GB Railways could restore a service quality long overdue
ICURRENTLY find I have a consuming interest in the Government intention to create a new organisation called Great British Railways. I suspect the substantial local interest has come from the regular lobby for the headquarters of this brand new organisation to be based at Derby – the place that many have described as the historical home of the railway industry.
Certainly, when it comes to the construction of the locomotives, passenger coaches and the freight wagons – although Crewe and Doncaster had some input – the majority were built here.
When I first came to Derby in 1988, the Roundhouse was still functioning and I can recall the distinctive smell of the locos when I first visited the Roundhouse then.
Of course, I both support the creation of GBR and also the local claims for the head office to be located here. Soon we will discover if Derby has made the shortlist for the headquarters, and thereafter I know there will be a public vote to choose the location – a vote I do hope we all get involved with.
Meanwhile, I do find I am thinking back to my first involvement with the rail industry.
I did have to check to find when the rail companies in the UK were first nationalised. That was in 1947, very soon after the war, and this was initially termed the British Transport Commission.
And eventually British Railways – some years before the title was shortened to British Rail or BR.
I was offered a studentship as a civil engineer on the eastern region of BR in 1961, and somewhere I have my letter of appointment on BTC headed paper!
The headquarters of British Railways (later to become British Rail) then, and right up to privatisation in 1995, was at Marylebone Station in London, based in the old hotel opposite Marylebone Station. That building housed the executive managers of the industry whilst Melbury Terrace, behind the station, was home to the civil engineers, the mechanical and electrical engineers and, I think, the signal and telegraph engineers were also there.
I spent all my railway career primarily as a civil engineer, and delighted to find four years from 1983 I was located at Melbury Terrace working for the director of civil engineering.
All very enjoyable times and, as I am now happily collecting my pension, I find myself wondering how much of the nationalised industry will be recreated and how much will come to Derby if that becomes the headquarters.
I have noticed that many people recognise that this probable creation of Great British Railways is, in fact, going to be the first reversal of a privatised industry.
What we have currently was proposed by Mrs Thatcher, but put in place by John Major. There has been much criticism of the current monolith, not least of which has been the very high annual cost to the taxpayer and the disliked poor quality of the service to the travellers.
In my view, a re-establishment of so much that was good about British Railways will restore a service quality that is long overdue, particularly a national timetable and fare structure.
I shall be interested to see how the engineering departments are re-established as much has changed in both engineering design and the methods used for installation.
I think about my many past colleagues doing those jobs, and recognise at best we can simply admire these new specialists.
Sadly, so many of those I shared an office with way back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s are no longer with us. Today’s engineers will have a very important role to play in the railway industry from now.
Practically, I can just watch and admire and simply urge everyone to vote for the headquarters to be placed at Derby. I hope I can have a few years left, and maybe there will be a space for me to attend the opening ceremonies.