102-410: Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982 that existed until 1997, two years after Privatisation of British Rail . The sector was originally called Provincial . Regional Railways was the most subsidised (per passenger km) of the three sectors. Upon formation, its costs were four times its revenue . The sector was broken up into eight franchises during
204-479: A Class 43 power car at each end. East Coast – InterCity 125 HST services started in 1977: Typically 2 first-class, a Restaurant Kitchen, Buffet Standard and 4 standard-class British Rail Mark 3 carriages with a Class 43 power car at each end. These progressively replaced Class 55 "Deltics" which were finally withdrawn in 1981. Later, as catering needs changed, the Restaurant Kitchen was replaced by
306-467: 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
408-521: 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,
510-485: 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
612-802: A DVT at the London end of the train. Before DVTs were introduced, larger fleets of Classes 81–87 were used to haul the trains conventionally. Class 50s operated in pairs north of Preston until electrification was completed in 1974. Midland – Class 45 , 46 and 47 locomotives hauling Mark 1 and Mark 2 carriages. HSTs replaced the loco-hauled trains in the 1980s. Great Western – InterCity 125s from new, which replaced Class 50s, which in turn, replaced Class 52s . Other services were also operated by Mark 2 carriages hauled by Class 47s and 50s; later these were transferred to Network SouthEast and replaced by Class 165 DMUs. Great Eastern – Class 47 diesels hauled Mark 1 and Mark 2 carriages before electrification of
714-411: 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
816-854: A fifth standard-class coach. InterCity 225 : a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer (DVT) operating in push-pull mode; introduced in 1990, with electrification completed in 1991. This saw most of the HSTs transferred to Great Western , Midland and Cross-Country routes, but some remained for the runs to/from Aberdeen, Inverness and Hull. West Coast – London Euston to Wolverhampton used Class 86 electric locomotives hauling Mark 2 carriages and operated at 100 mph. Euston to Glasgow services used Class 86 , Class 87 , and Class 90 locomotives hauling Mark 3 coaches and operated at 110 mph. Euston to Holyhead services used Class 47 hauled Mark 2s or HSTs. From 1988, West Coast trains operated in push-pull mode with
918-521: A full history). In 1982, the British Railways Board divided its operations into a number of sectors ( sectorisation ). The sector responsible for long-distance express trains assumed the brand-name InterCity, although many routes that were previously operated as InterCity services were assigned to other sectors (e.g. London to King's Lynn services were transferred to the commuter sector Network SouthEast ). InterCity derives from
1020-437: 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
1122-414: 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
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#17327800647581224-571: A matching DVT , is used for the trains. The electric locomotives used for the tours are painted in the matching InterCity paint scheme. Electric locomotives allocated to these trains include British Rail Class 86s , Class 87s & Class 90s . The unique Class 89 No 89001 is planned to be used to haul InterCity trains following the completion of its restoration. Most diesel-worked trains use locos which are not painted in InterCity livery. Although allocated for use on diesel and electric railtours,
1326-531: A network of ' Alphaline ' services was introduced elsewhere in the country. By the end of the 1980s, passenger numbers had increased and costs had been reduced to two-and-a-half times revenue. The British Rail Class 323 electric multiple units were built by Hunslet Transportation Projects and Holec Ridderkerk between 1992 and 1995, although mock-ups and prototypes were built and tested in 1990 and 1991. Forty-three 3-car units were built for inner-suburban services in and around Birmingham and Manchester, including
1428-477: 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
1530-752: 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
1632-543: 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
1734-474: 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
1836-546: 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
1938-706: The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (Centro) livery for the West Midlands-based sets, and the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) livery for Manchester-based sets. After privatisation, many vehicles continued to carry the basic RR colour scheme but with the addition of different branding, e.g. Central Trains . The final British railway vehicle to carry Regional Railways livery
2040-689: 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
2142-534: 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
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#17327800647582244-570: The Cross-City Line in the Birmingham area and services to the new Manchester Airport railway station . Initially, many vehicles carried standard British Rail blue livery. From 1986, Provincial adopted a version of the prototype Class 150 livery: aircraft blue over white, with a light blue stripe at waist level. All new units, plus a few existing ones, such as selected Class 304 EMUs , received it. Some units and coaches received
