the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway to sections of mainline such as the Great Central Railway . Many have links to the National Rail network, both at station interchanges, for example, the Severn Valley Railway between Kidderminster and Kidderminster Town , and physical rail connections like
1740-543: 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
1856-883: A reduced timetable rapidly adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic . Some of Gatwick Express's Class 387/2 trains have been used by Southern on its East Coastway services between Brighton and Eastbourne , Hastings and Ore , on some Brighton Main Line services between Brighton and London Victoria , and on some West Coastway services between Brighton and West Worthing . During May 2021, nine Class 387/2s were transferred to Great Northern as replacements for Class 365s on services between London King's Cross and Cambridge , Ely , Peterborough and Stevenage ; six of these trains were then leased to Great Western Railway to cover for Class 800s on services between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway . During December 2021,
1972-625: A status code of NSE , while child tickets showed CHNSE . These codes continued in use when the Network Railcard was introduced in its place, until the major change in June 2002. When the "new" Network Railcard was introduced, with the £10.00 minimum fare and altered child discount, there were still a large number of "old" Network Railcards in use, with no minimum fare restriction and £1.00 flat fares for children. A method of distinguishing these on tickets had to be developed. ATOC introduced
2088-408: A supplement ticket could be bought to upgrade a discounted Standard Class ticket to First Class at weekends). On weekdays, journeys had to start after 10.00am, but there were no time restrictions at weekends or on Bank Holidays . Up to three adults could accompany the railcard holder and gain the same discount, while up to four accompanying children could travel for a £1.00 flat fare. This version of
2204-474: A working railway, in 1948 the line was principally a tourist attraction . British Rail operated the line using steam locomotives long after the withdrawal of standard-gauge steam. The line's three steam locomotives were the only ones to receive TOPS serial numbers and be painted in BR Rail Blue livery with the double arrow logo. The Vale of Rheidol Railway was privatised in 1989 and continues to operate as
2320-546: A year later when the BTC was abolished the name of the force was amended to the British Transport Police. This name and its role within policing on the rail network was continued post-1994. Despite its nationalisation in 1947 "as one of the 'commanding heights' of the economy", according to some sources British Rail was not profitable for most (if not all) of its history. Newspapers reported that as recently as
2436-641: Is because the faster route (via Westbury ) was (and still is) available from Exeter to London and Reading; it was wholly outside the Network SouthEast area, and higher fares applied to it than to the route via the West of England Main Line. The following extensions have been made at various times since the scheme was introduced: The London & South East map shows the boundary of the Network Railcard area as of 2019. British Rail British Railways ( BR ), which from 1965 traded as British Rail ,
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#17327868529472552-474: Is charged differently at the Gatwick Express gateline at London Victoria station compared to other platforms which Southern services use. In May 2013, the Chairman of Gatwick Airport, Roy McNulty , criticised the Gatwick Express service for its overcrowding and old rolling stock. He said that the train service sometimes "at times veers towards Third World conditions" and that it gives air passengers arriving in
2668-683: Is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Gatwick Express route of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise . Trains have regularly served Gatwick Airport since the opening of its rebuilt railway station in May 1958. Prior to the 1980s, these services were relatively slow and without any particular priority; this led to the Gatwick Liaison Group advocating for
2784-689: The Beeching cuts . Trunk routes were considered to be the most important, and so electrification of the Great Eastern Main Line from London to Norwich was completed between 1976 and 1986 and on the East Coast Main Line from London to Edinburgh between 1985 and 1990. Train manufacturer British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) produced the capable InterCity 125 and Sprinter sets, the introduction of which improved intercity and regional railways, respectively, as well as
2900-534: The Big Four British railway companies along with some other (but not all) smaller railways. Profitability of the railways became a pressing concern during the 1950s, leading to multiple efforts to bolster performance, including some line closures. The 1955 Modernisation Plan formally directed a process of dieselisation and electrification to take place; accordingly, steam locomotives had been entirely replaced by diesel and electric traction (except for
