1.
FirstGroup
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FirstGroup is a British transport group, registered and operating in the United Kingdom. The company also operates services in Ireland, Canada and the United States. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE250 Index, FirstGroup originated from the deregulation of bus services in the United Kingdom in 1986, whereby private companies purchased nationalised and municipal bus operators. In September 1986 the Somerset based services of the Bristol Omnibus Company that were rebranded in 1985 as Badgerline were purchased in a management buyout, as Badgerline Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing other formerly nationalised bus companies in England and Wales. In January 1989 Grampian Regional Transport, the bus operator in Aberdeen owned by Grampian Regional Council, was privatised in a management buyout led by its general manager Moir Lockhead. As GRT Bus Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing six former nationalised bus companies in England and Scotland, in April 1995 FirstBus was formed through the merger of the Badgerline and GRT Bus Groups, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland. Aberdeen was selected as the headquarters, at the time of the merger, FirstBus had 5,600 buses,4,000 of which came from Badgerline. Badgerlines Trevor Smallwood became chairman of FirstBus, while GRT head Moir Lockhead became deputy chairman, FirstBus continued the policy of growth by acquisition acquiring former council owned operations and companies formerly owned by English, Welsh and Scottish nationalised operators. FirstBus went on to larger urban metropolitan operators by taking advantage of the privatisation of the PTE bus operations. FirstBus acquired GM Buses North in Manchester and Strathclyde Buses in Glasgow in 1996, Mainline in South Yorkshire and CentreWest in London in 1997, and Capital Citybus in London in 1998. The company was renamed FirstGroup in December 1997 after the company moved into railways in February 1996 with the privatisation of British Rail, through a 24. In March 1998 FirstGroup purchased the 75. 5% shares in Great Western Holdings it did not already own and rebranded the franchises First Great Western and First North Western. In September 1998 FirstGroup made its first overseas foray when New World First Bus commenced operating bus services in Hong Kong formerly operated by China Motor Bus, FirstGroup had a 26% shareholding in the joint venture. In May 2000 FirstGroup sold its shares to joint venture partner New World Development, in September 1999 FirstGroup purchased Ryder Public Transport Services, a provider of school bus transportation in the United States. In May 2000 FirstGroup began operating the London Tramlink concession under contract to Transport for London, in August 2003 FirstGroup purchased GB Railways which owned Anglia Railways and GB Railfreight and held 80% of the shares in Hull Trains. Having not been shortlisted for the Greater Anglia franchise, this gave FirstGroup another chance to bid, however it was unsuccessful and the franchise was awarded to National Express from April 2004 including the services operated by First Great Eastern. In November 2003 FirstGroup purchased a 90% shareholding in Irish coach operator Aircoach, in February 2004 FirstGroups joint venture with Keolis commenced operating the First TransPennine Express rail franchise, FirstGroup having a 55% shareholding. In April 2004 FirstGroup commenced operating the First Great Western Link franchise, in December 2004 the remainder of First North Western passed to Northern Rail, some services having already been transferred to Arriva Trains Wales and FirstTranspennine Express
2.
Anglia Railways
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Anglia Railways was a train operating company in England owned by GB Railways and later FirstGroup, that operated the Anglia franchise from January 1997 until March 2004. The InterCity Anglia franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to GB Railways with the franchise commencing on 5 January 1997, in June 1998, Anglia Railways unveiled a turquoise and white livery. Prior to 1997 the trains were run by British Rail sectors of InterCity, Regional Railways, after March 2004 the trains were run by National Express East Anglia. Anglia Railways operated InterCity services on the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street to Harwich International, a franchise commitment was to increase the hourly London Liverpool Street and Norwich services to half-hourly. The half-hourly service was introduced in 2000 with some extended to Sheringham, Great Yarmouth and it operated from 22 May 2000 until ceasing on 28 September 2002 due to poor loadings. A more successful new service with Rail Partnership Funding was introduced on 29 September 2002 from Norwich to Cambridge, Anglia Railways inherited a fleet of Class 86s, Mark 2 carriages, Driving Brake Standard Opens, Class 150s and Class 153s from British Rail. On 10 June 1998, it unveiled its turquoise and white livery, in June 1998, preserved British Rail Class 2011001 commenced an eleven-month lease operating services from Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. To meet a franchise commitment to two services per hour between London Liverpool Street and Norwich, eight three-carriage Class 170s were delivered in 1999/2000. A further four two-carriage Class 170s were delivered in 2002, due to the new stock running late, West Anglia Great Northern Class 317s and Class 322s were used for a time. The two-carriage examples were used on the new Norwich to Cambridge services. Anglia hired a Class 47 from Cotswold Rail from June 2002 as a rescue locomotive, in July 2002, Anglia hired a Class 90 from Freightliner for a few months with a view to replacing the Class 86s. In October 2003, Anglia began operating three Class 90s from English Welsh & Scottish until the end of the franchise, Anglia Railways fleet was maintained at Norwich Crown Point depot. In 2002, as part of a reorganisation by the Strategic Rail Authority. Having missed out on pre-qualifying for the Greater Anglia franchise, FirstGroup purchased GB Railways in August 2003, in December 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the Greater Anglia franchise to National Express with the services operated by Anglia Railways transferring to One on 1 April 2004. Media related to Anglia Railways at Wikimedia Commons Company website
3.
Hull Trains
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Hull Trains is an open access operator in England owned by FirstGroup. It operates long-distance services between Hull/Beverley and London Kings Cross and it has a track-access agreement until December 2029. In 1999, there was one through train per day each way between Hull and London Kings Cross, GNERs Hull Executive. In May 1999, former British Rail managers Mike Jones and John Nelson through their Renaissance Trains business, a joint venture was formed with GB Railways taking an 80% shareholding and Jones and Nelson each holding 10%. In December 1999, a track access agreement was granted by the Office of Rail Regulation with operations commencing on 25 September 2000. In September 2002, the agreement was extended for ten years. In August 2003, GB Railways shareholding was included in the sale of the business to FirstGroup, in June 2008, Hull Trains was rebranded as First Hull Trains, adopting FirstGroups corporate blue, pink and white colours. In January 2009, the rights were extended until December 2014. It was later extended until December 2019, in August 2014, FirstGroup purchased the remaining 20% shareholding. In 2015, it resumed trading as Hull Trains, Hull Trains operates up to six daily return services between Hull and London Kings Cross on weekdays and a daily service between Beverley and Kings Cross. On weekends there are five daily services between Hull and Kings Cross only, Hull Trains commenced running three services per day on 25 September 2000. In December 2002 a fourth daily service commenced, in May 2004 a fifth, in May 2005 a sixth, on 4 February 2015, one service per weekday was extended from Hull to Beverley in each direction. In December 2015, one service was extended to Beverley on weekends, in January 2009, the Office of Rail Regulation released its decisions on the ECML route planning and rejected First Harrogate Trains application. Hull Trains began operations with 3-car Class 170 Turbostars hired from sister GB Railways company Anglia Railways, there was at least one occasion of an Anglia Railways Class 86 and Mark 2 set operating as far as Doncaster. When the Strategic Rail Authority changed its policy on allowing train operating company assets to be hired out and it ordered four 3-car Class 170 Turbostars, the first entering service in March 2004. The Class 170 Turbostars entered service in March 2004 and it was planned that after being replaced, they would then be used on new services, but these services were never introduced, so the Class 170 trains were transferred to First ScotRail. The Class 222 Pioneers entered service from May 2005, in January 2007, a Class 222 Pioneer was damaged when it was dropped off a maintenance jack, it would ultimately take two years to repair. In April 2008, two Class 180 Adelantes were leased to replace the set and allow a maintenance backlog that accrued on the Class 222 Pioneers to be cleared
4.
GB Railfreight
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GB Railfreight is a rail freight company in the United Kingdom. It is owned by EQT Partners through its holding company Hector Rail Group. GB Railfreight was founded in 1999 by GB Railways, unlike competitors DB Schenker and Freightliner, the company was not formed from parts of the privatised British Rail freight sectors. In April 2000, after winning a contract to operate infrastructure trains for Railtrack. An operators licence was granted in July 2000, operations commenced on 1 April 2001. In February 2002, GBRf commenced operating its first Intermodal container contract from the Port of Felixstowe for MSC Mendite, also in 2002, GBRf began its first bulk freight contract for British Gypsum. In August 2003, GB Railways was purchased by FirstGroup and GB Railfreight was rebranded First GBRf, in April 2004, GB Railfreight commenced operating a five year contract for Network Rail with four Gatwick Express Class 73 locomotives. In May 2005, First GBRf began operating Royal Mail services using Class 325s and this was later extended until 2010. Also in 2005, GBRf commenced operating London Underground infrastructure trains for Metronet, in March 2007, First GBRf commenced operating coal trains for Drax Group and EDF Energy. In June 2007, the business was renamed First GBRf, in 2009, First GBRf was granted a passenger licence allowing it to operate charter services. Between December 2009 and July 2010, First GBRf operated passenger services under contract to First Great Western, the services from Cardiff Central to Taunton operated with hired Virgin Trains Class 57/3s hauling Mark 2 carriages. In May 2010, FirstGroup put the business up for sale, Eurotunnel, Freightliner and SNCF were reported as being interested in the company. The company was purchased by Europorte, a subsidiary of Eurotunnel, following the acquisition by Europorte, the company reverted to its original name and a revised version of the original livery. In February 2011, GBRf commenced operation of traffic at Cardiff Tidal/Tremorfa Works. In 2012, GBRf commenced a contract to operate the 43 mile rail network at Sahavirirya Steel Industries Lackenby steelworks. In April 2015, GB Railfreight commenced a contract to haul the Caledonian Sleeper, Class 92s haul it from London Euston to Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central with rebuilt Class 73/9s to haul it from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William. Until the latter are completed Class 67s continue to operate the latter services, GB Railfreight have also won a contract to haul Class 800/801s. This will involve GBRf providing crews for the testing of the trains as well as hauling the sets, in October 2016, Eurotunnel announced it was in negotiations to sell the business to EQT Infrastructure II
5.
