134-611: The Furness line is a British railway between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster , joining the West Coast Main Line at Carnforth . A predominantly passenger line, it serves various towns along the Furness coast, including Barrow-in-Furness , Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands . It runs through Cumbria and Lancashire . Regional services on the line start from Manchester Airport and Preston , while local services start from Preston and Lancaster . The majority of services along
268-408: A crank on a driving axle. Steam locomotives have been phased out in most parts of the world for economical and safety reasons, although many are preserved in working order by heritage railways . Electric locomotives draw power from a stationary source via an overhead wire or third rail . Some also or instead use a battery . In locomotives that are powered by high-voltage alternating current ,
402-586: A dining car . Some lines also provide over-night services with sleeping cars . Some long-haul trains have been given a specific name . Regional trains are medium distance trains that connect cities with outlying, surrounding areas, or provide a regional service, making more stops and having lower speeds. Commuter trains serve suburbs of urban areas, providing a daily commuting service. Airport rail links provide quick access from city centres to airports . High-speed rail are special inter-city trains that operate at much higher speeds than conventional railways,
536-710: A fourth rail system in 1890 on the City and South London Railway , now part of the London Underground Northern line . This was the first major railway to use electric traction . The world's first deep-level electric railway, it runs from the City of London , under the River Thames , to Stockwell in south London. The first practical AC electric locomotive was designed by Charles Brown , then working for Oerlikon , Zürich. In 1891, Brown had demonstrated long-distance power transmission, using three-phase AC , between
670-527: A funicular railway at the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Austria. The line originally used wooden rails and a hemp haulage rope and was operated by human or animal power, through a treadwheel . The line is still operational, although in updated form and is possibly the oldest operational railway. Wagonways (or tramways ) using wooden rails, hauled by horses, started appearing in the 1550s to facilitate
804-488: A hydro-electric plant at Lauffen am Neckar and Frankfurt am Main West, a distance of 280 km (170 mi). Using experience he had gained while working for Jean Heilmann on steam–electric locomotive designs, Brown observed that three-phase motors had a higher power-to-weight ratio than DC motors and, because of the absence of a commutator , were simpler to manufacture and maintain. However, they were much larger than
938-431: A steam engine that provides adhesion. Coal , petroleum , or wood is burned in a firebox , boiling water in the boiler to create pressurized steam. The steam travels through the smokebox before leaving via the chimney or smoke stack. In the process, it powers a piston that transmits power directly through a connecting rod (US: main rod) and a crankpin (US: wristpin) on the driving wheel (US main driver) or to
1072-469: A transformer in the locomotive converts the high-voltage low-current power to low-voltage high current used in the traction motors that power the wheels. Modern locomotives may use three-phase AC induction motors or direct current motors. Under certain conditions, electric locomotives are the most powerful traction. They are also the cheapest to run and provide less noise and no local air pollution. However, they require high capital investments both for
1206-544: A diesel locomotive from the company in 1909. The world's first diesel-powered locomotive was operated in the summer of 1912 on the Winterthur–Romanshorn railway in Switzerland, but was not a commercial success. The locomotive weight was 95 tonnes and the power was 883 kW with a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). Small numbers of prototype diesel locomotives were produced in a number of countries through
1340-468: A double track plateway, erroneously sometimes cited as world's first public railway, in south London. William Jessop had earlier used a form of all-iron edge rail and flanged wheels successfully for an extension to the Charnwood Forest Canal at Nanpantan , Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1789. In 1790, Jessop and his partner Outram began to manufacture edge rails. Jessop became a partner in
1474-669: A few years before it was abolished. Sectorisation was generally regarded within the industry as a great success, and it was to have a considerable effect on the way in which privatisation would be carried out. During 1985, what may in retrospect be viewed as the harbinger of private rail operation occurred when the quarry company Foster Yeoman bought a small number of extremely powerful 3600 hp locomotives from General Motors ' Electro-Motive Diesel division (GM-EMD), designated Class 59 , to operate mineral trains from their quarry in Wiltshire . Although owned and maintained by Foster Yeoman,
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#17328447216281608-437: A large turning radius in its design. While high-speed rail is most often designed for passenger travel, some high-speed systems also offer freight service. Since 1980, rail transport has changed dramatically, but a number of heritage railways continue to operate as part of living history to preserve and maintain old railway lines for services of tourist trains. A train is a connected series of rail vehicles that move along
1742-488: A larger locomotive named Galvani , exhibited at the Royal Scottish Society of Arts Exhibition in 1841. The seven-ton vehicle had two direct-drive reluctance motors , with fixed electromagnets acting on iron bars attached to a wooden cylinder on each axle, and simple commutators . It hauled a load of six tons at four miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour) for a distance of one and a half miles (2.4 kilometres). It
1876-666: A link to Ulverston, the largest local town at the time. The line slowly expanded to link up with what is today the Cumbrian Coast Line , in addition to an extension to Ulverston in 1854. In 1857, the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway completed its route, linking to the Carlisle and Lancaster Railway. The line eventually began to expand, purchasing the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway . The railway company eventually refused to purchase
2010-423: A locomotive. This involves one or more powered vehicles being located at the front of the train, providing sufficient tractive force to haul the weight of the full train. This arrangement remains dominant for freight trains and is often used for passenger trains. A push–pull train has the end passenger car equipped with a driver's cab so that the engine driver can remotely control the locomotive. This allows one of
2144-499: A modernised timetable in May 2018, with additional services to Manchester Airport introduced from July 2019. The service is unusual amongst those on the West Coast Main Line as it does not yet have a clockface timetable . This means that there are several gaps in the service, varying between 30 and 90 minutes. The new timetable was criticised by local schools due to the introduction of earlier services between Barrow and Ulverston. Following