3016-584: The Brighton Main Line is part of a permitted route are valid on the Gatwick Express service as with all other Govia Thameslink Railway services, the only exclusion being some tickets from London to stations south of Gatwick routed Not Gatwick Express . Historically, standard Gatwick Express services did not charge penalty fares and permitted tickets to be purchased on board at no extra charge. Journeys to or from stations south of Gatwick were subject to penalty fares as normal. This rule applied to
3132-526: The Gatwick Liaison Group to discuss matters of mutual interest. A subsidiary of this entity, the Gatwick Promotion Group, under the chairmanship of the airport's public relations manager David Hurst, was formed to market the airport. It was a long-term aim of the group to have a non-stop service between the airport and central London in order to counter the perceived distance from the capital, for both domestic and overseas passengers. One of
3248-689: The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and the 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 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
3364-621: 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 nationalisation . The Railway Executive was conscious that some lines on the (then very dense) network were unprofitable and hard to justify socially, and
3480-511: The Railway Executive . The Executive attempted to introduce a modern Art Deco -style curved logo, which could also serve as the standard for station signage totems. BR eventually adopted the common branding of the BTC as its first corporate logo, a lion astride a spoked wheel, designed for the BTC by Cecil Thomas ; on the bar overlaid across the wheel, the BTC's name was replaced with the words "British Railways". This logo, nicknamed
3596-968: The Secretary of State for Transport announced in October 2012 that the process would be put on hold pending the results of a review. With the last franchise expiring on 25 July 2015, the South Central franchise merged with the Thameslink Great Northern franchise to create Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern . This is operated by Govia Thameslink Railway , which is also owned by Southern's parent company, Govia . The Gatwick Express brand identity has been retained. Oyster cards and contactless payment cards have been accepted for travel between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport since January 2016. On 30 March 2020, all Gatwick Express services were suspended until further notice under
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3712-583: The Secretary of State for Transport , and is now employed as a generic symbol on street signs in Great Britain denoting railway stations. 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),
3828-417: 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: This
3944-562: The Watercress Line at Alton . Although most are operated solely as leisure amenities, some also provide educational resources, and a few have ambitions to restore commercial services over routes abandoned by the nationalised industry. Gatwick Express Gatwick Express is an express rail passenger service between London Victoria , Gatwick Airport , Haywards Heath and Brighton in South East England . It
4060-476: The narrow-gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway tourist line) by 1968. On 1 January 1963, the British Railways Board was created to manage the railways as a successor to the British Transport Commission. It was during the 1960s that perhaps the most substantial changes were made. Seeking to reduce rail subsidies , one-third of the network and over half of all stations were permanently closed under
4176-484: The privatisation of British Rail . Following completion of the privatisation process in 1997, responsibility for track, signalling and stations was transferred to Railtrack (later brought under public control as Network Rail ) while services were run by a variety of train operating companies . At the end of the process, any remaining obligations of British Rail were transferred to BRB (Residuary) Limited . The British Rail Double Arrow logo remains in place, now owned by
4292-604: The "Cycling Lion", was applied from 1948 to 1956 to the sides of locomotives, while the ‘hot dog’ design was adopted for smaller station name signs, known officially as ‘lamp tablets’ and coloured for the appropriate BR region, using Gill Sans lettering first adopted by the LNER from 1929. In 1956, the BTC was granted a heraldic achievement by the College of Arms and the Lord Lyon , and then BTC chairman Brian Robertson wanted
4408-401: The 1950s decisions for the "beleaguered" condition of the railway system at that time. 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
4524-534: The 1955 programme (costing £1.2 billion), but did so largely for political reasons. 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
4640-588: The 1990s, public rail subsidy was counted as profit; as early as 1961, British Railways were losing £300,000 a day. Although the company was considered the sole public-transport option in many rural areas, the Beeching cuts made buses the only public transport available in some rural areas. Despite increases in traffic congestion and road fuel prices beginning to rise in the 1990s, British Rail remained unprofitable. Following sectorisation, InterCity became profitable. InterCity became one of Britain's top 150 companies, providing city centre to city centre travel across
