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The privatisation of British Rail was the result of the Railways Act 1993 introduced by John Major's Conservative government. The operations of the British Railways Board (BRB) were broken up and sold off. Some "non-core" parts of the BRB's operations had already been disposed of, by the administration of Margaret Thatcher, as early as the first years of the 1980s. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Shortcut: WP:NPOVD Articles that have been linked to this page are the subject of an NPOV dispute (NPOV stands for Neutral Point Of View; see below). ... Privatization (sometimes privatisation, denationalization, or — especially in India — disinvestment) is the process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership. ... This article is about the defunct entity British Railways, which later traded as British Rail. The History of rail transport in Great Britain is covered in its own article. ... The Railways Act 1993 is the legislation introduced by John Majors Conservative government and passed in circumstances of high drama on 5 November 1993. ... For other persons named John Major, see John Major (disambiguation). ... The British Railways Board (BRB) was the governing body of British Railways (later British Rail) from 1962 until privatisation in the 1990s. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and to date only woman to hold either post. ...

Situation in 1979

Historically, the pre-nationalisation railway companies were almost entirely self-sufficient, including, for example, the production of the steel used in the manufacturing of rolling stock and rails. As a consequence of the nationalisation of the railways in 1948 some of these activities had been hived-off to other nationalised industries and institutions, e.g. "Railway Air Services Limited" was one of the forerunners of British Airways; the railways' road transport services, which had carried freight, parcels and passengers' luggage to and from railheads, ultimately became part of the National Freight Corporation, but not until 1969. Nationalization is the act of taking assets into state ownership. ... For the 1930s airline of similar name, see British Airways Ltd. ...

The preferred organisational structure in the 1970s was for the BRB to form wholly owned subsidiaries which were run at an arm's-length relationship, e.g. the railway engineering works became British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) in 1970; the ferry operations to Ireland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands were run by Sealink (U.K.) Ltd, part of the Sealink consortium, which also used ferries owned by the French national railway SNCF, the Belgian Maritime Transport Authority Regie voor maritiem transport/Regie des transports maritimes (RMT/RTM), and the Dutch Zeeland Steamship Company. However, the BRB was still directly responsible for a multitude of other functions, such as the British Transport Police, the British Rail Property Board (which was responsible not just for operational track and property, but also for thousands of miles of abandoned tracks and stations arising from the Beeching Axe and other closure programmes), a staff savings bank, convalescent homes for rail staff, and the internal railway telephone and data comms networks (the largest in the country after British Telecom's), etc. for the singer see Jacques Brel BREL stands for British Rail Engineering Limited, which was the engineering division of British Rail Categories: Stub | British Rail(ways) ... Sealink UK Ltd was a subsidiary of the British Railways Board (BRB) which ran shipping services in the UK and Ireland. ... SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français) (French National Railway Company) is a French public enterprise. ... The British Transport Police (BTP) is a non-Home Office national police service responsible for policing the railway system throughout Great Britain. ... Many railway lines were closed as a result of the Beeching Axe The Beeching Axe is an informal name for the British Governments attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running the British railway system. ... BT Group plc (which trades as just BT, and is commonly known by its former name, British Telecom) is the privatised former British state telecommunications operator. ...

In 1979 the organisational structure of the BRB's railway operations still largely reflected that of the "Big Four" private railway companies, which had been merged to create British Railways over 30 years previously. There were five Regions (Scotland being a separate region), each region being formed of several Divisions, and each division of several Areas. There was some duplication of resources in this structure, and in the early 1980s the divisional layer of management was abolished with its work being redistributed either upwards to the regions or downwards to the areas.

1980s developments

The Thatcher administration developed a policy of selling off the nationalised industries into private ownership, or privatisation. As far as the railways were concerned, the government's policy had little effect during the whole period of the Thatcher administration except in relatively small areas, as it was considered that privatising core railway operations would be too difficult.

The chain of British Transport Hotels was sold off, mainly one hotel at a time, in 1982; Sealink (UK) Limited was sold in 1984 to Sea Containers Limited, who ultimately sold the routes to their current owner, Stena Line. In 1988 British Rail Engineering Limited was split between the major engineering works, which became BREL (1988) Ltd, and the (mostly smaller) works that were used for day-to-day maintenance of rolling stock, which became British Rail Maintenance Limited (BRML). BREL (1988) Ltd was soon sold to the Swiss-Swedish conglomerate ASEA Brown-Boveri, which renamed the company ABB Transportation. A merger between ABB Transportation and Daimler Benz created ADtranz on 1 January 1996; ADtranz was subsequently taken over by the Canadian-owned conglomerate, Bombardier. British Transport Hotels (BTH) was the brand name of the hotels and catering business associated with the nationalised railway system in Great Britain from 1948 to 1983. ... Stena Line is one of the worlds largest ferry operators, with ferry services around the UK and Scandinavia. ... for the singer see Jacques Brel BREL stands for British Rail Engineering Limited, which was the engineering division of British Rail Categories: Stub | British Rail(ways) ... ABB, formerly Asea Brown Boveri, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, operating mainly in the power and automation technology areas. ... First logo of Mercedes-Benz from 1926 merger of the companies founded separately by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, becoming Daimler-Benz AG Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and engines which was founded in 1926. ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... For other uses, see Bombardier (disambiguation). ...

