B Crossrail, trams, electrification. What about new trains?

FOCUSRAILNEWSRAILNEWS No. 004

21 October, 2010Time for franchise rethinkTransport group urges radical reform 2

£5 to stop a High Speed railwayProtestors hope for judicial review 4

Here comes the judgeEurostar Velaro row moves to court 5

THE Chancellor has told the House ofCommons that a number of major rail-way upgrades have survived the govern-ment’s spending review.

Crossrail is to go ahead, as expected, but electrifi-cation will also be carried out in the ‘north west trian-gle’, between Liverpool, Manchester and Preston.

Other rail projects surviving the axe include theexpansion of Midland Metro, the modernisation ofTyne & Wear Metro, and upgrades on London Under-ground, which will be ‘protected’.

However, plans to increase rail fares more sharplyfrom 2012 are already coming under fire.

There was some industry disquiet that nothingwas said about main line electrification, despite ru-mours that the Midland Main Line was poised to re-place the Great Western Main Line at the top of thelist. Neither has the reference to new rolling stock yetbeen explained, leaving the prospects for Thameslinkand Intercity Express still uncertain for now.

The transport secretary is expected to make hisown more detailed announcement next week. V

‘War on rail travellers’ > p2

In association with Rail Champions

Many rail projects surviveChancellor’s scrutiny, butfare rises come under fire

RAILNEWSRAILNEWSJust £23.40 a year

Call 01793 868868

Monthly print edition

INSIDE

Doubts in DerbyConcern in the railway cityas the rtc faces sell-off

6

DIARYNovember3 New edition (No. 165),

Railnews in print3-4 Derby and Derbyshire

Rail Forum conference17 New edition (no. 005),

Railnews Focus

December1 New edition (No. 166),

Railnews in print15 New edition (no. 006),

Railnews Focus

CP5 goes on holdNetwork Rail funding can’tbe worked out yet—ORR

Business

Business

“Mr Speaker, after our defence requirements are met, the Department for Transport will receive the largestcapital settlement. Over the next four years we will invest over £30 billion in transport projects, more thanwas invested during the past four years.“£14 billion of that will fund maintenance and investment on our railways.“The cap on regulated rail fares will rise to RPI +3% for the three years from 2012, but that will help thiscountry afford new rolling stock as well and improve passenger conditions.“In Yorkshire and Humber, £90 million will be spent to improve rail platforms and we will also improve linespeeds across the Pennines. In the North East, £500 million will be spent refurbishing the Tyne & Wearmetro. In the North West, we will invest in rail electrification between Manchester, Liverpool, Preston andBlackpool. Major rail investments around Cardiff, Barry and Newport will go ahead.“In the West Midlands, we will extend the Midland Metro and completely redevelop Birmingham New Streetstation. In London, Crossrail will go ahead and key Tube lines will be upgraded for the twenty first century.”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, speaking on 20 October

Good to go

�Crossrail

�NWelectrification

��

Midland Metroextension

Two new linesfor NET

�Undergroundupgrades

� Tyne & WearMetro upgrades

�Wales andYorks. upgrades

What about…

? IntercityExpress

? Thameslinkrolling stock

? Great Westernelectrification

? Midlandelectrification

? RemainingHLOS trains

Talking point

6Fares to rise byRPI + 3%

The party’s overBritish Rail bows out as avictim of the quango cull

8

Finally

7

2

RAILNEWSRAILNEWS

FOCUS21 Oct.2010 News

2012 fare increase of RPI + 3%will mean ‘war on rail travellers’

COMPREHENSIVE SPENDING REVIEW: REACTIONS

“The cap on regulated rail fares will rise toRPI +3% for three years from 2012, but thatwill help this country afford new rolling stockas well and improve passenger conditions.”

—The Chancellor

THE campaigning transportgroup Transform Scotland hascriticised the Chancellor’s an-nouncement in the Comprehen-sive Spending Review that railfares are to be increased from2012 by 3 per cent above the Re-tail Price Index for the followingthree years.

The watchdog Passenger Focus has alsoexpressed concern, and warned of ‘big rises’to come in just over a year from now.

The present cap on the increase to regu-lated fares is RPI + 1 per cent, and the nextrises according to this formula are due atthe start of January.

Transform Scotland director ColinHowden said: “The UK transport ministerPhilip Hammond took the opportunity soonafter May’s General Election to announcethat the reputed ‘war on the motorist’ wasover. Today’s decision to hike up rail faresrepresents a real war on rail travellers.

