British railways before 1914

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Author: Patrick Crozier

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1 The role of the state
2 The outturn
3 Questions
4 Notes

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The role of the state

Before 1914, the British state had little say in what happened on the railways. It:

permitted the creation of joint stock companies
granted compulsory purchase powers
conducted accident enquiries
mandated (in the 1889 Regulation of the Railways Act) continuous automatic braking, block signalling and interlocking
demanded "Parliamentary" trains ie one train a day calling at all stations at a fare of 1d a mile
demanded (in some cases) Workmen's Fares. These were reduced rate fares for travel early in the morning and before the evening peak. They were aimed at (as the name suggests) workmen
(in 1846) banned the further building of broad gauge track ie with a gap of 7' between the rails (standard gauge is 4' 8 1/2").

It also got involved in minor ways. It:

got involved in the building of the world's first underground railway, the Metropolitan, though I am not quite sure how
forced two rivals, the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District to complete the Inner Circle (now the Circle Line) in London
prevented two rivals, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover from merging (although it did eventually relent)

I think it:

banned open-top carriages

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The outturn

The British railway up until 1914 was a great thing. It:

connected almost every major town to almost every other.
ran services that were fast and frequent.
for most, if not all, of that time held the world rail speed record, a record which in the early part of the 20th century broke 100mph for the first time.
improved comfort and reduced fares. The classic example of this was the decision of Midland Railway to abolish Second Class by selling Second Class (now called Third Class) seats at Third Class fares, First Class seats at Second Class fares and getting rid of Third Class carriages all together. Another example is the Great Western.
built the first underground railway
introduced the first electric-powered railway (the City and South London)
began the process of overland electrification
built stations that are even today the pride of many cities

They also made profits.

One of the impressive things from looking at old photographs is the cleanliness and neatness of the track, its borders and railway structures. There is very little evidence of vandalism or graffiti. The only evidence I am aware of is a line in a Gilbert and Sullivan opera about "idiots who scratch railway windows".

Working hours were certainly long but working hours were long everywhere in those days. Railwaymen regarded themselves as the aristocracy of the working class.

It was not perfect as this example (scroll down) from the Highland Railway illustrates.

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Questions

But weren't there many deaths on the railways? There certainly were, both of passengers and workers. What we always have to remember is that we are talking about a far poorer society in which death was a constant hazard and whose members had to take all sorts of risks simply to survive. What we should also remember is that safety was constantly improving. Train crashes are expensive.

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