Train operating company
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A train operating company is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993 and these operators can run services for the duration of the licence validity. The franchised operators have changed considerably since privatisation, previous franchises have been divided, merged, re-let to new operators, the term is also sometimes used to describe companies operating passenger or freight rail services over tracks that are owned by another company or a national network owner. Franchises were initially let by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and this was in turn replaced by the Strategic Rail Authority, which has since been abolished. For England and Wales, franchising is now the responsibility of the Department for Transport in the majority of cases, in Scotland, it is the responsibility of the Scottish Government. The Rail Delivery Group provides a commonality for the TOCs and provides some centralised co-ordination and its activities include the provision of a national timetable and online journey planner facility, and the operation of the various Railcard discount schemes. Eurostar is also a member of RDG, though it is not itself a TOC, until 2005 this role was performed by the Strategic Rail Authority. Most passenger trains are owned by a number of Rolling Stock Companies and are leased to the individual TOCs. However, a handful of TOCs own and maintain some of their own rolling stock, train operating companies also operate most of the networks stations, in their role as station facility owners, in which they lease the buildings and associated land from Network Rail. Network Rail manages some major railway stations and several stations are operated by London Underground or other companies, all passenger TOCs in Great Britain are privately owned. The majority of these franchises to operate rail services on specific parts of the railway. A third, Wrexham & Shropshire, with services between London and Wrexham, no longer exists, in addition, there are operators that fall outside the purview of National Rail, which operate specific services which are recent additions to Britains railways. The main examples are Eurostar, which operates to the continent via the Channel Tunnel, and Heathrow Express, many of the train operating companies are in fact parts of larger companies which operate multiple franchises. The franchising process was implemented, with private companies taking over the shadow franchises. Two shadow franchises, Chiltern Lines and Great Western Trains were purchased by their own management teams, Great Westerns management also bought North West Regional Railways and renamed it North Western Trains. Great Western Holdings, the owner of the operator of inter-city services from London Paddington Great Western Trains was sold to FirstBus. The TOC North Western Trains was also owned by Great Western Holdings, after the takeover FirstBus was renamed FirstGroup and the TOCs renamed First Great Western and First North Western. The completion of the link to Heathrow Airport led to Heathrow Express
6.
Edelaraudtee
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Edelaraudtee is an Estonian railway operator founded in 1997. AS Edelaraudtee operates freight services on lines from Tallinn to Rapla, until 2014, the company operated the domestic inter-city passenger routes currently operated by Elron. Before the transfer of the traffic, the company employed around 500 staff. On 16 March 2012 Edelaraudtee launched new information display solution based on GPS, the developed information project, whose part is that solution, had an objective to provide passengers necessary opportunities to acquire trip information. Edelaraudtee had plans to equip all serviced train stations and stops with QR codes to link passengers with relevant station’s or train stop’s information display in Internet, freight operations are handled by Czech-built ChME3 diesel shunters, while passenger services were provided by around twenty DR1A/B diesel multiple units. Delivery of 18 electric and 20 diesel Stadler FLIRT trains built by Stadler Rail started in 2012, since 2014, all services are operated by Elron using the new trains
7.
Great Southern Rail (Australia)
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Great Southern Rail is an Australian interstate passenger train operator. Formed on November 1,1997, it is a subsidiary of Allegro Funds, included were 186 items of rolling stock, primarily stainless steel carriages and the Adelaide and Alice Springs stations. In October 1999, Serco bought all the shares from its consortium partners, while the former two services are profitable, the operation of The Overland is subsidised by the Victorian and South Australian governments. With completion of the railway from Alice Springs to Darwin, the Ghan now runs from Adelaide to Darwin, while GSR owns the passenger car fleet, Pacific National provides motive power for the services. The Southern Spirit was a luxury cruising train service, launched by Great Southern Rail on 17 June 2008 and it last ran in February 2012. In November 2014, Serco announced its intention to sell the business, in March 2015, it was sold to Allegro Funds
8.
British Rail Class 86
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The British Rail Class 86 was the standard electric locomotive built during the 1960s. One hundred of these locomotives were built from 1965 to 1966 by either English Electric at Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, or British Rail at their Doncaster works. The class was built to haul trains on the newly electrified West Coast Main Line, from London Euston, to Birmingham, Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly, Liverpool and later Preston. They helped to replace steam locomotives, which were withdrawn by BR in 1968. Under the earlier BR classification system, the type was given the designation AL6, in 1968, this was changed to Class 86, when BR introduced the TOPS classification system. The AL6 featured design elements pioneered on the classes, such as the general construction of the bodies and bogies. However some design features were unique, such as front ends. Another difference was the lack of a second pantograph, the cooling fans on the AL6 were also specially designed to produce less noise than the earlier locos. The Class was officially introduced into service in August 1965, the entire fleet was delivered into service within 24 months of that date. In the early years the locomotives became notorious for track damage, being fitted with traction motors. This additional unsprung mass was causing damage at high speeds, in 1969 number E3173, was fitted experimentally with the large helical flexicoil springs which can be seen on present day versions, giving it the nickname Zebedee. Trials carried out under the direction of the British Rail Research Division proved successful, within a short time a further batch was modified to the new specification, 86040-86048 were renumbered 86253-86261. These locomotives are capable of 110 mph running, throughout the 1970s, the class saw use on both express passenger and freight services. In 1974, demand for electric locomotives grew due to the extension of electrification north from Preston to Carlisle, from 1978 onwards, BR started to name some of their Class 86 fleet, many of them after cities or counties along the lines that they worked. In the early 1980s, electrification from London Liverpool Street to Cambridge, in addition, many of the freightliner trains to Felixstowe were also hauled as far as Ipswich by Class 86 locomotives working in multiple. By the end of the 1980s, the need for a standard fleet saw all remaining Class 86/0 and Class 86/3 locomotives fitted with improved suspension and these locomotives were now inter-operable with Class 86/2, and thus gave greater operational flexibility. A later development saw Class 86/2 and 86/4 locomotives fitted with TDM to enable them to operate passenger trains. The 86/4s were already fitted with an older multiple-working system and this was phased out after TDM was fitted across the fleet
9.
Stowmarket railway station
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Stowmarket railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the town of Stowmarket, Suffolk. It is 80 miles 46 chains down-line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Needham Market to the south and Diss to the north and it is also the junction where the Ipswich to Ely Line joins the GEML. Its three-letter station code is SMK, the station is currently operated by Abellio Greater Anglia, which also runs all trains serving the station. The station was opened by the Ipswich & Bury Railway in 1846 with red brick buildings in a flamboyant Jacobean manner by Frederick Barnes. Building the railway from Ipswich to Bury St Edmunds proved challenging, when the Eastern Union Railway opened the line to Ipswich Stoke Hill railway station in 1846 this was located south of the existing tunnel. The railway employed George Stephenson’s solution for the Chat Moss bog, the River Gipping was also diverted to aid the project. On 26 November 1846 the first test train ran to Bury St Edmunds with stops at most stations on the route, the official opening followed on 7 December 1846 when a special train ran from Shoreditch to a temporary station at Bury St Edmunds. The Board of Trade inspection took place on the 15 December 1846, Stowmarket now had links to Bury St Edmunds and Norwich. The EUR was in trouble and effectively hemmed in by the Eastern Counties Railway making further expansion difficult. Following negotiations in 1853, The ECR took over the working of the EUR on 1 January 1854,1854 also saw the completion of the link from Bury St Edmunds to Cambridge thus linking Ipswich and Stowmarket to Cambridge. Thus Stowmarket became a GER station in 1862, the line from Chippenham Junction to Snailwell Junction near Newmarket opened on 1 April 1880 giving Stowmarket a direct link to Ely and the Midlands. From 1883 the North Country Continental used this route to Manchester, up until 1913 all shunting was performed by either the train locomotive or horses. From that year a local shunting engine was employed additionally and this also covered shunting duties at nearby Needham Goods Yard, additional sidings were installed during World War One for the increased demand in explosive traffic and both the down and up side goods facilities remodelled. Following the Railways Act 1921 Stowmarket station was operated by the London, during the mid-1920s the LNER rebuilt the two track timber goods shed and a number of industrial concerns were built south of the station on the up side all of which were rail served. A third signal box – Stowmarket Works – was opened to serve these facilities in 1941, following nationalisation in 1948, Stowmarket station became part of the Eastern Region of British Railways. Stowmarket Works signal box closed in October 1957, some shunting at Stowmarket was carried out by horses as late as 1958. The buildings, which were Grade II listed in 1972, were restored in 1987, Goods traffic lasted until the mid-1970s, the yard being shunted by a Norwich based British Rail Class 03 locomotive. Some ICI traffic lasted a few years longer, the line through the station was electrified and resignalled by British Rail in 1985 using the 25KV AC electric system
10.