“The price of motoring continues to fallwhile the price of rail travel continues torise – so it is indefensible that the Coalitionhas decided to hit rail users rather thantackle car use.

“The decision to increase rail fares willdrive people off trains and back on to theroads. It is well-known that it is the price ofusing trains that is the key issue that detersgreater use of rail travel.

“The announcement also represents amajor u-turn by the Liberal Democrats asthey promised a reduction in rail fares intheir manifesto.”

Meanwhile, Passenger Focus believedthat passengers would find the rises whichlie ahead ‘difficult to stomach’.

PF chief executive Anthony Smith said:“Although we know the average amountfares will go up, some passengers could findthey will be asked to pay a further 5 percent if the Government doesn’t continue torestrict the flexibility train companies haveto put up prices on individual routes.

“This level of price rises puts the spot-light on industry performance. For suchprices passengers will rightfully expectpunctual, clean trains with a reasonablechance of getting a seat. Passenger Focuswill be pressing to ensure that the rail in-dustry is as efficient as possible. Savingsidentified by the Government’s value formoney review should be passed on to pas-sengers. “

However, even before the Chancellor’sspeech, the Association of Train OperatingCompanies had claimed that revenue fromhigher fares would go to the governmentrather than train operators.

But an ATOC spokesman could notexplain how the extra income could beconsistently diverted to the DfT. V

Midland Metro celebrations > p3

STAGECOACH Group founderBrian Souter has entered the frayin the debate over future rail fran-chises, by urging much greaterreforms.

His call comes as the government ispoised to publish the McNulty ‘value formoney’ rail report. Mr Souter, who startedhis transport career as a bus conductor andnow heads a major group, said ‘tinkeringaround the edges’ would not be enough.

The Stagecoach proposals include trialsof ‘vertical integration’, in which the opera-tor is also responsible for track maintenanceand train regulation, removing an ‘artificialsplit’ between track and train that is ‘ineffi-cient and not in the best interests of pas-sengers’.

Vertical integration was normal in Brit-ain until privatisation in the 1990s, whichincluded the creation of Railtrack (now

Network Rail) to take over network opera-tion and maintenance.

Stagecoach said it had developed a ‘lowcost’ model for future franchises, havingalready removed 25 per cent of ‘controlla-ble’ costs from its own franchises since 2008.

Mr Souter explained: “We are at a cru-cial crossroads for the rail network. We havea once in a generation opportunity to de-liver real change that will benefit both pas-sengers and taxpayers.

“But we must not take the easy optionof tinkering around the edges – we needradical reform. Our proposals ensure thatcustomer, safety and shareholder interestsare brought together as the focus of a newmodel. These interests have never beenproperly aligned in the past.

“We believe this is the only way to de-liver a safer, more efficient and more reli-able railway in the long-term. Stagecoachhas successfully delivered change beforeand we could do it again. Our plans wouldunlock the investment and innovation ofcommercial operators, provide value formoney, and deliver better services to themillions of people who rely on our railwaysevery day.” V

Souter calls for ‘radical’ franchise system reforms

South West Trains has been runby Stagecoach since 1996

3

RAILNEWSRAILNEWS

FOCUS21 Oct.2010 News

Confirmation of city extension toMidland Metro is ‘fantastic news’

THE news that the Birminghamcity centre extension of MidlandMetro is to go ahead has beengreeted as ‘fantastic news’ by thechief executive of Centro.

The Chancellor told MPs that thescheme is to continue following the PublicSpending Review.

The £127.1 million joint project byCentro, Black Country and Birmingham Citycouncils is expected to boost the West Mid-lands economy by £50 million a year andcreate up to 1,300 sustainable new jobs,according to Centro.

Work start

The extension will see trams follow aroute from the existing Metro terminus atSnow Hill, along a £9 million viaduct alreadybuilt by developer Ballymore, down UpperBull Street and Corporation Street and onto Stephenson Street stopping outside anew entrance at New Street Station.

The additional line is expected to takearound two years to build, with work start-ing on street in 2012. Other parts of theproject, such as a major extension to theMetro maintenance depot at Wednesbury,will start sooner, Centro said.

RegenerationCentro chief executive Geoff Inskip said:

“This is fantastic news for Birmingham andthe Black Country as it puts us on the waytowards creating a truly world class publictransport system for the West Midlands.