2278-511: A new system of rail franchising overseen by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF). Ownership and operation of rail freight in Great Britain passed to two companies – English Welsh & Scottish (EWS) and Freightliner , less than the originally intended six, although numerous new entrants in the sector have since appeared. The privatisation of the railways was very controversial at
2412-415: A new organisation, Network Rail , bought Railtrack. Network Rail has no shareholders and is a company limited by guarantee , nominally in the private sector but with members instead of shareholders and its borrowing guaranteed by the government. During 2004, Network Rail took back direct control of the maintenance of the track, signalling and overhead lines, although track renewal remained contracted out to
2546-477: A number of trains per hour (tph). Passenger trains can usually be into two types of operation, intercity railway and intracity transit. Whereas intercity railway involve higher speeds, longer routes, and lower frequency (usually scheduled), intracity transit involves lower speeds, shorter routes, and higher frequency (especially during peak hours). Intercity trains are long-haul trains that operate with few stops between cities. Trains typically have amenities such as
2680-650: A piece of circular rail track in Bloomsbury , London, the Catch Me Who Can , but never got beyond the experimental stage with railway locomotives, not least because his engines were too heavy for the cast-iron plateway track then in use. The first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murray 's rack locomotive Salamanca built for the Middleton Railway in Leeds in 1812. This twin-cylinder locomotive
2814-460: A pivotal role in the development and widespread adoption of the steam locomotive. His designs considerably improved on the work of the earlier pioneers. He built the locomotive Blücher , also a successful flanged -wheel adhesion locomotive. In 1825 he built the locomotive Locomotion for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the northeast of England, which became the first public steam railway in
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#17328447216282948-515: A recasting of rail franchises in the North of England by the Department for Transport , all services on the line are now operated by Northern. Regional services to Manchester and Preston were previously operated by First TransPennine Express until 31 March 2016, and TransPennine Express Class 185s used by the previous franchise were used on some services to Manchester Airport by Northern. The line received
3082-565: A recasting of rail franchises in the North of England by the Department for Transport , all services on the line were transferred to Northern in April 2015. Services previously operated by First TransPennine Express will be operated by new 'Northern Connect' services from December 2019, enhancing the previous service with 11 trains per day to Manchester Airport. The enhanced service will use new, air-conditioned Class 195 'Civity' units and offer free onboard WiFi and faster journey times. In addition to
3216-439: A revival in recent decades due to road congestion and rising fuel prices, as well as governments investing in rail as a means of reducing CO 2 emissions . Smooth, durable road surfaces have been made for wheeled vehicles since prehistoric times. In some cases, they were narrow and in pairs to support only the wheels. That is, they were wagonways or tracks. Some had grooves or flanges or other mechanical means to keep
3350-724: A single lever to control both engine and generator in a coordinated fashion, and was the prototype for all diesel–electric locomotive control systems. In 1914, world's first functional diesel–electric railcars were produced for the Königlich-Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen ( Royal Saxon State Railways ) by Waggonfabrik Rastatt with electric equipment from Brown, Boveri & Cie and diesel engines from Swiss Sulzer AG . They were classified as DET 1 and DET 2 ( de.wiki ). The first regular used diesel–electric locomotives were switcher (shunter) locomotives . General Electric produced several small switching locomotives in
3484-407: A standard. Following SNCF's successful trials, 50 Hz, now also called industrial frequency was adopted as standard for main-lines across the world. Earliest recorded examples of an internal combustion engine for railway use included a prototype designed by William Dent Priestman . Sir William Thomson examined it in 1888 and described it as a "Priestman oil engine mounted upon a truck which
3618-503: A subsidiary established in 2003, Network Rail is the maintainer of the infrastructure of HS1. Domestic passenger services are operated on parts of HS1 as part of the Integrated Kent Franchise , these commenced in 2009, operated by Southeastern . The impact of privatisation has been debated by the public, media and the rail industry ever since the process was completed. Whether to renationalise or otherwise make major changes to
3752-620: A terminus about one-half mile (800 m) away. A funicular railway was also made at Broseley in Shropshire some time before 1604. This carried coal for James Clifford from his mines down to the River Severn to be loaded onto barges and carried to riverside towns. The Wollaton Wagonway , completed in 1604 by Huntingdon Beaumont , has sometimes erroneously been cited as the earliest British railway. It ran from Strelley to Wollaton near Nottingham . The Middleton Railway in Leeds , which
3886-408: A wheel. This was a large stationary engine , powering cotton mills and a variety of machinery; the state of boiler technology necessitated the use of low-pressure steam acting upon a vacuum in the cylinder, which required a separate condenser and an air pump . Nevertheless, as the construction of boilers improved, Watt investigated the use of high-pressure steam acting directly upon a piston, raising
4020-410: Is a single, self-powered car, and may be electrically propelled or powered by a diesel engine . Multiple units have a driver's cab at each end of the unit, and were developed following the ability to build electric motors and other engines small enough to fit under the coach. There are only a few freight multiple units, most of which are high-speed post trains. Steam locomotives are locomotives with
4154-467: Is also intended to refurbish all stations served by Northern Connect services. These refreshed stations will provide higher standards with free WiFi and modern facilities. Railway Rail transport (also known as train transport ) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks , which usually consist of two parallel steel rails . Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport , next to road transport . It
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4288-399: Is dominant. Electro-diesel locomotives are built to run as diesel–electric on unelectrified sections and as electric locomotives on electrified sections. Alternative methods of motive power include magnetic levitation , horse-drawn, cable , gravity, pneumatics and gas turbine . A passenger train stops at stations where passengers may embark and disembark. The oversight of the train is
4422-673: Is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed . Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains . Power is usually provided by diesel or electrical locomotives . While railway transport is capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Precursors of railways driven by human or animal power have existed since antiquity, but modern rail transport began with
