117-417: The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948 until 1992 when railways were re-privatised. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s. The region covered south London , southern England and the south coast, including the busy commuter belt areas of Kent, Sussex and Surrey. The region was largely based upon the former Southern Railway area. The Southern Railway
234-501: A cold store , which had frozen the ground below it. The District line tunnel had to be removed and replaced with a new supporting structure that could accommodate the redesigned station building. The work was formally reopened on 30 November 1977 by the Lord Mayor of London , Peter Vanneck (though the station had never actually closed). A part of the stonework elevation from the 1886 LC&DR station has been preserved at platform level in
351-639: A tunnel under the English Channel also included plans to upgrade the infrastructure of the Southern Region between London and the Kent coast. The plan assumed that the main railhead for "The Chunnel" would be at Ashford Kent station. To that end, rolling stock on the London to Dover via Ashford services was refurbished and heavier rails were laid to allow for longer trains and increased freight. The 1973 tunnel plan
468-461: 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
585-521: 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,
702-479: 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
819-411: 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
936-503: A direct interchange with the rest of the underground, unlike all the other LC&DR stations. On 13 November 1886, a direct connection was made between the mainline and underground stations. After the opening of St. Paul's station, the earlier Blackfriars Bridge station was closed to passengers but remained as a goods station until 1965. Most mainline trains called at St Paul's, including those stopping at Holborn Viaduct. Local commuters continued to use Ludgate Hill where possible, as it
1053-493: A goods depot, was demolished in 1964. The bridge was closed to trains on 27 June 1971 and the deck was removed in 1985, and only the piers in the river and the orange bridge abutments remain. The station began to be rebuilt along with the Underground station in 1971, which included an additional 150,000 square feet (14,000 m ) of office space. Reconstruction was problematic, as the original station building had sat on top of
1170-437: 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
1287-414: 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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#17328770724071404-647: A line into the City of London. The company wanted to compete with rivals, the South Eastern Railway , and provide the best service into Central London. The line was complete as far as the Thames by 1864; the LC&;DR opened Blackfriars Bridge station on 1 June, which sat on the south bank adjacent to Blackfriars Road. The station was constructed on two levels, with a goods depot at street level and passenger facilities level with
1521-461: A long roof with walls that stretched up to the riverbank. Cubitt subsequently designed the original bridge, which carried four tracks on a 933 feet (284 m) lattice girder bridge, supported by sets of stone piers supporting iron columns. Services began across the bridge on 21 December 1864. Upon completion, trains ended at a temporary terminal, replaced by Ludgate Hill on 1 June 1865. A further station, Holborn Viaduct , opened on 2 March 1874 and
1638-404: A marginal improvement in the net rate of fatal incidents compared to the same (non-British Rail) period before nationalisation, which reduced potential passengers' confidence. The British railway industry failed to keep track with the safety regime of its aviation industry, which by the 2000s became its national precedent and contributed to a swift decline in fatalities. As to lines closed during
1755-462: A new roof of glazed north lights and partial-height glazed side panels installed along the entire length of the bridge. On the south bank of the river a new station entrance was built at Bankside , containing a second ticket hall. The through platforms were moved to the east side and extended along Blackfriars Railway Bridge to accommodate 12-carriage trains (in place of the previous eight). The layout has been altered by building new bay platforms on
1872-470: 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
1989-722: 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
2106-525: 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
2223-499: A replacement for, the first bridge because of increasing railway traffic. The joint engineers for the works were William Mills of the London, Chatham, and Dover Company, and Messrs. John Wolfe Barry and Henry Marc Brunel . Edward Cruttwell was the resident engineer in charge of construction. The bridge was constructed parallel to the 1864 Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying seven tracks across five arched spans between 175 feet (53 m) and 185 feet (56 m) high. It widened past
2340-468: 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
2457-533: 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
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#17328770724072574-410: Is also served by a small number of Southeastern services to Beckenham Junction and Dartford. Although many services are Thameslink through trains, Blackfriars is considered a central London terminus and tickets marked 'London Terminals' are valid to use when travelling to/from the south. Tickets marked 'London Thameslink' can be used in both directions. Blackfriars Underground station is served by
2691-518: Is run by Thameslink, with Transport for London handling the underground platforms. A Thameslink driver depot is in the station building. The adjacent Blackfriars Millennium Pier provides river services to Putney and Canary Wharf . London Buses routes 4 , 40 , 63 and night routes N63 and N89 serve the station. The station was proposed by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR), who had been given parliamentary power to build