“This Metro extension is exactly whatthe Government wants to see from trans-port schemes, underpinning regeneration,boosting the economy and creating jobs.

“We intend to waste no time in pressingahead with this exciting scheme so we canunlock those jobs and economic benefits assoon as possible. We plan to have the projectcompleted to coincide with the opening ofthe New Street Gateway project at the endof 2014.”

Councillor Mike Whitby, leader of Bir-mingham City Council, said: “I warmly wel-come what the Chancellor said during theCRS speech.”

Alan Chatham, chairman of Retail Bir-mingham, the business improvement dis-trict which represents retailers in Birming-ham city centre, said: “This is great newsfor the retailers and shoppers in Birming-ham.

COMPREHENSIVE SPENDING REVIEW: REACTIONSCOMPREHENSIVE SPENDING REVIEW: REACTIONS

“In the West Midlands, we will extendthe Midland Metro and completelyredevelop Birmingham New Streetstation.”—The Chancellor

“We intend to waste no time in pressingahead with this exciting scheme so we canunlock those jobs and economic benefits assoon as possible.” —Geoff Inskip, Centro

“It will make travelling to and throughthe retail area so much easier and morepleasant. It also fits well with Retail Birming-ham’s Retail design strategy which is set tophysically transform the area into a spec-tacular shopping environment.”

Councillor Neville Patten, the Leader ofWolverhampton City Council, said he toowas delighted at the announcement.

“It is wonderful news, it’s not only goodfor Birmingham it is also good for the BlackCountry,” he said.

Prosperity

“We look forward to the extension onour line in Wolverhampton that will followon from the Birmingham extension. It willopen up the Metro to people who wouldn’totherwise use it and it will open up accessto Wolverhampton and its city centre.”

Centro chairman Cllr Angus Adamsadded: “Birmingham is the only city of itssize in Europe without a rapid transit sys-tem even though the economic advantagesof having such networks are well proven.

“Today’s approval will help the WestMidlands compete with its European andworld rivals and help safeguard our futureprosperity.” V

4

RAILNEWSRAILNEWS

FOCUS21 Oct.2010 News

“In terms of a case for a judicial review,the evidence is stacking up. This processexists to allow the public to challengegovernment when they have failed toact fairly or rationally. We believe thatthe treatment of individuals directlyaffected is fundamentally unfair and thelack of a sufficient business or environ-mental case for HS2 means the decisionto proceed to date is unfair.”

—Anti-HS2 campaigner Joe Rukin

COMPREHENSIVE SPENDING REVIEW: HS2 FUNDING

CAMPAIGNERS in a War-wickshire town who areopposed to the construc-tion of a High Speed linethrough their area havelaunched an appeal toraise £40,000 to seek a ju-dicial review of the Government’splans – for which £750 millionhas been set aside by the Chan-cellor in the comprehensivespending review.

Led by Joe Rukin, its chairman, theKenilworth Action Group is spearheadingthe Stop HS2 movement’s bid to take onthe government in the courts.

Mr Rukin is calling on opponents to HS2in Warwickshire to donate £5 each for afighting fund.

He said: “So far everything Stop HS2has done in terms of raising public aware-ness and fighting these proposals has beenfunded directly out of the pockets of volun-teers with a handful of donations.

“We have now come to the point wherewe need some serious money to take thingsto the next stage so we are asking everyoneopposed to the plans to donate a fiver. Ifeveryone who signed our online petition didthis it would make over £40,000.”

Mr Rukin and his supporters claim thatplans to build the 400km/h new line – whichin Warwickshire would pass by Southam,Offchurch, Cubbington, Stoneleigh,Kenilworth and Burton Green – couldbreach human rights legislation, competi-tion laws and rules on correct procurementprocesses.

Evidence

Mr Rukin added: “In terms of a judicialreview, the evidence is stacking up.

“This process exists to allow the publicto challenge government when they havefailed to act fairly or rationally.

“We believe that the treatment of indi-viduals directly affected is fundamentallyunfair and the lack of a sufficient businessor environmental case for HS2 means thedecision to proceed to date is unfair.”

Meanwhile, the government plans tospend the £750 million developing theproject in the next four years.