4556-550: Is worked on a temporary line of rails to show the adaptation of a petroleum engine for locomotive purposes." In 1894, a 20 hp (15 kW) two axle machine built by Priestman Brothers was used on the Hull Docks . In 1906, Rudolf Diesel , Adolf Klose and the steam and diesel engine manufacturer Gebrüder Sulzer founded Diesel-Sulzer-Klose GmbH to manufacture diesel-powered locomotives. Sulzer had been manufacturing diesel engines since 1898. The Prussian State Railways ordered
4690-509: The Cumbrian Coast line due to a shortage in rolling stock following the move of Class 170 'Turbostar' units to Chiltern Railways . The change was controversial locally as the trains were old, and unreliable. Class 68 locomotives were introduced onto services temporarily in January 2018, until through running of loco-hauled stock ended in May 2018. In April 2016, operation of all services on
4824-558: The London, Midland & Scottish Railway on 31 December 1922. The Roa Island branch was closed in 1936, however the rest of the network remained open until the formation of British Railways . The Coniston branch closed in 1962 and the Lakeside branch in 1965, with part of the route being preserved as the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway . Sleeper services to London Euston ceased in 1990. Following
4958-603: The National Freight Corporation , but this transfer did not occur until 1969. The preferred organisational structure in the 1970s was for the BRB to form wholly owned subsidiaries which were run at an arm's-length relationship, e.g. the railway engineering works became British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) in 1970; the ferry operations to Ireland , France , Belgium and the Netherlands were run by Sealink , part of
5092-624: The Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF), then its successor the Strategic Rail Authority and now with the Secretary of State for Transport . The passage of the Railways Bill was controversial. The public was largely unconvinced of the virtues of rail privatisation and there was much lobbying against the Bill. The Labour Party was implacably opposed to it and promised to renationalise
5226-576: The Railways Act 1993 on 5 November 1993, and the organisational structure dictated by it came into effect on 1 April 1994. Initially, British Rail was broken up into various units frequently based on its own organisational sectors (Train Operating Units, Infrastructure Maintenance Units, etc. - for more details see below) still controlled by the British Railways Board, but which were sold over
5360-665: The United Kingdom , South Korea , Scandinavia, Belgium and the Netherlands. The construction of many of these lines has resulted in the dramatic decline of short-haul flights and automotive traffic between connected cities, such as the London–Paris–Brussels corridor, Madrid–Barcelona, Milan–Rome–Naples, as well as many other major lines. High-speed trains normally operate on standard gauge tracks of continuously welded rail on grade-separated right-of-way that incorporates
5494-414: The overhead lines and the supporting infrastructure, as well as the generating station that is needed to produce electricity. Accordingly, electric traction is used on urban systems, lines with high traffic and for high-speed rail. Diesel locomotives use a diesel engine as the prime mover . The energy transmission may be either diesel–electric , diesel-mechanical or diesel–hydraulic but diesel–electric
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5628-428: The privatisation of British Rail in the 1990s, services were initially transferred to First North Western . First TransPennine Express took over the operation of regional express services to Manchester and Preston in 2004, while local services were transferred to Northern Rail . Class 37 locomotives hauling Mark 2 carriages were used on the line between May 2015 and May 2018, operating through services along
5762-458: The puddling process in 1784. In 1783 Cort also patented the rolling process , which was 15 times faster at consolidating and shaping iron than hammering. These processes greatly lowered the cost of producing iron and rails. The next important development in iron production was hot blast developed by James Beaumont Neilson (patented 1828), which considerably reduced the amount of coke (fuel) or charcoal needed to produce pig iron. Wrought iron
5896-418: The rotary phase converter , enabling electric locomotives to use three-phase motors whilst supplied via a single overhead wire, carrying the simple industrial frequency (50 Hz) single phase AC of the high-voltage national networks. An important contribution to the wider adoption of AC traction came from SNCF of France after World War II. The company conducted trials at AC 50 Hz, and established it as
6030-532: The 1880s, railway electrification began with tramways and rapid transit systems. Starting in the 1940s, steam locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives . The first high-speed railway system was introduced in Japan in 1964, and high-speed rail lines now connect many cities in Europe , East Asia , and the eastern United States . Following some decline due to competition from cars and airplanes, rail transport has had
6164-510: The 1930s (the famous " 44-tonner " switcher was introduced in 1940) Westinghouse Electric and Baldwin collaborated to build switching locomotives starting in 1929. In 1929, the Canadian National Railways became the first North American railway to use diesels in mainline service with two units, 9000 and 9001, from Westinghouse. Although steam and diesel services reaching speeds up to 200 km/h (120 mph) were started before
6298-500: The 1960s in Europe, they were not very successful. The first electrified high-speed rail Tōkaidō Shinkansen was introduced in 1964 between Tokyo and Osaka in Japan. Since then high-speed rail transport, functioning at speeds up to and above 300 km/h (190 mph), has been built in Japan, Spain, France , Germany, Italy, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan (Republic of China),
6432-460: The 40 km Burgdorf–Thun line , Switzerland. Italian railways were the first in the world to introduce electric traction for the entire length of a main line rather than a short section. The 106 km Valtellina line was opened on 4 September 1902, designed by Kandó and a team from the Ganz works. The electrical system was three-phase at 3 kV 15 Hz. In 1918, Kandó invented and developed
6566-461: The BRB's railway operations still largely reflected that of the Big Four British railway companies , which had been merged to create British Railways over 30 years previously. There were five Regions (Scotland being a separate region), each region being formed of several Divisions, and each division of several Areas. There was some duplication of resources in this structure, and in the early 1980s,
6700-522: The Butterley Company in 1790. The first public edgeway (thus also first public railway) built was Lake Lock Rail Road in 1796. Although the primary purpose of the line was to carry coal, it also carried passengers. These two systems of constructing iron railways, the "L" plate-rail and the smooth edge-rail, continued to exist side by side until well into the early 19th century. The flanged wheel and edge-rail eventually proved its superiority and became
