Speedlink
Parent (after 1984) Railfreight Distribution (RfD) | British Rail |
Speedlink was a wagonload freight service that used air-braked wagons and was operated by British Rail from 1977 to 1991.
History
Background, 1970s
In the late 1960s
During the 1970s, BR substantially reduced its rolling stock and infrastructure for wagonload traffic and total wagon numbers were reduced to 137,000 in 1979 from over 400,000 in 1968; from 1973 to 1979, a third of the system's
Speedlink, 1977–1991
By 1977, the 1972 air-braked train service pilot had increased to 29 trains per day. The Speedlink service was formally launched in September 1977.[1][note 2]
The Speedlink system was more restrictive than a traditional wagonload service utilising
In 1988, the Speedlink service became part of a new BR operating sector,
The future of the company was under question throughout the 1980s; one reason for retaining the service was a potential increase in traffic after the opening of the Channel Tunnel.[note 4] Attempts to make Speedlink break even by 1992/3 were stymied by the early 1990s recession, as in 1989/90 the company lost £28 million, with revenue of £42 million; a review of operations had shown "trainload" freight to be profitable only on journeys of over 500 miles, with substantial loadings (10 wagons per day).[9] The Conservative governments first elected in 1979, in power throughout the period (see Thatcher ministry and First Major ministry), sought improved financial performance of BR which was in contrast to the extensive public subsidy provided by earlier Labour governments.[10]
Attempts to convert British Rail into a wholly commercially viable business prior to privatisation came to an end as The Speedlink service closed down in 1991 .[11] It had received state grants of £69 million during its existence,[12] and at closure was carrying approximately 3 million tonnes of freight per year, at a loss of over £30 million pa on revenue of £45 million.[13] After closure, approximately 70% of the freight carried was initially retained by BR, representing 125 trains per day;[14] any freight viable as trainload services operated by the division were transferred to British Rail's regional trainload sectors Mainline Freight, Loadhaul, and Transrail Freight.[15]
Successors, 1991–present
After the end of the Speedlink service in 1991, a number of services were initiated in attempts to serve the potential wagonload rail freight market:
A road-rail intermodal service Charterail was established in 1990 to serve potential customers post Speedlink using
In the BR privatisation transitional period (1994-1996), Transrail Freight started a long-distance service named 'Enterprise'; the service continued operations after the company became part of English Welsh & Scottish as 'EWS Enterprise'.
Notes
- ^ The airbraked wagons could operate at up to 75mph, compared to 45mph for unbraked wagons.[1]
- ^ A much more advanced proposal (1976) also named 'Speedlink' utilising "Freight multiple units", 20 major depots with automated sorting systems and 200 minor depots with gravity unloading system using roller conveyors was not funded.[4]
- ^ This is believed to have been an accounting trick whereby Speedlink claimed an income based on charging other BR operating companies the full rate for transporting goods regardless of the actual income from the services.[6]
- ^ SNCF operated a large amount of wagonload traffic; additionally BR's contract to use the tunnel was a fixed annual charge, there was an understanding between SNCF and BR on cross channel freight, estimate to be over 5 million tonnes pa in 1995 after a 1993 opening.[8]
References
- ^ ISSN 0262-4079
- ^ a b T. R. Gourvish (2011), British Railways 1948-73, pp.501-504
- ^ T.R. Gourvish (2002), British rail, 1974-97, p.79; Table 3.9, p.80
- ISSN 0262-4079
- ISBN 9780415030281
- ^ a b c d e A.S. Fowkes; C.A. Nash (2004), "Rail Privatisation in Britain - lessons for the rail freight industry", European Conference of Ministers of Transport, round table 125, White Rose university consortium, B2. Wagonload traffic, pp.4-5
- ^ Kenneth Irvine (1988), "Track to the Future" (PDF), www.adamsmith.org, Adam Smith Institute, sections 1.2, 2.2
- ^ T.R. Gourvish (2002), British rail, 1974-97, p.284
- ^ T.R. Gourvish (2002), British rail, 1974-97, pp.284-5
- ^ Michael Freeman; Derek H. Aldcroft (1985), The atlas of British railway history, Croom Helm / Routledge, pp. 24–5
- ^ Andrew Pendleton; Jonathan Winterton, eds. (1993), Public enterprise in transition: industrial relations in state and privatized corporations, Routledge, pp. 51, 223
- ^ "Speedlink", Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), vol. 184, c183W, 23 January 1991
- ^ "Speedlink", Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), vol. 192, c278W, 6 June 1991
- ^ "Speedlink", Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), vol. 194, c289W, 8 July 1991
- ^ The Sale of Railfreight Distribution (PDF), National Audit Office, 26 March 1999, Fig.4, p.13, archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2012
- ^ Sources:
- Philippe Thalmann (2004), The dynamics of freight transport development: a UK and Swiss comparison, Ashgate Publishing, p. 35
- The Railway magazine, vol. 152, IPC Business Press, 2006, p. 21,
EWS integrated RfD's European wagonload services, marketed as Connectrail into its Enterprise wagonload network
- ^
Sources:
- Joyce Dundas (1 July 199), "UK: Transport and distribution - The green scene", www.managementtoday.co.uk,
...Charterail, a joint venture between the private sector and British Rail [..] Charterail is attempting to fill part of the gap left after the demise of BR's Speedlink service...
- "BR rates blamed for derailing Charterail", www.independent.co.uk, The Independent, 28 August 1992
- Michael Harrison (27 August 1992), "Final effort made to save Charterail", www.independent.co.uk, The Independent
- Tony Carding (1 May 1991), "Bimodal service debuts in Britain. (Charterail uses Piggyback bimodal system to distribute Pedigree Petfoods's products)", Container News, archived from the original on 25 January 2013, retrieved 11 March 2012
- Joyce Dundas (1 July 199), "UK: Transport and distribution - The green scene", www.managementtoday.co.uk,
Sources
- T.R. Gourvish (2011), British Railways 1948-73: A Business History, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521264808
- T.R. Gourvish (2002), British rail, 1974-97: from integration to privatisation, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-925005-9
Further reading
- Barlow, Peter (February 1986). "Speedlink: The Way Ahead". OCLC 49957965.
External links
- "British Rail - Speedlink Distribution - 1984", www.humberstone-garley.co.uk, Humberstone Garley, 1984, computer-animated corporate commercial
- Mike Smith, "Air Braked Network, Speedlink and Enterprise wagon load services", myweb.tiscali.co.uk