For reasons of efficiency and to reduce the amount of subsidy required from government British Rail undertook a comprehensive organisational restructuring in the late 1980s. The new management structure was based on business sectors rather than geographical regions, and first manifested itself in 1982 with the creation of Railfreight, the BRB's freight operation, and InterCity, though the Inter-City branding had been carried on coaching stock since the early 1970s. Commuter services in the south-east came under the London & South East sector, which would become Network SouthEast in 1986. Services in Scotland were operated by Scotrail, and Provincial sector handled local and rural routes. The regional management structure continued in parallel for a few years before it was abolished. Sectorisation was generally regarded within the industry as a great success, and it was to have a considerable effect on the way in which privatisation would be carried-out. A High Speed Train power car in Intercity livery InterCity was the sector of British Rail responsible for long-distance express trains. ... A train in NSE livery Network SouthEast (NSE) was a sector of British Rail that principally operated commuter trains in the London area, and was formed in 1986 when BR was sectorised. ... ScotRail was the brand name under which British Rail and following privatisation, National Express operated passenger rail services in Scotland and cross border services to Northern England and London. ...

In 1985 what may in retrospect be viewed as the harbinger of private rail operation occurred when the quarry company Foster Yeoman bought a small number of extremely powerful 3600 hp locomotives from General Motors' Electromotive Division (GM-EMD), designated British Rail Class 59, to operate mineral trains from their quarry in Wiltshire. Although owned and maintained by Foster Yeoman, the Class 59s were manned by British Rail staff. During acceptance trials, on 16 February 1986 locomotive 59001 hauled a train weighing 4639 tonnes – the heaviest load ever hauled by a single non-articulated traction unit. Foster Yeoman's class 59s proved extremely reliable, and it was not long before quarry company ARC and privatised power generator National Power also bought small numbers of Class 59s to haul their own trains. Foster Yeoman Limited, based in the United Kingdom, is Europes largest independent quarrying and asphalt company. ... General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), also known as GM, is an American automobile maker with worldwide operations and brands including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Vauxhall. ... The Class 59 Co-Co diesel locomotives were built by General Motors Electro Motive Diesel for private British companies, initially Foster Yeoman (59/0). ... Wiltshire (abbreviated Wilts) is a large southern English county. ... is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... A tonne or metric ton (symbol t), sometimes referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. ... In the context of international relations and diplomacy, power (sometimes clarified as international power, national power, or state power) is the ability of one state to influence or control other states. ...

Also in 1986, the possibility of breaking up British Rail was explored when discussions were held with Sea Containers Ltd, later the franchise operators of GNER, concerning the possible takeover of the railway on the Isle of Wight. However, the discussions proved abortive. GNER White Rose train at Kings Cross railway station Great North Eastern Railways (GNER) is a British train operating company (TOC) owned by Sea Containers Ltd. ... The Isle of Wight is an English island and county, off the southern English coast, to the south of the county of Hampshire, between the Solent and the English Channel. ...

In Sweden in 1988 the State Railways, Statens Järnvägar, was split into two – Banverket to control the track network, and SJ to operate the trains. This was the first time a national railway had been split in this manner, and it allowed local county authorities to tender for local passenger services to be provided by the number of new train operators that appeared. The Swedish system appeared to be very successful initially, although some train operators have subsequently gone bankrupt, and the Swedish experiment was watched with great interest in other countries. Some observers — including the head of the Swiss Federal Railways, widely regarded as one of the best railways in the world — still argue that the whole idea of separating track from train operations in this way is fundamentally misconceived, being based on the model of air transport, where the infrastructure, engineering and operational considerations are entirely different. On this view, the rail/wheel interface is an integral entity at the heart of what makes railways function, and hence the worst possible point at which to make a split, especially on an intensively-worked but multifunctional network such as Britain's. Statens Järnvägar, or the Swedish State Railways, was a former enterprise agency of the Swedish government. ... Banverket is the authority responsible for rail traffic in Sweden. ... X2000 train. ... Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. ...

The move to privatisation

In 1991, following the apparently successful Swedish example and wishing to create an environment where new rail operators could enter the market, the European Union issued EU Directive 91/440.^[1] This required of all EU member states to separate 'the management of railway operation and infrastructure from the provision of railway transport services, separation of accounts being compulsory and organisational or institutional separation being optional', the idea being that the track operator would charge the train operator a transparent fee to run its trains over the network, and anyone else could also run trains under the same conditions (open access). Directive 91/440 did not, of itself, require that the railways be privatised; it was principally an accounting means of ensuring a level playing-field for incumbent train operators and new companies entering the rail transport market. However, Directive 91/440 provided the British government with a reason for carrying out a far more dramatic reorganisation of the railway industry, while at the same time being able to pass on some of any opprobrium to "Europe". As of 2004, Ireland and Greece have yet to comply with Directive 91/440 and its successor.