The Department for Transport said:“When complete, HS2 will dramatically re-duce journey times and increase capacityon routes between Britain’s major popula-tion centres. This would benefit the economynationwide and provide a step change inBritain’s transport infrastructure. Publicconsultation on the Government’s overallstrategy and on the proposed route fromLondon to the West Midlands will start earlyin 2011.” V

L Opponents say that HS2 would ‘slicethrough’ Kenilworth, but the route proposeduses the green belt between Kenilworth andCoventry. HS2 Ltd has proposed to movethe route away from Stoneleigh and placeit between five and 10m lower than origi-nally planned. Most of the route past thenorthern edge of Kenilworth would now bein cuttings that would reduce visual andnoise impact but it would probably requirethe demolition of three farm houses.

Media partner

Derby & Derbyshire -World Centre for Railway Excellence

Thursday 4th November 2010, The Derby Conference Centre, Derby Introduction by Colin Walton DDRF Chairman. Speakers and Panellists include:

Sir Roy McNulty, Brian Souter of Stagecoach, Paul Plummer of Network Rail, Gil Howarth of National Skills Academy, Jeff Moore of EMDA, Andrew Lewer of Derbyshire County Council, Harvey Jennings of Derby City Council,

John Forkin of Marketing Derby, George Cowcher of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber, Tom Glick of Derby County Football Club, James Wall of Shorterm and Dave Bull of Tec Force

For further information and to book your place at this event please contact Debbie Cook, Forum Co-ordinator. Tel. 01332 642395 Email. info@derbyrailforum.org.uk Web. www.derbyrailforum.org.uk

NonMembers rate£100 plus VATper delegate

ADVERTISING

For informationand a media pack

07939 849108

If rail is your business,

we can help

in

Railnews Publications

RAILNEWSRAILNEWS

Just £23.40 a yearCall 01793 868868

Monthly print edition

£750m fund to develop HS2 ismet by calls for judicial review£750m fund to develop HS2 ismet by calls for judicial review

5

RAILNEWSRAILNEWS

FOCUS21 Oct.2010 News

Controversial Eurostar train purchase maybe challenged by French rolling stock firmTHE growing controversy over theuse of Siemens trains in the Chan-nel Tunnel is poised to move to aBritish court.

A German ICE set was displayed at StPancras International yesterday as an over-ture to future Deutsche Bahn services toLondon, but Alstom and the French gov-ernment are claiming that the ICEs do notcomply with Channel Tunnel safety rules.

The revelation that a British court couldbe asked to intervene has come fromEurostar chairman Richard Brown, who hadbeen invited to St Pancras to see the Ger-man train.

He said that Alstom had threatenedcourt action in Britain but declined to giveany details, although he did confirm thatEurostar's legal advisors have become in-volved.

However, it’s understood that Alstommay be challenging Eurostar’s procurementprocess.

Eurostar is proceeding with an orderfor ten Siemens Velaro trains worth a re-ported 525 million Euros, which it wants tointroduce on new routes in 2014 to citiessuch as Geneva, Lyon and Amsterdam.

Mr Brown is standing by his board's de-cision to buy the trains. He said: “There isno safety issue. We followed a thorough andcomprehensive procurement process in linewith EU regulation and with board support.”

Deutsche Bahn, too, is denying that itsplans put safety in question. DB Chief Ex-ecutive Rüdiger Grube told his audience atSt Pancras that a test evacuation of 300passengers from an ICE in the ChannelTunnel on Sunday had been ‘highly success-ful’.

EUROSTAR TRAINS PLAN FACES LEGAL CHALLENGE

The official start date for German serv-ices between London, the Netherlands andGermany is December 2013, but hints werebeing dropped by the German party at StPancras that an earlier launch is being con-sidered.

German transport minister PeterRamsauer said: “We are thinking of the Ol-ympics”, perhaps implying that DB couldbe running to St Pancras from May 2012.

The German operator is proposing torun three 400m sets from London each day,which would divide at Brussels and then goforward as two separate trains to Rotter-dam and Amsterdam on one route and Co-logne and Frankfurt on the other.

Richard Brown of Eurostar has alwayswelcomed the prospect of competition onthe international route from London. Hetold reporters at St Pancras: “We welcomeDeutsche Bahn’s plans. We want them tohelp us grow the rail passenger market to-gether.”