6834-481: The CTRL, and as part of that deal LCR became the owner of both EPS and Union Railways; LCR renamed EPS as Eurostar thus ending British Rail's input in the project. As the project progressed, due to financial difficulties both LCR and its subsidiaries underwent various changes in financing, structure and planning, with the government and Railtrack (later Network Rail) becoming involved in the various plans and projects. In 2007,
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#17328447216286968-566: The Class 59s were manned by British Rail staff. During acceptance trials, on 16 February 1986, locomotive 59001 hauled a train weighing 4639 tonnes – the heaviest load ever hauled by a single non-articulated traction unit. Foster Yeoman's Class 59s proved to be extremely reliable, and it was not long before quarry company ARC and privatised power generator National Power also bought small numbers of Class 59s to haul their own trains. During 1986, discussions were held with Sea Containers that touched on
7102-486: The Conservatives won the election in April 1992 and consequently had to develop a plan to carry out the privatisation before the Railways Bill was published the next year. The management of British Rail strongly advocated privatisation as one entity, a British Rail plc in effect; Cabinet Minister John Redwood "argued for regional companies in charge of track and trains" but Prime Minister John Major did not back his view;
7236-511: The DC motors of the time and could not be mounted in underfloor bogies : they could only be carried within locomotive bodies. In 1894, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó developed a new type 3-phase asynchronous electric drive motors and generators for electric locomotives. Kandó's early 1894 designs were first applied in a short three-phase AC tramway in Évian-les-Bains (France), which was constructed between 1896 and 1898. In 1896, Oerlikon installed
7370-489: The FOCs. They have also been joined by a variety of new leasing entities, including spot-hire companies offering short-term leases, as well as small-scale train owners offering to lease their private rolling stock. Furthermore, some operators, such as Network Rail , have also purchased some rolling stock themselves. The regulatory structure has also evolved; in line with changes to the regulation of other privatised industries,
7504-805: The Sealink consortium, which also used ferries owned by the French national railway SNCF , the Belgian Maritime Transport Authority Regie voor maritiem transport/Regie des transports maritimes (RMT/RTM), and the Dutch Zeeland Steamship Company. However, the BRB was still directly responsible for a multitude of other functions, such as the British Transport Police , the British Rail Property Board (which
7638-590: The Treasury, under the influence of the Adam Smith Institute think tank advocated the creation of seven, later 25, passenger railway franchises as a way of maximising revenue. In this instance, it was the Treasury view that prevailed. As a precursor to the main legislation, the British Coal and British Rail (Transfer Proposals) Act 1993 was passed on 19 January 1993. This legislation gave the Secretary of State
7772-628: The Whitehaven Junction railway, leading to a situation where the Furness Railway was heavily influenced by the London and North Western Railway . The line continued to develop in the 1880s, especially in the Barrow area. A through station was constructed, removing the need to reverse as was the case at the Strand terminus. A passenger station had been opened at Ramsden Dock a year before to connect with
7906-458: The access charges Railtrack could charge train operators for the operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the national railway network. Safety regulation remained the responsibility of the Health & Safety Executive . The first Rail Regulator was John Swift . The Director of Passenger Rail Franchising took responsibility for organising the franchising process to transfer the 25 TOUs to
8040-712: The actual owner of the infrastructure. The aftermath of the Hatfield rail crash in 2000 led to severe financial difficulties for Railtrack. Just under a year later, the company was put into a special kind of insolvency by the High Court in England at the direction of the government. The circumstances of this action were controversial, and eventually led to the largest class action lawsuit in British legal history. The administration led to instability in its share price, and on 2 October 2002
8174-578: The business possibilities for the break up of British Rail, particularly on the possible takeover of the railway on the Isle of Wight by he company. However, the discussions proved abortive. In Sweden, the Swedish State Railways was split into two in 1988, creating the Swedish Rail Administration to control the rail infrastructure, and SJ to operate the trains. This restructuring was
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#17328447216288308-463: The consumption of capacity of railway facilities (his approval was needed before an access contract for the use of track, stations or certain maintenance facilities could be valid), to enforce domestic competition law, to issue, modify and enforce operating licences and to supervise the development of certain industry-wide codes, the most important of which is the network code. ORR's role only covered economic regulation; crucially reviewing every five years
8442-629: The devolution programme, other government bodies have been given input into franchise terms – the Scottish Government with ScotRail , the Welsh Government in Wales & Borders , as well as the Mayor of London and the various passenger transport executives for the services in their respective areas. Since 2005, the Department for Transport has been using the community railway designation to loosen
8576-407: The divisional layer of management was abolished with its work being redistributed either upwards to the regions or downwards to the areas. The chain of British Transport Hotels was sold off, mainly one hotel at a time, during 1982. Two years later, Sealink was sold to Sea Containers , who ultimately sold the routes to their current owner, Stena Line . In 1988, catering business Travellers Fare
8710-430: The duty of a guard/train manager/conductor . Passenger trains are part of public transport and often make up the stem of the service, with buses feeding to stations. Passenger trains provide long-distance intercity travel, daily commuter trips, or local urban transit services, operating with a diversity of vehicles, operating speeds, right-of-way requirements, and service frequency. Service frequencies are often expressed as
8844-402: The end of the 19th century, because they were cleaner compared to steam-driven trams which caused smoke in city streets. In 1784 James Watt , a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, patented a design for a steam locomotive . Watt had improved the steam engine of Thomas Newcomen , hitherto used to pump water out of mines, and developed a reciprocating engine in 1769 capable of powering
8978-420: The end of the 19th century, improving the quality of steel and further reducing costs. Thus steel completely replaced the use of iron in rails, becoming standard for all railways. The first passenger horsecar or tram , Swansea and Mumbles Railway , was opened between Swansea and Mumbles in Wales in 1807. Horses remained the preferable mode for tram transport even after the arrival of steam engines until
9112-515: The engine by one power stroke. The transmission system employed a large flywheel to even out the action of the piston rod. On 21 February 1804, the world's first steam-powered railway journey took place when Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales . Trevithick later demonstrated a locomotive operating upon
