The Decline of British Railways

However, apart from the Great Western Railways attempts, the British Rail Companies were sticking to steam. This was not a problem in the 1920s and ’30s; Britain’s steam engines were at the forefront of the latest technology. Steam trains were becoming more economical, and faster. One of the most well known British steam trains was built in this era.

The Mallard was one of Sir Nigel Gresley’s Class A4 Steam engines and is one of the most iconic British Network. The Mallard is the most well known for its record-breaking run on the East Coast Mainline. This was where it achieved a speed of 125.88mph. Even today is the fastest recorded speed of a steam-powered engine.

The Railways between the two World Wars

World War One was the beginning of the railway’s slow decline. This was not helped by the fact that the roads were now becoming a big competitor in the haulage business. Companies were using lorry transport over trains because lorries could go to places that trains couldn’t, and they were also much cheaper. The rail companies couldn’t compete with the lorry haulage industry on price. It was easy for lorry companies to find out quotes of local rail companies and undermine them.

After the war, the railway network was left battered and under-invested. Britain was bankrupt, and railway companies, especially small companies, couldn’t afford to make necessary repairs to run the railway. Most of these smaller railway companies were brought by larger railway companies. They had the money to spend on these lines, with these railway companies getting bigger, it became clear that there were four main companies in the railway network. In 1923, these four companies had been dubbed ‘The Big Four’.

• LMS – London, Midland, Scottish
• LNER – London, North-Eastern Railway
• GWR – Great Western Railway
• SR – Southern Railway

The Second World War was the final nail in the coffin for Britain’s privatised rail network. During the Second World War, ‘The Big Four’ companies joined managements. Meaning they essentially became one big company running the entire network. The network was used more heavily than ever before. Because of limited funding; repairs were only carried out if they were considered ‘essential maintenance’.

The railway did suffer a relatively heavy amount of damage from the German Bombings. Big cities such as London and Coventry were notable casualties.

However, the damage was not as extensive compared to nearby countries such as France and Germany. The French and German rail network was in tatters, which surprisingly turned out to be an advantage for them. It meant they had the rare opportunity to rebuild the entire rail network.

Using new technology that would be better prepared for the future. This left Britain stuck in the mud. By the end of the war, the railways had suffered disinvestment of around £440 Million according to the Central Statistical Office; the equivalent of £11 Billion in today’s money.

The final decline of British railways

Three years after the Second World War, the government decided that something had to be done to save the railways, and in 1948 the railways were nationalised. The government essentially bought the debt the railways had built up.

The nationalised railways are now known as ‘British Railways’ now owned the big four rail companies. Railway Executives immediately realised the railway network needed changing. and began closing lines immediately after the takeover.

Despite this, British Railways was still in decline by the next decade, and by 1955, they were firmly in the red. The British Transport Commission, which was the parent company of British Rail, came to the conclusion that a major modernisation was needed to save the railways to save them for further decline.

The Modernisation plan

The commission had seen the success of the new modern networks of France and Germany develop, and decided that Britain now needed to be brought up to speed with modern technology. The BTC produced a scheme that would transform Britain’s railways into a modern network.

This would cost in excess of £1 billion (£22 Billion in today’s money) and would be a loan from the government, including interest. This could have saved the entire network from falling apart, had it have been spent more wisely. Here’s what they set about doing;

• Larger Freight Yards – To compete with Lorry transport, BR also built large freight yards, in order for companies to be able to transport goods using railways easier than Lorry transport. However, this plan was flawed, as they still couldn’t compete with the practicality of Lorry transport.
• New Rolling Stock – BR began to phase out steam engines, for the more modern diesel alternatives such as the ‘British Rail Derby Lightweight’. These were soon renowned for breaking down and were subsequently taken out of service 14 years after being introduced. This was a poor running time compared to the steam alternative.
• Electrified Lines – BR did invest in electrification of certain lines, such as Kent, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Central Scotland. This was beneficial for the future, and these lines are still electrified, and in use today. This was one of the wiser moves to help modernise the network. Germany and France’s electrified lines are still in use today; it may have been a good idea to spend more money electrifying more lines to help modernise the network.

However, this modernisation plan fell on its face. By the 1960s, they were still in the same position, and there was still a large deficit in the railways and a financial meltdown.

The Transport Minister at the time ‘Ernest Marples’ was given the task of making BR run more like a business, essentially making it pay for itself.

If you found this blog post on the decline of British railways interesting; I’ve written much more about the Beeching Act that might interest you.