90-684: The DB Cargo Company Train (formerly the DB Schenker Company Train and the EWS Company Train ) is a special train operated in the United Kingdom by freight operator DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker Rail (UK) formerly English Welsh & Scottish), a division of Deutsche Bahn . It was built as an inspection saloon replacement, and is also used to entertain corporate clients. The train cost £3 million and took only nine months from concept to completion. The design concept of using
180-459: A font readable by RM optical character recognition (OCR) equipment. Royal Mail will not carry a number of items which it says could be dangerous for its staff or vehicles. Additionally, a list of 'restricted' items can be posted subject to conditions. Prohibited goods include alcoholic, corrosive or flammable liquids or solids, gases, controlled drugs, indecent or offensive materials, and human and animal remains. In 2004, Royal Mail applied to
270-565: A national postal strike over a pay claim. British Telecom was separated from the Post Office in 1980, and emerged as an independent business in 1981. In 1986 the Post Office was subdivided into four businesses: Royal Mail Letters, Royal Mail Parcels, Post Office Counters and the National Girobank. Girobank was sold to Alliance & Leicester in 1990, but the remaining business continued under public ownership as privatisation of this
360-619: A "Master of the Posts", a position that was renamed " Postmaster General " in 1710. Upon his accession to the throne of England at the Union of the Crowns in 1603, James VI moved his court to London. One of his first acts from London was to establish the royal postal service between London and Edinburgh , in an attempt to retain control over the Scottish Privy Council . The Royal Mail service
450-407: A Class 67 locomotive and Mk3 DVT in push pull mode was subsequently adopted by passenger operators such as Chiltern Railways , Wrexham & Shropshire and Arriva Trains Wales for commercial operations. During the time that Keith Heller was CEO, Interfleet Technology was commissioned to design the train. The train was assembled as the replacement for the company's aging inspection saloon, and
540-565: A London-Newcastle service. On 1 January 2006, the Royal Mail lost its 350-year monopoly, and the British postal market became fully open to competition. Competitors were allowed to collect and sort mail, and pass it to Royal Mail for delivery, a service known as downstream access . Royal Mail introduced Pricing in Proportion (PiP) for first and second class inland mail, whereby prices are affected by
630-696: A bid to counter 'unprecedented' market changes, these being a combination of factors, including changes in the British Government's energy policy that had resulted in the early closure of coal-fired power stations, hence DB Cargo UK ran 78% fewer coal trains compared to 2015, while UK steel volumes were also dropping as the industry had been impacted by high energy prices; this resulted in DB Cargo UK running 33% fewer steel trains from 2015. However, Werner recognised that "overall UK steel demand remains stable". During 2017, DB Cargo UK announced an after-tax loss for
720-458: A continuing fall in mail volumes, the government commissioned an independent review of the postal services sector by Richard Hooper CBE , the former deputy chairman of Ofcom . The recommendations in the Hooper Review led Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to seek to part privatise the company by selling a minority stake to a commercial partner. However, despite legislation for the sale passing
810-634: A contract to service Virgin CrossCountry 's Class 220 / 221 fleets at Bristol Barton Hill, Eastleigh, Newcastle, Old Oak Common and Three Bridges . Since its inception, EWS had provided locomotives for the Caledonian Sleeper . It inherited the contract from Rail Express Systems to provide Class 37 and 47s north of Edinburgh Waverley . During March 1998, it also began hauling the services south from Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central to London Euston with Class 90s . Class 67s replaced
900-708: A further fourteen members of the class; this work reportedly extended the fleet's operational life by 15 years. During January 2013, the overhaul programme was described as an "upgrade" that created a new fleet of "Super 60's". The programme involved the complete overhaul, but not total replacement, of the locomotive's engine, as well as the refurbishment of various elements, including the traction motors, bogies, control gear, cabs, and electrical systems. In 2018, DB Cargo sold ten Class 66 locomotives to GBRf for an undisclosed sum, comprising eight stored and two active locomotives many with significant engine defects. In 2019, it also sold all of its 59/2 fleet to Freightliner following
990-682: A large number of British Rail Class 66 diesel locomotives. EWS reduced staff numbers, aiming to reduce numbers by around 3,000 when merging the companies. It also acquired National Power 's open-access freight operator in April 1998. During January 2001, the Canadian National Railway acquired a 42.5% stake in the business via its purchase of Wisconsin Central. In 2003, EWS lost the Royal Mail contract to run mail trains . In October 2005, it launched