In Britain, Margaret Thatcher was replaced by John Major as leader of the Conservative Party at the end of 1990. The Thatcher administration had already sold off nearly all the former state-owned industries, apart from the national rail network. Although the previous Transport Secretary and arch-Thatcherite Cecil Parkinson had advocated some form of privately or semi-privately operated rail network, this was deemed 'a privatisation too far' by Thatcher herself^[2]. In its manifesto for the 1992 General Election the Conservatives included a commitment to privatise the railways, but were not specific about how this objective was to be achieved.^[3] They unexpectedly won the election on 9 April 1992 and consequently had to develop a plan to carry out the privatisation before the Railways Bill was published the next year. The management of British Rail strongly advocated privatisation as one entity, a British Rail plc in effect; Prime Minister John Major favoured the resurrection of something like the old "Big Four" geographical railway companies that had existed before 1948; however, the Treasury, under the influence of the Adam Smith Institute think tank advocated the creation of seven, later 25, passenger railway franchises as a way of maximising revenue. As is often the case in British politics, the Treasury view prevailed. Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and to date only woman to hold either post. ... For other persons named John Major, see John Major (disambiguation). ... The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and the oldest political party in the United Kingdom. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992. ... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... The initials PLC after a UK or Irish company name indicate that it is a public limited company, a type of limited company whose shares may be offered for sale to the public. ... The Adam Smith Institute is a think tank based in the United Kingdom, named after the father of modern economics, Adam Smith. ... This article is about the institution. ...

The Railways Act 1993

The Railways Bill, published in 1993, established a complex structure for the rail industry. British Rail was to be broken up into over 100 separate companies, with most relationships between the successor companies established by contracts, some through regulatory mechanisms (such as the industry-wide network code and the multi-bilateral star model performance regime). Contracts for the use of railway facilities - track, stations and light maintenance depots - must be approved or directed by the Office of Rail Regulation, although some facilities are exempt from this requirement. Contracts between the principal passenger train operators and the state are called franchise agreements, and were first established with the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF), then its successor the Strategic Rail Authority and now with the Secretary of State for Transport. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) is the UK governments agency for regulation of the countrys railway network. ... Categories: Stub ... The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. ...

The passage of the Railways Bill was controversial. The public was unconvinced of the virtues of rail privatisation and there was much lobbying against the Bill. The Labour Party was implacably opposed to it and promised to renationalise the railways when they got back into office as and when resources allowed. The Conservative chairman of the House of Commons Transport Committee, Robert Adley famously described the Bill as "a poll tax on wheels"; however Adley was known to be a rail enthusiast and his advice was discounted. Adley died suddenly before the Bill completed its passage through Parliament. The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... Type Lower House Speaker of the House of Commons Leader of the House of Commons Michael Martin, (Non-affiliated) since October 23, 2000 Harriet Harman, QC, (Labour) since June 28, 2007 Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Theresa May, PC, (Conservative) since December 6, 2005 Members 646 Political groups... Robert Adley (died May 13, 1993) was a politician in the United Kingdom. ... A poll tax, head tax, or capitation is a tax of a uniform, fixed amount per individual (as opposed to a percentage of income). ... Railfans practicing their hobby at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. ...

The Railways Bill became the Railways Act 1993 on 5 November 1993, and the organisational structure dictated by it came into effect on 1 April 1994. Initially, British Rail was broken up into various units frequently based on its own organisational sectors (Train Operating Units, Infrastructure Maintenance Units, etc. - for more details see below) still controlled by the British Railways Board, but which were sold off over the next few years. The Railways Act 1993 is the legislation introduced by John Majors Conservative government and passed in circumstances of high drama on 5 November 1993. ... is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ...

Privatisation under the New Labour government

The New Labour government (elected in 1997 once almost all of the privatisation process had been completed) did not fulfil its earlier commitment to keep the railways in the public sector. Instead, it left the new structure in place, even completing the privatisation process with the last remaining sales. Its one innovation in the early years was the creation of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), initially in shadow form until the Transport Act 2000 was brought into force on 1 February 2001 and the SRA assumed its full legal powers. The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... Categories: Stub ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

The Labour government always had an unhappy and uncomfortable relationship with the privatised railway industry, never really accepting that the assets and businesses had been sold to the private sector, frequently complaining that as the public subsidy which went into the industry was so large and likely to continue in perpetuity, the government was its principal paymaster and should make or substantially influence all major decisions. The intensity of political intervention came to a head immediately after the Hatfield rail crash in 2000, when Railtrack imposed over 1200 emergency speed restrictions on its network because it did not know where else on the network the type of metal fatigue - called gauge corner cracking or rolling contact fatigue - which had caused the crash might occur. The politicians intervened, with the Secretary of State for Transport John Prescott saying that Sir Alastair Morton, chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, would impose a solution. Morton had neither the knowledge nor the powers to do this, and eventually the passenger and freight train operators - who were losing very large sums of money as a result of the severe operational disruption which was taking place - applied to the Rail Regulator for enforcement action against Railtrack. That action was taken almost immediately and normal network performance was established a few months later. The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident that occurred on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. A Great North Eastern Railway Intercity train bound for Leeds had left London Kings Cross at 1210 local time. ... For other persons named John Prescott, see John Prescott (disambiguation). ... Sir Alastair Morton (January 11, 1938 — 1 September 2004) was Chief Executive of Eurotunnel and Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority. ... Categories: Stub ... Statutory office - created by section 1 of the Railways Act 1993 - for the independent economic regulation of the British railway industry. ...

