YourMum666
Member
Which routes would have been done by BR if they never got privatised in the mid 90s?
Which routes would have been done by BR if they never got privatised in the mid 90s?
NSE would have done Uckfield and North Downs. GW would have been done as far as Reading or Oxford/Newbury/Bedwyn (budget dependent), but the branches would have been most likely done in addition.Which routes would have been done by BR if they never got privatised in the mid 90s?
NSE would have done Uckfield and North Downs. GW would have been done as far as Reading or Oxford/Newbury/Bedwyn (budget dependent), but the branches would have been most likely done in addition.
Some of the short Anglia branches would probably have got done (Sudbury/Felixstowe). However this is all funding dependent.
I was with ScotRail in the early 1990s. We tried very hard to find a way of wiring Edinburgh to Glasgow as a follow on from the ECML scheme in 1991 but with the recession, prospects were just dire.
Only via Carstairs.Wasn’t Edinburgh-Glasgow already done with the original ECML?
North Downs electricification may have been in development but as a subsequent poster has identified, the recession may well have put pay to it, not privatisation.North Downs was deffo in progress. I remember a former NSE manager that was always on the comment section of London Reconections articles said that NSE got as far as identifying sites for substations. Think it was meant to have been completed by 1995. Great poster - shame he dropped off the site.
I remember that. Both routes were at the time planned to be part electrified for Crossrail too.The Turbos for Thames and Chiltern were reported to have been designed in part to be rebuilt for electrification later in their lives, although did not have a pantograph well. Once committed to, it isn't clear that electrification of either route was imminent.
North Downs electricification may have been in development but as a subsequent poster has identified, the recession may well have put pay to it, not privatisation.
NSE found the seven turbos needed for the North Downs Line by moving them from the Chiltern line growth build. That was an easy way out of paying for electrification.
The Turbos for Thames and Chiltern were reported to have been designed in part to be rebuilt for electrification later in their lives, although did not have a pantograph well. Once committed to, it isn't clear that electrification of either route was imminent.
I think it's not privatisation per se that caused the cancellation, but the way privatisation was carried out, particularly the setup of Railtrack. Had a Network Rail-type organisation been set up from the start then some of those projects may well have survived.You'd have to go to the National Archives to find the real deal. I know there are some useful documents there relating to unfinished BR/NSE plans. Was going to make a visit for my "what if" story I was writing at the time on BR not being privatised, but never made it due to the pandemic, and stopped writing. I think ultimately we can blame these things on privatisation. NSE did not expect the recession to last forever and the dissolution of NSE prevented them from restarting these projects when the economy improved in the late 90s.
Yes, and presumably some of those decisions are starting to become visible under the 30 year rule.You'd have to go to the National Archives to find the real deal. I know there are some useful documents there relating to unfinished BR/NSE plans.
Yes, there are a lot of 'what if' questions from that time, including the 471 build, which would have taken out CEPs, CIGs and VEPs through the second half of the 1990s.Was going to make a visit for my "what if" story I was writing at the time on BR not being privatised, but never made it due to the pandemic, and stopped writing.
Is that strictly true? The franchises for the Southern Region operators simply weren't specified on the basis of this type of growth. The 'innovations' that SWT made, for instance, running from Reading to Brighton via Fareham were relatively low scale. Could another operator have come in with more vision?NSE did not expect the recession to last forever and the dissolution of NSE prevented them from restarting these projects when the economy improved in the late 90s.
I had forgotten about that. Will be interesting reads for sure.Yes, and presumably some of those decisions are starting to become visible under the 30 year rule.
I doubt that was a consideration, just what was available. Arguably, using Turbos, with their wide doors, probably made for a better travelling experience.CEP's feel like a good match for the North downs line, given it gets a lot of longish distance travellers to Gatwick.
I doubt that was a consideration, just what was available. Arguably, using Turbos, with their wide doors, probably made for a better travelling experience.