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#17328560579981080-463: A letter, the sender could affix the first adhesive postage stamp , the Penny Black , which was available for use from 6 May the same year. Other innovations were the introduction of pre-paid William Mulready designed postal stationery letter sheets and envelopes. As Britain was the first country to issue prepaid postage stamps, British stamps are the only stamps that do not bear the name of
1170-464: A modified Class 92 locomotive travelled from Dollands Moor to Singlewell using the TVM430 signalling system for the first time. The first of five planned test trains ran as a loaded container train from Hams Hall , West Midlands to Novara , Italy on 27 May 2011. DB planned to upgrade an additional five Class 92 locomotives to allow them to run on High Speed 1, making a fleet of six. In July 2011,
1260-565: A number of paid-for services including Admail , post office boxes and private post boxes were removed from the Inland Letter Post Scheme (ILPS) and became available under contract. Several free services, including petitions to parliament and the sovereign, and poste restante , were removed from the scheme. A new holding company, Royal Mail Limited, was established in September 2013, in anticipation of its initial public offering on
1350-707: A profit and closed in 2002. As part of the 2000 Act, the government set up a postal regulator, the Postal Services Commission , known as Postcomm, which offered licences to private companies to deliver mail. In 2001, the Consumer Council for Postal Services, known as Postwatch , was created for consumers to express any concerns they may have with the postal service in Britain. Postwatch was abolished in 2008 and merged with Energywatch to form Consumer Focus , with Postcomm also being abolished in 2011. In 2004,
1440-549: A receiver-pays to a sender-pays system. This was used as the model for other postal services around the world, but also spilled over to the modern-day crowd-funding approach. Greater changes took place when the Uniform Penny Post was introduced on 10 January 1840, whereby a single rate for delivery anywhere in Great Britain and Ireland was pre-paid by the sender. A few months later, to certify that postage had been paid on
1530-628: A seal was first fixed to the mail. At the restoration of the monarchy , in 1660, all the ordinances and acts passed by parliaments during the Civil War and the Interregnum passed into oblivion, so the General Post Office (GPO) was officially established by Charles II under the Post Office Act 1660 ( 12 Cha. 2 . c. 35). Between 1719 and 1763, Ralph Allen , postmaster at Bath , signed
1620-432: A series of contracts with the post office to develop and expand Britain's postal network. He organised mail coaches which were provided by both Wilson & Company of London and Williams & Company of Bath. The early Royal Mail Coaches were similar to ordinary family coaches, but with Post Office livery . The first mail coach ran in 1784, operating between Bristol and London. Delivery staff received uniforms for
1710-578: A small fleet of Mark 2 and Mark 3 carriages, some of the latter form the DB Cargo Company Train . DB Cargo's primary maintenance depot is Toton . The electric fleet is maintained at Crewe . With a modern fleet requiring less maintenance, many of the depots EWS inherited have closed. Some of its other facilities including Bristol Barton Hill , Cambridge , Eastleigh and Newcastle were transferred to fellow Deutsche Bahn subsidiary LNWR (now Arriva TrainCare ). During 2001, EWS commenced
1800-535: A subsidiary, Euro Cargo Rail , to focus on the French market; that same year, the company acquired the wagon maintenance business Marcroft. During 2006, the Office of Rail Regulation fined EWS £4.1million for anti-competitive practices in the coal haulage sector. In November 2007, the company was bought by German train operator Deutsche Bahn for £309 million. In January 2009, EWS was rebranded as DB Schenker. In November 2011,
1890-468: A trial run of wagons carrying curtain walled swap bodies built to a larger European loading gauge was run from Dollands Moor , Folkestone to east London. From 11 November 2011, a weekly service using European sized swap bodies has run between Barking, London and Wroclaw, Poland using High Speed 1. On 2 March 2016, DB Schenker was rebranded as DB Cargo UK . On 17 October 2016, new DB Cargo UK CEO Hans-Georg Werner announced plans to cut 893 jobs in
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#17328560579981980-640: A turnover of £325 million. Over the next two years, the company's fleet size was reduced somewhat, mainly through the disposal or sale of older elements. During 2019, DB Cargo signed an agreement with Maritime Transport Ltd to launch a new rail freight operation, Maritime Intermodal . In 1988, British Rail 's (BR) freight operations were split into two divisions Railfreight Distribution (RfD) and Trainload Freight (TLF). RfD took over BR's Freightliner and Speedlink services and general wagonload and trainload services, excluding coal, petroleum, aggregates and metals. BR's bulk trainload services were handled by