4756-613: The 2010s was objected to by the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) trade union , but the dispute was later resolved. All Gatwick Express services were suspended on 30 March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic . Limited services resumed briefly during December 2021, but were suspended again only weeks later due to redevelopment works at Gatwick Airport station as well as COVID-related factors. A reduced service of two trains per hour resumed on 3 April 2022; full service cannot resume until work at
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4872-424: 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 million and £4 million a year, they earned only about £0.5 million. Most of
4988-797: 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 to Walsall section of the South Staffordshire line in 1993, while the Birmingham to Wolverhampton section of the Great Western Railway was closed in three phases between 1972 and 1992. Following the election of Labour in 1964, on
5104-456: The Class 442, and also feature additional luggage space, wireless internet connectivity and passenger service updates. In April 2016, drivers belonging to the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) trade union refused to pick up passengers on the new Class 387 trains. The trains are fitted with " Driver-Only Operation " (DOO) capability, meaning that the driver closes
5220-458: The DRU), this arrow device was formed of two interlocked arrows across two parallel lines, symbolising a double-track railway. It was likened to a bolt of lightning or barbed wire , and also acquired a nickname: "the arrow of indecision". A mirror image of the double arrow was used on the port side of BR-owned Sealink ferry funnels. The new BR corporate identity and double arrow were displayed at
5336-516: The December 2015 timetable, Gatwick Express began serving Brighton all day (except on Sundays), with half-hourly services in the off-peak and evenings (while the remaining services continue to terminate at Gatwick Airport). Unlike peak-time services, these call at no intermediate stations between Brighton and the airport. These services replaced the half-hourly "express" services operated by Southern (which did not call at Gatwick Airport). In May 2018,
5452-623: The Department for Transport announced that Abellio , Govia , National Express and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the new South Central franchise. On 9 June 2009, the Department for Transport announced that Govia had retained the franchise, beginning on 20 September 2009. The Department for Transport confirmed prior to the awarding of the new franchise that the Southern franchise would be merged at its conclusion in July 2015 into
5568-486: The Department for Transport announced that the Gatwick Express franchise was to be incorporated into the South Central franchise. as part of a plan to increase capacity on the Brighton Main Line . As a result, peak-time services were extended beyond Gatwick to/from Brighton from December 2008, with northbound trains running every 15 minutes in the morning peak and southbound trains to Brighton every 15 minutes in
5684-598: The Design Centre in London in early 1965, and the brand name of the organisation was shortened to "British Rail". It is now employed as a generic symbol on street signs in Great Britain denoting railway stations, and is still printed on railway tickets as part of the Rail Delivery Group 's jointly managed National Rail brand. The uniformity of BR branding continued until the process of sectorisation
5800-556: The Double Arrow symbol, which has survived to this day and serves as a generic trademark to denote railway services across Great Britain. The BR Corporate Identity Manual is noted as a piece of British design history and there are plans for it to be re-published. With its creation in 1948, British Railways was divided into regions which were initially based on the areas the former Big Four operated in; later, several lines were transferred between regions. Notably, these included
5916-539: The Earth condemned the proposals, and Reading East MP Jane Griffiths tabled an Early Day Motion in the British Parliament opposing the changes. This gained the support of 38 other MPs from all major parties. Research commissioned by Transport 2000 indicated that 90% of journeys typically made in the railcard area would no longer gain any discount (as a result of the full adult fare being £10.00 or below),
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#17327868529476032-523: The First Class supplement facility was discontinued. All other benefits remained the same, however. New ticket stock was introduced with APTIS form number RSP 4599/188 (the Network Card was BR 4599/22 and, after privatisation, RSP 4599/22). A larger and more controversial change occurred as from 2 June 2002, when the discount level was changed: a minimum adult fare of £10.00 was imposed for weekday journeys, and children now received an 81% discount on