2808-744: Is served by through services on the Thameslink route operated by Thameslink and Southeastern . This includes trains from Bedford , St Albans City and Luton to the north, and Brighton , Sutton and Sevenoaks to the south. Southbound trains run via London Bridge or Elephant & Castle ; northbound trains next call at City Thameslink . Before March 2009 some services from the south terminated at three bay platforms, which were then removed during renovation works. Two new bay platforms opened in May 2012 and are used during peak hours and at weekends. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: The station
2925-665: 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
3042-526: 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
3159-613: The Bluebell and Steyning lines and also those secondary and branch lines in the area which were later dieselized such as the Marshlink and Oxted-Uckfield lines. This plan was, however, overtaken by the Transport Act 1947 which brought about the creation of British Railways . The first new scheme to be adopted by the Southern Region was implemented in two Phases. Owing to restricted clearances, existing electric stock could not be used on
3276-573: The Circle and District lines and is between Temple and Mansion House stations. The underground station pre-dates the mainline one and was opened on 30 May 1870 by the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) as the railway's new eastern terminus when the line was extended from Westminster . The MDR had been created as a new company to complete the Circle line, which would split the budget from
3393-552: The City of London . It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), and regional (Bedford and Cambridge to Brighton) and limited Southeastern commuter services to South East London and Kent. Its platforms span the River Thames , the only station in London to do so, along the length of Blackfriars Railway Bridge , a short distance downstream from Blackfriars Bridge . There are two station entrances – one on each side of
3510-700: The InterCity brand. British Rail built a fleet of electric units to operate Bournemouth services from Waterloo in the 1980s, with Mark 3 bodies and plug doors. These Class 442 (5-WES) units later transferred to the Brighton Main Line in 2008 on Gatwick Express services from Victoria, run by the Southern franchise , before returning to South Western Railway in 2019. The last slam door units ran in mainline operations in November 2005. New safety regulations prohibiting
3627-561: 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
Southern Region of British Railways - Misplaced Pages Continue
3744-598: 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
3861-590: The Oxted line , the Hastings line and the North Downs line . Isle of Wight railway lines used elderly steam engines cascaded from the mainland for many years, but in 1966 the Southern Region acquired some redundant "Standard" tube stock from London Transport that varied build dates between 1923 and 1934. Most of the lines in the island had been closed in the 1950s and early 1960s, but the remaining route from Ryde to Shanklin
3978-503: 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
4095-554: The River Thames , running across the length of Blackfriars Railway Bridge parallel to the A201 Blackfriars Bridge . For this reason, it is partly in the City of London and partly in the London Borough of Southwark . The north bank entrance is on the south side of Queen Victoria Street and the south bank entrance, opened in 2011, is adjacent to Blackfriars Road . The station falls within fare zone 1 . The station
4212-454: The River Thames , where the subsoil was largely unsuitable for tunnelling and the mainline railways had extensive networks in place before the underground railways were developed. London Underground's services were advanced over Southern Region (and other) tracks, either through dual-running or by ceding BR tracks to LUL. The LUL service to Wimbledon for instance slowly replaced the former Southern Region service. Tramlink , however, took over
4329-618: 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),
4446-478: The Snow Hill tunnel to the rest of the rail network. The Underground station opened in 1870 with the arrival of the Metropolitan District Railway . The station was renamed Blackfriars in 1937 to avoid confusion with St Paul's tube station . It was rebuilt in the 1970s, which included the addition of office space above the station and the closure of the original railway bridge, which was demolished in 1985. In 2009,
4563-417: 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
4680-465: 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. Blackfriars station Blackfriars , also known as London Blackfriars , is a central London railway station and connected London Underground station in
4797-623: The West Croydon to Wimbledon Line in 2000. The Waterloo & City line (nicknamed 'The Drain' by both staff and users), British Rail's only "Tube" service, was given over to London Underground upon the Privatisation of British Rail in 1994. The Southern Railway had adopted a plan to convert all lines east of Portsmouth to third rail electric traction in November 1946, to be completed by 1955. This plan would have included several branch and secondary lines that were subsequently closed such as
Southern Region of British Railways - Misplaced Pages Continue
4914-719: The Western Region and the Southern's luxury trains, including the Atlantic Coast Express and the Brighton Belle , ceased in the 1960s and 70s. The Snow Hill tunnel between Blackfriars and Farringdon closed in the 1960s, then later reopened as part of the earliest proposals of the Thameslink Programme . At the same time, Holborn Viaduct in central London closed in 1990, replaced with City Thameslink occupying
5031-466: 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
5148-484: 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
5265-590: 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
