British Railways lives again. Well sort of. The Queen’s Speech is expected to contain plans for a Transport Bill, the centrepiece of which is the creation of Great British Railways which will take over many aspects of the nation’s rail system.
However, before the nostalgics start dusting off their Ian Allan Locospotters’ annual, this new beast will be nothing like the old one. British Railways was much more than just a railway. It owned a series of 29 superb hotels next to stations around the country including Turnberry and Gleneagles and their adjoining of golf courses; it organised holidays on stationary coaches in dozens of locations; and it ran ferries to the Continent and a Motorail service that let people to put their cars on the train between London and Scotland. In the days before motorways and domestic flights, BR was the heart of Britain’s transport system.
The new organisation will be far more limited in scope.
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