Liverpool Street station
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The station opened in 1874 as a replacement for Bishopsgate station as the Great Eastern Railways main London terminus. By 1895 it had the largest number of platforms on any railway station in London. During the First World War, an air raid on the station in 1917 led to 162 deaths, in the build-up to the Second World War, the station served as the entry point for thousands of child refugees arriving in London as part of the Kindertransport rescue mission. Liverpool Street was built as a station with provision for the Underground. A tube station opened in 1875 for the Metropolitan Railway, and the station today is served by the Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, Liverpool Street is the third-busiest railway station in the United Kingdom after Waterloo and Victoria, both also in London. It is managed directly by Network Rail, a few daily express trains to Harwich International provide a connection with the Dutchflyer ferry to Hook of Holland. Stansted Express trains provide a link to Stansted Airport and Southend Victoria-bound services stop at Southend Airport, most passenger services on the Great Eastern Main Line are operated by Greater Anglia. Since 2015, the Shenfield metro service has been controlled by TfL Rail, a small number of late-evening and weekend services operated by c2c run via Barking. The station is split into two halves, the west side for the Lea Valley Lines services and the east side for services via Stratford. The typical off-peak weekday service pattern from Liverpool Street is, Liverpool Street station was built as the new London terminus of the Great Eastern Railway which served Norwich, the GER had been formed from the merger of several railway companies, inheriting Bishopsgate as its London terminus. Consequently, the GER planned a more central station, the station was planned to be around 630 by 200 ft in area, with its main façade onto Liverpool Street and an additional entrance on Bishopsgate-Street. The line and station construction were authorised by the Great Eastern Railway Act 1864, the station was built on a 10 acres site previously occupied by the Bethlem Royal Hospital, adjacent to Broad Street station, west of Bishopsgate and facing onto Liverpool Street to the south. The development land was purchased, displacing around 3,000 residents of the parish of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate. To manage the disruption caused by rehousing, the company was required by the 1864 Act to run daily low-cost workmens trains from the station. The station was designed by GER engineer Edward Wilson and built by Lucas Brothers, the overall design was approximately Gothic, built using stock bricks and bath stone dressings. The building incorporated booking offices as well as the offices of the GER, including chairmans, board, committee, secretary. The station was built with a connection to the sub-surface Metropolitan Railway, with the platform sunk below ground level, the Metropolitan Railway used the station as a terminus from 1 February 1875 until 11 July 1875, their own underground station opened on 12 July 1875. Local trains began serving the partially completed station from 2 October 1874, the original City terminus at Bishopsgate closed to passengers and was converted for use as a goods station from 1881
11.
Indian Pacific
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The Indian Pacific is an Australian passenger rail service that operates between Sydney, on the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the Indian Ocean. It is one of the few truly transcontinental trains in the world, the train first ran in February 1970 after the completion of gauge conversion projects in South and Western Australia. The trains route includes the worlds longest straight stretch of railway track, in October 1997, the Indian Pacific was sold to Great Southern Rail. A one-way trip originally took 75 hours, but with line, the train currently has two classes, branded as Platinum and Gold Service. A motorail service conveys passengers motor vehicles between Adelaide and Perth, with the formation of Australian National in July 1975, it provided locomotives and crews from Broken Hill to Kalgoorlie. Locomotives were changed at Lithgow, Broken Hill, Port Pirie and Kalgoorlie, the Indian Pacific featured in an episode of BBC Televisions Great Railway Journeys of the World series in 1980, presented by Michael Frayn. The train originally operated twice per week, in July 1973, a third service was introduced followed in July 1975 by a fourth, these later two being extensions of existing Trans Australian services. By 1983, the service had reduced to three times weekly. The service was suspended from 2 December 1982 to 25 April 1983 due to a dispute over staffing levels in South Australia. From August 1986, the train commenced operating via Adelaide, in June 1991, the service was cut from three times a week to two. This was reduced to weekly in January 1992 between Sydney and Adelaide with two services a week between Adelaide and Perth, in February 1993, Australian National took over operation of the service throughout after agreement was reached with the State Rail Authority and Westrail in 1992. From January 1994 the service was operated throughout by Australian National CL class locomotives, Australian National restored a second weekly service. As part of the privatisation of Australian National, the Indian Pacific, along with The Ghan, motive power provision was contracted to National Rail. Today the Indian Pacific operates weekly, a second service operated between September and November until 2015. The route leaves Sydney and travels via the Western and Broken Hill lines to Broken Hill and it then crosses into South Australia on the Broken Hill to Crystal Brook line before heading south to Adelaide. Before the conversion of the Crystal Brook to Adelaide line to standard gauge, however, from August 1986, the Indian Pacific was diverted to make an out-and-back trip to Adelaide adding 390 kilometres to the journey. It then heads via the Eastern Goldfields and Eastern lines to its terminus at East Perth, occasionally, when there is trackwork, the Indian Pacific is diverted out of Sydney via the Main South line to Cootamundra and cross-country line to rejoin the Broken Hill line at Parkes. In 1970, the journey took 75 hours, with subsequent infrastructure improvements and reductions to the time needed to change locomotives and crew, the journey now takes 65 hours despite the longer distance
12.
Cook, South Australia
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Cook is a railway station and crossing loop on the standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie, with no inhabited places around. It is 826 kilometres by rail from Port Augusta, and is connected to the Eyre Highway by a road about 100 kilometres long. The former town was created in 1917 when the railway was built and is named after the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, when the town was active, water was pumped from an underground Artesian aquifer but now, all water is carried in by train. Today, it is said to have a resident population of four, Cook is the only scheduled stop on the Nullarbor Plain for the Indian Pacific passenger train across Australia and has little other than curiosity value for the passengers. The bush hospital is closed, but the town maintains some medical supplies in the event of a train disaster, the hospital advertised itself at the station with the catch cry If youre crook come to Cook. The shop is opened while the Indian Pacific is in town. It has a few houses and fuel tanks for the locomotives, the crossing loop can cross trains up to 1,800 metres long. The former airstrip is known as a place to spot inland dotterel, an interview with a resident revealed that they use both the Western Australian and South Australian time zones, for people from both states, so they do not have to adjust their watches. When the railway was sold, eight houses were taken away
13.
British Rail Class 170
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The Class 170 Turbostar is a British diesel multiple-unit train built by Bombardier Transportation at its Derby Litchurch Lane Works. Introduced after privatisation, these trains have operated regional as well as long-distance services, notable features shared are the aluminium alloy frame and Voith transmission as well as the general body shape, interior design and door fittings. The final drive is sourced from ZF instead of Gmeinder and the supplier changed to MTU. The engine and transmission are under the body, one bogie per coach is powered, all coaches in the set are powered. The units can work in multiple with trains in the 15X series, i. e. Sprinters and they are unable to operate in multiple with units in the 16X series due to different wiring arrangements. Seating arrangements are of both 2+1 and 2+2 formation, and give a seated capacity of between ~100 and ~200 per three-car set. Class 170 units have been categorised into six sub-classes, the specifications remain the same. Because of the different interior fittings the sub-classes differ in weight from one another by a small amount, all the subclasses were built at Derby works either under ADtranz or Bombardier Transportation ownership. Most units are owned by Porterbrook, although units 170 416–424 are owned by Eversholt Rail Group and they are leased to the train operating companies. Abellio ScotRail is the largest operator of the Class 170, with a fleet comprising 55 3-car sets, originally,34 of these had first-class accommodation. They are mainly used on Edinburgh–Glasgow, Inverness–Glasgow/Edinburgh and Aberdeen–Glasgow/Edinburgh services, a further four 3-car sets fitted with mini-buffets were obtained from Hull Trains, but the buffets are out of use. All units are allocated to Edinburgh Haymarket depot, in December 2008, half the standard-class-only units,170 450–5, were fitted with first-class sections. 170456 and 170457 were fitted with first class in December 2011, in April 2015,170 421-424 left ScotRail to go to Southern and be modified to become Class 171s. First TransPennine Express operated nine Class 170s, used on the Manchester to Hull route, from 9 September 2009, two Class 170s are used Sundays to Thursdays on the Cleethorpes–Manchester Airport service. The units were maintained by Bombardier Crofton, the work was carried out by Transys at Clacton-on-Sea. However, in March 2014 it was revealed that the nine Turbostars would move to Chiltern Railways, upon delivery, the Class 170s will be modified to allow them to be used with Chilterns existing Class 168s, and will be reclassified as Class 168/3s. Today, the numbers are 168321-168329. Hull Trains began its London Kings Cross to Hull services using Turbostars, in 2004, it received four of its own 3-car Class 170/3 units, and returned the original units to Anglia
14.