The aftermath of the Hatfield crash led to severe financial difficulties for Railtrack and just under a year later - on 7 October 2001 - the company was put into railway administration (a special kind of insolvency for railway companies which ensures continuity of operation of railway services) by the English High Court on the application of the then Secretary of State for Transport Stephen Byers. The circumstances of that step were very controversial (and eventually led to the largest class legal action in English legal history). The administration of Railtrack led to an explosion of costs as the discipline of the company's equity had been lost, and very sharp falls in performance. It lasted for a year; on 2 October 2002 the administration order was discharged and a new organisation, Network Rail, bought Railtrack PLC from its parent Railtrack Group PLC. Network Rail has no shareholders and is a company limited by guarantee. This new corporate structure for the national railway infrastructure owner satisfied many in the Labour party who thought that a company cannot serve both its shareholders and its customers in a way which facilitates and promotes the public interest. The time had come, they said, to "take back the track". In Parliament on 24 October 2005, Stephen Byers said he "[made] no apology for .. unwinding the Tory privatisation that was Railtrack" (House of Commons, Official Report (Hansard), 24 October 2005, column 66). is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... The Right Honourable Stephen John Byers (born April 13, 1953) is a British Labour Party politician and former cabinet minister. ... is the 275th day of the year (276th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Network Rail is a British not for dividend company limited by guarantee whose principal asset is Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, a company limited by shares. ... is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further changes have followed, which have seen the government take back a greater degree of control, but the early demise of the SRA, which was its creation, suggests that the situation is still in flux and the right formula for the long-term health of the rail industry has not yet been found.

As an interesting postscript to the privatisation, in July 2006 the Conservative Party's shadow transport spokesman, Chris Grayling, admitted that the 1996 split of the rail industry into track and train components was a mistake which had increased costs: "We think, with hindsight, that the complete separation of track and train into separate businesses at the time of privatisation was not right for our railways. We think that the separation has helped push up the cost of running the railways - and hence fares - and is now slowing decisions about capacity improvements. Too many people and organisations are now involved in getting things done - so nothing happens. As a result, the industry lacks clarity about who is in charge and accountable for decisions." . ^[4] Christopher Stephen Grayling (born 1 April 1962) is a British politician, and Conservative Member of Parliament for Epsom and Ewell. ...

Organisational structure created by the Railways Act 1993

Sticker affixed to ticket machines in the run-up to privatisation detailing how the new "National Conditions of Carriage" supersede any pre-printed ticket and poster information.

The original privatisation structure, created over the three years from 1 April 1994, consisted of: Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ...

• Infrastructure Owner: Railtrack took over ownership of all track, signalling and stations. Railtrack let out most of the 2509 stations to the franchised passenger train operators, managing only a handful (12, later 17) of the largest city termini itself; maintenance and renewal of the infrastructure was also contracted out to British Rail Infrastructure Services, leaving Railtrack's directly-employed staff consisting mostly of signallers. In the original privatisation plan, Railtrack would have been the last part of British Rail to be sold, but with the approach of a General Election in 1997 Railtrack was hastily privatised in May 1996 in an attempt to ensure that the new structure could not be reversed.
• Regulation: The Rail Regulator (the statutory officer at the head of the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR)) was established to regulate the monopoly and dominant elements of the railway industry, and to police certain consumer protection conditions of operators' licences. He did this through his powers to supervise and control the consumption of capacity of railway facilities (his approval was needed before an access contract for the use of track, stations or certain maintenance facilities could be valid), to enforce domestic competition law, to issue, modify and enforce operating licences and to supervise the development of certain industry-wide codes, the most important of which is the network code. Probably the Rail Regulator's most significant power was the establishment , usually every five years, of the financial framework in which Railtrack (now Network Rail) operates, through the carrying out of access charges reviews. This settled the structure and level of access charges which the infrastructure provider is entitled to charge train operators for the operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the national railway network. ORR's role only covered economic regulation; safety regulation remained the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive, but that position changed in 2005 when safety regulation was transferred to ORR under the Railways Act 2005.
• Franchising: The Director of Passenger Rail Franchising took responsibility for organising the franchising process to transfer the 25 passenger train operators to the private sector and then develop the refranchising programme for the future. The first round of franchising was based solely on the lowest cost bidder wins.
• Passenger Train Operators: 25 passenger train operating units (TOUs), converted to Train Operating Companies (TOCs) shortly before each was privatised, split by geographical area and service type. This meant that, for example, a major city terminus would be served by an ex-InterCity TOC and one or more local commuter TOCs, with consequent competition for train paths into and out of the stations, which had to be resolved by Railtrack and the Rail Regulator. The TOCs owned virtually nothing, hiring most of the assets required from Railtrack and the ROSCOs and contracting suppliers to undertake heavy maintenance on the trains or provide onboard catering. (The special adviser to the UK chancellor of the exchequer, Ms Shriti Vadera, memorably described the privatised passenger train operating companies as "thinly-capitalised equity profiteers of the worst kind", a phrase which betrayed a disdain which was intensified when it came to the collapse of Railtrack in October 2001.)
• Train Owners: 3 Rolling Stock Leasing Companies (ROSCOs), Angel Trains, Porterbrook Leasing, and Eversholt Trains (later HSBC Rail), which were allocated all of British Rail's passenger coaches, locomotives, and multiple units. Freight locomotives and wagons were owned by the freight train operators.
• Freight Train Operators: 6 Freight Operating Companies (FOCs), including three geographical units for trainload freight (Mainline Freight in the south-east, Loadhaul in the north-east, and Trans-Rail in the west), Railfreight Distribution (international and wagonload trains), Freightliner (UK) (container-carrying trains) and Rail Express Systems (parcels and mail trains).
• Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal: British Rail Infrastructure Services (BRIS), which took responsibility for the engineering requirements of the railway. BRIS was subsequently organised for privatisation on the basis of 7 Infrastructure Maintenance Units (IMUs), which maintained the railway, and 6 Track Renewal Units (TRUs), which replaced rail lines, both organised geographically.
• Specialist Companies: A variety of other companies created to undertake specific functions, including European Passenger Services (to operate the UK part of the Eurostar service) and Union Railways (to implement the Channel Tunnel Rail Link construction project).