5382-639: The 1950s and 1960s, but some Southern Railway-style units survived until the mid-1990s. By that time, much of the Region's slam door fleet reached the end of its design life of 35–40 years and was replaced by more reliable sliding- and plug-door stock - much of it after privatisation (mainly using Electrostar and Desiro trains) - although BR started to replace inner suburban trains from the 1970s. A fleet of diesel-electric multiple units , also known by enthusiasts as "Thumpers" because of their distinctive engines, ran on non- or partly-electrified routes. These include
5499-401: 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
5616-534: 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
5733-588: 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
5850-424: 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
5967-756: 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
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#17328770724076084-455: 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
6201-529: 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
6318-584: The District and Metropolitan Railways. The construction of the new section of the MDR was planned in conjunction with the building of the Victoria Embankment and was achieved by the cut and cover method of roofing over a shallow trench. On 3 July 1871 the MDR was extended eastwards to a new terminus at Mansion House. The Circle line ran over the same route, but its completion was delayed following arguments between
6435-550: 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
6552-916: The Isle of Wight's lines were closed in the 1950s. The Beeching Axe severely cut route mileages of most regions but the Southern escaped major losses in the London area due to high passenger numbers on its frequent suburban services. The Axe did, however, close some country routes including the Cuckoo Line , the Cranleigh Line , the Steyning Line , the New Romney branch line and the Bexhill West Branch Line , plus goods yards including Deptford Wharf and Falcon Lane. The lines in Devon and Cornwall were reclassified to
6669-529: The LC&DR line ran via the Snow Hill tunnel to a connection to the Metropolitan Railway near Farringdon , then on to King's Cross and St Pancras stations. The mainline Blackfriars station was opened by the LC&DR as St. Paul's railway station on 10 May 1886 when the company opened the St. Paul's Railway Bridge across the Thames. The new bridge and station were built as a supplement to, rather than
6786-595: 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
6903-497: The London suburbs) was electrified in 1967 and included the services from London Waterloo station to Southampton and Bournemouth. Electrification was extended all the way to Weymouth in 1988. Existing electric stock could not be used on the line between Tonbridge and Hastings because of restricted clearances in four tunnels along the route. In 1986, the Hastings Line was electrified with single tracks through tunnels, enabling
7020-699: The Southern Railway, John Elliot became the first Chief Regional Officer of the Southern Region. The Southern Region also inherited some independent light railways , namely the East Kent Light Railway , the Kent and East Sussex Railway and the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway . The Southern Region served southern London , Kent , Surrey , Sussex , Hampshire , the Isle of Wight , and some areas of Dorset , Wiltshire and Berkshire . There
7137-475: The Thames – along with a connection to the London Underground District and Circle lines . The main line station was opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway with the name St. Paul's in 1886, as a replacement for the earlier Blackfriars Bridge station (now the present station's southern entrance) and the earlier Blackfriars railway bridge. This increased capacity of rail traffic through
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#17328770724077254-460: The Thameslink route to pass through London. Thameslink services began using the newly constructed platforms in early 2011. The station's new entrance and ticket hall on the south side of the river opened on 5 December. The tube station reopened on 20 February 2012. The Mayor of London , Boris Johnson , visited the works on the same day, saying "the rebirth of this central London station will improve
7371-564: 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
7488-433: The bridge to the terminus on the south side of Queen Victoria Street. The original station was a small and cheaply designed pink-red brick building, as the LC&DR had financial difficulties throughout its lifetime attempting to drive a railway through Central London. The station's frontage backed onto the District Railway , making cab access and a forecourt impossible owing to lack of space. It did, however, allow St Paul's
7605-405: The bridge. An underground station at Blackfriars north of the river was opened by the Metropolitan District Railway in 1870, before any mainline stations. The railway bridge across the Thames was delayed because the City's municipal body, the Corporation of London , was unsure as to what it should look like and how many arches there should be. The station was designed by Joseph Cubitt and had
7722-483: 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
7839-441: The completion of large-scale electrification. Consequently, the Southern Region was the last region in Britain to regularly use steam on high speed expresses and to have steam operated branch lines. Steam traction over the region finally ended in July 1967, to be replaced by a combination of multiple units and locomotives . The region had ordered large fleets of slam-door electric multiple unit rolling stock with Mark 1 bodies in
7956-450: 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
8073-442: 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
8190-432: 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
8307-492: The energy for the station. In 2017, the station won a Major Station of the Year award at the National Rail Awards. The Waterloo & City line , a deep-level tube line which runs non-stop between Waterloo and Bank , runs almost directly under Blackfriars station and there have been suggestions to construct an interchange station for the line at Blackfriars. The Department for Transport considers this to have "no significant transport benefit". Blackfriars main-line station