2070-406: A weekly service using European sized swap bodies commenced between Barking , London and Wrocław , Poland using High Speed 1 . In March 2016, the company was rebranded as DB Cargo UK. In October 2016, DB Cargo announced plans to cut 893 jobs in response to a sharp downturn in coal and steel traffic. In the following year, it announced a loss after tax for the financial year of £57 million against
2160-542: Is expected that up to ten locomotives will receive the blue livery. EWS inherited a fleet of 1,231 locomotives from its British Rail acquisitions. This fleet, which was mainly diesel powered, had an average age in excess of 30 years; furthermore, roughly 300 were inoperable, having been cannibalised for spares. To enable the company to offer lower pricing to customers, EWS needed to reduce operating costs and increase availability, and quickly concluded that this goal would require new traction to be procured. During May 1996,
2250-408: Is for PPI or franked mail, where the sender prints their own 'stamp'. For PPI mail, this involves either a simple rubber stamp and an ink pad, or a printed label. For franked mail, a dedicated franking machine is used. Bulk business mail, using Mailmark technology, attracts reduced prices of up to 32%, if the sender prints an RM4SCC barcode , or prints the address formatted in a specific way in
2340-551: Is owned by International Distribution Services . It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels). The company used the name Consignia for a brief period in the early 2000s but changed it afterwards. The company provides mail collection and delivery services throughout the UK. Letters and parcels are deposited in post or parcel boxes, or are collected in bulk from businesses and transported to Royal Mail sorting offices. Royal Mail owns and maintains
2430-430: Is required by law to maintain the universal service , whereby items of a specific size can be sent to any location within the United Kingdom for a fixed price, not affected by distance. The Postal Services Act 2011 guaranteed that Royal Mail would continue to provide the universal service until at least 2021. Royal Mail Special Delivery is an expedited mail service that guarantees delivery by 1 p.m. or 9 a.m.
2520-472: Is used for entertaining corporate clients , for staff trips, managers, customers, functions, and as a "moving office". In the first year of operation the Macmillan Cancer Support charity were allowed to use the train too for fund-raising. The fixed configuration set consists of three British Rail Mark 3 coaches between a Mark 3 driving van trailer and Class 67 locomotive. The interior of
2610-484: The English, Welsh & Scottish (EWS) brand was unveiled. On 10 July 1996, in accordance with the new branding, the holding company's name was changed to English, Welsh & Scottish Railway Holdings Limited . In October 1996, Loadhaul and Mainline Freight were merged with Transrail Freight, and employees transferred to Transrail Freight, which was then renamed to English, Welsh & Scottish Railway Limited. One of
2700-737: The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 (c. 45), which requires carriers of firearms to "take reasonable precautions" for their safe custody and argued that to comply would involve disproportionate cost. A Royal Mail public consultation document on the changes said: "We expect the impact on customers to be minimal". The proposals provoked a large negative response, following a campaign led by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation , backed by numerous shooting-related websites and organisations. A total of 1,458 people gave their views in emails and letters sent to Royal Mail. An online petition opposing
2790-450: The House of Lords , it was abandoned in the House of Commons after strong opposition from backbench Labour MPs. The government later cited the difficult economic conditions for the reason behind the retreat. After the departure of Adam Crozier to ITV plc on 27 May 2010, Royal Mail appointed Canadian Moya Greene as chief executive, the first woman to hold the post. On 6 December 2010,
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2880-531: The Ministry of Defence . The sale, which included 157 locomotives, was concluded on 12 March 1997. At this point, EWS controlled 90% of the rail freight market. Railfreight Distribution was renamed English Welsh & Scottish Railway International on 1 December 1998. The new company had a vast portfolio, comprising in excess of 900 locomotives, 19,000 freight wagons, and 7,000 employees. Track access charges were renegotiated and, following 1,800 job redundancies,
2970-462: The Post Office Act 1969 the General Post Office was changed from a government department to a statutory corporation , known simply as the Post Office. The office of Postmaster General was abolished and replaced with the positions of chairman and chief executive in the new company. In 1971, postal services in Great Britain were suspended for two months between January and March as the result of
3060-572: The Postal Services Act 2000 , whereby the Post Office became a public limited company in which the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry owned a special share, and the Treasury Solicitor held a ordinary share. The company was renamed Consignia Public Limited Company in 2001, a name that was invented by the consultancy company Dragon Brands, and the new name was intended to show that