Hull Paragon Interchange
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Hull Paragon Interchange is an integrated rail and bus station in the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. As well as trains to the west the station was the terminus of the Y&NMR, from the 1860s the station also became the terminus of the Hull and Holderness and Hull and Hornsea railways. At the beginning of the 20th century the North Eastern Railway expanded the trainshed and station to the designs William Bell, installing the present five arched span platform roof. In 1962 a modernist office block Paragon House was installed above the main entrance, replacing a 1900s iron canopy. A bus station was erected adjacent to the north of the station in the mid 1930s, the new station, named Paragon Interchange opened in September 2007, integrating the citys railway and bus stations under William Bells 1900s trainshed. As of October 2016, the station is operated by TransPennine Express. In 1840 the Hull and Selby Railway opened the first railway line into Hull, terminating at a passenger and goods terminal, Manor House Street station, adjacent to the Humber Dock, near the old town. Subsequently, the Hull and Selby entered into working arrangements with the Manchester and Leeds Railway and then the York, in 1846 the York and North Midland and Manchester and Leeds railways began proceedings to create a new terminal station and connecting branch line in Hull. The York and North Midland,1847 act was subsequently passed, the new station had the advantage of being better situated for travellers, and allowed the old station to be used exclusively for freight traffic.5 miles roughly west of the new station. In addition a new connecting chord was made from the Hull and Selby Line, to the Bridlington branch, the station was located on the western edge of the growing Georgian town, and took its name from Paragon Street. Construction contracts had been signed by early 1847, before the bill had been formally passed, the station opened in 1847 without any notable ceremony. The station and hotel were both in the Italian Renaissance style, with both Doric and Ionic order elements, the fascades show inspiration from the courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese. The train shed contained 5 tracks and 2 platforms, each 30 feet, the station site was nearly 2.5 acres. The hotel was in a style to the station, located at the east end of the station with its main fascade. It was completed in 1849 as a three building,9 bays wide, of area 120 by 130 feet. The centre of the building contained a 650 feet square lightwell with ground glass roof, architect for both buildings was G. T. Andrews, and represent his last major commission. By the time of completion of the station hotel George Hudson, chairman of the York, the Hotels official opening ceremony took place on 6 November 1851. Additional facilities at the station included a locomotive house, on the west end of north side of the main shed, a coal depot to the north-west
15.
British Rail Class 66
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The Class 66 is a type of six-axle diesel electric freight locomotive developed in part from the Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK. Since its introduction the class has been successful and has sold to British. In Continental Europe it is marketed as the EMD Series 66, controlling 93% of UK rail freight, after a public relations exercise involving the input of the general public, the company was named English Welsh & Scottish. EWS inherited a fleet of 1,600 mainly diesel locomotives, to enable it to offer its stated lower pricing to customers, EWS needed to reduce operating costs and raise availability. EMD offered their JT42CWR model, which had the same loading gauge-passing bodyshell as the Class 59. Placing what was termed as the biggest British loco order since steam days, EWS placed an order for 250 units to be built at the EMD plant in London, Ontario, Canada. The EMD710 12-cylinder diesel engine is a development of one used over 20 years, the first locomotive shipped to the UK arrived at Immingham in June 1998, taken to Derby for testing. The second was taken to AARs Pueblo Test Centre for endurance testing, the locomotives then shipped at a rate of 11 per month into the UK via Newport Docks, until the order was completed in December 2001. Each locomotive is specified and guaranteed to 95% availability, aiming for a minimum of 180 days mean time between failures and it is designed to cover 1·6million km between major rebuilds, equivalent to 18 years service, with each major rebuild costed at £200,000. The initial classification was as Class 61, then they were given the Class 66 designation in the British classification system. In 1998 Freightliner placed an order for locomotives and they were followed by GB Railfreight, and then Direct Rail Services. They currently operate on routes between Sweden and Denmark and between Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and Poland, as a result of its well-known British identity, EMD Europe markets the locomotive as Series 66. After an increase in UK rail traffic post the 2008 Global Economic Crisis, by 2011 EMD were running low on key parts for the design, specifically castings. Due to a reduction in European freight volumes, since mid-2012 a number of EMD Series 66 locomotives have been imported by UK rail freight operators, the first of the class to be built at EMDs Muncie, Indiana plant. On 2 February GBRf ordered a further 13 locomotives and these 21 locomotives will be numbered 66752-66772. Numbers 66752-66756 have been shipped from America and are due to arrive at Newport Docks in July 2014, No.66752 has been named The Hoosier State, a nickname for Indiana. Numbers 66752-66779 were the last Class 66s ordered for service in Great Britain because of increasingly stringent emission regulations,66779 was the last Class 66 to be built ever. Although the Class 66s meet stage 3a of the regulations, they do not stage 3b, stage 3b may have required additional exhaust treatment equipment that could not easily be accommodated within the UK loading gauge
16.
London King's Cross railway station
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Kings Cross railway station, also known as London Kings Cross, is a central London railway terminus on the northern edge of the city. It is one of the busiest railway stations in the United Kingdom, the station was opened in 1852 by the Great Northern Railway in the Kings Cross area to accommodate the East Coast Main Line. It quickly grew to cater for services and was expanded several times in the 19th century. It came under ownership of the London and North Eastern Railway as part of the Big Four grouping in 1923, who introduced famous services such as the Flying Scotsman and Mallard. The station complex was redeveloped in the 1970s, simplifying the layout and providing electric suburban services, in the late 20th century, the area around the station became known for its seedy and downmarket character, and was used as a backdrop for several films as a result. Adjacent to Kings Cross station is St. Pancras International, the London terminus for Eurostar services to continental Europe, beneath both main line stations is Kings Cross St. Pancras on the London Underground, and combined they form one of the countrys largest transport hubs. The Kings Cross fire at the station in 1987 led to improved fire safety standards across the London rail network. The station is located on the London Inner Ring Road at the end of Euston Road, next to the junction with Pentonville Road, Grays Inn Road. To the west, at the side of Pancras Road, is St Pancras railway station. Several London bus routes, including 10,30,59,73,91,205,390,476 pass in front of or at the side of the station, Kings Cross is spelled both with and without an apostrophe. Kings Cross is used in signage at the Network Rail and London Underground stations, on the tube map and it has been used on official maps from Underground companies since 1951 – the apostrophe was used on them only very rarely before then. Kings Cross is used in the National Rail timetable database and other National Rail railway pages, Kings X, Kings + and London KX are abbreviations used in space-limited contexts. The National Rail station code is KGX, the area of Kings Cross was previously a village known as Battle Bridge which was an ancient crossing of the River Fleet, originally known as Broad Ford, later Bradford Bridge. The river flowed along what is now the west side of Pancras Road until it was rerouted underground in 1825, the name Battle Bridge is linked to tradition that this was the site of a major battle between the Romans and the British Iceni tribe led by Boudica. According to folklore, Kings Cross is the site of Boudicas final battle, platforms 9 and 10 have been suggested as possible sites. Boudicas ghost is also reported to haunt passages under the station, Kings Cross station was built in 1851–1852 as the London hub of the Great Northern Railway and terminus of the East Coast main line. It replaced a station next to Maiden Lane that had been quickly constructed with the lines arrival in London in 1850. The station took its name from the area of London, named after a monument to King George IV that was demolished in 1845
17.
