British rail, 1974-1997 : from integration to privatisation / Terry Gourvish ; research by Mike Anson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gourvish, T. R. (Terence Richard)

Contributor:

Anson, Mike.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

British Rail (Firm)--History--20th century.

British Rail (Firm).

Railroads and state--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Railroads and state.

Privatization--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Privatization.

Physical Description:

xxix, 705 p., [32] p. of plates : ill., maps.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.

Summary:

This book, written by Britain's leading railway historian, provides an authoritative account of the progress made by British Rail prior to privatisation and a unique insight into its difficult role in the government's privatisation planning from 1989. Based on privileged access to the British Railway Board's rich archives, Terry Gourvish presents a comprehensive analysis which traces the external pressures on British Rail and its own changing internal organizationbetween 1974 and 1997.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

List of Illustrations (Cartoons and Plates)

List of Figures

List of Tables

Acknowledgements

List of Interviewees

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Preface

1 Introduction: British Rail after 25 Years of Nationalisation

1.1 The long march from 1948

1.2 The British Railways Board

1.3 The Railways Act 1974

1.4 Marsh and the frustrations of public sector management

Part 1 Railways under Labour,1974-9

2 Operating the 1974 Railways Act: Financial Results, Organisational Responses, and Relations with Government

2.1 The financial record to 1979

2.2 Peter Parker and the impetus for organisational reform

2.3 The new functional organisation of 1977

2.4 The subsidiary businesses

2.5 The strained relationship with government

2.6 The 1978 White Paper and the search for railway objectives

3 Operations, Productivity, and Technological Change

3.1 The scale and complexity of railway operations

3.2 Passenger pricing and marketing

3.3 Freight pricing and marketing

3.4 Operating costs and productivity

3.5 The unions, pay, and productivity

3.6 The search for cost savings: limited success

3.7 Railway investment: a disappointing record

3.8 The challenge of new technologies

3.9 Conclusion

Part 2 The Thatcher Revolution? British Rail in the 1980s

4 Sector Management and New Performance Targets

4.1 Margaret Thatcher's government and the railways

4.2 The establishment of sector management, 1979-82

4.3 'Business led' or 'government led'?

4.4 The development of sector management, 1982-5

4.5 Further developments, 1986-9

4.6 The achievements of sector management

4.7 Conclusion

5 The Serpell Report

5.1 The financial crisis of the early 1980s

5.2 The 'balance sheet of change': electrification versus higher productivity.

5.3 The call for a review

5.4 Squeezed by government, challenged by ASLEF

5.5 The Serpell reports

5.6 Derailing Serpell

6 Cost Control and Investment in the post-Serpell Railway

6.1 The operating cost problem: pay and productivity bargaining

6.2 Rationalising the network

6.3 Engineering costs-M&amp

EE

6.4 Engineering costs-CE and S&amp

TE

6.5 The investment challenge

6.6 Conclusion

7 Selling the Subsidiary Businesses

7.1 The significance of disposal

7.2 The search for private-public partnership

7.3 British Transport Hotels

7.4 Sealink and the harbours

7.5 The railway workshops

7.6 The Property Board

7.7 Other businesses

7.8 Conclusion

Part 3 On the Threshold of Privatisation: Running the Railways,1990-4

8 Business Performance, Pricing, and Productivity

8.1 A new chairman, a new board

8.2 The challenge of the 1989-93 recession

8.3 Passenger services: the search for quality

8.4 Passenger marketing and pricing

8.5 Freight and parcels under pressure

8.6 Productivity

8.7 Industrial relations in the early 1990s

9 Investment and the Channel Tunnel

9.1 Promoting investment

9.2 Investment frustrated

9.3 Project management and procurement

9.4 Investing in the Channel Tunnel

9.5 The High-Speed Rail Link: slow progress

10 Safety

10.1 The Clapham accident and its aftermath

10.2 Transforming the safety culture

10.3 Additional spending on safety

10.4 Automatic Train Protection

10.5 The safety record

Part 4 Responding to Privatisation,1981-97

11 The Privatisation Debate and 'Organising for Quality'

11.1 Origins, 1981-9

11.2 The Board's position: reluctant compliance

11.3 Organising for Quality

11.4 Privatisation re-emerges, 1990-2

12 Reorganising for Privatisation, 1992-4.

12.1 From New Opportunities to the 1993 Railways Act

12.2 The new railway structure

12.3 Managing change, 1992-4

12.4 Conclusion

13 Endgame

13.1 The 'great railway bazaar'

13.2 A 'golden age'?

13.3 How entrepreneurial was British Rail?

13.4 Transforming the cosy railway culture?

13.5 Can the public sector manage large-scale investment?

13.6 The 'visible hand' of government?

13.7 Conclusion

Appendices

A: Financial results

B: Investment

C: Productivity and performance indicators

D: Passenger and freight traffic volumes and revenue

E: Sector operating results

F: Government financial controls and out-turns

G: Staff, pay settlements, rates and earnings, paybill costs

H: Subsidiaries-hotel sales and property board income

I: British Railways Board senior staff

J: Passenger pricing, bus substitution, quality objectives, and charter targets

K: Passenger-miles maximisation

L: British Rail-sales and disposals

Notes

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [518]-677) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780191554698

0191554693

OCLC:

271579018