3150-631: The Trainload Freight division. During 1991, the Rail Express Systems brand was created to handle mail and postal services. After the passing of the Railways Act 1993 , five rail freight companies were formed from RfD and TLF. On 1 April 1994, TLF was split into three separate geographical businesses: Trainload Freight North East, Trainload Freight West and Trainload Freight South East, with each initially given existing contracts, based on
3240-659: The Travelling Post Office trains, and the contract to haul the Royal Train . A fleet of 164 locomotives and 677 postal vans were included along with depots at Bristol Barton Hill , Cambridge , Crewe and London Euston . Then, on 24 February 1996, British Rail's three trainload freight companies, Loadhaul , Mainline Freight and Transrail Freight were acquired for £225 million. The sale included 914 locomotives and 19,310 wagons. All four companies were subsequently merged into North and South Railways, nullifying
3330-587: The Venice-Simplon Orient Express . EWS have previously hauled passenger trains for Anglia Railways , Arriva Trains Northern , First Great Western First North Western , National Express East Anglia , Valley Lines , Virgin CrossCountry Virgin West Coast and Wrexham & Shropshire . Royal Mail The Royal Mail Group Limited , trading as Royal Mail , is a British postal service and courier company. It
3420-495: The 1994 Queen's Speech after a number of Conservative MPs warned Heseltine that they would not vote for the legislation. The Post Office had its headquarters in St. Martin's Le Grand , in the City of London , until 1984. Then the headquarters division moved out to 33 Grosvenor Place (lately vacated by British Steel ). After 1986 separate headquarters were established elsewhere for each of
3510-675: The Class 37s and 47s in the early 2000s. This contract was taken over by GBRf in March 2015. During April 2003, EWS purchased the Rail Charter Services business from William McAlpine along with its 70 Mark 1 carriages . By October 2014, EWS Class 67s had started hauling passenger services on behalf of Arriva Trains Wales , Chiltern Railways and First ScotRail . Class 67s are also used as Thunderbird rescue locomotives for London North Eastern Railway . EWS also provides locomotives for
3600-583: The EWS 'Three Beasties' logo on the train's locomotive and driving van trailer was replaced with a Deutsche Bahn 'DB' logo. DB Cargo UK DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker Rail UK and English, Welsh & Scottish Railway ) is a British rail freight company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Doncaster , England. The company was established by Wisconsin Central in early 1995 as North & South Railways , successfully acquiring and merging five of
3690-465: The London Stock Exchange. Applications for members of the public to buy shares opened on 27 September 2013, ahead of the company's listing on the London Stock Exchange on 15 October 2013. During its annual general meeting on 20 July 2022, the company announced that the holding company responsible for both Royal Mail and GLS would change its name to International Distributions Services . It
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3780-621: The Netherlands (3) and Spain (8). During September 2010, twenty Class 60s were offered for disposal by DB Schenker. Many marked for disposal had sustained catastrophic failures or were otherwise in a poor condition. During November 2010, the firm announced that a batch of 20 Class 60s would be overhauled. According to Rail Magazine, rumours that DB Schenker was interested in replacing the Class 60's engines were prevalent around this time. In January 2011, DB Schenker announced that seven units would undergo overhauls, along with an option to overhaul
3870-689: The Protectorate claimed to govern all of Great Britain and Ireland under one unified government, on 9 June 1657 the Second Protectorate Parliament (which included Scottish and Irish MPs) passed the "Act for settling the Postage in England, Scotland and Ireland", which created one monopoly Post Office for the whole territory of the Commonwealth. The first Postmaster General was appointed in 1661, and
3960-430: The UK's distinctive and iconic red pillar boxes , first introduced in 1852 (12 years after the first postage stamp , Penny Black ), and other post boxes , many of which bear the royal cypher of the reigning monarch at the date of manufacture. Deliveries are made at least once every day except Sundays and bank holidays at uniform charges for all UK destinations. Royal Mail generally aims to make first class deliveries
4050-475: The addition of Multiple Working Jumper cable, and Cab to Train Data cable. The DVT retains its Time Division Multiplexer (TDM) support but this is isolated and non-operational unless the company train is operating in push-pull mode with a Class 90 locomotive. Locomotive 67029 was also modified to include a slight modification to the auto-couplers to enable connecting to the existing Mk3 buckeye couplers without touching