For the generic term, see rail tracks. ... Statutory office - created by section 1 of the Railways Act 1993 - for the independent economic regulation of the British railway industry. ... The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) is the UK governments agency for regulation of the countrys railway network. ... The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), reporting to the Health and Safety Commission, is the British government body responsible for the regulation of risks to health and safety in the UK. It was created as a result of the Health and Safety at Work, etc, Act 1974, and has since... The Railways Act 2005 was a railway act in the United Kingdom. ... The Director of Passenger Rail Franchising is a statutory office created in 1993 by the Railways Act 1993 and usually called the Franchising Director. ... National Rail uses the BR double arrow logo National Rail is a brand name describing the passenger rail service previously provided by British Rail, the now defunct UK state-owned rail operator. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister responsible for all economic and financial matters. ... Shriti Vadera is a former UBS Warburg banker. ... Angel Trains is one of the three major ROSCOs (ROlling Stock COmpany) in the United Kingdom. ... Porterbrook Leasing Company is one of the three major lessors of railway locomotives, multiple units and coaching stock in the UK. It was formed in 1994 by Abbey National on the privatisation of British Rail. ... HSBC Rail is one of the three major ROSCOs (Rolling Stock Companies) in the United Kingdom. ... Mainline Freight blue livery as carried by Class 37 no. ... Trans-Rail livery, as carried by Class 37 no. ... Railfreight Distribution was a sector of British Rail responsible for non-trainload freight operations. ... Class 47, no. ... Rail Express Systems livery as carried by Propelling Control Vehicle no. ... A Eurostar on the CTRL going through the Medway Towns Eurostar is a train service connecting the UK with Paris (Gare du Nord), Lille and Brussels (Brussels South). ... A Eurostar train on the CTRL, near Ashford The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) is a project to construct a 108 km (67 mile) high-speed railway line from London through Kent to the British end of the Channel Tunnel. ...

Changes to the structure since the Railways Act 1993

Since 1997, considerable changes have taken place to the original structure of privatisation, of which very little is left unaltered. The principal changes are as follows:

• Infrastructure Owner: Railtrack was placed into railway administration on 7 October 2001 and, the following year, its functions as the track owner were taken over by Network Rail, which is a company limited by guarantee, nominally in the private sector but with members instead of shareholders and its borrowing guaranteed by the government.
• Regulation: ORR has been renamed the Office of Rail Regulation and the Rail Regulator replaced by a board in line with changes to the regulation of other privatised industries. ORR has also been given the responsibility for safety regulation which was previously the remit of the Health and Safety Executive.
• Franchising: OPRAF was replaced by the Strategic Rail Authority, whose remit also included the promotion of freight services. The SRA has since been wound up and its franchising functions passed to the Department for Transport. The most recent rounds of franchising have considered the planned improvements and previous good service delivery of bidders as well as the cost element. As part of the devolution process since 1997, the Scottish Executive has been given a greater role in determining the franchising of Scotrail, Merseytravel (the Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority) is responsible for Merseyrail, and the Mayor of London has some input in decisions on rail services in the Greater London area.
• Passenger Train Operators: The number of passenger franchises has been reduced and further amalgamations are planned. Many of the franchises have changed hands between private sector operators and one, Southeastern (train operating company), has been operated in the public sector after Connex was removed from control by the SRA and before a new private sector operator could be appointed. However, two new open access operators have appeared to run new services; Heathrow Express and Hull Trains. A third, Grand Central Railway is due to start operating in December 2006. Other applications by potential open access operators have been turned down by ORR, but a number of new open access operations are waiting in the wings and may materialise in the near future.
• Freight Train Operators: Despite going to the expense of setting up separate management structures for the three parts of the trainload freight sector, on 24 February 1996 all three units were sold to "North & South Railways", a subsidiary of the American Wisconsin Central Railroad, which soon renamed the operation English, Welsh and Scottish Railway. EWS also acquired Rail Express Systems, Railfreight Distribution (the last part of the nationalised railway to be sold, after Labour had been elected) and National Power's railfreight operation. Wisconsin Central has itself since been taken over by Canadian National, which is now the ultimate owner of EWS. Current freight train operators other than EWS include Freightliner (UK) (purchased by a management buyout) and two open access freight operators: Direct Rail Services and FirstGBRf. EWS were bought by Deutsche Bahn in 2007 and are thus effectively are now state owned - but by the German rather than United Kingdom state.
• Train Owners: The three ROSCOs continue to exist as originally established, the only part of the privatised railway to remain unchanged, although some now lease freight locomotives and wagons to the FOCs. They have been joined by a variety of small-scale train owners ready to let old railway stock on short-term leases, including FM Rail, Harry Needle Railroad Company and West Coast Railway Company. Also, Railtrack and Network Rail have purchased some rolling stock themselves.
• Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal: In 2004 infrastructure maintenance, (Track, Signal, and OHLE), was taken back 'in-house' by Network Rail, but track renewal remains contracted out to the private sector.
• Specialist Companies: After Union Railways ran into trouble with the construction of the CTRL, it was rescued by Railtrack.

