British Rail: A New History

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The thing that should worry those who use Britain’s trains is that none of these figures actually represent the railways. Photographs and drawings appear at the end of the book almost as an afterthought, and with little or no direct connection to the main text. The rise and fall of the state-owned British Rail, from "the greatest expert on British trains" Christian WolmarYou think you know British Rail.

The second half of the book demonstrates that the newly branded “British Rail” had a renewed outlook on its public service duties. Despite the flawed “Modernization Plan,” which had undermined confidence in railway management and its abilities to deliver a modern railway, management faced an ongoing struggle against a growing deficit through rising staff costs as well as increasing competition from cars and lorries. Some of these proved effective, but the surplus was never enough to pay for the loss-making parts of BR’s business.We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Pivotal moments including the Amalgamation of 1923 when most railway companies became part of the GWR, LMSR, or LNER, nationalization and privatization are set in their historical context. One of the strengths of this book is its concentration on those responsible for the day to day management of the railway network and their relationship with the various parts of central government.

I was hoping for character studies of the major players, the political and financial machinations, the feuds but Maggs has stuck to chronicling it seems every construction and evolution. If there is going to be a significant delay (more than 10 working days), we will contact you and, where possible, give you an estimated dispatch time. British Rail was the last big state run company to be privatised and as the author states Mrs Thatcher was reluctant to be responsible as she knew that most people had a strong attachment to it.As Wolmar notes that the railways recovered owes much to the deviousness and scheming of railway managers who were not beyond pulling a fast one while the Treasury was distracted, the story of the West Coast electrification programme (which essentially turned around British Rails fortunes) being a case in point. Of course, the fragmentation of the railways following privatisation in the 1990s means that they are no longer run by a single industrial baron in the Parker mould. The verdant and picturesque county of Gloucestershire was once served by a maze of railway lines, most of which have long since been closed.

The favourites of late 60s/early 70s trainspotters, the Deltics, do get a couple of mentions - but no real details. The book is superbly structured and written with passion and lucidity; perfect for a long train journey. Although this did not eliminate all of the problems, managers grew wise to the shift to Thatcher economics rather than resisting it. The majority of pages are undamaged with some creasing or tearing, and pencil underlining of text, but this is minimal.If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. Despite the introduction of high-speed trains, intercity services and the refurbishing of stations, British Rail (BR) never recovered from the clichés. Whilst the period covered is largely early 1960s, the last years of the steam era on British Railways Western Region, the earliest pictures in this volume are some Dufaycolor slides of Tintern station taken in the 1930s. A worthy scholarly work that sometimes it feels like British Rail telling its story in its own words. and while it is good to know these events took place simultaneously, it might have been a better plan to take the origins of the eventual big rail companies in separate sections to make reading easier.