4140-440: The application on the grounds that Royal Mail had not provided sufficient evidence that carrying firearms caused undue disruption or that a ban would reduce the number of illegal weapons. It also said that a ban would cause unnecessary hardship to individuals and businesses. In August 2012, Royal Mail again attempted to prohibit the carriage of all firearms, air rifles and air pistols from 30 November 2012. It cited section 14(1) of
4230-452: The assets of wagon bogie company Probotec Limited in 2005. It was formed into a new subsidiary, Axiom Rail, that also took over responsibility for some of the depots, and leasing surplus locomotives overseas. During October 2005, the company launched a new subsidiary, which traded as Euro Cargo Rail , based in the French market. Several Class 66 locomotives were transferred from EWS to Euro Cargo Rail. In November 2005, EWS acquired
4320-524: The coach's rubbing plate—although it is normally attached using buffer-and-chain coupling. When not in use hauling the company train 67029 is used for normal railway working. The train is explicitly exempted from regulations covering "Working of Passenger Trains Over Non-Passenger Lines", allowing the train to operate between freight depots without additional documentation requirements. The train does not carry passengers per-se —all those on-board are regarded as either staff or invited guests. In February 2012
4410-420: The coal, electricity generation and steel industries, and infrastructure trains for Railtrack . Following privatisation EWS began to compete for Intermodal contracts, while it faced competition from Freightliner in its core markets. In 1999, the company's turnover was £533.7 million, representing an 80% market share in terms of value. On 1 April 1998, open access operator National Power 's rail division
4500-407: The company did more than deliver mail; however, the change was very unpopular with both the general public and employees. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) boycotted the name, and the following year, it was announced that the company would be renamed Royal Mail Group plc. Use of the Post Office brand was afterwards restricted to the counters business ('Post Office Counters Ltd' since 1987), which
4590-544: The company instead decided that electric hauled traction would be replaced by diesel traction such as the Class 66 locomotive. The company also stated that they will pledge for further research and implementation of alternative EVO based fuels to meet their climate targets. In September 2023 12 Class 90s were offered for sale on DB's website; the locomotives listed were; 90017, 90018, 90022, 90023, 90025, 90027, 90030, 90031, 90032, 90033, 90038 and 90040. As well as an extensive fleet of freight wagons, DB Schenker Rail operate
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#17328560579984680-520: The company placed a £375 million order for 250 Class 66 and 30 Class 67 diesel-electric locomotives with the American locomotive manufacturer Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD); the deal was referred to as "the biggest British loco order since steam days". These replaced a large proportion of its original fleet, including all of the 20 , 31 , 33 , 37 , 47 , 56 , 58 , 73 and 86 class locomotives. Through improved utilisation, they also replaced many of
4770-532: The company was represented by a logo that was colloquially known as the "Beasties", consisting of three heads: the lion of England, the dragon of Wales and the stag of Scotland. A larger version of the logo was called the "Big Beasties". Services included mail, locomotive hire, wagonload traffic (branded 'Enterprise', founded by Transrail Freight), cross channel trains via the Channel Tunnel , trainload freight including oil, aggregates, cement and traffic related to
4860-555: The country of issue on them . By the late 19th century, there were between six and twelve mail deliveries per day in London, permitting correspondents to exchange multiple letters within a single day. The first trial of the London Pneumatic Despatch Company was made in 1863, sending mail by underground rail between postal depots. The Post Office began its telegraph service in 1870. The first Post Office pillar box
4950-668: The daily round. Companies using the "Door to door" service include Virgin Media , BT , Sky , Talk Talk , Farmfoods , Domino's Pizza , Direct Line and Morrisons . In 2005, the service delivered 3.3 billion items. The "Door to door" service does not use the UK Mailing Preference Service ; instead, Royal Mail operates its own opt-out database. Warnings about missing government communications given by Royal Mail to customers opting out of their service have been criticised by customers and consumer groups. Clarification given by
5040-475: The financial year of £57 million against a turnover of £325 million. In early 2019, DB Cargo signed an agreement with Maritime Transport Ltd to create a new rail freight operation called Maritime Intermodal . From 1 April 2019, Maritime took over the running of DB's freight terminals at Trafford Park (Manchester), Birmingham (Birch Coppice) and Wakefield Europort . Seven British Rail Class 66 locomotives have been repainted in blue Maritime livery and named: It