9246-470: The era of great expansion of railways that began in the late 1860s. Steel rails lasted several times longer than iron. Steel rails made heavier locomotives possible, allowing for longer trains and improving the productivity of railroads. The Bessemer process introduced nitrogen into the steel, which caused the steel to become brittle with age. The open hearth furnace began to replace the Bessemer process near
9380-431: The existing railway, with operations on the British sections of the track being done by European Passenger Services (EPS), a subsidiary set up by British Rail. To manage construction of the CTRL, British Rail had also set up another subsidiary, Union Railways. In 1996, in line with the rest of the privatisation process, the government signed a contract with the private company London & Continental Railways (LCR) to build
9514-515: The first commercial example of the system on the Lugano Tramway . Each 30-tonne locomotive had two 110 kW (150 hp) motors run by three-phase 750 V 40 Hz fed from double overhead lines. Three-phase motors run at a constant speed and provide regenerative braking , and are well suited to steeply graded routes, and the first main-line three-phase locomotives were supplied by Brown (by then in partnership with Walter Boveri ) in 1899 on
9648-599: The first instance on a "lowest-cost bidder wins" basis. Freight locomotives and wagons were not passed to ROSCOs, instead being owned directly by the freight train operators. Full privatisation of the freight operators saw five being bought immediately by a consortium led by the Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation and merged into what became known as the English Welsh & Scottish (EWS) (now DB Cargo UK ), leaving just Freightliner as
9782-566: The first part of British Rail to be privatised. During 1991, following the partly-successful Swedish example and wishing to create an environment where new rail operators could enter the market, the European Union issued EU Directive 91/440 . This required of all EU member states to separate "the management of railway operation and infrastructure from the provision of railway transport services, separation of accounts being compulsory and organisational or institutional separation being optional",
9916-406: The first time that a national railway had been divided up in this manner; one of the advantages of this arrangement was that it allowed for local county authorities to tender the provision of local passenger services to the new train operators that appeared. The Swedish system appeared to be very successful initially, although some train operators subsequently went bankrupt . The Swedish experiment
10050-439: The former state-owned industries, apart from the national rail network. Although the previous Transport Secretary Cecil Parkinson had advocated some form of privately or semi-privately operated rail network, this was deemed "a privatisation too far" by Thatcher herself. In its manifesto for the 1992 general election the Conservatives included a commitment to privatise the railways, but were not specific about how this objective
10184-431: The franchise system, would be undertaken. A significant change came in 2001 with the collapse of Railtrack , which saw its assets passed to the state-owned Network Rail (NR), while track maintenance was also brought in-house under NR in 2004. The regulatory structures have also been amended subsequently. Historically, the pre- nationalisation railway companies were almost entirely self-sufficient, including, for example,
10318-407: The highest possible radius. All these features are dramatically different from freight operations, thus justifying exclusive high-speed rail lines if it is economically feasible. Privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994,
10452-481: The idea being that the track operator would charge the train operator a transparent fee to run its trains over the network, and anyone else could also run trains under the same conditions (open access). [REDACTED] In Britain, Margaret Thatcher was forced out as leader of the Conservative Party and succeeded by John Major at the end of 1990. The Thatcher administration had already sold off nearly all
10586-440: The industry-wide network code and the multi-bilateral star model performance regime). Contracts for the use of railway facilities – track, stations and light maintenance depots – must be approved or directed by the Office of Rail & Road , although some facilities are exempt from this requirement. Contracts between the principal passenger train operators and the state are called franchise agreements, and were first established with
10720-502: The infrastructure was to be sub-contracted (to the private purchasers of the IMUs and TRUs), Railtrack's directly employed staff consisted mostly of signallers. Railtrack sourced its revenue from track access charges levied on train operators as well as leases of stations and depots ; additional funding would come from the British government. The company would spend its finances mostly on the railway network in accordance with plans laid out by
10854-526: The introduction of Northern Connect services, an enhanced local service will also be introduced with 21 trains per day (tpd) in both directions, compared to between 18-20 tpd today. Additional services are to be extended from Lancaster to Preston to allow better links to Manchester, Liverpool and other West Coast Main Line services. On Sundays, an enhanced service is planned with up to 5-8 extra trains per day in each direction to both Lancaster and Manchester Airport. It
10988-608: The invention of the steam locomotive in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 19th century. The first passenger railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway , opened in 1825. The quick spread of railways throughout Europe and North America, following the 1830 opening of the first intercity connection in England, was a key component of the Industrial Revolution . The adoption of rail transport lowered shipping costs compared to water transport, leading to "national markets" in which prices varied less from city to city. In
11122-1218: The limit being regarded at 200 to 350 kilometres per hour (120 to 220 mph). High-speed trains are used mostly for long-haul service and most systems are in Western Europe and East Asia. Magnetic levitation trains such as the Shanghai maglev train use under-riding magnets which attract themselves upward towards the underside of a guideway and this line has achieved somewhat higher peak speeds in day-to-day operation than conventional high-speed railways, although only over short distances. Due to their heightened speeds, route alignments for high-speed rail tend to have broader curves than conventional railways, but may have steeper grades that are more easily climbed by trains with large kinetic energy. High kinetic energy translates to higher horsepower-to-ton ratios (e.g. 20 horsepower per short ton or 16 kilowatts per tonne); this allows trains to accelerate and maintain higher speeds and negotiate steep grades as momentum builds up and recovered in downgrades (reducing cut and fill and tunnelling requirements). Since lateral forces act on curves, curvatures are designed with
11256-532: The line terminate at Barrow-in-Furness, however some services continue along the Cumbrian Coast Line to Millom , Sellafield and Carlisle . The line was constructed by the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway and the Furness Railway between 1846 and 1857, and today has services operated by Northern . Along with the Cumbrian Coast Line, the route is considered one of the most scenic in England. The line