Privatisation of British Rail
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The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had completed by 1997. Historically, the British railways had been in ownership since 1948. It was under Thatchers successor John Major that the railways themselves were privatised, the operations of the BRB were broken up and sold off, with various regulatory functions transferred to the newly created office of the Rail Regulator. Ownership of the infrastructure including the stations passed to Railtrack, while track maintenance. Ownership and operation of trains passed to two companies – English Welsh & Scottish and Freightliner, less than the originally intended six. Despite opposition from the Labour Party, who gained power in 1997 under Tony Blair, the process has never been reversed wholesale by any government. A significant change came in 2001 with the collapse of Railtrack, the regulatory structures have also subsequently changed. Historically, the railway companies were almost entirely self-sufficient, including, for example. As a consequence of the nationalisation of the railways in 1948 some of these activities had been hived off to other nationalised industries and institutions, e. g. The preferred organisational structure in the 1970s was for the BRB to form wholly owned subsidiaries which were run at an arms-length relationship, there were five Regions, each region being formed of several Divisions, and each division of several Areas. The chain of British Transport Hotels was sold off, mainly one hotel at a time, sealink was sold in 1984 to Sea Containers, who ultimately sold the routes to their current owner, Stena Line. Also catering business Travellers Fare was sold in 1988 to a management buyout team, BREL Ltd was soon sold to the Swiss-Swedish conglomerate ASEA Brown-Boveri, which renamed the company ABB Transportation. A merger between ABB Transportation and Daimler Benz created ADtranz on 1 January 1996, ADtranz was subsequently taken over by the Canadian-owned conglomerate, for reasons of efficiency and to reduce the amount of subsidy required from government British Rail undertook a comprehensive organisational restructuring in the late 1980s. Commuter services in the south-east came under the London & South East sector, Services in Scotland were operated by ScotRail, and Provincial sector handled local and rural routes. The regional management structure continued in parallel for a few years before it was abolished, sectorisation was generally regarded within the industry as a great success, and it was to have a considerable effect on the way in which privatisation would be carried out. Although owned and maintained by Foster Yeoman, the Class 59s were manned by British Rail staff, during acceptance trials, on 16 February 1986 locomotive 59001 hauled a train weighing 4639 tonnes – the heaviest load ever hauled by a single non-articulated traction unit. In Sweden in 1988 the State Railways, Statens Järnvägar, was split into two – Banverket to control the network, and SJ to operate the trains
18.
Alternative Investment Market
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AIM is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995. It allows smaller, less-viable companies to float shares with a more flexible system than is applicable to the main market. At launch, AIM comprised only 10 companies valued collectively at £82.2 million, by 2017, over one thousand companies comprise the sub-market, with an average market cap of £80 million per listing. AIM has also started to become an exchange, often due to its low regulatory burden. As of December 2005 over 270 foreign companies had been admitted to the AIM, the FTSE Group maintains three indices for measuring the AIM, which are the FTSE AIM UK50 Index, FTSE AIM100 Index, and FTSE AIM All-Share Index. AIM is an exchange regulated venue featuring an array of principles-based rules for publicly held companies, aside from granting leeway in regard to regulatory compliance, the Exchange also mandates continuous oversight and advice by the issuers underwriter, referred to as a Nominated Adviser. The role of Nomads is central to AIM’s regulatory model, as these play the role of gatekeepers, advisers and regulators of AIM companies. Theoretically, Nomads are liable for damages from tolerating misdemeanors on behalf of their supervised companies, in 2006, the London Stock Exchange launched a review of Nomad activities, resulting in a regulatory handbook for Nomads published by the Financial Services Authority in 2007. Therefore, AIM-listed companies are subject to manipulation by institutional investors. AIM-listed companies usually are required to adhere to the corporate governance requirements of their home jurisdiction. However, the requirements are more onerous than for private companies. Another important element of AIM’s model is the composition of its investor base, although AIM-listed companies are not start-ups, most are small and potentially more risky than a FTSE listing. As a consequence, AIM’s investor base is composed of institutional investors. The following table lists the 10 biggest AIM companies on 17 May 2012, source, File linked from this page. In March 2007, U. S. securities regulator Roel Campos suggested that AIMs rules for share trading have created a market like a casino, Campos reportedly said, Im concerned that 30% of issuers that list on AIM are gone in a year. That feels like a casino to me and I believe that investors will treat it as such, AIM has since issued new rules requiring that listed companies maintain a website. The calibre of participants in the market has also criticised by fund manager John Hempton of Bronte Capital Management. AIM was criticised for allowing Langbar International to be listed and this was due in part because the Nomad failed to carry out due diligence
19.
Legal & General
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Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its products include life insurance, general insurance, pensions and investments and it has operations in the United Kingdom, Egypt, France, Germany, the Gulf, India, the Netherlands and the United States. Legal & General is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index, Legal & General was formed by Sergeant John Adams and five other lawyers in June 1836 in a Chancery Lane coffee shop. Originally called the New Law Life Assurance Society, the society was restricted to those in the legal profession. The name was changed to Legal & General Life Assurance Society to reflect that policies were available to the general public but with share ownership restricted to those in the legal profession. The group expanded in the UK and soon began to acquire overseas life assurance companies, the society became a wholly owned division of Legal & General Group plc in the 1970s. It bought Government Employee Life Insurance from GEICO in the USA, the girls school, which formed the basis for the site, was attended by the novelist Vera Brittain, mother of the politician Shirley Williams. In 2015, it was announced that the headquarters would close potentially before 2025, in fact, after a period of uncertainty for the staff at Kingswood, it was announced that the site would shut much earlier, in 2018. The previous Legal & General logo incorporates the image of the Temple Bar, the umbrella logo used today was introduced by former Chief Press Officer Gordon Macdonald in June 1984. In 2008 Legal & General bought Suffolk Life, a provider of Self Invested Pension products, in 2014, the company formed Legal & General Reinsurance, a Bermudian-based reinsurance company. Legal & General Re completed its maiden external transaction in the Dutch market in cooperation with Hannover Re in December 2015. Then in January 2015, a unit of Legal & General collaborated with Dutch pension fund manager PGGM acquired the Bishopsgate Long-term Property Fund Unit Trust for a fee of £370 million. The company offers a range of products and, in addition to its direct sales service and brokerage agreements with numerous tied agents. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Ron Peet, an actuary, was CEO of Legal & General. Peet helped the campaign for Thalidomide children, Legal & General then owning a large bloc of shares in Distillers, dr Nigel Wilson became Group Chief Executive on 30 June 2012. He succeeded Tim Breedon, who had been CEO since 1 January 2006, other senior management include Mark Gregory and Mark Zinkula. Together with Nigel Wilson they form L&Gs executive board, Legal & General Group Plc – Official Company Page Legal & General Direct – official website for customers
20.
Macquarie Group
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Headquartered in Sydney, Macquarie is the largest Australian investment bank and the top ranked mergers and acquisitions advisor in Australia. As of May 6,2016, the chief executive Nicholas Moore became the nations highest paid CEO of a listed company as they announced a net profit after tax for the year at A$2.06 billion. Macquarie is listed in Australia and is regulated by APRA, the Australian banking regulator, as the owner of Macquarie Bank Limited, Macquarie was founded on 10 December 1969 as Hill Samuel Australia Limited, a subsidiary of the UKs Hill Samuel & Co. After presenting his report in London, Mr Owens was offered the role of implementing it by Hill Samuels Chairman, Kenneth Keith, Mr Owens became Executive Chairman of Hill Samuel Australia and founded the company in Gold Fields House in Sydneys Circular Quay. The companys first three employees were Stan Owens, Blair Hesketh and Geoff Hobson Later Chris Castleman and Bill Clarke joined, David Clarke and Mark Johnson were introduced to HSA and became joint Managing Directors. Despite being given an allowance by the British parent to turn a profit. In 1971 HSA secured Australia’s biggest mandate at the time, a $US60 million financing for corrugated iron manufacturer John Lysaght Australia, HSA expanded its presence in the Australian market, opening a Melbourne office in 1972, and a Brisbane office in 1975. In 1979, HSA gained floor member status at the Sydney Futures Exchange, in 1980 HSA began its expansion into funds management by establishing Australia’s first cash management account. In 1981, in response to changes evolving from the deregulation of financial markets, in the same year, Macquarie established its philanthropic arm, the Macquarie Group Foundation. In 1987, Macquarie established what has one of Australia’s largest corporate art collections. Macquarie continued its overseas expansion during the early 1990s, opening offices in London, Munich, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, in 1994 Macquarie began its infrastructure investment business with the underwriting and placement of publicly listed equity for the Hills Motorway in Sydney. On 29 July 1996, Macquarie Bank Limited listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, by 30 October 1996 Macquarie had entered the ASX All Ordinaries Index, with a market capitalisation of approximately $A1.3 billion. In June 1999, Macquarie acquired the investment banking arm of Bankers Trust Australia, on December 16,2004, Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation began trading as Macquarie Infrastructure Company Trust on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2005 Macquarie announced a takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange valuing the company at £1.5 billion. Macquarie acquired UK gas supply company Corona Energy in August 2006, in December 2006, Airline Partners Australia, a Macquarie-led consortium, launched an unsuccessful take over offer for Qantas. In 2007, MBL securityholders and the Federal Court approved the restructure of the Macquarie group into a holding company structure. Macquarie Group is regulated by APRA, the Australian banking regulator, as the owner of Macquarie Bank Limited, oppenheim, and Condor Ferries service between the UK, Channel Islands and France. In 2010 Macquarie Group completed its largest foreign acquisition with the purchase of Delaware Investments, in January 2015, Macquarie Group acquired a stake in Baltic 2 offshore wind park from EnBW for a fee totalling €720 million, due for completion in summer 2016 and subject to antitrust approval
21.