2346-519: The Leyland National , in classes numbered in the 14X range . Not long after introduction to service, large numbers of them suffered from a number of technical problems, particularly with their gearboxes . In Cornwall it was found that their long wheelbase caused intolerable squealing noises and high tyre wear on tight curves, and they quickly had to be replaced by the old DMUs. The solution lay elsewhere, although, after much modification,
2448-689: 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
2550-621: 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
2652-511: 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
2754-639: 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),
2856-417: 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
2958-543: 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. InterCity (British Rail) InterCity (or, in the earliest days, the hyphenated Inter-City) was a brand name introduced by British Rail in 1966 for its long-haul express passenger services (see British Rail brand names for
3060-639: The metropolitan counties , local services were managed by the Passenger Transport Executives . Regional Railways inherited a diverse range of routes, comprising both express and local services. Expresses mainly ran to non-principal destinations or on less popular routes, such as Birmingham or Liverpool to Norwich, or Liverpool to Scarborough, and were chiefly operated by older locomotives and second-hand InterCity coaches. Later these services were operated by Sprinter units – mainly British Rail Class 158 on express services. There were also
3162-402: 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
Regional Railways - Misplaced Pages Continue
3264-484: 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
3366-447: The train operating companies to co-operate to continue providing a consistent InterCity network, but disagreements meant this did not occur. Great Western Trains registered the term as a British trademark and applied it to its HSTs, but the term fell into disuse before Great Western was bought by FirstGroup in 1998. Occasional services are run using 'Inter-City' branded coaches, usually where additional rolling stock has been hired, but
3468-604: 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
3570-401: 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
3672-534: 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
3774-588: 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
3876-424: 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
3978-797: 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
4080-458: 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
4182-545: 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
Regional Railways - Misplaced Pages Continue
4284-556: 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
4386-482: The InterCity Sector. In use there were problems with the light colour showing dirt on the diesel HSTs and so dark grey was extended from the roof to cover louvres near the top of the power car body, and the logotype was changed from an outline to solid white to make it more striking. The use of the term 'Executive' was dropped in 1985 and the livery was then referred to as just 'InterCity'. A new logotype
4488-529: 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
4590-709: The Pacers eventually proved themselves in traffic. BR needed something midway between the Pacers and the British Rail Class 210s . In 1984/1985, two experimental DMU designs were put into service: the British Rail Engineering Limited built British Rail Class 150 and Metro-Cammell built British Rail Class 151 . Both of these used hydraulic transmission and were less bus-like than the Pacers . After trials, British Rail Class 150
4692-577: 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
4794-674: The West Coast Main Line still retain Swallow motifs in 2017. Abellio ScotRail announced that it is to revive the InterCity name on new services operated by refurbished High Speed Train sets, linking the seven cities in Scotland, from mid-2018. The train operating company Locomotive Services Limited has begun to reuse the InterCity name for its numerous programmes of electric-worked or occasional diesel railtours. An Intercity-liveried set of first-class Mk3 coaches, including
4896-459: The West Coast were intended to be marketed under the brand InterCity 175, again referring to those trains' top operating speed of 110 mph, roughly equivalent to 175 km/h, although this idea was subsequently dropped. All InterCity day services ran with a buffet car and the majority ran at speeds of 100 mph or above. If expresses on other sectors are included, there was a period in
4998-442: The blue and grey livery. The coaches carried an 'Inter-City 125' logo by the left-hand door. The part of the power car nearest the passenger coaches was also painted blue and grey, but most of the power car was painted yellow with a wide blue panel which lined up with the grey on the coaches. On this blue panel was a large 'Inter-City 125' logo, albeit in outline rather than solid white. The first production Advanced Passenger Train