8424-402: 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
8541-466: 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
8658-651: 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
8775-616: 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
8892-568: 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
9009-548: The government took back control of the Connex South Eastern franchise and operated it as South Eastern Trains until it was franchised to Govia again as Southeastern in 2006. As part of a general reorganisation of franchises, Island Line (on the Isle of Wight) was merged with South West Trains in 2005 to form the South Western franchise . Thameslink became part of First Capital Connect in 2006, and Gatwick Express
9126-491: The journeys of thousands of passengers every single day". The reconstruction work provided jobs for around 13,000 people, with a peak of 2,000 per day at the busiest times. The Thameslink redevelopment work at Blackfriars has been well received. In January 2014 the Blackfriars Railway Bridge became the world's largest solar-powered bridge having been covered with 4,400 photovoltaic panels providing up to half of
9243-515: 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
9360-474: 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
9477-545: The main line station indicating many destinations in the south-east of England and in Europe. Blackfriars station was significantly renovated between 2009 and 2012 in a £500 million redevelopment programme to modernise the station and increase capacity. The terminal platforms at the station were closed on 20 March 2009 in order for work to begin. The original concept for the project was designed by Pascall+Watson architects, with execution by Jacobs and Tony Gee and Partners; it
9594-402: 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
9711-647: 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
9828-543: The new Thameslink Southern & Great Northern franchise (TSGN), including the South Central franchise Govia were already operating. On 26 July 2015 the South Central franchise ended and its services were incorporated into TSGN franchise; Govia announced that they would continue to use the Southern and Gatwick Express brands. In August 2017, South Western Railway commenced operations in the South Western franchise. At
9945-675: 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
10062-480: 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
10179-422: The railways of the Isle of Wight . The surviving line between Ryde and Shanklin was therefore electrified in March 1967 using converted stock originally built for London Electric Railway in 1921. These became British Rail Classes 485 and 486 . During the mid 1980s these were replaced by Class 483 , which were also rebuilt from former London Underground stock. The first phase of South West Main Line (beyond
10296-453: 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
10413-417: The rights of railway workers. The railway companies were amalgamated into British Railways, part of the British Transport Commission , and six geographic and administrative regions were created out of the previous four companies. The Southern Railway, being relatively self-contained and operated largely by electric traction, was incorporated almost intact as the new Southern Region. The acting General Manager of
10530-432: 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
10647-763: The same site at an underground level. In the late 1990s, the Addiscombe Line and the West Croydon to Wimbledon Line in south London were closed as these routes were replaced by the Croydon Tramlink . As a contrast, London Waterloo had been extensively refurbished and expanded to allow development of the Eurostar 's Waterloo International railway station terminal. These platforms were closed after international services moved to St Pancras International in 2007. They were reopened respectively in 2017 and 2018 to increase capacity for suburban services. The 1973 plan to build
10764-406: The signalbox on the south side of the bridge was destroyed, along with a bridge over Southwark Street. Seven flagmen were caught in the blast, with three being killed outright, another three dying in hospital from burns and just one surviving after a long recovery in hospital. The signals were not fully restored until 11 August 1946, after the war. After the creation of British Railways in 1948,
10881-516: 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
10998-570: The station underwent major refurbishments to improve capacity, which included the extension of the platforms across the railway bridge and a new station entrance on the South Bank. The underground station was rebuilt at the same time, and work was completed in 2012. The nearest museum is the Tate Modern which is 550 yards (0.5 km) from the station. Blackfriars station serves Thameslink rail services that connect suburbs with central London. It straddles
11115-528: The station was managed by the Southern Region . Gradually, the structure of the original Blackfriars Railway Bridge deteriorated until it was unsound. In 1961, two tracks were removed from the bridge to ease its load. The station had little investment and still supported some of the original architecture and design up to the 1960s. By this time, services were reduced to a handful of commuter services. The original Blackfriars Bridge station, which had remained as
11232-535: The three current franchise areas. The Region's chief stations in Central London were: Other major stations in London included: Outside Greater London the main stations were: Southern and Western Regions had important interchanges at Reading and Exeter St Davids . Underused stations such as those between East Grinstead and Lewes (a few of them later reopened with the Bluebell Railway ), and most of
11349-453: The time of its creation the Southern Region still had large numbers of steam locomotives The Southern Region also owned three locomotive works at Ashford , Brighton , and Eastleigh , two carriage works (Eastleigh and Lancing ) and a wagon works at Ashford. Most of these closed before privatisation. Unlike the other regions of British Railways, the Southern Region did not rush to withdraw its steam locomotives, instead using them right up to