5130-580: The first actions of the enlarged company was to seek volunteers for redundancy, as it sought to reduce staff numbers by around 3,000, from 7,600. On 24 December 1996, EWS was announced as the preferred bidder for the loss-making Railfreight Distribution , for which it received grants and subsidies estimated to amount to £242 million over eight years . including subsidies for the use of the Channel Tunnel . Railfreight Distribution's businesses included international containerised freight, movement of cars and automotive components by rail, and freight services for
5220-579: The first time in 1793, and the Post Office Investigation Branch was established. The first mail train ran in 1830, on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway . The Post Office's money order system was introduced in 1838. In December 1839, the first substantial reform started when postage rates were revised by the short-lived Uniform Fourpenny Post . Rowland Hill , an English teacher, inventor and social reformer, became disillusioned with
5310-430: The geographic origin of the traffic flow or in the case of power station coal the split was determined by the location of the power stations concerned. There were also some trainload services previously operated by the contract services business of RfD. The three new businesses were to be re-branded as Loadhaul , Mainline Freight and Transrail Freight for the short duration of their existence. The remainder of RfD
5400-437: The government's effort to create multiple competitive rail freight firms through the privatisation; the decision to allow the creation of a rail freight company with a dominant market position was justified by the additional competition faced from other transport modes. At the time, rail had a 6% share of the freight market. Initially, the four companies continued to trade under their existing names. However, on 25 April 1996,
5490-604: The inland and foreign mails to John Manley. Manley was given a monopoly on the postal service, which was effectively enforced by Protector Oliver Cromwell 's government, and thanks to the improvements necessitated by the war, Manley ran a much-improved Post Office service. In July 1655, the Post Office was put under the direct government control of John Thurloe , a Secretary of State, best known to history as Cromwell's spymaster general. Previous English governments had tried to prevent conspirators from communicating; Thurloe preferred to deliver their post having surreptitiously read it. As
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#17328560579985580-532: The issue, pillar boxes in Scotland were either marked 'Post Office' or used the Scots Crown . A national telephone service was opened by the Post Office in 1912. In 1919, the first international airmail service was developed by Royal Engineers (Postal Section) and Royal Air Force . The London Post Office Railway was opened in 1927. In 1941, an airgraph service was introduced between UK and Egypt. The service
5670-527: The latter's takeover of the Mendip stone traffic. DB Cargo also sold five Class 60s to private sales/metal recyclers. In 2023 in response to the UK Energy crisis DB Cargo UK's current managing director Andrea Rossi announced intentions to withdraw all of their Class 90s with the intention to sell or scrap the locomotives with Rossi stating that the running of electric hauled traction was no longer economically viable,
5760-432: The monarch's title: some Scottish nationalists argue that Queen Elizabeth II should have simply been Queen Elizabeth, as there had been no previous Queen Elizabeth of Scotland or of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ( Elizabeth I was only Queen of the pre-1707 Kingdom of England ). The dispute involved vandalism and attacks on pillar and post boxes introduced in Scotland which displayed EIIR. To avoid
5850-741: The newer 60 and 90 class locomotives as well. During 1999, EWS gained the attention of the Rail Regulator for its practice of scrapping serviceable locomotives rather than making them available for sale to potential competitors; on future disposals, the company was compelled to make efforts to sell units before being allowed to scrap them. Several of the firm's redundant locomotives saw further use on infrastructure trains in Europe, such as numerous Class 37s operated in France (40), Italy (2) and Spain (14), Class 56s in France (30), and Class 58s in France (26),
5940-579: The next business day throughout the nation. For most of its history, the Royal Mail was a public service, operating as a government department or public corporation . Following the Postal Services Act 2011 , a majority of the shares in Royal Mail Limited , now known as International Distribution Services , were floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2013. The Royal Mail can trace its history back to 1516, when Henry VIII established
6030-457: The next day for an increased cost. In the event that the item does not arrive on time, there is a money back guarantee. It insures goods to the value of £50 for 9 a.m. or £750 for 1 p.m. An extra fee can be paid to extend the insurance coverage to up to £2,500 (for either service). The Royal Mail runs, alongside its stamped mail services, another sector of post called business mail. The large majority of Royal Mail's business mail service