5100-494: The buffet car replaced the restaurant. Other routes saw Mark 2 carriages hauled by Class 47 diesel locomotives. Services operating north of Birmingham on the West Coast main line switched to electric traction using Class 86 and Class 90 locomotives. DVTs were not used. Gatwick Express – Originally used dedicated Class 423 electric multiple units as part of the Southern Region . Prior to being transferred to InterCity,
5202-552: 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
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#17327800647585304-505: 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
5406-570: The early 1980s, large numbers of diesel multiple unit (DMU) and locomotive-hauled coaches were found to contain asbestos . Removing this would be a considerable cost and generating no extra revenue, which, coupled with the increasingly unreliable old locomotives and DMUs, prompted BR to look for a new generation of diesel multiple units. The prototype British Rail Class 210 , in service on a trial basis since 1981, were considered too expensive to be put into production, so BR looked elsewhere for new designs. The first, Pacers , used bus technology from
5508-650: The early 1990s when British Rail operated more 100 mph services per day than any other country. Special discounted fares, including the Super Advance and the APEX, were available on InterCity if booked ahead. HST services were first introduced in 1976 on the Great Western Main Line from London Paddington to Bristol , Cardiff and Swansea . Formations consisted of 2 first-class, a Restaurant Buffet and 4 standard-class Mark 3 carriages with
5610-490: 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
5712-495: 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
5814-417: The ferry to Hook of Holland ), Ipswich, Stowmarket, Diss, Norwich. Gatwick Express : London Victoria, Gatwick Airport. British Rail introduced a new corporate livery in 1965. The basic blue colour was relieved on long-distance coaches by a light grey panel around the windows. The fronts of locomotives and multiple-unit trains were painted yellow to improve visibility, and this was often wrapped around on to
5916-402: 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
6018-473: 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
6120-740: 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
6222-647: 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
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#17327800647586324-588: 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
6426-527: The internal Scottish Region local services and expresses, the latter including the Edinburgh - Glasgow push-pull service. Local services ran on both main lines and branch lines and were often operated by first generation diesel multiple units dating back to the 1950s. Longer distance trains were often formed of older coaches and locomotives of British Rail Class 31 , British Rail Class 40 , and British Rail Class 45 , which were of similar vintage. In
6528-515: 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
6630-460: The livery with either ScotRail or Regional Railways branding. The British Rail Class 158s , introduced in 1989, appeared in Express livery: dark grey window surrounds over light grey, with light and dark blue stripes at waist level. This colour scheme was also applied to some British Rail Class 156 units around privatisation. The British Rail Class 323 EMUs introduced in 1994 appeared in
6732-462: The locomotive would always be at the country end of the train. The only exception was the London to Norwich route. As Crown Point depot is to the south of Norwich station, the locomotives worked from the London end as this facilitated easier loco changing at Norwich if necessary. Operating trains in push-pull mode eliminated the requirement to attach locos at terminus stations in order to turn the trains around. This also saved maintenance costs and reduced
6834-483: 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
6936-483: The morning and returned in the afternoon, and became part of the railway lore of the West Midlands . West Midlands residents always believed that it was the success of this one train that led to the adoption of the name as a British Rail brand in 1966. This belief was supported by the timeline: in 1966 The Inter-City was heading towards its ultimate demise in 1967, when the mainline London-West Midlands service
7038-402: 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
7140-477: The nation from Aberdeen and Inverness in the north to Poole and Penzance in the south. InterCity had the following divisions: Note: before 1974 services also ran from Nottingham to Glasgow . InterCity operated High Speed Trains (HST) under the brand-name InterCity 125 , as well as InterCity 225s for the electric high-speed trains operated on the East Coast route. The "125" referred to
7242-664: 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
7344-420: The new branding would appear on 'all InterCity trains that meet high quality standards'. The logotype was omitted from some older locomotives that were otherwise carrying InterCity livery, although some locomotives that predominantly worked in Scotland were given a ScotRail logotype. During the privatisation of British Rail , InterCity's services were divided up into several franchises. Initial plans were for