is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Network Rail is a British not for dividend company limited by guarantee whose principal asset is Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, a company limited by shares. ... In British or Irish company law, a Limited Company is a person on its own right. ... The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), reporting to the Health and Safety Commission, is the British government body responsible for the regulation of risks to health and safety in the UK. It was created as a result of the Health and Safety at Work, etc, Act 1974, and has since... Categories: Stub ... In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the transport network. ... ScotRail was the brand name under which British Rail and following privatisation, National Express operated passenger rail services in Scotland and cross border services to Northern England and London. ... In the United Kingdom, Passenger Transport Executives {PTEs) are local government bodies which are responsible for public transport within large urban areas. ... Merseyrail is the name given to the electric commuter train network centred on Liverpool. ... Southeastern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... Connex may refer to: a brand name used by Veolia Transport a ficticious energy company in the film Syriana an earlier name of Vodafone Romania a private operator of the suburban railway system in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Connex Melbourne Category: ... Heathrow Express is a train service from Heathrow Airport to Paddington in central London operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority—a wholly owned subsidiary of BAA. The service is not part of the National Rail system, despite part of its journey sharing track with National Rail trains and terminating... ^ Pick up northbound, set down southbound; selected weekday services only Hull Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running up to seven long distance services each day between London Kings Cross and Hull. ... Not to be confused with Grand Union Railway or Great Central Railway. ... is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... There were two Wisconsin Central railroads that ran through Wisconsin and neighboring states. ... English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) is the largest British rail freight company Created as a subsidiary of Wisconsin Central Ltd in 1996, it was acquired by Canadian National Railway when it bought Wisconsin Central in 2001. ... Rail Express Systems livery as carried by Propelling Control Vehicle no. ... Railfreight Distribution was a sector of British Rail responsible for non-trainload freight operations. ... In the context of international relations and diplomacy, power (sometimes clarified as international power, national power, or state power) is the ability of one state to influence or control other states. ... The Canadian National Railway (CN; AAR reporting marks CN, CNA, CNIS) is a Canadian Class I railway operated by the Canadian National Railway Company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. ... Class 47, no. ... Class 37/0 no. ... Class 66 66713 Forest City on display at Crewe Works open day on 1 June 2003. ... Germanys main train operator, the Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railway Corporation, also known as DB or DBAG) provides passenger and freight service via federally owned tracks. ... Fragonset Railways Class 47 47355 Avocet at Derby on 11 August 2004. ... 08818 Molly in HNRC colours, 2 October 2004. ... West Coast Railway Company (WCRC) is a railway spot-hire company and charter train operator, based at Carnforth in Lancashire. ...

Effects of privatisation

There is considerable debate around the effect of railway privatisation, especially since the structure now in place is considerably different from that originally envisaged at the time of the Railways Act 1993. Some of the most common arguments for and against are:

