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British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, 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.
The Transport Act 1962 converted British Railways from being the trade name of a BTC activity to a separate public corporation, as the British Railways Board. As the last steam locomotives were withdrawn, the corporation's public name was re-branded in 1965 as British Rail (see British Rail brand names for a full history).
The first for public use, and on cast iron rails, was the Lake Lock Rail Road formed in 1796 and opened in 1798. [7] [8] [9] Another early public railway, the Surrey Iron Railway obtained an Act of Parliament on 21 May 1801 to build a tram-road between Wandsworth and Croydon in what is now south London; the engineer was William Jessop. [10]
Frith's The Railway Station, 1862 depiction of Paddington railway station in London. In 1830, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened. [21] Being the world's first inter-city passenger railway and the first to have 'scheduled' services, terminal stations and services as we know them today, it set the pattern for modern railways.
The name "Great Western Railway", alone of all the pre-Grouping companies, was retained until the nationalisation of the railways; and one of the post-British Rail train operating companies now bears the name in 2005. Manchester Victoria station, built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR)
Great Britain's railway system was built by private companies, but it was nationalised by the Transport Act 1947 and was run from then onwards by British Railways (which traded as British Rail from 1965) until privatisation, which was begun in 1994 and completed in 1997. Infrastructure, passenger, and freight services were separated at that time.
The UK government proposed a new state-owned public body, Great British Railways, which would operate a concession contract system on the network from 2023. As of November 2023 [update] , legislation to establish the new body was said to be "unlikely" within the 2023–2024 parliamentary session.
Unlike British Rail, the Northern Ireland Railways remain state owned. The franchisee system for passenger rail effectively ended in March 2020, when the Department for Transport switched every passenger line to an "Emergency Measures Agreement", [ 10 ] whereby the franchisees would still operate the line, but the government would take all cost ...