6120-437: The postal service, and wrote a paper proposing reforms that resulted in an approach that would go on to change not only the Royal Mail, but also be copied by postal services around world. His proposal was refused at the first attempt, but he overcame the political obstacles, and was appointed to implement and develop his ideas. He realised that many small purchases would fund the organisation and implemented this by changing it from
6210-455: The proposals was signed by 2,236 people, 1,742 of whom added comments. In the face of such opposition, Royal Mail dropped the proposals in December 2012. Royal Mail's "Door to door" service provides delivery of leaflets, brochures, catalogues and other print materials to groups of domestic and business addresses selected by postcode. Such deliveries are made by the mail carrier together as part of
6300-438: The purpose of bidding for the ex-BR freight businesses being offered for sale. It was owned by a consortium, headed by Wisconsin Central , and financed by multiple investment firms, including Berkshire Partners , Goldman Sachs and Fay Richwhite . On 9 December 1995, North and South Railways purchased Rail Express Systems for £24 million. With this purchase came the contract for the Royal Mail train service, including
6390-420: The second daily delivery was scrapped in an effort to reduce costs and improve efficiency, meaning a later single delivery would be made. The same year, the travelling post office mail trains were also axed. In 2005, Royal Mail signed a contract with GB Railfreight to operate an overnight rail service between London and Scotland (carrying bulk mail, and without any on-train sorting); this was later followed by
6480-489: The six freight companies that were sold during the privatisation of British Rail . On 25 April 1996, the English, Welsh & Scottish EWS brand was revealed and implemented over successive months. By the end of March 1997, it controlled 90% of the UK rail freight market, operated a fleet of 900 locomotives and 19,000 wagons, and had 7,000 employees. During the late 1990s, EWS invested heavily into rolling stock renewal, procuring
6570-467: The size as well as weight of items. It also introduced an online postage service, allowing customers to pay for postage online. In 2007, the Royal Mail Group plc became Royal Mail Group Ltd, in a slight change of legal status. Royal Mail ended Sunday collections from pillar boxes that year. On 1 October 2008, Postwatch was merged into the new consumer watchdog Consumer Focus . In 2008, due to
6660-420: The then postal regulator Postcomm to ban the carriage of sporting firearms, saying they caused disruption to the network, that a ban would assist police with firearms control, and that ease of access meant the letters network was a target of criminals. Postcomm issued a consultation on the proposed changes in December 2004, to which 62 people and organisations responded. In June 2005, Postcomm decided to refuse
6750-592: The three subdivisions of the Post Office, leaving a much reduced corporate head office (with just thirty staff) who in 1990 moved to 30 St James's Square ; two years later it was again moved, to be co-located with the Letters head office in Royal Mail House (148 Old Street ). After a change of government in 1997, the Labour government decided to keep the Post Office state-owned, but with more commercial freedom. This led to
6840-656: The time of the acquisition, EWS had a market share of around 70% in the United Kingdom rail freight sector and had around 5,000 employees. After the transaction was approved by the European Commissioner for Competition , the transaction was completed on 13 November 2007. At the time of the sale, it was announced that EWS would not be rebranded, however, on 1 January 2009, EWS was rebranded as DB Schenker along with Deutsche Bahn's Railion and DB Schenker divisions. The first locomotive painted in DB Schenker livery
6930-518: The train was converted to a business/office/corporate entertainment environment, including a 'conference coach' room with 50-inch cinema screen, and seven-metre-long conference table, a dining coach, and a sleeper coach with bedrooms and en-suite washing facilities. The trainset was fitted with a wiring system allowing the Class 67 to work in push–pull mode with the DVT and Mark 3 coaches. In addition to normal inter-carriage connections this includes
7020-464: The wagon maintenance business Marcroft . Due to the potential of the acquisition to reduce competition in the UK wagon repair market, the acquisition was referred to the Competition Commission by the Office of Fair Trading , which required EWS to sell all or part of the business, excluding Marcroft's works at Stoke on Trent , which were incorporated into Axiom. By 2006, company turnover
7110-471: The work force was involved in profit sharing and other incentivised working plans; as a consequence, shipping rates were reduced by over 30%. Many locomotives inherited on foundation were considered unreliable, and expensive to maintain; the company invested heavily in modernisation of its rolling stock; by 2002, £750 million had been invested in this manner, resulting in the delivery of 280 new locomotives and in excess of 2,000 new wagons. Around this time,