7446-2435: The number of locomotives and carriages needed to operate the services. East Coast Main Line : London Kings Cross, Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark North Gate, Retford, Doncaster, Hull, Wakefield Westgate, Leeds, York, Northallerton, Darlington, Durham, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Dunbar, Edinburgh, Glasgow Central, Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness. West Coast Main Line : London Euston, Watford Junction, Bletchley, Milton Keynes Central (opened 1982), Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Crewe, Macclesfield, Wilmslow, Stockport, Manchester Piccadilly, Runcorn, Liverpool Lime Street, Chester, Llandudno Junction, Bangor, Holyhead, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Carlisle, Motherwell, Glasgow Central. Great Western Main Line : London Paddington, Reading, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Bath Spa, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Weston-super-Mare, Newport, Cardiff Central, Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway, Neath, Swansea, Taunton, Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St David's, Newton Abbot, Paignton, Totnes, Plymouth, Bodmin Parkway, St Austell, Truro, Penzance. Midland Main Line : London St Pancras, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Leeds, York, Scarborough. Cross Country Route : Penzance, Truro, St Austell, Plymouth, Totnes, Paignton, Torquay, Newton Abbot, Exeter St. David's, Taunton, Bristol Temple Meads, Bristol Parkway, Cardiff Central, Newport, London Paddington, Poole, Bournemouth, Southampton, Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Reading, Oxford, Gloucester, Cheltenham Spa, Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield, Stockport, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Bolton, Hartford, Runcorn, Liverpool Lime Street, St Helens Central, Preston, Blackpool North, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Motherwell, Glasgow Central, Derby, Sheffield, Doncaster, Leeds, York, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Edinburgh, Kirkcaldy, Dundee, Arbroath, Aberdeen. Great Eastern Main Line : London Liverpool Street, Chelmsford, Colchester, Manningtree, Harwich International (for
7548-696: 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
7650-470: The prepositional of the Latin : inter- with City giving rise to meaning between cities . British Rail first used the term Inter-City in 1950 as the name of a train running between London Paddington and Wolverhampton Low Level . This was part of an overall policy of introducing new train names in the post World War II period. The name was applied to the business express which ran from London in
7752-403: The privatisation of British Rail and ceased to exist on 31 March 1997. 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 the London area, and Provincial (renamed Regional Railways in 1989) responsible for all other passenger services. In
7854-488: 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
7956-520: The relaunch of the InterCity Sector on 3 October 1983. This saw the coaches of the Manchester Pullman and two HSTs refurbished and repainted experimentally into the same colour scheme as the APT. The HSTs continued to carry an outline 'InterCity 125' logotype (now with no hyphen) and the large yellow area on the power car that had been a feature of the blue and grey livery. The logotype on coaches
8058-458: 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
8160-432: 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
8262-627: The route in the mid-80s. Class 86 electrics were introduced to haul trains from Liverpool Street to Ipswich from 1985, with through electric trains reaching Norwich by 1987. Mark 2 Driving Brake Standard Opens were cascaded from Scotland in the early 90s, so that trains could operate in push-pull mode. Some routes transferred to Network SouthEast, leaving London- Norwich and the London- Harwich boat-train with InterCity. Cross Country – Some routes were operated by InterCity 125s, but with only one first class carriage and standard class seats in
8364-462: The section to/from Fort William was hauled by Class 37s . The London Euston to Stranraer Harbour service worked on the same basis with a change from electric to diesel at Carlisle . The service to Holyhead saw locomotive changes at Crewe . Formations of HST and push–pull train sets would always place the driving van at the London end of the train, then two or three first-class carriages, restaurant and buffet car, and 5 standard-class carriages;
8466-673: The service only served London Victoria and Gatwick Airport. Sleepers – Originally consisted of Mark 2 or Mark 3 seating coaches with Mark 1 sleeper cars. Mark 3 sleeper cars replaced the Mark 1s in the early 1980s. DVTs were not used. The Night Riviera (Paddington-Penzance) was hauled by Class 47s while the Euston-Scotland sleepers were usually hauled by Class 86, 87 or 90 electric locomotives as far as Edinburgh and Glasgow. The sections north of Edinburgh were hauled by Class 37 or 47 diesel locomotives to/from Aberdeen and Inverness, while