6148-409: The Gatwick Express briefly resumed on weekdays only, but was suspended after only two weeks due to engineering works and COVID-related developments. On 3 April 2022, Gatwick Express services restarted under a seven-day timetable; however, only two services per hour were initially ran between London and Gatwick instead of four per hour as they were prior to the pandemic. Govia Thameslink Railway attributed
6264-613: The London area; Provincial (renamed Regional Railways in 1989) responsible for all other passenger services. In the metropolitan counties local services were managed by the Passenger Transport Executives . Provincial was the most subsidised (per passenger km) of the three sectors; upon formation, its costs were four times its revenue . During the 1980s British Rail ran the Rail Riders membership club aimed at 5- to 15-year-olds. Because British Railways
6380-577: The UK using one of the machines was at Upminster station on 21 March 2007. Before the rail network was privatised, British Rail introduced several discount cards through the APTIS that were available to certain demographics, issued either by National or Regional schemes: The narrow-gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway in Ceredigion, Wales, became part of British Railways at nationalisation. Although built as
6496-664: The United Kingdom a bad first impression of the UK, and called for major improvements. Southern responded by stating that it had provided some 20,000 extra peak-hour seats every week on the London-Brighton line. In August 2018, Govia Thameslink Railway was directed by the Advertising Standards Authority (an independent advertising regulator) to remove claims of a 30-minute journey time between London and Gatwick due to poor performance on
6612-503: The airport station is complete. During the early 1950s, Gatwick Airport expanded substantially, leading to Gatwick railway station being rebuilt and integrated into the airport's terminal via an upper level concourse designed by British Rail Southern Region . On 27 May 1958, the rebuilt station, Gatwick Airport , opened with a regular train service. Initially, the rail service was provided entirely by standard London to Brighton stopping services; however, more trains began to call with
6728-624: The boundaries of the railcard area. Since then, some small extensions have been made. The original boundaries were: All other main lines and branches south and east of these were included, except the Gatwick Express service between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport. The exception on the West of England Main Line related to tickets issued from or to Pinhoe , Exeter Central and Exeter St Davids stations. Discounted tickets could be bought to or from these stations provided they were not for journeys to, from or via London or Reading. This
6844-501: The card has always been valid for a year's unlimited frequency of use. It can be purchased by any person aged 16 or over from any staffed National Rail station or Rail Appointed Travel Agent, by completing an application form - no photographic identification or other documentation is needed to buy or use the card. It is one of a number of concessionary fare schemes available on the British railway system . The Network SouthEast brand
6960-552: 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. A small number of stations and lines closed under the Beeching programme have been reopened, with further reopenings proposed. A second Beeching report, "The Development of the Major Trunk Routes", followed in 1965. This did not recommend closures as such but outlined
7076-558: The doors using CCTV and decides that it is safe to move off, rather than a guard. DOO had been used on the previous 10-car Class 442, but the union claimed that extending this to 12-car trains put too much pressure on the driver and was unsafe. In response, GTR took legal action, and the union ultimately dropped the claim. The Gatwick Express branded fleet is maintained at Lovers Walk Depot with stabling facilities provided at Stewarts Lane depot. Some classified overhaul work has also been undertaken at Hornsey EMU Depot taking advantage of
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#17327868529477192-447: The early 1970s, and made the option of travelling to Gatwick from London on the service lack appeal to those who knew better. At first the service from Bognor Regis, which by this stage only stopped at East Croydon , was branded Rapid City Link . During 1975, British Airports Authority airport director John Mulkern, British Caledonian Airways chairman Adam Thomson and British Rail's Southern Region regional manager Bob Reid, formed
7308-505: The early 1970s. Tickets issued from British Rail's APTIS system had a considerable amount of information presented in a consistent, standard format. The design for all tickets was created by Colin Goodall . This format has formed the basis for all subsequent ticket issuing systems introduced on the railway network – ticket-office-based, self-service and conductor-operated machines alike. APTIS survived in widespread use for twenty years but, in
7424-490: The early 1990s): In addition, the non-passenger sectors were: 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. 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
