Regional Railways
Regional Railways (English for regional railways ) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail and existed from 1982 to 1996, two years after the privatization of British Rail. The sector was originally called Provincial .
Regional Railways was the most heavily subsidized of British Rail's three sectors. After it was founded, its expenses were four times as high as its income.
founding
After sectorization in 1982, British Rail was divided into three sectors: InterCity , for express trains; London & South East (renamed Network SouthEast in 1986) for regional trains in the London area; and Provincial (renamed Regional Railways in 1989) for all other passenger trains. In the Metropolitan Counties , local connections were managed by the Passenger Transport Executives .
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Regional Railways operated local and express train connections. Express trains were mainly operated on non-branch lines or less frequented routes, such as from Birmingham or Liverpool to Norwich or from Liverpool to Scarborough , and were mostly operated with older locomotives and InterCity cars. Later these connections were served with Sprinter units - especially the BR class 158 for express connections.
Local connections were operated on main and branch lines and were often operated with first-generation diesel multiple units, some of which were built in the 1950s. Trains with longer routes were often operated with older wagons and locomotives such as the 31 , 40 and 45 series .
Development of new vehicles
Asbestos was found in many diesel multiple units and passenger cars in the early 1980s. Since the removal would have been very costly and the old vehicles had become unprofitable, it was decided to develop a new generation of diesel multiple units.
Pacers
The first generation ( Pacers ) used bus technology from the Leyland National bus series . Shortly after their introduction, a large number of them suffered from a number of technical problems, particularly in the field of transmissions. In Cornwall , it was found that their long wheelbase caused unbearable squeaking noises and that the high wheels had a lot of wear and tear on tight bends, so that they were replaced by the old multiple units a short time later. After several modifications, the Pacers proved to be robust and reliable in traffic.
Sprinters
British Rail had to strike a balance between the Pacers and the Class 210 . In 1984/1985 two experimental diesel multiple unit designs were put into operation: the Class 150 from BREL and Class 151 from Metro-Cammell . Both had a diesel-hydraulic drive and were less bus-like than the Pacers. After studies, the 150 series was selected for series production and went into operation in 1987. Reliability has been increased with the new trains, so that visits to the depot could be reduced from two to three times a week to two weeks.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, secondary express trains were introduced, completing the InterCity lines. The Class 155 and Class 156 Sprinters were developed to replace locomotive hauled trains on these lines; the interiors were designed to make long journeys more comfortable. In particular, Scottish and Pennine routes have been upgraded with Class 158 express sprinters, while a network of ' Alphaline ' services has been introduced elsewhere in the country.
By the end of the 1980s, the number of passengers grew and the costs were only two and a half times as high as the income.
Coloring
From 1986 onwards, Provincial used a version of the Class 150 prototype paint scheme: "Airplane" blue over white, with a light blue stripe at waist level. Both all new units, as well as selected old as the class 304 - EMUs , got the new color scheme. Some cars and multiple units were given the paint scheme with "ScotRail" or "Trans-Pennine" brands.
Class 158, introduced in 1989, appeared in "Express" colors: dark gray window frames over light gray, with light and dark blue stripes at waist height. This color scheme was also applied to some Class 156 multiple units around the time of privatization.
The last vehicle to be painted in the Regional Railways livery was a class 153 multiple unit, which was painted in the East Midlands Trains livery in July 2008 .
Division in privatization
As part of the privatization between 1994 and 1997, Regional Railways was split into several parts, which later became independent companies:
| Train Operating Unit | Routes |
|---|---|
| Anglia Railways | Connections in East Anglia (combined with InterCity connections in this region). |
| Cardiff Railway Company | Urban Valley Lines connections around Cardiff / Caerdydd, previously integrated into the South Wales and West Division. |
| Central Trains | Central division of Regional Railways, minus the connections transferred to Anglia Railways. Covered the English midlands and mid Wales . |
| Merseyrail Electrics | The network of electrified lines is centered on Liverpool . |
| North West Regional Railways | Connections in North West England and North Wales . |
| Regional Railways North East | Connections in North East England . |
| ScotRail | The majority of connections are within Scotland . |
| South Wales & West Railway | A large network of interconnections centered on south wales and the south west. |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Patrick Whitehouse, David St John Thomas: BR in the Eighties . David & Charles, Newton Abbot 1990, ISBN 0-7153-9854-7 .
- ^ Brian Morrison et al .: Motive Power Annual 1987 . Ian Allan, Shepperton 1986, ISBN 0-7110-1635-6 .
- ^ Peter Fox: Locomotives and Coaching Stock 1989 . Platform 5, 1988, ISBN 0-906579-93-7 .
- ↑ Steven Knight: A comprehensive guide to Britain's new railway . EMAP Apex Publications, 1997, ISSN 1368-437X .