11390-449: The line was transferred to Arriva Rail North , with regional and local services again operated by the same train operating company. Services were operated using a variety of Sprinter diesel multiple units and Class 185 'Desiro' units subleased from TransPennine Express until July 2019. In July 2019, new Class 195 'Civity' units were introduced as part of the new franchise, with an increased number of services to Manchester . Following
11524-429: The locomotive-hauled train's drawbacks to be removed, since the locomotive need not be moved to the front of the train each time the train changes direction. A railroad car is a vehicle used for the haulage of either passengers or freight. A multiple unit has powered wheels throughout the whole train. These are used for rapid transit and tram systems, as well as many both short- and long-haul passenger trains. A railcar
11658-560: The main portion of the B&;O to the new line to New York through a series of tunnels around the edges of Baltimore's downtown. Electricity quickly became the power supply of choice for subways, abetted by the Sprague's invention of multiple-unit train control in 1897. By the early 1900s most street railways were electrified. The London Underground , the world's oldest underground railway, opened in 1863, and it began operating electric services using
11792-433: The mid-1920s. The Soviet Union operated three experimental units of different designs since late 1925, though only one of them (the E el-2 ) proved technically viable. A significant breakthrough occurred in 1914, when Hermann Lemp , a General Electric electrical engineer, developed and patented a reliable direct current electrical control system (subsequent improvements were also patented by Lemp). Lemp's design used
11926-516: The new Isle of Man and later Belfast steamer services. In the early 20th century, passenger numbers had continued to decline. As a result, an effort was made to modernise the line as a tourist railway, linking the country to the Lake District. This began a new era for the area, bringing thousands of tourists to Coniston and Windermere . Under the Big Four , the line was brought under the control of
12060-512: The newly created office of the Rail Regulator . Ownership of the infrastructure, including the larger stations, passed to the new privately owned company Railtrack , while track maintenance and renewal assets were sold to 13 companies across the network. Ownership of the passenger trains themselves passed to three rolling stock companies (ROSCOs) – the stock being leased out to passenger train operating companies (TOCs) awarded contracts through
12194-575: The next few years. The original privatisation structure, created over the three years from 1 April 1994, consisted of passing ownership and operation of the railway to a variety of private companies, regulated by two public offices, Rail Regulator and Director of Passenger Rail Franchising . A newly created company, Railtrack , would be the privately-owned infrastructure owner, which would subcontract work to various other companies to perform maintenance. Various other companies would lease and/or operate trains. In preparation for full privatisation, BR
12328-412: The noise they made on the tracks. There are many references to their use in central Europe in the 16th century. Such a transport system was later used by German miners at Caldbeck , Cumbria , England, perhaps from the 1560s. A wagonway was built at Prescot , near Liverpool , sometime around 1600, possibly as early as 1594. Owned by Philip Layton, the line carried coal from a pit near Prescot Hall to
12462-468: The only other ex-BR freight business to be privatised to someone other than EWS. The Rail Regulator (the statutory officer at the head of the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR)) was established to regulate the monopoly and dominant elements of the railway industry, and to police certain consumer protection conditions of operators' licences. The Regulator did this through powers to supervise and control
12596-456: The position of Rail Regulator was abolished in 2004, replaced by a nine-member corporate board called the Office of Rail Regulation , incorporating responsibility for safety regulation, previously the remit of the Health & Safety Executive . Privatisation of British Rail occurred at the same time as the Channel Tunnel project linking Great Britain with France reached completion, with
12730-513: The possibility of a smaller engine that might be used to power a vehicle. Following his patent, Watt's employee William Murdoch produced a working model of a self-propelled steam carriage in that year. The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built in the United Kingdom in 1804 by Richard Trevithick , a British engineer born in Cornwall . This used high-pressure steam to drive
12864-473: The post-privatisation model is an ever-present detail in the election manifestos of British political parties. Stated benefits of privatisation include improved customer service, and more investment; and stated drawbacks include higher fares, lower punctuality and increased rail subsidies . The major topics of debate concern whether the process has achieved its central aims of increasing levels of investment, performance, and customer satisfaction while reducing
12998-400: The power to issue directions to the BRB to sell assets, something which the board was unable to do until then. The Railways Bill, published in 1993, established a complex structure for the rail industry. British Rail was to be broken up into over 100 separate companies, with most relationships between the successor companies established by contracts, some through regulatory mechanisms (such as
13132-471: The private sector and then develop the re-franchising programme for the future. The first Director of Passenger Rail Franchising was Roger Salmon. Post-privatisation, the structure of the railways has remained largely the same, and the system is still based on competition between private operators who pay for access to the infrastructure provider and lease rolling stock from the ROSCOs. A major change has been in
13266-559: The private sector. Management of the passenger franchising system has also changed; during 2001, the functions of the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising were replaced by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), whose remit also included the promotion of freight services. Five years later, the SRA was in turn abolished in favour of direct control by the Department of Transport's Rail Group. Overall,
13400-674: The process was largely completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industry was in part motivated by the enactment of EU Directive 91/440 in 1991, which aimed to create a more efficient railway network by creating greater competition. British Railways (BR) had been in state ownership since 1948, under the control of the British Railways Board (BRB). Under the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher elected in 1979, various state-owned businesses were gradually sold off, including various auxiliary and supporting functions related to
13534-472: The production of the steel used in the manufacturing of rolling stock and rails. As a consequence of the nationalisation of the railways in 1948 some of these activities had been hived off to other nationalised industries and institutions, e.g. "Railway Air Services Limited" was one of the forerunners of British Airways ; the railways' road transport services, which had carried freight, parcels and passengers' luggage to and from railheads, ultimately became part of