11466-467: The time the region existed, some are preserved railways, mainly the Watercress Line , Bluebell Railway , Spa Valley Railway , Isle of Wight Steam Railway , Swanage Railway and Dartmoor Railway . [REDACTED] Eastern [REDACTED] London Midland [REDACTED] North Eastern [REDACTED] Scottish [REDACTED] Southern British Rail British Railways ( BR ), which from 1965 traded as British Rail ,
11583-596: 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
11700-423: 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
11817-499: The use of generic rolling stock. The former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the South Eastern Railway joint line between Croydon and Oxted, and the LB&;SCR line to East Grinstead was electrified in 1987. But the branch line to Uckfield remains operated by diesel multiple units . The Southern Region was abolished in 1992 because British Rail had decided to move from regional management to business sectors . The Region
11934-593: The use of trains with slam doors (unless equipped with secondary or central locking ) were not introduced until the last examples could be withdrawn. Exceptionally, some slam door units were allowed to stay in service for another couple of years by special derogation on the Lymington Pier "heritage" branch before they retired permanently in 2010. Some Mark 1 units have been preserved by heritage railways ever since. A lack of investment and focus on infrastructure maintenance and collision safeguards across institutions led to
12051-439: The west side, avoiding the need for through trains between City Thameslink and London Bridge crossing the paths of terminating ones. The works exploited the disused piers west of the existing railway bridge which once supported the former West Blackfriars and St. Paul's Railway Bridge. The easternmost row of disused piers was strengthened, tied into the existing bridge and clad in stone. The longer platforms allow longer trains on
12168-485: 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
12285-559: Was also an unelectrified service to parts of Devon and Cornwall , deep in what was largely Western Region territory, known colloquially as "The Withered Arm" . The Southern Region also assumed operating responsibility for the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway (although the provision of motive power fell to the London Midland Region). There were three operating divisions: Eastern, Central and Western which correspond approximately to
12402-474: Was built by Balfour Beatty . The office building above the station was demolished and replaced as part of the Thameslink programme. The new station is the same height and has a combined National Rail and London Underground ticket hall and ventilation shaft together with escalators and lifts between a mezzanine level for main line railway services and the sub-surface level for London Underground services. The Underground station also received major enhancements, with
12519-537: Was cancelled in 1975. The 1986 tunnel plan, which was approved and eventually built, used the same assumptions as the 1973 plan and Ashford Kent became Ashford International . By this time the Southern Region had been abolished. Until 1980 the Southern Region operated the Night Ferry sleeper train (jointly with SNCF ) from London Victoria to Paris and Brussels. The Southern Railway and its predecessor companies have had little competition from London Transport south of
12636-624: Was closer to where they were going, but it did not have sufficient capacity. St. Paul's station was renamed by the Southern Railway as Blackfriars on 1 February 1937. This was partly done to avoid confusion after the London Passenger Transport Board renamed Post Office tube station on the Central line to St Paul's , and partly so that the mainline and underground stations would have the same name. It suffered significant bomb damage during World War II. Overnight on 16–17 April 1941,
12753-565: 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
12870-507: Was divided between two of the new passenger businesses: Network SouthEast and InterCity . When the British Rail passenger services were privatised in the 1990s the lines of the former region were divided between South West Trains , Thameslink , Island Line , Thames Trains , Gatwick Express , Connex South Central and Connex South Eastern . In 2002 the South Central franchise was awarded to Govia and rebranded it " Southern ". Next,
12987-419: Was electrified to normal Southern Region third rail specification, and the "Standard" tube stock was converted (from LT's fourth rail to third) so that it could be run on it. In the late-1980s these trains were replaced by more redundant LT tube stock , this time dating from 1938. Few Mark 2 multiple units were built but some driving trailers were introduced for Gatwick Airport express services, then operated by
13104-463: 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
13221-454: Was merged with Southern in 2007. The North Downs Line was taken over by First Great Western , which in 2014 was renamed Great Western Railway . In the early years of its franchise, South West Trains reinstated 'West of England line' services beyond Exeter to Plymouth and Paignton, but these were cut back again (after only two years of operation) in order to strengthen its core service to Exeter. Also in 2014, Govia had been selected to operate
13338-448: Was still comparatively profit-making despite World War II , thanks to its extensive third rail DC electrification and the intensive service patterns this allowed for. However, large-scale investment was required in the infrastructure of all of the "Big 4" companies, including the Southern. The Transport Act 1947 provided for the nationalisation of all heavy rail systems in the UK to allow for this investment and, in theory, to improve
13455-422: 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
13572-539: 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
13689-451: 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
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