BR Intercity Network

[Ianno87]

Is that a private airstrip?

Owned by BAE, but appears to be open to General Aviation and Gliding.

 

[coppercapped]

Following on from post #8, the concept of an InterCity ‘network’ was a long time in coming.

BR’s first use of the term ‘Inter-City’ was as a marketing name for most of what used to be called ‘express trains’. It was first used on publicity in 1966 on the advertising for the newly electrified route from London to Manchester and Liverpool - the slogan being ‘Inter-City City to City Heart to Heart’ and then spread to all high speed services such as the East Coast offerings. (This is bad, I can remember all this happening! )

Of course, prior to that ‘inter city’ had been used; as is quite well known the name was given to morning and late afternoon business expresses between Snow Hill and Paddington in 1950. Then it was a train that was the ‘Inter City’. The term was later used to name a class of longer distance DMUs and was used by Dr. Beeching in the Reshaping report in 1963. In the 1964 Report and Accounts BR wrote about ‘Inter-City’ being a nation wide service connecting major centres under development in that year. By 1965 Inter-City had become Inter-City, a marketing name for faster services, in other words it had become a ‘brand’. Then came the London - Manchester/Liverpool electric services and the associated hoop-la and Inter-City had arrived.

Inter-City was then used by BR as a brand covering all sorts of fast — and some not-so-fast — services, mostly serving London. There was no attempt to ensure that facilities on offer or speeds were consistent — at this time the Regions were responsible for operations

With the arrival of Sir Robert Reid in 1990, from 1993 as Chairman, the sector revolution started in creating businesses each responsible for a particular market sector as a way to get BR more responsive to market changes and to focus minds. The Government had set its face against subsidising long distance passenger traffic, although it was quite prepared to subsidise socially necessary trains and travel in conurbations. This meant that Inter-City had to stand on its own financial feet using the cost allocation methods in use at the time. (In itself the concepts of cost allocation, cost centres and revenue generators were very new to the world of railways although private industry and commerce had used the concepts for decades). This meant that as sectorisation took effect the definition of Inter-City came to be simply those longer distance services which covered all their allocated costs. No more and no less. And this explains why the maps kept changing and why there was no definition of what an Inter-City train should contain in terms of dining cars, buffet cars, average speeds or whatever.

 

[alistairlees]

Following on from post #8, the concept of an InterCity ‘network’ was a long time in coming.

BR’s first use of the term ‘Inter-City’ was as a marketing name for most of what used to be called ‘express trains’. It was first used on publicity in 1966 on the advertising for the newly electrified route from London to Manchester and Liverpool - the slogan being ‘Inter-City City to City Heart to Heart’ and then spread to all high speed services such as the East Coast offerings. (This is bad, I can remember all this happening! )

Of course, prior to that ‘inter city’ had been used; as is quite well known the name was given to morning and late afternoon business expresses between Snow Hill and Paddington in 1950. Then it was a train that was the ‘Inter City’. The term was later used to name a class of longer distance DMUs and was used by Dr. Beeching in the Reshaping report in 1963. In the 1964 Report and Accounts BR wrote about ‘Inter-City’ being a nation wide service connecting major centres under development in that year. By 1965 Inter-City had become Inter-City, a marketing name for faster services, in other words it had become a ‘brand’. Then came the London - Manchester/Liverpool electric services and the associated hoop-la and Inter-City had arrived.

Inter-City was then used by BR as a brand covering all sorts of fast — and some not-so-fast — services, mostly serving London. There was no attempt to ensure that facilities on offer or speeds were consistent — at this time the Regions were responsible for operations

With the arrival of Sir Robert Reid in 1990, from 1993 as Chairman, the sector revolution started in creating businesses each responsible for a particular market sector as a way to get BR more responsive to market changes and to focus minds. The Government had set its face against subsidising long distance passenger traffic, although it was quite prepared to subsidise socially necessary trains and travel in conurbations. This meant that Inter-City had to stand on its own financial feet using the cost allocation methods in use at the time. (In itself the concepts of cost allocation, cost centres and revenue generators were very new to the world of railways although private industry and commerce had used the concepts for decades). This meant that as sectorisation took effect the definition of Inter-City came to be simply those longer distance services which covered all their allocated costs. No more and no less. And this explains why the maps kept changing and why there was no definition of what an Inter-City train should contain in terms of dining cars, buffet cars, average speeds or whatever.