13668-400: The rail regulator. Three newly created rolling stock leasing companies (ROSCOs) ( Angel Trains , Eversholt Rail Group and Porterbrook ) were allocated all British Rail's passenger coaches, locomotives, and multiple units. Completion of the privatisation process involved converting the passenger TOUs to train operating companies (TOCs) through the process of franchising, performed in
13802-500: The railway opened, with the only road crossing to reach the area over Morecambe Bay . The Furness Railway was first proposed in November 1843, linking the slate quarries of Kirkby in Furness and iron ore in the Lindal in Furness area to a deep water berth at Roa Island. It was originally intended to be used solely as a mineral railway, however provisions were made for a branch to Barrow and
13936-435: The railway, and six track renewal units (TRUs), which replaced rail lines, both organised geographically. Railtrack was the first company created; it took over ownership of all track, signalling and stations. Railtrack proceeded to let out most of the 2,509 stations to the franchised passenger train operators, managing only a handful (twelve, later seventeen) of the largest city termini itself. Since maintenance and renewal of
14070-454: The railways when they got back into office as and when resources allowed. The Conservative chairman of the House of Commons Transport Committee, Robert Adley famously described the Bill as "a poll tax on wheels"; however Adley was known to be a rail enthusiast and his advice was discounted. Adley died suddenly before the Bill completed its passage through Parliament. The Railways Bill became
14204-426: The railways – Sealink ferries and British Transport Hotels by 1984, Travellers Fare catering by 1988 and British Rail Engineering Limited (train manufacturing) by 1989. It was under Thatcher's successor John Major that the railways themselves were privatised. Under the Railways Act 1993 , the operations of the BRB were broken up and sold off to various parties while various regulatory functions transferred to
14338-534: The regulations and lower the costs and increase usage of certain socially necessary routes and services, although these remain within the TOC structure. In both the freight and passenger sectors, a small number of open access operators (non-franchised operators of trains) have also emerged (some of which have since closed down). In terms of train ownership, the three ROSCOs continue to exist as originally established, although some now lease freight locomotives and wagons to
14472-521: The second stage of the CTRL was finally completed (the CTRL being rebranded at that point as High Speed 1 (HS1). By 2009 the government had assumed full control of LCR, announcing its intention to privatise it to recoup its investment; this was achieved in two stages, with the 2010 sale of a 30-year concession to own and operate HS1, and the 2015 sale of the British stake in the Eurostar operator (renamed in 2009 to Eurostar International Limited, EIL). Through
14606-441: The standard for railways. Cast iron used in rails proved unsatisfactory because it was brittle and broke under heavy loads. The wrought iron invented by John Birkinshaw in 1820 replaced cast iron. Wrought iron, usually simply referred to as "iron", was a ductile material that could undergo considerable deformation before breaking, making it more suitable for iron rails. But iron was expensive to produce until Henry Cort patented
14740-676: The system of franchising has proceeded as designed, with franchises being either retained or transferred dependent on performance. On nine occasions to date, passenger franchises have had to be taken into (indirect) government ownership, South Eastern Trains (2003–2006), East Coast (2009–2015), London North Eastern Railway (2018–present), Northern Trains (2020–present), Transport for Wales Rail (2021-present), Southeastern (2021-present), ScotRail (2022-present), TransPennine Express (2023-present), and Caledonian Sleeper (2023-present). Over time, some franchises have been merged and contract lengths have been extended; additionally, under
14874-460: The time, and still is, and the impact of this policy is hotly debated. Despite opposition from the Labour Party , who gained power in 1997 under Tony Blair , the process has never been reversed wholesale by any later government, and the system has remained largely unaltered. During the late 2010s, it was announced that a transition towards Great British Railways , a contract-based model to replace
15008-470: The time, was Liverpool and Manchester Railway , built in 1830. Steam power continued to be the dominant power system in railways around the world for more than a century. The first known electric locomotive was built in 1837 by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen in Scotland, and it was powered by galvanic cells (batteries). Thus it was also the earliest battery-electric locomotive. Davidson later built
15142-536: The track. Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate locomotive or from individual motors in self-propelled multiple units. Most trains carry a revenue load, although non-revenue cars exist for the railway's own use, such as for maintenance-of-way purposes. The engine driver (engineer in North America) controls the locomotive or other power cars, although people movers and some rapid transits are under automatic control. Traditionally, trains are pulled using
15276-466: The transport of ore tubs to and from mines and soon became popular in Europe. Such an operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by Georgius Agricola in his work De re metallica . This line used "Hund" carts with unflanged wheels running on wooden planks and a vertical pin on the truck fitting into the gap between the planks to keep it going the right way. The miners called the wagons Hunde ("dogs") from
15410-411: The tunnel itself being officially opened on 6 May 1994. Key parts of the project were a passenger rail service through the tunnel, dubbed Eurostar , and the building of a new high-speed railway on the British side, the 109-kilometre (68 mile) Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), to link the tunnel to London. With the CTRL still at the planning stage, Eurostar trains began operating on 14 November 1994 over
15544-433: The unit was merging with Daimler-Benz 's train manufacturing interests to form Adtranz in January 1996. Daimler-Benz subsequently took 100% ownership of Adtranz in 1998 before selling it to Bombardier in May 2001. For reasons of efficiency and to reduce the amount of subsidy required from the government, British Rail undertook a comprehensive organisational restructuring in the late 1980s. The new management structure
15678-429: The west ), plus Railfreight Distribution for international and wagonload trains, Freightliner for container-carrying trains, and Rail Express Systems for parcels and mail trains. British Rail Infrastructure Services (BRIS) took responsibility for the engineering requirements of the railway. BRIS was subsequently organised for privatisation on the basis of seven infrastructure maintenance units (IMUs), which maintained