Rail unions, however, are also opposingany relaxation to Chunnel rules, which arecurrently the subject of consultation.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow haswarned: “RMT will fight any watering downof safety standards – if those standards aretampered with simply in order to appeaseEU diktat it would be a major scandal withpotentially lethal consequences.” V

A mock-up of Eurostar’s new e320 Siemens train, on display in Hyde Park

A Deutsche Bahn ICE-3was towed into StPancras Internationalon 19 October. DB ishoping that servicesfrom London could startin time for the Olympics

6

RAILNEWSRAILNEWS

FOCUS21 Oct.2010 News

Concern grows in Derby as the governmentprepares to sell Railway Technology Centre

DERBY’s RTC Business Park – for-merly the British Rail researchcentre and home to some of themost significant late-20th Cen-tury world-leading railway tech-nical innovations – has been putup for sale for £16 million by thegovernment.

The news comes just ahead of Derbyand Derbyshire Rail Forum’s conference on4 November, which aims to highlight thecity’s role as a world centre of railway excel-lence.

Now the Forum has said it is concernedthat the sale of the RTC Business Park “con-tains no protection for the rail-connectedfacilities at this important site.”

The site, which until privatisation washome to BR’s Railway Technical Centre,opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1966,is situated between the A6 London Roadand the Derby-Long Eaton rail route.

In its statement Derby Rail Forum, whichis headed by Colin Walton, the UK Chair-man of Bombardier Transportation, says:“Were these facilities to be lost it would have

RTC SALE COULD BE ‘RETROGRADE STEP’ : FAULTS ON NEW SIEMENS TRAINS FOR SCOTRAIL

an enormous impact on the skills base of-fered by the world’s leading rail cluster,particularly in the field of specialist rollingstock engineering. With Derby hoping to hostthe recently-announced National SkillsAcademy for Railway Engineering, thiswould clearly be a retrograde step.”

The sale of the site, extending over 11hectares, is being handled by BRB (Residu-ary) Ltd, owned by the Department forTransport. Derby Rail Forum says it hopesBRBR “will take on board local concerns andsafeguard the RTC’s rail facilities for cur-rent and future users of this important site”.

Rail industry companies currently basedon the RTC Business Park include NetworkRail, RVEL, Serco Assurance, Rampart Car-riage & Wagon, DEU, Garrandale Engineer-ing and Huber & Suhner.

As British Rail’s research centre, the RTCwas the home of many important develop-ments — including the Advanced Passen-ger Train, computerised signalling and traincontrol and the B5000 lightweight track-friendly bogie, which is now supplied withmany passenger vehicles built by Bombar-dier at its nearby Litchurch Lane factory. V

Train faults threaten new Airdrie-Bathgate serviceWORK is continuing to solve soft-ware faults which have doggedthe testing of ScotRail's new Class380 electric units.

The operator has refused to accept thenew Siemens fleet in its present state aftera number of failures, having suspendedcommissioning on 24 September.

Siemens said some problems were ‘per-fectly normal’ when new trains were triedout on actual routes rather than its testtrack, and remained optimistic.

Reduced service

But the difficulties with the 380s, cost-ing £200 million, are sounding an ominousnote because they are essential for Decem-ber's new timetable.

The new units are due to enter serviceon the Inverclyde, Ayrshire Coast andRenfrewshire routes, displacing AlstomClass 334s which can then be cascaded tothe restored Airdrie-Bathgate line.

It is now possible that the new route,which has been restored and electrified ata cost of £300 million, may be launched inDecember with a reduced service, becauseof the potential lack of trains.

A spokesman for ScotRail said: “We ad-vised the manufacturer that all commission-ing had been suspended and that we couldnot operate or accept these trains.

“We resumed running after modifica-tions to the trains but will not accept themuntil all the problems are resolved and

reliable operation is proven. We are in con-stant contact with the manufacturer andmonitoring the extended trials.”

The spokesman predicted that the newAirdrie-Bathgate route would still open on12 December, but with an ‘introductory’service rather than the full timetable. V

Class 380s: software faults are being blamed

7

RAILNEWSRAILNEWS

FOCUS21 Oct.2010 News

BUSINESS: NETWORK RAIL FUNDING PLANS ON HOLD

More uncertainty as ORR reveals it can’tstart work on post-2014 NR funding yetTHE Office of RailRegulation's planningfor Network Rail's nextfunding period hasbeen put on hold, be-cause of widespreaduncertainties aboutfuture governmentspending.

The ORR has revealedthat its work on the new Peri-odic Review, which is thebasis for the five-year ControlPeriod 5 starting in 2014, isbeing postponed for sixmonths.

Such a delay could alsoaffect Network Rail’s longerterm planning, because evendraft budgets cannot bedrawn up without some in-put about CP5 from the ORR.