RailAmerica
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RailAmerica, Inc. based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group, before that, it traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol RRA. It was relisted in October 2009 with the ticker symbol RA, in April 2011, RailAmerica made its first shortline purchase in over five years by initiating a deal with Gulf and Ohio Railways to acquire three Alabama shortlines for $12.7 million. On July 23,2012, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced that it intended to purchase RailAmerica in a deal valued at $1.39 billion, approval of the purchase was granted by the U. S. Surface Transportation Board on December 19,2012, while awaiting the decision, Genesee & Wyoming put RailAmerica control in the hands of a trust. They assumed control on December 28,2012 and the company was in the process of integration to G&W. RailAmerica controlled the following railroads. In addition to those listed below, RailAmericas prior owner, Fortress Investment Group, RailAmerica, RailAmerica Selected to Acquire Four Railroads from Alcoa, Additionally Announces Lease with CSX Transportation for the 48 Mile Fremont Branch
22.
Serco
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Serco Group plc is a British outsourcing company based in Hook, Hampshire. It operates public and private transport and traffic control, aviation, military weapons, detention centres, call centres, prisons, Serco has been involved in a variety of controversies having a history of problems, failures, fatal errors and overcharging. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE250 Index, Serco operates in Continental Europe, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific region and North America, but the majority of its turnover comes from the UK. Serco was founded in 1929 as RCA Services Limited, a United Kingdom division of the Radio Corporation of America, following the takeover of RCA by General Electric in late 1985, RCA Services Limited was bought out by its local management. It changed its name to Serco in 1987 and has been a London Stock Exchange listed company since 1988, on 29 December 2008, Serco acquired SI International. In November 2014 its share price, which stood at 674p before the scandal broke in 2013 collapsed to 218. 7p. The new chief executive Rupert Soames sold off scores of divisions, on 17 November 2014, it was announced that Alastair Lyons would resign from his position as chairman of Serco. Lyons referred to “operational mis-steps” for which he took “ultimate responsibility”, Serco made a loss of £991 million in 2014, reducing to a loss of £69.4 million in 2015. Sir Roy Gardner was appointed as Non-Executive Chairman on 28 May 2015, Serco, as well as its rival G4S, was accused of overcharging the Ministry of Justice on its contract to tag offenders. The firm issued a warning for 2014 as a result of the costs of becoming embroiled in an electronic tagging scandal. Serco repaid £68.5 million to the government for its overcharging on the contract and we Own It held a protest outside the companys annual general meeting on 8 May called Sick of Serco. The group brought sick bags and proposed a Public Service Users Bill that would provide better, Serco operates the National Border Targeting Centre for UK Visas and Immigration and provides the carrier gateway—the interface between carriers and the agency. Serco operates the Santander Cycles scheme and the NorthLink Ferries Northern Isles lifeline ferry service in Scotland, Serco also has a joint venture with Abellio, the international arm of Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, to operate passenger trains in the UK. Serco-Abellio has a 25-year concession for Merseyrail in Liverpool until 2028 and it previously operated the Docklands Light Railway. On 31 March 2015, Serco commenced a 15-year contract to operate the Caledonian Sleeper between London and Scotland, Serco managed the UKs National Physical Laboratory until 2015 and also provides IT Services, Industrial Support and Cryogenic Operations Support and Maintenance at CERN. Serco also was part of a running the National Nuclear Laboratory under contract. In Britain Serco supplies electronic tagging devices for offenders and asylum seekers and it runs four prisons, a Young Offenders Institution and a Secure Training Centre. It has also operated two Immigration Removal Centres since 2007, Serco is also responsible for the contracted-out court escort services in the south-east area
23.
Australian National Railways Commission
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Australian National was a railway operator owned by the Government of Australia. It was known as Australian National Railways in its early years, on 1 July 1975 Australian National Railways was formed taking over the operations of the Federal Government owned Commonwealth Railways. The State Governments of South Australia and Tasmania whose railway systems were deeply in debt and it now controlled 7,890 kilometres of rail track being 2,395 km of broad gauge,2,812 km of standard gauge and 2,683 km of narrow gauge track. The narrow gauge track included 851 km in Tasmania and 748 km on South Australias isolated Eyre Peninsula Railway, the total number of employees numbered just over 12,000. The Commissions first Corporate Plan in 1979 set out six ways that the Commission was to if it was to survive. In Canada the delegation had talks with Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, in the United States contact was made with Chessie System and Southern Pacific Railroad. The areas looked at included marketing and pricing, finance and planning, engineering, on 12 March 1980, a new green and yellow corporate identity was launched with GM1 the first locomotive painted. In October 1980, a new standard gauge line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs opened replacing the narrow gauge Central Australian Railway which closed in December 1980, in December 1982, the Adelaide to Crystal Brook line was converted to standard gauge. Ownership of the Queanbeyan to Canberra railway line was transferred to the State Rail Authority in May 1985, also purchased were five T class locomotives from V/Line in 1993 that were reclassed as CKs. In 1986, a new system required the class leaders of the former South Australian Railways to be renumbered as the last member of the class. Australian National operated passenger services within South Australia, primarily using Bluebird railcars, in December 1986, Australian National reintroduced services to Whyalla and Broken Hill using CB railcars. The remaining services were withdrawn in 1990 and it also operated the Indian Pacific in partnership with the Public Transport Commission and Westrail and The Overland in partnership with the Victorian Railways. It took over the running of services in full in February 1993 and 1994 respectively. Australian National also operated the Trans Australian until June 1991 and The Alice between November 1983 and mid-1988, Australian National entered a joint venture with National Rail to operate Roadrailers under the Trailerail brand. In November 1994, the first service commenced operating between Adelaide and Perth followed in November 1995 by a service from Adelaide to Melbourne, in 1996, Australian National withdrew from the joint venture with National Rail taking over its share. Following the formation of National Rail, Australian Nationals interstate freight operations, in November 1996, the Federal Government announced a major rail reform package that included the sale of Australian National. In July 1998, the railway operated by Australian Nationals Track Access division, was transferred to the federal government owned Australian Rail Track Corporation. In October 2000, following the resolution of outstanding issues relating to property, Australian National Railways Commission The Long Haul - Australian National 1978-1988 Focus Books, Double Day ISBN 1-875359-08-7
24.
High-speed rail in Australia
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High-speed rail in Australia has been under investigation since the early 1980s. Every Federal Government since this time has investigated the feasibility of constructing high speed rail, the most commonly suggested route is between Australias two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne which is the worlds fifth busiest air corridor. The Australian rail speed record of 210 km/h was set by Queensland Rails Tilt Train during a run in 1998. This speed is just above the accepted definition of high-speed rail of 200 km/h. The construction of a rail link along the east coast has been the target of several investigations since the early 1980s. Air travel dominates the travel market, and intra-rural travel is almost exclusively car-based. Rail has a significant presence in the rural / city fringe commuter market, various studies and recommendations have asserted that a high-speed rail service between the major eastern capital cities could be viable as an alternative to air. Over 12 million people live in the Sydney–Melbourne corridor, the rail network has long been a target of proposals for improvement. In 1981, the Institution of Engineers proposed the Bicentennial High-Speed Railway Project and it would offer only mild improvements on the existing travel times, Sydney to Canberra in 3 hours, and Sydney to Melbourne in 9, it cannot therefore be considered a true high-speed rail proposal. The first true high-speed rail proposal was presented to the Hawke Government in June 1984 by the CSIRO, spearheaded by its chairman, the proposal was to link Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney via a coastal corridor, based on French TGV technology. The proposal estimated construction costs at A$2.5 billion, with revenue of A$150 million per annum exceeding operating costs of A$50 million per annum. The proposal attracted much public and media attention, as well as private sector capital for feasibility studies. In September 1984, the Bureau of Transport Economics found that the construction costs had been underestimated by A$1.5 billion. The Minister for Transport, Peter Morris, rejected the proposal, later in 1984 Peter Abeles, chairman of TNT, expressed interest in Dr Wilds proposal. Two years later in September 1986, the Very Fast Train Joint Venture was established, comprising Elders IXL, Kumagai Gumi, TNT and later BHP and they proposed a 350 km/h rail link from Sydney to Canberra via Goulburn, and then on to Melbourne via the coastal route. A feasibility study estimated to cost A$19 million was initiated by the group in 1988, in 1989, after talks with the Queensland Government, the joint venture group also performed a preliminary analysis of a coastal link to Brisbane. In 1990 the Joint Venture released the results of the feasibility study. It was estimated to cost $6.6 billion and take five years to construct, the VFT was opposed by numerous groups, notably the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Australian Democrats
25.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement
26.