• Customer Service: Privatisation was supposed to bring improved customer service and many rail lines have seen improvements in this field with better on-board and station services. In the early years, however, customer service was dented when too many drivers were given voluntary redundancy by the new TOCs and trains had to be cancelled. Also, the impact of the Hatfield rail accident in 2000 left services seriously affected for many months after.
• Fares & Timetable: In an attempt to protect passengers' interests, certain fares (mostly commuter season fares) and basic elements of the timetable were regulated. However, the TOCs still had quite a bit of latitude in changing unregulated fares and could change the number of trains run within certain regulatory and practical limitations. While average fare prices have changed little since privatisation, this masks substantial changes. The price of commuter season tickets has fallen in real terms, but many unregulated fares have increased substantially, especially 'walk-on' fares on inter-urban routes where operators have tried to encourage passengers to user cheaper 'advance purchase' tickets instead. This is seen so much today that Virgin Trains now charge £219 for a standard open return ticket between Manchester and London. So far as the timetable is concerned, many more trains are being run each day than under BR as operators have tried to run more frequent, but usually shorter, trains on many routes to attract more customers.
• New Trains: The promoters of privatisation expected that the ROSCOs would compete against each other to provide the TOCs with the rolling stock they required. In practice, in most cases the individual TOCs required specific classes of trains to run their services, and often only one of the ROSCOs would have that class of train, resulting in their having to pay whatever the ROSCO concerned cared to charge for leasing the trains. Old rolling stock was extremely profitable to the ROSCOs, as they were able to charge substantial amounts for their hire even though British Rail had already written off their construction costs. As trains grow older, the cost of their lease does not decrease. This was due to the adoption of 'indifference pricing' as the method of determining lease costs by the government, which was intended to make purchasing new trains more attractive when compared to running life-expired trains. In practice, the average age of trains in the UK is no different to that under the last years of BR.
• Rolling Stock Manufacture The rolling stock manufacturers themselves suffered under privatisation; with the hiatus in new orders for new trains caused by the reorganisation and restructuring process, the former BREL works at York (now owned by ABB) had been severely downsized and eventually closed. The former Metro Cammell plant in Birmingham (later owned by Alstom) followed suit in 2005, closing its doors once the last of Virgin Trains' new Pendolino units had rolled off the assembly line. Only the former British Rail research centre and associated BREL works in Derby and Crewe survive to the present day; now owned by Canadian conglomerate Bombardier.
• Punctuality and Reliability: The privatised railway has not shown the improvement in punctuality and reliability that was hoped for. The contracts in place between companies were intended to incentivise improvements in these areas, but with the large increase in the number of trains run while using more or less the same amount of rolling stock and track, there has been less room for maneouvre when problems occur, with consequent impacts on punctuality. This was also compounded by post-Hatfield disruption.
• Level of Traffic: It is unclear whether privatisation was intended to increase traffic, but that is what happened in the early years of the privatised railway with many more trains run, more passengers carried and more freight (in terms of weight and distance - in terms of weight alone there was little change) lifted. Opponents of privatisation argue that some increase would have been expected anyway in line with the improved UK economy and the sharp rise in road congestion and bus fares; it took until just 1997, three years after privatisation before traffic exceeded to the levels achieved by BR in the late 1980s at the height of the previous economic boom. More passengers are now being carried each year than at any time since 1957, when the network was twice the mileage. In addition rail's total passenger kilometres has reached the highest level since 1946.^[5]
• Safety: The railway can point to continued improvements in safety under privatisation; in fact the rate of improvement has increased compared to that experienced in the last years of BR. However, four serious rail accidents in the post-privatisation period (Southall (1997), Ladbroke Grove (1999), Hatfield (2000) and Potters Bar (2002)) all undermined confidence in the safety of the railway. A total of 48 people were killed and 820 injured in these crashes. Two other serious fatal accidents that have occurred since privatisation (Great Heck (2001) and Ufton Nervet (2004)) were due to cars blocking the rail line being struck at speed. Christian Wolmar - a highly opinionated transport journalist whose views are vigorously opposed by some senior figures in the railway industry - in his book On the Wrong Line argues that while overall the trend for greater safety has continued since privatisation it did produce greater risk due to interface problems.
• Investment: It is a common view that the railways had been systematically starved of government investment since the 1960s as successive governments openly favoured road transport, and that when the railways were privatised they were already in bad shape and in need of renewal. However, the journalist Roger Ford (in the industry trade magazine Modern Railways) argued that this is largely a myth. While BR received less financial support than in most European countries from the government, it was able to maintain the network to a reasonable standard. Indeed, in BR's final years it could claim to run more trains at more than 100 mph (160 km/h) than any other railway in the world. This was largely because investment in the UK was spread across all rail lines rather than being pumped into developing a small number of high-speed lines. Since privatisation there has been considerable expenditure on modernising the system, but largely confined to a few routes. The consequences of the Hatfield accident in 2000 caused Railtrack to undertake large-scale track relaying without sufficient planning, and much of the work was substandard and subsequently had to be re-done. Railtrack's poor project management abilities were exemplified with the West Coast Route Modernisation project, which was intended to deliver a 140 mph (225 km/h) route in 2005 at a cost of £2 bn, but is finally likely to deliver a 125 mph (200 km/h) route in 2008 at a cost approaching £13 bn, which was a major factor in the company's financial collapse.
• Funding: Privatisation was intended to allow private borrowing to fund investment and remove the short-term constraints of Treasury budgeting from the railways. However, it was always recognised that there would be a requirement for some public subsidy to maintain unprofitable but socially desirable services. Indeed, of the three passenger sectors (Intercity, Network South East, and Regional Railways), only the first could hope to be independently commercial. The conflict between trying to maximise private sector investment while subsidising and regulating the industry to provide desirable services has proved difficult to reconcile. Neither most pro- nor anti-privatisers believe the current balance is correct. Nevertheless, privatisation has brought some private sector investment into the railway. However, due to what many believe to be a largely inefficient structure, government subsidy has spiralled. In 1994, the total government support received by BR was £1,627m,^[6] (£2,168m in 2005 terms, adjusted by RPI^[7]), while in 2005, government support from all sources totalled £4,593m.^[6], despite a lack of any particular increase in government investment in improving infrastructure.
• Profitability and Efficiency: One of the principal expectations from privatisation was that the railway service could be delivered more efficiently in the private sector because of the profit motive. The expectation that there were considerable costs that could be slashed from the system was not fulfilled; new operators found that BR had already done much of what could be done to improve efficiency. In addition, the profit motive was diluted when some of the passenger franchises ran into financial trouble and entered into management contracts with the franchising authority, which reduced the incentive to innovate. In addition, new health and safety requirements and the complexity of the privatised structure has thrown up additional costs in the industry. In all, the subsidy to the railway from the Government is considerably larger now than it was for BR.
• Political Control: One the benefits promoted for privatisation is that it would remove railways from short-term political control which damaged an industry like the railways, which had long-term investment requirements. This has not happened and, with the latest changes that have been made to the railway structure, the industry is more under government control than ever before. The railways also suffer from the effects of short term control because the franchises given to TOCs typically last for a short time.