7540-495: The early 2000s, was largely replaced by more modern PC-based ticketing systems. Some APTIS machines in the Greater London area were modified as APTIS-ANT (with no obvious difference to the ticket issued) to make them Oyster card compatible. The last APTIS machines were removed at the end of 2006 as there was no option to upgrade them to accept Chip and PIN credit card payments. The last APTIS-ANT ticket to be issued in
7656-592: The evening peak. This change doubled the number of London-to-Brighton express trains during peak periods. Additional calls were made at Haywards Heath , Wivelsfield , Burgess Hill , Hassocks and/or Preston Park ; the stopping pattern for northbound services was not regular but all stations received at least one train a day, while all services called at Haywards Heath; the southbound services were more structured, with all services calling at Haywards Heath and half-hourly services for Burgess Hill, Hassocks and Preston Park (no southbound trains served Wivelsfield). As part of
7772-402: The figures in both this and the original plan were produced for political reasons and not based on detailed analysis. 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: The government appeared to endorse
7888-464: The first successes of the group was to persuade the British Rail board to redevelop Gatwick station by building a raft over the platforms, and this was opened by British Rail chairman Peter Parker in 1980. In May 1984, the non-stop Gatwick Express service began, using Class 73s with Mark 2 carriages . Later, the duties were taken over by Class 488 and Class 489 . A 30-minute journey time
8004-492: The following codes accordingly, and uploaded them to all ticket issuing systems in mid-2002: By August 2003 (18 May 2002 + 15 months), no "old" Network Railcards remained in use, and ATOC eventually stopped using the new codes on ticket issuing systems, reverting to NSE and CHNSE instead; however, the codes NR02A and NR02C are still used in paper and online forms of the National Fares Manuals issued to
8120-473: The following year, and a new structure was brought into effect by the Transport Act 1962. This abolished the commission and replaced it by several separate boards. These included a British Railways Board, which took over on 1 January 1963. Following semi-secret discussions on railway finances by the government-appointed Stedeford Committee in 1961, one of its members, Dr Richard Beeching , was offered
8236-538: The form of the 442 (5WES) Wessex Electrics were introduced. However, figures such as the Chairman of Gatwick Airport, Roy McNulty , publicly criticised Gatwick Express, claiming its services to be overcrowded and the rolling stock outdated. In July 2015, Southern including the Gatwick Express service was merged into Govia Thameslink Railway. Since January 2016, both Oyster cards and contactless payment cards have been accepted for travel between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport. The introduction of Class 387/2s during
8352-689: The former 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 The North Eastern Region was merged with the Eastern Region in 1967. 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
8468-647: The four old railway police forces, the London Transport Police, canal police and several minor dock forces. In 1957 the Maxwell-Johnson enquiry found that policing requirements for the railway could not be met by civil forces and that it was essential that a specialist police force be retained. On 1 January 1962, the British Transport Commission Police ceased to cover British Waterways property and exactly
8584-483: The franchise starting on 28 April 1996. In April 2007, the Department for Transport announced that the Gatwick Express franchise was to be incorporated into the South Central franchise and the services transferred to Southern on 22 June 2008. This reorganisation was part of a plan to use Gatwick Express services to provide extra capacity on the Brighton Main Line south of Gatwick Airport. On 20 August 2008,
8700-495: The full adult fare (equivalent to a 60% on the full child fare, and subject to a minimum fare of £1.00) instead of the former £1.00 flat fare for all journeys. This meant that on a weekday, holders would receive no discount if the standard adult full fare was £10.00 or less, and a discount of less than 34% on fares between £10.05 and £15.00. Longer journeys for children would also become more expensive. Transport pressure group Transport 2000 and environmental organisation Friends of
8816-588: The go-ahead, including the East Coast Main Line , the spur from Doncaster to Leeds , and the lines in East Anglia out of London Liverpool Street to Norwich and King's Lynn . The list with approximate completion dates includes: In the Southwest, the South West Main Line from Bournemouth to Weymouth was electrified along with other infill 750 V DC third rail electrification in
8932-413: The introduction of the summer timetable in June 1958. One of the key elements of this expanded service was the extension of Three Bridges to Bognor Regis stopping services to start and terminate at London Victoria . These trains would run through a reversible platform at Gatwick where a portion would detach and wait in the platform for passengers until the next up train from Bognor Regis was attached and