Canberra
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Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of 381,488, it is Australias largest inland city, the city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory,280 km south-west of Sydney, and 660 km north-east of Melbourne. A resident of Canberra is known as a Canberran, the site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nations capital in 1908 as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australias two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being a planned city outside of any state, similar to Washington, D. C. in the United States. Following an international contest for the design, a blueprint by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected. The Griffins plan featured geometric motifs such as circles, hexagons and triangles, the citys design was influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title of the bush capital. Although the Australian Capital Territory is now self-governing, the Commonwealth Government retains some influence through the National Capital Authority, the Australian Armys officer corps is trained at the Royal Military College, Duntroon and the Australian Defence Force Academy is also located in the capital. The ACT is independent of any state to prevent any one state from gaining an advantage by hosting the seat of Commonwealth power, the ACT has voting representation in the Commonwealth Parliament, and has its own independent Legislative Assembly and government, similar to the states. Compared to the averages, the unemployment rate is lower. Property prices are high, in part due to comparatively restrictive development regulations. An 1830s map of the region by Major Mitchell indeed does mark the Sullivans Creek floodplain between two mountains as Nganbra. Nganbra or Nganbira could readily have been anglicised to the name Canberry, survey plans of the district dated 1837 refer to the area as the Canberry Plain. Although popularly pronounced /ˈkænbərə/ or /ˈkænbɛrə/, the pronunciation at its official naming in 1913 was /ˈkæn. brə/. Before white settlement, the area in which Canberra would eventually be constructed was seasonally inhabited by Indigenous Australians, archaeological evidence of settlement in the region includes inhabited rock shelters, rock paintings and engravings, burial places, camps and quarry sites, and stone tools and arrangements. Artefacts suggests early human activity occurred at some point in the area 21,000 years previously, European exploration and settlement started in the Canberra area as early as the 1820s. There were four expeditions between 1820 and 1824, white settlement of the area probably dates from 1823, when a homestead or station was built on what is now the Acton peninsula by stockmen employed by Joshua John Moore. He formally applied to purchase the site on 16 December 1826, on 30 April 1827, Moore was told by letter that he could retain possession of 1,000 acres at Canberry. The European population in the Canberra area continued to grow throughout the 19th century
27.
Amec Foster Wheeler
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Amec Foster Wheeler plc is a British multinational consultancy, engineering and project management company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is focused on the oil and gas, minerals and metals, clean energy, environment, roughly a third of its turnover comes from Europe, half from North America and 12% from the rest of the world. Amec Foster Wheeler shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange. Both trade under the ticker AMFW, Amec Foster Wheeler is a constituent of the FTSE250 Index. AMEC was formed from the 1982 amalgamation of Leonard Fairclough & Son, in 1988, AMEC went on to acquire Matthew Hall Group. In 1996, AMEC took a 40% stake in Spie Batignolles from Schneider in association with a management buyout. Then in 2004, AMEC was awarded a contract to assist in the effort in Iraq, as part of a joint venture with Fluor Corp. The company also acquired Australian-based businesses Currie and Brown and BurmanGriffiths, in 2011, the company acquired US-based BCI Engineers & Scientists, Inc. MACTEC, a US-based engineering consultancy company, and Zektin Group, in January 2014, AMEC provisionally agreed a £1. 9bn takeover of Swiss rival Foster Wheeler. AMEC completed its purchase of Foster Wheeler on 13 November 2014, in March 2017, Wood Group announced it would acquire the company for £2.2 billion. AMECs operations were structured until October 2012 into Natural Resources, Power & Process, Amec Foster Wheeler has supported childrens charity SOS Childrens Villages since 2007, funding educational projects in Asia. List of oilfield service companies Amec Foster Wheeler corporate website Amec Foster Wheeler companies grouped at OpenCorporates
28.
Westrail
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Westrail was the trading name of the Western Australian Government Railways from September 1975 until December 2000, when the WAGRs freight division and the Westrail name and logo were privatised. The WAGR had its origins in 1879, when the Department of Works & Railways was established, in 1890, the Department was abolished and replaced by the WAGR and the Department of Works & Buildings. In September 1975, the WAGR adopted the trading name Westrail, however, the official name of the WAGR was not changed. The new name was the element of a complete program to improve the WAGRs public image. Every visible feature of the organisation was to be associated with the new Westrail identity, the transition from WAGR to Westrail quickly began, with the new name rapidly and almost universally replacing the old one in the vocabulary of staff and the public. Strong impetus to acceptance of the new identity was given by the completion of a new Westrail office headquarters. The new building, named the Westrail Centre, was opened by the Premier of Western Australia, Sir Charles Court, Westrail was responsible for managing the states rail infrastructure. It operated urban and regional passenger and freight services throughout Western Australia, in Perth, Westrail provided the metropolitan area rail service, under contract to another arm of the State government. Its country passenger services involved the operation of trains and road coaches. On 17 December 2000, the WAGRs freight division along with the Westrail name and logo were sold to Australia Western Railroad, the deal also saw the WAGRs freight lines leased to ARG for 49 years. The WAGRs remaining functions, including owning the network and operating regional passenger services, were transferred to the Western Australian Government Railways Commission. On 1 January 2003, the WAGR Commissions functions were absorbed by the Public Transport Authority, the former Westrail Centre is now known as the Public Transport Centre. Initially, Westrail applied an orange with blue livery to its locomotives. Freight rolling stock and road trucks were painted yellow, and blue was used on all signs, buildings, the Westrail logo incorporated a stylised W surmounted by a solid bar representing a railway track. Between the bar and the W was the word Westrail, in July 1997, a yellow with blue livery was unveiled when the first Q class diesel-electric locomotive was delivered. Rail transport in Western Australia Transperth Transwa
29.
Western Australia
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Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Southern Ocean to the south, the state has about 2.6 million inhabitants, around 11% of the national total. 92% of the lives in the south-west corner of the state. The first European visitor to Western Australia was the Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog, the first European settlement of Western Australia occurred following the landing by Major Edmund Lockyer on 26 December 1826 of an expedition on behalf of the New South Wales colonial government. This was followed by the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829, including the site of the present-day capital, york was the first inland settlement in Western Australia. Situated 97 kilometres east of Perth, it was settled on 16 September 1831, Western Australia achieved responsible government in 1890, and federated with the other British colonies in Australia in 1901. Today its economy relies on mining, agriculture and tourism. The state produces 46% of Australias exports, Western Australia is the second-largest iron ore producer in the world. The International Hydrographic Organization designates the body of water south of the continent as part of the Indian Ocean, the total length of the states eastern border is 1,862 km. There are 20,781 km of coastline, including 7,892 km of island coastline, the total land area occupied by the state is 2.5 million km2. Most of the state is a low plateau with an elevation of about 400 metres, very low relief. This descends relatively sharply to the plains, in some cases forming a sharp escarpment. The extreme age of the landscape has meant that the soils are remarkably infertile, even soils derived from granitic bedrock contain an order of magnitude less available phosphorus and only half as much nitrogen as soils in comparable climates in other continents. Soils derived from extensive sandplains or ironstone are even less fertile, nearly devoid of soluble phosphate and also deficient in zinc, copper, molybdenum, the infertility of most of the soils has required heavy application by farmers of chemical fertilisers, particularly superphosphate, insecticides and herbicides. These have resulted in damage to invertebrate and bacterial populations, the grazing and use of hoofed mammals and, later, heavy machinery through the years have resulted in compaction of soils and great damage to the fragile soils. Large-scale land clearing for agriculture has damaged habitats for native flora, large areas of the states wheatbelt region have problems with dryland salinity and the loss of fresh water. The southwest coastal area has a Mediterranean climate and it was originally heavily forested, including large stands of karri, one of the tallest trees in the world. This agricultural region is one of the nine most bio-diverse terrestrial habitats, thanks to the offshore Leeuwin Current, the area is one of the top six regions for marine biodiversity and contains the most southerly coral reefs in the world
30.
Estonia
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Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia, across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands and islets in the Baltic Sea, covering 45,339 km2 of land and water, and is influenced by a humid continental climate. The territory of Estonia has been inhabited since at least 6500 BC, in 1988, during the Singing Revolution, the Estonian Supreme Soviet issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration in defiance of Soviet rule, and independence was restored on 20 August 1991. Estonia is a parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties. Its capital and largest city is Tallinn, with a population of 1.3 million, it is one of the least-populous member states of the European Union, Eurozone, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, OECD and Schengen Area. Estonia is a country with an advanced, high-income economy that is among the fastest growing in the EU. Its Human Development Index ranks very highly, and it performs favourably in measurements of economic freedom, civil liberties, the 2015 PISA test places Estonian high school students 3rd in the world, behind Singapore and Japan. Citizens of Estonia are provided with health care, free education. Since independence the country has developed its IT sector, becoming one of the worlds most digitally advanced societies. In 2005 Estonia became the first nation to hold elections over the Internet, in the Estonian language, the oldest known endonym of the Estonians was maarahvas, meaning country people or people of the land. The land inhabited by Estonians was called Maavald meaning Country Parish or Land Parish, one hypothesis regarding the modern name of Estonia is that it originated from the Aesti, a people described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his Germania. The historic Aesti were allegedly Baltic people, whereas the modern Estonians are Finno-Ugric, the geographical areas between Aesti and Estonia do not match, with Aesti being further down south. Ancient Scandinavian sagas refer to a land called Eistland, as the country is called in Icelandic. Early Latin and other ancient versions of the name are Estia and Hestia, esthonia was a common alternative English spelling prior to 1921. Human settlement in Estonia became possible 13,000 to 11,000 years ago, the oldest known settlement in Estonia is the Pulli settlement, which was on the banks of the river Pärnu, near the town of Sindi, in south-western Estonia. According to radiocarbon dating it was settled around 11,000 years ago, the earliest human inhabitation during the Mesolithic period is connected to Kunda culture, which is named after the town of Kunda in northern Estonia. At that time the country was covered with forests, and people lived in communities near bodies of water
31.