The schemes which may now be facingnew problems, at least at the planningstage, include electrification as well as sta-tion modernisations.

Calculations

The ORR would have begun its researchand calculations next month, but now thework will not start until ‘early summer2011’. The ORR said this was so that theDepartment for Transport’s strategicreviews on Network Rail’s structure and onfranchising, and Sir Roy McNulty’s valuefor money study, could be taken intoaccount.

Catch up

The ORR is hoping to catch up with itsoriginal deadline for finalising CP5, in Oc-tober 2013, by working faster.

Bill Emery, who is chief executive of theORR, said: “A periodic review sets out a planfor the future of Britain’s railways. Decisionstaken as part of this process have far-reach-ing implications for the rail industry, pas-sengers and taxpayers.

Delay

“The delay to the next periodic reviewwill allow us to fully consider Sir RoyMcNulty’s value for money recommenda-tions, together with the decisions made onthe future structure of the industry andfranchising.

“This delay will not prevent usfrom delivering final periodic reviewdeterminations by October 2013.”

Network Rail has yet to comment on theannouncement. V

Platform extensions on the Thameslink route, like this one at WestHampstead, were part of Control Period 4, which started last year.But the ORR can’t yet work out what should be spent after 2014

Support the RBFDonate - Raise funds - Volunteer - Become a member

OWN CHARITY

Tel: 01270 251316 - www.railwaybenefitfund.org.uk

President: The Hon. Sir William McAlpine, Bt

THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY’S

Looking after our own

Advertisement

8

RAILNEWSRAILNEWS

FOCUSSeptember2010 And finally …

Thank you BR – and goodbye

RAILNEWSRAILNEWS

FOCUSwww.railnews.co.uk

Published by Railnews LtdBusiness and Technology CentreBessemer DriveStevenage SG1 2DXUnited Kingdomt: +44 (0)1438 310011f: +44 (0)844 443 2700

EditorialSim Harris Managing Editorm: +44 (0)7950 533703e: sim@railnews.co.ukAlan MarshallPaul WhitingTony Friend

AdvertisingLozical Mediam: +44 (0)7939 849108e: laurence.railnews@lozicalmedia.co.uk

© Railnews Ltd 2010. All rights reserved.

Pictures clockwise:The last version of the ‘lion and wheel’,as used on electric locomotives; theAdvanced Passenger Train; RegionalRailways in Scotland; the distinctivecolours of Network SouthEast; thefamous double arrow; Intercity wasperhaps the best known BR brand of all

THE end appears to be in sight for British Rail -- more than thirteenyears after railway privatisation was virtually completed -- as theresult of the latest round of govermment cost-cutting. BR has be-come, we are told, a quango we can do without.

But BR has taken a long time to make its exit, considering that railway privatisationwas launched with an Act of Parliament as long ago as 1993.

The start of the ScotRail franchise on 31 March 1997 meant that the British RailwaysBoard had finally ceased to be a passenger train operator, having lost its responsibility formaintenance and train regulation to Railtrack three years earlier. The last few operatingfunctions had also been transferred elsewhere by the end of 1997.

However, behind the scenes, BR lived on. For several years more it remained respon-sible for British Transport Police.

It was decided to reorganise the British Railways Board as BR (Residuary) Ltd in2001. Until now, it has needed to exist because it manages (and sometimes sells) non-operational railway land, was a party to Channel Tunnel agreements and also deals withformer employees of British Rail who may, for example, be claiming compensation for along-term industrial injury. It has yet to be revealed who will do these things in future.

In spite of the critics BR will go down in history as a huge achiever, which is even moreimpressive when you consider that the operation had the lowest levels of governmentsupport for railways in any European country.

In its time, BR transformed the railway from a Victorian ‘horse and cart’ operation intoa modern system, with trainload freight, the abolition of steam and more trains runningat 125mph (200km/h) than on any other railway in Europe, particularly in the 1980s,when the HSTs were in full swing but High Speed rail was still in its infancy elsewhere.

There was a considerable amount of electrification, including both the West Coast andEast Coast Main Lines.

The idea of reconnecting the London Midland and Southern Regions with passengertrains via the Snow Hill tunnel was discussed (and sometimes ridiculed as too great anoperational challenge) for many years before Thameslink became a reality in 1988.

As the cherry on the sundae, BR was a major partner in the development of the ‘fixedlink’ – better known as the Channel Tunnel. V