9048-515: The late 1970s, and reached a low in 1982. Network improvements included completing electrification of the Great Eastern Main Line from London to Norwich between 1976 and 1986 and the East Coast Main Line from London to Edinburgh between 1985 and 1990. A mainline route closure during this period of relative network stability was the 1,500 V DC -electrified Woodhead line between Manchester and Sheffield : passenger service ceased in 1970 and goods in 1981. A further British Rail report from
9164-493: The line. Govia Thameslink Railway operates a fleet of Gatwick Express branded Class 387/2s which it received in 2016. GTR placed a £145.2 million order with Bombardier for 27 sets of the type in November 2014 to replace the existing Class 442 Wessex Electrics . The type underwent testing in July 2015, and began to enter passenger service in February 2016. The new trains have 12 carriages compared with 10 for
9280-483: The logo with the name in a circle was also used on locomotives. The zeal for modernisation in the Beeching era drove the next rebranding exercise, and BR management wished to divest the organisation of anachronistic, heraldic motifs and develop a corporate identity to rival that of London Transport . BR's design panel set up a working party led by Milner Gray of the Design Research Unit . They drew up
9396-422: The mechanically similar Class 458 units used by South West Trains in order to provide more stock at peak times. The Gatwick Express service received 17 refurbished Class 442 Wessex Electrics from South West Trains from December 2008, followed by a further seven through leases in 2009, after Southern retained the South Central franchise. The additional rolling stock allowed Southern to provide extra capacity on
9512-402: The nation from Aberdeen and Inverness in the north to Poole and Penzance in the south. In 1979, the incoming Conservative Government led by Margaret Thatcher was viewed as anti-railway, and did not want to commit public money to the railways. However, British Rail was allowed to spend its own money with government approval. This led to a number of electrification projects being given
9628-664: The nationalisation of the network as part of a policy of nationalising public services by Clement Attlee 's 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. There were also joint railways 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
9744-611: The old stock remained in service until 2005. To replace the last of the old stock, a pair of Class 458 Junipers were transferred from South West Trains for use as spares. They remained in their existing livery but with Gatwick Express branding and their seating was modified from high density 3+2 seating configuration to 2+2 configuration, some seating being replaced with luggage racks. However, these units never entered service and returned to South West Trains. The Class 460s were withdrawn from service in September 2012 to be merged with
9860-644: The post of chairing the BTC while it lasted and then became the first Chairman of the British Railways Board. 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. The proposals, which became known as the Beeching cuts , were dramatic. A third of all passenger services and more than 4,000 of
9976-511: The proposed Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise. In March 2012, the Department for Transport announced that Abellio , FirstGroup , Govia , MTR and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the new franchise. The Invitation to Tender was to have been issued in October 2012, and the successful bidder announced in spring 2013. However, in the wake of the InterCity West Coast refranchising process collapsing,
10092-488: The public. 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. The 1980s and 1990s saw the closure of some railways which had survived
10208-536: The rail network at off-peak times for leisure purposes was achieved. Although ownership had declined to around 360,000 by the time of the £10.00 minimum fare change in 2002, extra ticket sales totalling approximately £70 million were still generated per year. (For comparison, total ticket sales across the whole British railway network, including peak, off-peak and other tickets, are approximately £3.5 billion.) Ownership of railcards has stayed fairly stable since then; and with 360,000 sold at £20 each (£28 in 2011), sales of
10324-401: The railcard could be issued for either one person or two people. On a two-person "joint-holder" ticket, either or both of the named holders could travel - that is, the card was transferable between the two. The first major change was made as from 28 September 1997. At this time, the name Network Railcard was adopted; the joint-holder option was removed; the price was increased to £20.00; and
10440-429: The railcards themselves bring in more than £7 million per year, before the additional revenue from journeys made with them is taken into account. The Railcard scheme is administered by the Rail Delivery Group on behalf of the following train operating companies (TOCs), some or all of whose services are within the boundaries of the railcard area: When Network SouthEast was created in 1986, its boundaries represented