8568-450: The service ran from London Victoria calling at Clapham Junction , East Croydon (sometimes via Redhill ) and Gatwick Airport running via Haywards Heath to Brighton . The service was transferred to InterCity with Class 73 electro-diesel locomotives (electric third-rail current or diesel-powered) hauling Mark 2 coaches and a modified Class 414 driving motor carriage were introduced in 1984 in push-pull mode. When InterCity took over,
8670-464: The side in varying amounts. This was therefore the colour scheme used by the new Inter-City services when they were launched the following year. Coaches used on these routes later had a white 'Inter-City' logo added to the blue area near the door at the left end of each side. This was extended to show the purpose of specialist vehicles such as 'Inter-City Sleeper'. When the production High Speed Train (HST) sets entered service in 1976, they too carried
8772-529: 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
8874-669: The term is not in official use by train operators. The planned upgrade to many of Britain's former InterCity lines has been termed Intercity Express Programme . The new operators replaced the InterCity branding and liveries with their own branding. One set of Mark 2 carriages remained in InterCity livery until withdrawn by National Express East Anglia in 2005. Several locomotives and carriages have subsequently been repainted into InterCity livery. Virgin CrossCountry repainted 47826 into InterCity livery in December 2001. Some stations on
8976-470: The trains' top speed in miles per hour (mph), equivalent to 201 km/h, whereas "225" referred to the intended top speed in km/h (equivalent to 140 mph) and for signalling reasons their actual speed limit was the same 125 mph. InterCity 250 was the name given by InterCity to the proposed upgrade of the West Coast Main Line in the early 1990s. The existing trains operating on
9078-548: 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
9180-423: 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
9282-451: Was a British Rail Class 153 , which was repainted in July 2008 into East Midlands Trains livery. As part of the process of privatisation between 1994 and 1997, Regional Railways was split into several different shadow train operating units, which later became independent train operating companies: British Rail British Railways ( BR ), which from 1965 traded as British Rail ,
9384-493: 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
9486-599: Was consolidated into the newly electrified route via Rugby . British Rail introduced the Inter-City brand for long haul passenger services in 1966. The InterCity brand has also been adopted by countries in Europe . With sectorisation of British Rail in 1982 most long haul services became consolidated in the InterCity division which retained the brand. InterCity became profitable and one of Britain's top 150 companies, providing city centre to city centre travel across
9588-583: 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
9690-479: 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
9792-409: Was introduced on 1 May 1987 as part of InterCity's 21st anniversary celebrations. The colours were unchanged (although locomotives often carried less yellow than before) but locomotives, carriages and advertising received a new logotype. The word INTERCITY was presented in italic, serif upper case letters. A new swallow logo 'to symbolise grace and speed' replaced the double arrow. It was announced that
9894-405: Was positioned as before but changed to black. By May 1984 other coaches and locomotives were entering service in the dark and light grey livery. 87012 Coeur de Lion entered service with black numbers on the cab side but no logo. 73123 Gatwick Express had white numbers and a large double arrow logo on the dark grey of its bodyside, although the new Gatwick Express service was not operated by
9996-652: Was selected for production, entering service from 1987. Reliability was much improved by the new units, with depot visits being reduced from two or three times a week to fortnightly. The late 1980s and early 1990s also saw the development of secondary express services that complemented the mainline InterCity (British Rail) routes. British Rail Class 155 and British Rail Class 156 Sprinters were developed to replace locomotive-hauled trains on these services, their interiors being designed with longer distance journeys in mind. Key Scottish and Trans-Pennine routes were upgraded with new British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinters, while
10098-422: 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
10200-550: 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
10302-451: 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
10404-406: Was unveiled on 7 June 1978. It was painted in a new livery with dark grey upper body and light grey lower body separated by wide white and red bands. The roof was white to reduce solar heating, and a large 'InterCity APT' logotype was positioned on the dark grey section of the power cars – 'InterCity' had no hyphen and was solid white but the 'APT' was an outline. A new 'Executive' service was part of
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