15812-609: The wheels on track. For example, evidence indicates that a 6 to 8.5 km long Diolkos paved trackway transported boats across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece from around 600 BC. The Diolkos was in use for over 650 years, until at least the 1st century AD. Paved trackways were also later built in Roman Egypt . In 1515, Cardinal Matthäus Lang wrote a description of the Reisszug ,
15946-545: The world in 1825, although it used both horse power and steam power on different runs. In 1829, he built the locomotive Rocket , which entered in and won the Rainhill Trials . This success led to Stephenson establishing his company as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives for railways in Great Britain and Ireland, the United States, and much of Europe. The first public railway which used only steam locomotives, all
16080-507: Was a soft material that contained slag or dross . The softness and dross tended to make iron rails distort and delaminate and they lasted less than 10 years. Sometimes they lasted as little as one year under high traffic. All these developments in the production of iron eventually led to the replacement of composite wood/iron rails with superior all-iron rails. The introduction of the Bessemer process , enabling steel to be made inexpensively, led to
16214-585: Was accomplished by the distribution of weight between a number of wheels. Puffing Billy is now on display in the Science Museum in London, and is the oldest locomotive in existence. In 1814, George Stephenson , inspired by the early locomotives of Trevithick, Murray and Hedley, persuaded the manager of the Killingworth colliery where he worked to allow him to build a steam-powered machine. Stephenson played
16348-624: Was based on business sectors rather than geographical regions, and first manifested itself in 1982 with the creation of Railfreight , the BRB's freight operation, and InterCity , though the Inter-City branding had been carried on coaching stock since the early 1970s. Commuter services in the south-east came under the London & South East sector, which would become Network SouthEast in 1986. Services in Scotland were operated by ScotRail , while Provincial sector handled local and rural routes. The regional management structure continued in parallel for
16482-509: Was built by Siemens. The tram ran on 180 volts DC, which was supplied by running rails. In 1891 the track was equipped with an overhead wire and the line was extended to Berlin-Lichterfelde West station . The Volk's Electric Railway opened in 1883 in Brighton , England. The railway is still operational, thus making it the oldest operational electric railway in the world. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram opened near Vienna in Austria. It
16616-687: Was built in 1758, later became the world's oldest operational railway (other than funiculars), albeit now in an upgraded form. In 1764, the first railway in the Americas was built in Lewiston, New York . In the late 1760s, the Coalbrookdale Company began to fix plates of cast iron to the upper surface of the wooden rails. This allowed a variation of gauge to be used. At first only balloon loops could be used for turning, but later, movable points were taken into use that allowed for switching. A system
16750-469: Was designated a community rail partnership by the Department for Transport in 2012. The line is electrified between Lancaster and Carnforth where the route leaves the West Coast Main Line, which previously allowing for sleeper services between Barrow and London Euston . The line was opened in stages between 1846 and 1857 to link the mineral industries in the area. The area was very isolated before
16884-482: Was divested via a private equity -backed management buyout . That same year, British Rail Engineering Limited was split between the major engineering works, which became BREL (1988) Ltd and the (mostly smaller) works that were used for day-to-day maintenance of rolling stock, which became British Rail Maintenance Limited. BREL (1988) Ltd was sold to a consortium of ASEA Brown-Boveri and Trafalgar House in 1989. In 1992, ABB Transportation took full ownership before
17018-535: Was introduced in which unflanged wheels ran on L-shaped metal plates, which came to be known as plateways . John Curr , a Sheffield colliery manager, invented this flanged rail in 1787, though the exact date of this is disputed. The plate rail was taken up by Benjamin Outram for wagonways serving his canals, manufacturing them at his Butterley ironworks . In 1803, William Jessop opened the Surrey Iron Railway ,
17152-479: Was light enough to not break the edge-rails track and solved the problem of adhesion by a cog-wheel using teeth cast on the side of one of the rails. Thus it was also the first rack railway . This was followed in 1813 by the locomotive Puffing Billy built by Christopher Blackett and William Hedley for the Wylam Colliery Railway, the first successful locomotive running by adhesion only. This
17286-460: Was responsible not just for operational track and property, but also for thousands of miles of abandoned tracks and stations arising from the Beeching cuts and other closure programmes), a staff savings bank, convalescent homes for rail staff, and the internal railway telephone and data comms networks (the largest in the country after British Telecom's ), etc. By 1979, the organisational structure of
17420-420: Was split up into various parts. Provision of passenger services was split up into twenty-five passenger train operating units (TOUs), known as shadow franchises, split by geographical area and service type. For freight services, six freight operating companies (FOCs) were created - three geographical units for trainload freight ( Mainline Freight in the south-east, Loadhaul in the north-east and Transrail in
17554-742: Was tested on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in September of the following year, but the limited power from batteries prevented its general use. It was destroyed by railway workers, who saw it as a threat to their job security. By the middle of the nineteenth century most european countries had military uses for railways. Werner von Siemens demonstrated an electric railway in 1879 in Berlin. The world's first electric tram line, Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway , opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin , Germany, in 1881. It
17688-609: Was the first tram line in the world in regular service powered from an overhead line. Five years later, in the U.S. electric trolleys were pioneered in 1888 on the Richmond Union Passenger Railway , using equipment designed by Frank J. Sprague . The first use of electrification on a main line was on a four-mile section of the Baltimore Belt Line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1895 connecting
17822-453: Was to be achieved. The manifesto claimed that "The best way to produce profound and lasting improvements on the railways is to end BR's state monopoly," although according to The Independent , "many – including within the Tory party – believed that privatisation was merely a mechanism to manage the industry's gradual decline without too heavy a burden on the taxpayer." Contrary to opinion polls,
17956-600: Was watched with great interest in various other countries during the 1980s and 1990s. The narrow gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway in Aberystwyth , Mid Wales was unique in Britain, being the only steam railway to be operated by British Rail. During 1988, the Department of Transport started the process of privatising the line. Later that year, it was announced the line had been purchased by the owners of Brecon Mountain Railway , becoming
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