Arms of the former Hatfield Rural District Council Hatfield, originally Bishops Hatfield, is in the Welwyn Hatfield district of Hertfordshire, in the south of England. ... York shown within England Coordinates: , Sovereign state Constituent country Region Yorkshire and the Humber Ceremonial county North Yorkshire Admin HQ York City Centre Founded 71 City Status 71 Government  - Type Unitary Authority, City  - Governing body City of York Council  - Leadership: Leader & Executive  - Executive: Liberal Democrat  - MPs: Hugh Bayley (L) John... ABB, formerly Asea Brown Boveri, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, operating mainly in the power and automation technology areas. ... The Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon (MCCW) was a Birmingham, England based manufacturer of railway carriages and wagons. ... Birmingham (pron. ... Alstom (formerly GEC-Alsthom) (Euronext: ALO) is a large French company whose businesses are power generation, railway signalling; and manufacturing trains (e. ... Class 390 no. ... Derby (pronounced dar-bee ) is a city in the East Midlands of England. ... Map sources for Crewe at grid reference SJ705557 Crewe is a town in south Cheshire, in the north west of England. ... For other uses, see Bombardier (disambiguation). ... The Southall rail crash occurred on September 19, 1997, on the Great Western Railway line at Southall, west London. ... Cover of the Cullen report The Ladbroke Grove rail crash (also known as the Paddington train crash) was an English rail accident on October 5, 1999 in which thirty-one people died. ... The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident that occurred on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. A Great North Eastern Railway Intercity train bound for Leeds had left London Kings Cross at 1210 local time. ... The Potters Bar rail crash occurred on May 10, 2002 at Potters Bar, in Hertfordshire just north of Greater London, when a northbound train derailed at high speed, killing seven and seriously injuring another eleven. ... Great Heck is a small village that lies a few miles south of Selby, North Yorkshire. ... Ufton Nervet is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. ... Christian Wolmar is a British journalist and author, best known for his books and commentary on transport, especially on Britains railway network. ... Disruptions in organized traffic flow can create delays lasting hours. ... Roger Ford trained as a mechanical engineer with English Electric at Rugby, specialising in prime movers, and on qualification joined the head office of the Company’s Traction Division. ...

Criticisms

The rail franchising system has in the past been a subject of criticism from companies, passengers, union leaders and some MPs. It has been said that the system is too complex and involves too many companies, some of which were sub contracted. This has led to confusions in responsibilities, incidents and incurrence of high costs for companies and passengers. ^[8] This is one of the reasons which led Network rail to take in all responsibility of maintenance, whereas previously the company had subcontractors.^[9] Another example of a problem with the system involves GNER who went into bankruptcy protection after huge losses in money due to various payments.^[10]

Community railways

The administrative burden of the franchising rules, along with the many other regulatory overheads is extremely problematic for lightly used routes that have a high social value. As a result of this the state introduced the concept of a community railway. By loosening the regulatory rules on such lines the Department of Transport seeks to increase usage while driving costs down. It also provides a mechanism to directly involve the communities it serves and to work with them in improving effectiveness.

Future directions

The Conservative Party, who initiated privatisation, are consulting upon options for the future should they regain power. Several changes have been proposed including a shift to regional operators owning the track and trains for their regions. In their view the separation of track ownership from the service providers has proved a failure, and "the separation has helped push up the cost of running the railways' ^[11]. Such a shift would represent a return to the old British Rail model, but implemented by non-government organisations and franchise holders.

The Labour Party currently in power also plans to reform the existing system, and is reviewing options including a trial re-integration in Scotland. There has been discussion about the extremely high profits the ROSCOs make and proposals that would allow TOCs to own more rolling stock, or even to allow Network Rail to lease some stock. There have also been some market led changes in this area already with TOCs hiring in rolling stock and even locomotives from heritage railway organisations. A scene on a heritage railway. ...

In 2004, the Labour Party Conference voted by 2 to 1 in favour of a TSSA motion calling on the government to take the TOCs back into public ownership as franchises expired. The policy was however immediately ruled out by the then Transport Secretary Alastair Darling.

EWS has performed studies with Network Rail on the cost of maintenance and as a result is currently pursuing an attempt to persuade the government to allow freight only line maintenance (particularly of the many short lines linking industrial sites) to be derogated from Network Rail control. Based upon analysis performed and on American/Canadian working practices for such freight routes they believe this could halve their maintenance costs. Such an approach would however only be appropriate for freight only routes. English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) is the largest British rail freight company Created as a subsidiary of Wisconsin Central Ltd in 1996, it was acquired by Canadian National Railway when it bought Wisconsin Central in 2001. ...

External links

• Pro
  • Libertarian Alliance: Why British Rail privatisation has failed
  • Adam Smith Institute: State rail's much costlier
  • Institute of Economic Affairs: The Railways, the Market and the Government (2006)
• Con
  • Worker's Liberty: British Rail privatisation: What it means and why it happened (2004)
  • Economic Issues: Subsidy and productivity in the privatised British passenger railway
  • British Rail Sidetracked (1996)
• "Single or Return - the official history of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - Chapter 31 "More Privatisation".
• "Single or Return - the official history of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - Chapter 32 "Preparing for Railway Privatisation; The Railways Act (1993); BR Privatisation - The Final Phase?".

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) is a Trade Union for white collar workers in the transport industry in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. ...

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ... is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ... is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ... is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Transport Act 2000 is a current United Kingdom Act of Parliament External Links Transport Act 2002 Category: ...