A Century of Change Britain’s Railways and The Railway Study Association 1909-2009 and a view forward A Century of Change Britain’s Railways and The Railway Study Association 1909-2009 and a view forward Compiled by M.A.C. Horne FCILT MIRO Published by the Railway Study Association in conjunction with Nebulous Books © 2010 ISBN 978-0-9507416-7-3 £17.50 Website: www.railwaystudyassociation.org 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. iv 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. v Acknowledgements Authors Chapters 1-6 by Mike Horne Chapter 7 by Martin Shrubsole Chapter 8 by Jonathan Roberts Chapters 9 by Mike Horne 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 10½pt on 13½pt Garamond Printed by Moorprint Ltd (London) vi CONTENTS Introduction viii Modernization 63 Chapter 1 – Britain’s Railways in 1909 1 Beeching and the need for change 69 Introduction to the railway of 1909 1 The second ‘Beeching’ report 70 Scale of operations 2 Transport as a social necessity 71 Through traffi c, standardization and the clearing system 2 Chapter 5 – The Making of the Modern Railway 74 Traffi c and receipts 4 Network size 74 Freight and police 4 Freight services 74 Stations, tickets and parcels 7 The Railfreight era 77 Staff and workshops 13 Parcels and allied traffi c 79 Docks and ships 14 Passenger services 82 Hotels, sleepers and catering 14 Sleeping and Catering 83 Organization and scale 15 Electrifi cation and traction policy 86 Training in the railway industry to 1910 17 Refi nancing 87 The London School of Economics and its railway courses 19 Infrastructure modernization and new technology 90 The beginnings of the RSA 20 Shipping and Hovering 92 Chapter 2 – Railways 1909-1921 22 New Technology and the age of computers 93 The RSA and the developing Railway 22 Scheduling 94 The President speculates 22 Railway operations 95 Commuting and overcrowding 23 Law and order 98 Electrifi cation and the multiple systems 24 The modern railway and its approach 99 Monopolies and stagnation in growth 25 Chapter 6 – The Dawn of a New Era 103 Industrial unrest 26 Privatization and the future direction of rail 103 The First World War watershed and its aftermath 26 Training for change 106 Chapter 3 – Railways 1921 to 1939 30 Tentative conclusions from a century of development 110 The railways and the country 30 Chapter 7 – The 2009 Perspective 113 The problems of organization 30 The question of ‘railway’ skills 113 Holidays and excursion traffi c and other special traffi c 32 Chapter 8 – The Railway 100 Years On 122 Modernization 35 The view from 2109 122 Technical research 38 How was the 21st century railway funded? 130 The problem of competition 39 The view from 2009 – how do we get to 2109? 132 More grievances 41 Conclusion 141 The railways’ response to mounting competition 41 Chapter 9 – Challenges for a New Century 142 Savings 48 Factors that will need thinking about. 142 The London problem 50 More Change 146 The ‘Square Deal’ campaign and co-ordinated lobbying 51 Epilogue 147 Inter-war traffi c 52 Appendix 1 – Abbreviations used in the text 149 Chapter 4 – Railways under Government Control 55 Appendix 2 – British monetary units and values 150 Second World War and Government Control 55 Appendix 3 – RSA History and Historical Timeline 151 Nationalization policy and the Transport Commission 57 The RSA and its activities 151 The problems of the nationalized railway 59 RSA Historical Timeline 153 Financial structure 60 Appendix 4 – RSA Presidents and Offi cers 158 Traffi c 61 Appendix 5 – Main Sources 160 vii 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. These organizations would demand objectives of the railway industry and the extent of the support a book of their own. that had been given. On the basis of the evidence examined, the proposition is In determining how to mark the centenary it was agreed that that the railway system in Britain has been in a state of continual a book should be produced. It became obvious quite quickly evolution, perhaps characterized as growth, consolidation, re- that a tome devoted solely to the workings of the Council, the trenchment and now a period where it is under test to see if it is machinations of the sub-committees or the menus provided for part of the solution to the immense challenges facing the coun- the convention dinners (prodigious as they were) could only be try; there is a recognition that railways probably are part of the of limited interest. Another approach was going to be needed. solution and not part of ‘the problem’, as seemed at one time to The inevitable centenary subcommittee eventually deter- be the opinion. So what is the next phase, the one that will see mined that a reasonable approach would be to paint a picture railways ‘reinvented’ as an essential component of the new and of the industry as seen by RSA members during the last century. hopefully better world? The one that railway ‘students’ should By this means it was hoped to produce a book of enduring value be excited to be a part of. Perhaps, though tentatively, we would that would hopefully provide some new insights for the majority suggest it is the era of innovation? The rail network must un- of members about how the problems and practices of the in- derstand not only what it is best at doing now, but what it will be dustry have changed over the years. Above all, it has allowed us best at doing 50 years hence and where its unusual skills might to draw on the tremendous resource of the RSA Proceedings, be harnessed at the edges of the industry to produce the great- in printed format between 1925 and (in a rather different form) est good with the most effi ciently-deployed skills. today. We hope that what is in this brief encounter with the RSA’s This is not a history book. Nor is it a book about the ‘train long history will paint a picture of an industry infi nitely adapt- set’.