History of rail transport in Great Britain

The railway system of Great Britain started with the building of local isolated wooden wagonways starting in the 1560s. A patchwork of local rail links operated by small private railway companies developed in the late 18th century. These isolated links expanded during the railway boom of the 1840s into a national network, although initially being run by over one hundred competing companies. Over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, many of these were amalgamated or were bought by competitors until only a handful of larger companies remained. The period also saw a steady increase in government involvement, especially in safety matters, such as the Railway Inspectorate.

The entire network was brought under government control during the First World War, during which time a number of advantages of amalgamation and central planning were demonstrated. However, the government resisted calls for the nationalisation of the network. In 1923, almost all the remaining companies were grouped into the "Big Four": the Great Western Railway, the London and North Eastern Railway, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway. The "Big Four" were joint-stock public companies. During the 1920s and 1930s, rising competition from road transport reduced revenues, leading to a lack of investment and thus a period of slow decline. The "Big Four" cooperated closely during the Second World War and continued to run the railway system up until 31 December 1947.

From the start of 1948, the "Big Four" were nationalised to form British Railways. Though there were few initial changes to services, usage increased and the network became profitable. A rapid introduction of diesel and electric rolling stock to replace steam was enacted under the 1955 Modernisation Plan. However, declining passenger numbers and financial losses in the late 1950s and early 1960s prompted the controversial Beeching cuts, which saw the closure of many branch and main lines alike. High-speed intercity trains were introduced in the 1970s. During the 1980s, severe cuts in rail subsidies and above-inflation increases in fares were enacted, decreasing losses. Following the sectorisation of British Rail, InterCity became profitable.

Between 1994 and 1997, railway operations were privatised, under which the ownership of the track and infrastructure passed to Railtrack, whilst passenger operations were franchised to individual private sector operators (originally there were 25 franchises) and the freight services were sold outright. Since privatisation, passenger volumes have increased to their highest ever level, but whether this is due to privatisation is disputed. The Hatfield accident set in motion a series of events that resulted in the ultimate collapse of Railtrack and its replacement with Network Rail, a state-owned, not-for-dividend company. By 2018, government subsidies to the rail industry in real terms were roughly three times that of the late 1980s, while train fares cost more than under British Rail.