A very useful overview, thank you. The development of brands and ideas like these is all too easily forgotten.

 

[ainsworth74]

With the arrival of Sir Robert Reid in 1990, from 1993 as Chairman

Point of order! I believe you may mean 1980 and 1983

 

[Gloster]

Point of order! I believe you may mean 1980 and 1983

Peter Parker was chairman 1976 to 1983, Bob Reid (I) was chairman 1983 to 1990 and Bob Reid (II) 1990 to 1995.

 

[coppercapped]

Point of order! I believe you may mean 1980 and 1983

Oops! Yes.

A nearly lethal combination of finger trouble and senescence...

 

[Taunton]

Then it was a train that was the ‘Inter City’. The term was later used to name a class of longer distance DMUs and was used by Dr. Beeching in the Reshaping report in 1963. In the 1964 Report and Accounts BR wrote about ‘Inter-City’ being a nation wide service connecting major centres under development in that year.

I think you will find that the concept of such services was down to Beeching's favourite practical railway man and contributor to his reports behind the scenes - Gerry Fiennes. He writes in his books about exactly the style of service that should be provided on mainstream trunk routes, but well before this (even before Beeching) was writing in Trains Illustrated (Modern Railways old title) about this. He had big fights with the 'establishment' over the "on the hour, every hour" service he introduced to Norwich with the then-new Britannias. "The demand is at 10.30 Mr Fiennes". "No, we are going at 9.00, 10.00, 11.00, 1200 ....". "Ridiculous. What do you think it is - a tram line?". Fiennes then used the term "the tram line" about the GE when mocking them, quite soon from above in the management hierarchy, following the success of it all. He specified high speed, frequency, clockface departure times, high utilisation of rolling stock - all that is now taken for granted. Beeching liked it all.

 

[coppercapped]

I think you will find that the concept of such services was down to Beeching's favourite practical railway man and contributor to his reports behind the scenes - Gerry Fiennes. He writes in his books about exactly the style of service that should be provided on mainstream trunk routes, but well before this (even before Beeching) was writing in Trains Illustrated (Modern Railways old title) about this. He had big fights with the 'establishment' over the "on the hour, every hour" service he introduced to Norwich with the then-new Britannias. "The demand is at 10.30 Mr Fiennes". "No, we are going at 9.00, 10.00, 11.00, 1200 ....". "Ridiculous. What do you think it is - a tram line?". Fiennes then used the term "the tram line" about the GE when mocking them, quite soon from above in the management hierarchy, following the success of it all. He specified high speed, frequency, clockface departure times, high utilisation of rolling stock - all that is now taken for granted. Beeching liked it all.

I agree that Fiennes had a big influence but for me the genesis of clock-face, regular interval services was the introduction of the Southern Railway's services to Brighton and the South Coast by Herbert Walker on 1st January 1933. This was immediately a success both in generating new traffic and reducing operating costs. Fiennes was one of the few people who realised that this model was not only suitable for electric railways — of which he had intimate experience in operating the newly electrified Liverpool Street to Shenfield line — but also for steam hauled, longer distance services.

 

[Taunton]

Fiennes was appointed Chief Operating Officer at the BR Board 1961-3, exactly the period that Beeching came to the railway and produced his reports. Beeching did not of course write the text of the reports personally (he was an organiser rather than initiator), but pulled together the team who did so. Beeching had been on the Stedeford Committee in 1960, a government committee arranged to get deeply into BR losses, and Fiennes, by his mentions of it in his books, was one of those who came to tell them what's what. He was Line Traffic Manager for the Great Northern lines at Kings Cross at the time.