10556-503: The railway network between 2000 and 2002, Network Railcards bought in the early months of 2002 (until 18 May 2002) were issued for 15 months for the price of 12. The Heathrow Express service between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport, which was introduced in 1998, was excluded until March 2006. Since then, however, a 34% discount has been available on adult tickets in Express Class (the equivalent of Standard Class), subject to
10672-458: The return of road haulage to the private sector; however, BR retained its own (smaller) in-house road haulage service. The report, latterly known as the "Modernisation Plan", 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
10788-432: The rolling stock it had inherited from its predecessor railway companies. Initially, an express blue (followed by GWR -style Brunswick green in 1952) was used on passenger locomotives, and LNWR -style lined black for mixed-traffic locomotives, but later green was more widely adopted. Development of a corporate identity for the organisation was hampered by the competing ambitions of the British Transport Commission and
10904-495: The same trains that stop at Burgess Hill. London – Gatwick is one of the few journeys on the UK National Rail network for which tickets restricting travel to certain brands of service are available in addition to the option of standard inter-available fares for immediate travel as on all flows shared by different National Rail operators (although some restrictions may apply on cheaper tickets). Through tickets for which
11020-525: The six weekday services each way that start or end at Brighton . However, in December 2011 electronic ticket gates were installed at Gatwick Airport and London Victoria platforms 13 and 14 (where the Gatwick Express arrives and departs), meaning that tickets can no longer be bought on the train and must be purchased either in advance or at the station before boarding. London Oyster Cards and contactless cards have been accepted for travel since January 2016 between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport. The fare
11136-529: The south. In 1988, the line to Aberdare was reopened. A British Rail advertisement ("Britain's Railway", directed by Hugh Hudson ) featured some of the best-known railway structures in Britain, including the Forth Rail Bridge , Royal Albert Bridge , Glenfinnan Viaduct and London Paddington station . London Liverpool Street station was rebuilt, opened by Queen Elizabeth II , and a new station
11252-468: The southbound direction between 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm. As of May 2023, the off-peak Monday-Saturday, with frequencies in 'trains per hour' (tph), consists of: On Sundays, Gatwick Express operates a half-hourly shuttle service between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport only. From privatisation until December 2008, the service pattern was one train every 15 minutes non-stop between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport . In April 2007,
11368-406: The stopping pattern for peak-time services was changed: all calls at Wivelsfield and Preston Park stations were withdrawn, Hassocks is now served by all peak Gatwick Express services every 15 minutes, while Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath are served half-hourly (by alternate services) in both directions. Services to and from Preston Park were restored in May 2019, though, with half-hourly calls made by
11484-441: The train operating companies, Rail Appointed Travel Agents and other ticket-issuing locations. The price of the railcard increased over the years, and different prices were sometimes charged for "joint holder" status and according to whether Senior Railcards or Young Persons Railcards were held as well. As can be seen, discounts of various sizes were given until 1997 to holders of Young Persons and Senior Railcards who wanted to buy
11600-497: The train would depart for Victoria. For this service British Rail used a small batch of seven Class 402 2HALs in order to work with the trains used on the Bognor Regis services, suitable for airport link use because of their larger luggage space. This situation lasted until the early 1970s when increased passenger and luggage travel to the station was rendering the old system obsolete. British Rail therefore decided to adapt
11716-619: 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. Policing on (and within) the network was carried out British Transport Police (BTP). In 1947 the Transport Act created the British Transport Commission (BTC), which unified the railway system. On 1 January 1949, the British Transport Commission Police (BTCP) were created, formed from
11832-518: The unit's dual voltage capability. Until 1984 the service was operated by Class 423 slam-door stock, coded 4-VEG (G for Gatwick). From May 1984 Mark 2F stock released from Midland Main Line duties coupled to a Class 489 Gatwick Luggage Van took over the services, hauled by Class 73 locomotives. A franchise commitment by National Express was the replacement of these with new stock, and eight Class 460 Junipers started to be delivered from January 1999. Because of reliability problems, some of