7200-688: Was Class 59 59206 at Toton Depot in January 2009, being formally unveiled at the National Railway Museum , York on 21 January 2009. During 2009, DB Schenker Rail began work to enable Class 92 hauled trains to operate freight services on the High Speed 1 by installing in cab TVM signalling. The project received funding from the European Commission and it was originally anticipated services would begin in early 2010. On 25 March 2011,
7290-603: Was 51% owned by Royal Mail, and 49% by Haden Building Management Ltd, which became Balfour Beatty WorkPlace and is now Cofely UK, part of GDF Suez in a joint venture. In the 1990s the President of the Board of Trade , Michael Heseltine , began to look again at privatisation, and eventually a Green Paper on Postal Reform was published in May 1994, outlining various possible options. The ideas, however, proved controversial, and were dropped from
7380-508: Was also suggested that the board of directors may look to separate GLS in order to distance the profitable company from Royal Mail, which were in negotiations with the CWU over both pay and future changes to ways of working. The name change was filled in the Companies House on 28 September 2022 and registered on 3 October. In March 2023, talks over pay were reportedly at collapse. Royal Mail
7470-640: Was deemed to be too unpopular. That same year, Royal Mail Parcels was rebranded as Parcelforce as part of an attempt to compete with international courier firms, which were fast expanding into the European market. Postal workers held their first national strike for 17 years in 1988, after walking out over bonuses being paid to recruit new workers in London and the South East. Royal Mail established Romec (Royal Mail Engineering & Construction) in 1989 to deliver facilities maintenance services to its business. Romec
7560-455: Was duly renamed Post Office Limited ; it continued to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Mail Group plc until 2012, when the two were separated in preparation for the latter's privatisation. In 1998, Royal Mail launched RelayOne as an email to postal service system. In 1999, Royal Mail launched a short-lived e-commerce venture, ViaCode Limited, aimed at providing encrypted online communications services. However, it failed to make
7650-495: Was erected in 1852 in Jersey . Pillar boxes were introduced in mainland Britain the following year. British pillar boxes traditionally carry the Latin initials of the reigning monarch at the time of their installation, for example: VR for Victoria Regina or GR for Georgius Rex . Such branding was not used in Scotland for most of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, due to a dispute over
7740-732: Was first made available to the public by Charles I on 31 July 1635, with postage being paid by the recipient. The monopoly was farmed out to Thomas Witherings . In the 1640s, Parliament removed the monopoly from Witherings and during the Civil War and First Commonwealth the parliamentary postal service was run at great profit for himself by Edmund Prideaux (a prominent parliamentarian and lawyer who rose to be attorney-general ). To keep his monopoly in those troubled times Prideaux improved efficiency and used both legal impediments and illegal methods. In 1653, Parliament set aside all previous grants for postal services, and contracts were let for
7830-494: Was later extended to Canada (1941), East Africa (1941), Burma (1942), India (1942), South Africa (1942), Australia (1943), New Zealand (1943) Ceylon (1944) and Italy (1944). Postcodes were extended across Great Britain and Northern Ireland between 1959 and 1974. The two-class postal system was introduced in 1968, using first-class and second-class services. The Post Office opened the National Giro Bank that year. Under
7920-518: Was reportedly approaching £1 billion. In 2006, the Office of Rail Regulation fined EWS £4.1 million for engaging in anti-competitive practices in the coal haulage business; at the time, the company held a virtual monopoly on such traffic, and its practices had led to official complaints from both Enron and Freightliner Heavy Haul in the early 2000s. On 28 June 2007, Deutsche Bahn announced it had agreed to purchase EWS, subject to receiving regulatory approval, in exchange for £309 million. At
8010-401: Was split into two companies: Freightliner ( container operations between ports), with the residual RfD company operating freight trains through the Channel Tunnel . The Mail and Parcels business were sold as Rail Express Systems and Red Star Parcels . These companies were subsequently put up for sale by competitive tender. A new company, North and South Railways Limited , was formed for
8100-505: Was taken over by EWS, along with its six Class 59 locomotives and 106 wagons. During late January 2001, the Canadian National Railway announced it had agreed to purchase Wisconsin Central. The deal, which included Wisconsin Central's 42.5% stake in EWS, was concluded in October 2001. During 2003, the Royal Mail terminated its mail train contract with EWS; this traffic was transferred to aircraft and road transport instead. EWS acquired
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