The concepts all being done, Beeching, in one of his final appointments, made Fiennes the Chairman and General Manager of the Western Region at Paddington, which was regarded as the most intractable of the regions for managing their efficiency!

 

[ainsworth74]

The concepts all being done, Beeching, in one of his final appointments, made Fiennes the Chairman and General Manager of the Western Region at Paddington, which was regarded as the most intractable of the regions for managing their efficiency!

Well the Western did inherit the GWRs rather high (some might even say too high) opinion of itself

 

[tbwbear]

A very useful overview, thank you. The development of brands and ideas like these is all too easily forgotten.

I was looking back through my Modern Railways collection last week; I noticed in one of the 1970 editions there was a very interesting and lengthy article by the late Brian Haresnape all about how Inter-city was being marketed at the time. He was talking about the "Inter-City makes the going easy" TV and poster campaign. He was claiming that Inter-City was the most significant branding of a railway in Britain since the LNWR was marketed as the "Premier Line".

It is a really interesting read and recommended if you have access to the old magazines. Significantly there is no mention of any definition of what trains or what lines constituted the network. The Mk2 coach was used heavily in late 1960s / early 70s the campaigns and you could be forgiven for thinking that an Inter-City service was one that featured that particular rolling stock.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

The GWR in the 1930's did innovate standard pattern departure times from Paddington - xx10 to the West Midlands and beyond, famously , xx55 to South Wales with a standard catering offer dependant on time of day.

Had WW2 not intervened , this might have been further developed , particularly with high performing railcars on non London flows.


Fiennes has much to be praised for - "the commercial speed" on main lines , and of course his excellent work on freight , the rural railway and the sterling work on the Shenfield electrification and the GE generally.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

I was looking back through my Modern Railways collection last week; I noticed in one of the 1970 editions

I recall a 1970s edition listing a cascade plan for HSTs - possibly on the basis they would replaced by APT?
Two of the routes to cascade to were Edinburgh to Aberdeen and Glasgow to Aberdeen. Well, they got there in the end, just several decades later than envisaged at that time.

 

[tbwbear]

A bit late - but I found a more complete Inter-City network route map -(sorry terrible quality) - from (I think) around 1970.

This one shows the more complete "Network". The small print under the word "clearway" claims that only "Inter-City" stations are shown.

I think it dates from around the same time as the London-centric "overground" one "up thread."


I certainly think "Inter-City clearway" / "British Rail is travelling" was used around 1970 / 1971.

In fact, it seems to have been used at the same time as "Makes the going easy / London Overground".


I think "Makes the going easy" lasted until the mid 1970s and certainly was around in 1969.

So, "Inter-City clearway" / "British Rail is travelling"seems to have been in the middle of that period.

Does anyone know why they had two campaigns running at the same time?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Glasgow (from Euston) was faster from 1974 with electrification north of Crewe, but then it stuck at 110mph until WCRM and Pendolinos in 2005-ish.
Times are now similar to ECML to Edinburgh, and in fact Euston-Edinburgh could be just as fast as the ECML if they chose to organise the timetable like that.
(HS2 will put Edinburgh services back on the WCML if built as currently planned).
Over the years, the WCML also lost its through services beyond the wires (Aberdeen, Inverness, Bristol, Reading etc), and remaining trains make more stops.
Off-wire services could come back with bi-modes if there was a will.

 

[AY1975]

This thread on the changing definitions of InterCity services may also be of interest:

Changing definitions of Intercity services

I found this website - http://www.projectmapping.co.uk/Reviews/britishrailbriti.html - recently full of railway maps including multiple Intercity maps from the 1980s and 1990s. It's intriguing seeing how the definition of Intercity kept changing in a short space of time...

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