11948-423: The unsuccessful Advanced Passenger Train (APT). Gradually, passengers replaced freight as the main source of business. From 1982, under sectorisation , the regions were gradually replaced by "business sectors", which were originally responsible for marketing and other commercial matters when they were first created but had taken over entirely by 1990. During the 1980s and 1990s, the British Government directed
12064-402: The usual Railcard weekday time restrictions. In May 2009 the Network Railcard terms were revised again, making the card both more expensive and raising the minimum fare for a discount to £13.00. Until July 2014, the Network Railcard was not valid on the regular Gatwick Express service, and was only valid on those running to Brighton. It is now valid on all Gatwick Express services, subject to
12180-459: The usual weekday time restrictions. On the APTIS , PORTIS/SPORTIS and other computerised ticket issuing systems, a "status code" field is provided on each ticket issued. This is left blank if an adult is travelling at full (undiscounted) fare; but if any discount or other special condition applies, a code of up to five letters appears. Adult tickets issued with the original Network Card displayed
12296-414: The work to redevelop Gatwick Airport station for this cutback. Gatwick Express operates an express commuter and airport transfer service between London Victoria , Gatwick Airport , Haywards Heath and Brighton . Between 6:00 am and 9:00 am on weekdays, northbound services call additionally at Preston Park , Hassocks and Burgess Hill . Services stop additionally at the same stations in
12412-493: Was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission , it became an independent statutory corporation in January 1963, when it was formally renamed the British Railways Board . British Railways was formed on 1 January 1948 as a result of the Transport Act 1947 , which nationalised
12528-518: Was advertised, although some journeys would take nearer 35 minutes, especially during peak hours. Gatwick Express was the first portion of British Rail's InterCity sector to be converted into a separate train operating unit, ready for franchising as a private business with the assets transferred to Gatwick Express Limited in March 1994. The Gatwick Express franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to National Express with
12644-583: Was constructed at Stansted Airport in 1991. The following year, the Maesteg line was reopened. In 1988, the Windsor Link Line, Manchester was constructed and has proven to be an important piece of infrastructure. Before the introduction of APTIS (Accountancy and Passenger Ticket Issuing System), British Rail used the Edmondson railway ticket , first introduced in the 1840s and phased out in
12760-418: Was introduced in the 1980s. Certain BR operations such as Inter-City , Network SouthEast , Regional Railways or Rail Express Systems began to adopt their own identities, introducing logos and colour schemes which were essentially variants of the British Rail brand. Eventually, as sectorisation developed into a prelude to privatisation, the unified British Rail brand disappeared, with the notable exception of
12876-415: Was introduced to what had been the London & South East sector of British Rail on 10 June 1986. The railcard was then introduced on 29 September 1986, under the name Network Card . It offered a 34% discount on all off-peak fares for journeys wholly within the Network SouthEast area. Tickets valid at peak times, such as Day Returns and Open Returns, were excluded, as were First Class tickets (however,
12992-422: 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. 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. Following nationalisation in 1948, British Railways began to adapt the corporate liveries on
13108-550: Was the first real subdivision of BR since its inception in 1949, and likely saved many lines earmarked for closure, notably the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway , which now forms part of the Merseyrail network. Upon sectorisation in 1982, three passenger sectors were created: InterCity , operating principal express services; London & South East (renamed Network SouthEast in 1986) operating commuter services in
13224-522: Was the replacement of the inherited rolling stock with new-build trains for Gatwick Express; this led to the introduction of the Class 460 Junipers during the late 1990s and early 2000s. In June 2008, Gatwick Express ceased to exist as a separate franchise; it was merged into the Southern train operating company, although it continues to be maintained as a separate identity. Additional rolling stock in
13340-451: 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 Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street , its western boundary being Hertford East , Meldreth and Whittlesea . The former BR network, with
13456-477: Was withdrawn upon the introduction of the first Network Railcard on 28 September 1997. Gold card discount (season tickets) Holders of annual season tickets for journeys within the Network Rail area, including on London Underground, are issued with a "Gold Card" which gives them similar privileges to the Network Railcard, as well as being able to purchase a Network Railcard for a friend or family member for
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