The Evolution of British Railways 1909-2009 Britain’s Railways and The Railway Study Association 1909-2009 previously published in 2009 as part of A Century of Change 2019 Introduction to Second Edition Mike Horne FCILT MIRO This book was originally published by the name of ‘A Century of Change’ to commemorate the centenary of the Railway Study Association (RSA) in 1909; the Association is now the Railway Study Forum of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. Plenty has already been written about the railways of Britain. When the time came to celebrate the activities of the RSA, it occurred to this author that there was something missing. I felt that although it is self-evident that the railway today is very different to that of a century ago, the real point was that railways have been in a state of constant evolution, in part to respond to the changing conditions of the country and in part because of technological change. More importantly, this change will continue. Few people entering the in- dustry today can have much conception of what these changes will be, but change there will be: big changes too. What I wanted to highlight is the huge way the railway has altered, particularly in its technology and operational practices. This has happened, with great success, under diffi cult political and fi nancial conditions. Although the railway has lost much of its market share, the numbers of people carried today have recovered dramatically, and the fact this has been done on a much smaller system is an in- credible achievement that needs to be promoted. This book has set out to explain how the railway used to operate and draw attention to the various changes in practice by which means we fi nd the railway of today. That railway staff have accommodated and adapted to these profound changes in the past should provide reassurance to staff joining the industry today that the railway has a successful future and will continue to adapt as the coun- try’s economy moves forward and more technology change arrives, some of which cannot even be imagined. The other purpose of this book has been to draw on the wide range of lectures delivered to RSA members over the decades, which provide a fascinating read. What many books fail to say (because it is diffi cult to establish from ordinary records) is why things were done the way they were. The RSA proceedings is rich in giving the views and opinions (some quite candid) from contemporary senior managers who were happy to explain to aspiring managers what the real problems and challenges were as seen by the people at the time, and what they proposed to do about its failings. These are full of detailed information and are unlike many of the lectures given today which are as much public relations exercises than was once the case. For these reasons I have slightly adapted the book as it was issued in 2009 in order to make it available to a wider audience. I hope you will fi nd something interesting in it. MACH Britain’s Railways and the Railway Study Association 1909-2009 The Evolution of British Railways 1909-2009 Britain’s Railways and the Railway Study Association 1909-2009 A Century of Change Britain’s Railways and The Railway Study Association 1909-2009 written by M.A.C. Horne FCILT MIRO Published originally by the Railway Study Association in conjunction with Nebulous Books © 2010 www.nebulousbooks.com ISBN 978-0-9507416-7-3 £18.50 v The Evolution of British Railways 1909-2009 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SERVED IN THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY OVER THE LAST CENTURY AND TO THOSE WHO WILL FOLLOW DURING THE NEXT. vi Britain’s Railways and the Railway Study Association 1909-2009 Foreword Richard Brown CBE Chief Executive, Eurostar (UK) Ltd Celebrating its 100th birthday makes the Railway Study Association a unique railway institution. Over the last 100 years railway companies have been grouped and then nationalized, a variety of public bodies have come and gone, and most recently a new generation of rail companies emerged. Few other railway organizations founded 100 years ago are still with us in broadly the same form that they started in. To have survived, and still be thriving 100 years on, gives the RSA and its archive a unique perspective on our rail industry. This book, drawing on a wide range of lectures delivered to RSA members over the decades, pro- vides a fascinating read. It is interesting both in itself—history is always a stimulating subject!—but also because of the regularly recurring themes and issues over the years. Shortage of investment, the need to modernize, meeting road and air competition, reconciling the tensions between providing a public service and fi nancial discipline, coping with reorganization and restructuring: these are all regularly reappearing subjects, to name just a few, that resonate with us today. Centenaries are important milestones, occasions to refl ect on the past, as well as to celebrate con- tinuing existence and achievements over the years. This book fulfi ls all of those requirements giving a wide ranging account both of the progress of the RSA over the decades, but also of the industry it serves. As George Santayana said: ‘Those who cannot learn from History are doomed to repeat it.’ Mike Horne has done a great service, not just to the RSA, but also to Britain’s railway industry, in putting together this book. I am sure many people will enjoy reading it and true to the RSA’s mission, it will also undoubtedly help promote broader understanding of all aspects of the railway industry. vii The Evolution of British Railways 1909-2009 Acknowledgements RSA historical material supplied courtesy of Steven Saunders Additional research and material by Camilla Allison, Frank Gladwin, Neil Lloyd, Chris Jackson and Bent Weber Support and encouragement from Centenary Book Committee: Martin Shrubsole, Neil Lloyd and Jonathan Roberts Proof reading and other helpful suggestions and improvements: Steven Saunders and Barry LeJeune The authors above claim and assert the moral right to be identifi ed as the authors of their respective sections of this work in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 Disclaimer The views expressed in this publication are those of the contributors and are not necessarily those of the Railway Study Association Text set in 10½ pt on 13½ pt Garamond Printed by CKN Print Ltd (Northampton) viii Britain’s Railways and the Railway Study Association 1909-2009 CONTENTS Introduction viii Chapter 4 – Railways under Government Control 55 Chapter 1 – Britain’s Railways in 1909 1 Second World War and Government Control 55 Introduction to the railway of 1909 1 Nationalization policy and the Transport Commission 57 Scale of operations 2 The problems of the nationalized railway 59 Through traffi c, standardization and the clearing system 2 Financial structure 60 Traffi c and receipts 4 Traffi c 61 Freight and police 4 Modernization 63 Stations, tickets and parcels 7 Beeching and the need for change 69 Staff and workshops 13 The second ‘Beeching’ report 70 Docks and ships 14 Transport as a social necessity 71 Hotels, sleepers and catering 14 Chapter 5 – The Making of the Modern Railway 74 Organization and scale 15 Network size 74 Training in the railway industry to 1910 17 Freight services 74 The London School of Economics and its railway courses 19 The Railfreight era 77 The beginnings of the RSA 20 Parcels and allied traffi c 79 Chapter 2 – Railways 1909-1921 22 Passenger services 82 The RSA and the developing Railway 22 Sleeping and Catering 83 The President speculates 22 Electrifi cation and traction policy 86 Commuting and overcrowding 23 Refi nancing 87 Electrifi cation and the multiple systems 24 Infrastructure modernization and new technology 90 Monopolies and stagnation in growth 25 Shipping and Hovering 92 Industrial unrest 26 New Technology and the age of computers 93 The First World War watershed and its aftermath 26 Scheduling 94 Chapter 3 – Railways 1921 to 1939 30 Railway operations 95 The railways and the country 30 Law and order 98 The problems of organization 30 The modern railway and its approach 99 Holidays and excursion traffi c and other special traffi c 32 Chapter 6 – The Dawn of a New Era 103 Modernization 35 Privatization and the future direction of rail 103 Technical research 38 Training for change 106 The problem of competition 39 Tentative conclusions from a century of development 110 More grievances 41 Chapter 7 – Challenges for a New Century 113 The railways’ response to mounting competition 41 Factors that will need thinking about. 113 Savings 48 More Change 117 The London problem 50 Epilogue 119 The ‘Square Deal’ campaign and co-ordinated lobbying 51 Appendix 1 – Abbreviations used in the text 120 Inter-war traffi c 52 Appendix 2 – British monetary units and values 121 ix The Evolution of British Railways 1909-2009 Introduction It is always noteworthy when an organization succeeds in reach- To assist readers, it should be made clear that as far as pos- ing its centenary. As the Railway Study Association (RSA) sible the railways referred to in the text, and the statistics used, observed its own centenary approaching, it thought it should relate solely to Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland), review what it had done for its Golden Jubilee in 1959 and, though in isolated cases certain statistics might include Ireland more widely, to see what records had survived. A certain vol- where sources have been ambiguous. Additionally, railways re- ume of bureaucratic material had survived in the archives of the ferred to are public railways comparable to those existing today London School of Economics and this served not only to show and exclude an impressive mileage of lines owned by bodies not how closely the link between the school and the RSA had been, directly involved in the railway business such as collieries, quar- but also how closely the RSA had been embedded in the training ries and independent ports.