Estonian kroon
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The kroon was the official currency of Estonia for two periods in history, 1928–1940 and 1992–2011. Between 1 January and 14 January 2011, the kroon circulated together with the euro, the kroon was subdivided into 100 cents. The word kroon is related to that of the other Nordic currencies, the kroon succeeded the mark in 1928 and was in use until the Soviet invasion in 1940 and Estonias subsequent incorporation into the Soviet Union when it was replaced by the Soviet ruble. After Estonia regained its independence, the kroon was reintroduced in 1992, the kroon became the currency of Estonia on 1 January 1928 after having been a unit of account since 1924. It replaced the mark at a rate of 100 mark =1 kroon, the kroon was subdivided into 100 sent. In 1924, the kroon was pegged to the Swedish krona at par, the standard received real coverage with the reserves backing the kroon. The issue of notes and exchange notes was terminated. In order to secure the credibility of the kroon, the Bank of Estonia exchanged kroon for foreign currency. During the Great Depression in 1933, the kroon went off the standard, devalued 35%. The Estonian kroon kept this peg and circulated until the Soviet occupation of 1940, the kroon was exchanged for the Soviet ruble at a rate of 1 ruble =0.8 kroon. In 1928, the first coins of this currency were issued, on 25 July 1940,4 days after the founding of the Estonian SSR, the last Estonian pre-WW II coin, the new 1 sent, was issued. In 1927, before the kroon was officially introduced,100 marka banknotes circulated with an ÜKS KROON overprint, Eesti Pank introduced 10 krooni notes in 1928, followed by 5 and 50 krooni in 1929,20 krooni in 1932 and 100 krooni in 1935. The kroon was reintroduced as Estonias currency on 20 June 1992, initially, the Estonian kroon was pegged to the Deutsche Mark at a rate of 8 krooni =1 Deutsche Mark. After the introduction of the euro the fixed rate of 1.95583 DEM to EUR led to an exchange rate of 15.64664 krooni to the euro. On 28 June 2004, as Estonia joined the ERM II-system, on 1 January 2011 the euro replaced the kroon as the official currency of Estonia. The kroon circulated alongside the euro until 15 January 2011 at which point it ceased to be legal tender, however, the Eesti Pank will indefinitely exchange kroon banknotes and coins in any amount into euro. In 1992, banknotes were introduced in denominations of 1,2,5,10,25,100 and 500 krooni, some of the 5,10,25,100 and 500 krooni notes were dated 1991. In 1994, a 50 krooni note was introduced, unlike others, the 1 kroon and 50 krooni notes were issued only once
32.
Railtrack
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Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of British Rail, listed on the London Stock Exchange, in 2002, after experiencing major financial difficulty, most of Railtracks operations were transferred to the state-controlled non-profit company Network Rail. The remainder of Railtrack was renamed RT Group plc and eventually dissolved on 22 June 2010, founded under Conservative legislation that privatised the railways, Railtrack took control of the railway infrastructure on 1 April 1994 and was floated on the Stock Exchange in May 1996. Robert Horton was first chairman, leading the organisation through the years of its existence up to 1999. The fatal accidents at Southall in 1997 and Ladbroke Grove in 1999 called into question the effect that the fragmentation of the network had had on both safety and maintenance procedures. In February 1999 the company launched a bond issue which caused a significant fall in Railtracks share price, Railtrack was severely criticised for both its performance in improving the railway infrastructure and for its safety record. But critics said that the regulator was not tough enough and that the company had, as a result, been able to abuse its monopoly position. In particular, its customers, the passenger and freight train operators, were desperate for regulatory action to force the company to improve its stewardship of the network, swift had been appointed rail regulator in 1993 by the then Conservative transport secretary John MacGregor MP. When the Labour government took over after the election in May 1997. When Swifts five-year term of office expired on 30 November 1998, the new rail regulator, Tom Winsor, had been Swifts general counsel, and adopted a more interventionist and aggressive regulatory approach. At times the relationship was stormy, with Railtrack resisting pressure to improve its performance, in April 2000 it was reported in the Guardian that Railtrack is adopting a deliberate culture of defiance against the rail regulator. Gerald Corbett, Railtracks chief executive at the time, and Winsor clearly saw things differently from each other. Railtrack resisted regulatory action to improve its performance, and as the regulator probed ever more deeply and it was the Hatfield crash on 17 October 2000 that proved to be the defining moment in Railtracks collapse. The subsequent major repairs undertaken across the whole British rail network are estimated to have cost in the order of £580 million, according to Christian Wolmar, author of On the Wrong Line, the Railtrack board panicked in the wake of Hatfield. Meanwhile, the costs of modernising the West Coast Main Line were spiralling and this caused it to approach the government for funding, which it then controversially used to pay a £137m dividend to its shareholders in May 2001. Railtrack plc was placed into administration under the Railways Act 1993 on 7 October 2001, following an application to the High Court by the then Transport Secretary. This was effectively a form of protection that allowed the railway network to continue operating despite the financial problems of the operator. The parent company, Railtrack Group plc, was not put into administration and continued operating its other subsidiaries, for most of the year in administration, the governments position had been that the new company would have to live within the existing regulatory settlement
33.
Hatfield rail crash
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The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. It was caused by a metal fatigue induced derailment, killing four people, though the accident did not result in a large number of deaths, it exposed major stewardship shortcomings of the privatised national railway infrastructure company Railtrack. Reports found there was a lack of communication and some staff were not aware of maintenance procedures, Railtrack subsequently went into administration and was replaced by Network Rail. In 2005, both Network Rail and the contractor Balfour Beatty were found guilty of breaching health and safety laws, the train was being driven by an experienced driver, accompanied by a trainee who was expected to take over at Leeds. The primary cause of the accident was determined to be the left-hand rail fracturing as the train passed over it. The train travelled a further 1,000 yards after derailment, the leading locomotive and the first two coaches remained upright and on the rails. All of the coaches, and the trailing Driving Van Trailer were derailed. The restaurant coach, the vehicle in the set, overturned onto its side. The whole incident occurred in 17 seconds, four passengers died in the accident and a further 33 were initially reported as injured, three seriously. The number of injured was later revised to over 70, emmerdale actress Anna Brecon was travelling on the train, and suffered minor cuts and bruises. Crash investigators found the British Rail-designed Mark 4 coaches, aside from the restaurant coach, had good structural integrity, coincidentally, the locomotive in the crash was also involved in the Great Heck rail crash a few months later. A preliminary investigation found a rail had fragmented as trains passed, such cracks are caused by high loads where the wheels contact the rail. Repeated loading causes fatigue cracks to grow, when they reach a critical size, the rail fails. Replacement rails were available but never delivered to the correct location for installation. Since privatisation, Railtrack had divested the engineering knowledge of British Rail into contractors, in May 1999, the Head of Track had said that insufficiently skilled work was causing more rails to break. The company was subject to enforcement by the Rail Regulator, Tom Winsor, in 2004, Arthurs widow was awarded £1m damages in the High Court. The families of the three fatal casualties received damages out of court. A memorial service was held for the victims on the 10th anniversary of the crash in 2010 at St Etheldredas Church, a second service was held near the crash site afterwards
34.
Strategic Rail Authority
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The Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry. Its motto was Britains railway, properly delivered and it incorporated the former Conservative governments Director of Passenger Rail Franchising. The SRA was placed on a legal basis by the Transport Act 2000. The government wanted the SRA to take a more interventionist role with Railtrack and its successor Network Rail and those powers rested with - and were jealously guarded by - the Rail Regulator, who frequently clashed with the SRA when he believed that it was over-reaching its jurisdiction. The SRA operated under directions and guidance from the Secretary of State for Transport, also in Scotland from the Scottish Minister for Transport, in Scotland the budget of the SRA was devolved to the Scottish Parliament under the terms of the Barnett Formula. On 15 July 2004 the Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling MP, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Greater London Authority were given some input in their areas. The SRAs first chairman was Sir Alastair Morton, from February 1999 until October 2001 and its first chief executive was Mike Grant. Its second chairman was Richard Bowker, who served between October 2001 and September 2004 and its third chairman was David Quarmby, and third chief executive Nick Newton, from September 2004 to abolition
35.
Great North Eastern Railway
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It operated InterCity train services on the East Coast Main Line. Sea Containers was awarded a franchise to run the InterCity East Coast franchise from April 1996. In March 2000 the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority announced that Sea Containers, in January 2002 the Strategic Rail Authority scrapped the refranchising process and awarded a two-year extension to Sea Containers until April 2005. In March 2005 the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the franchise to GNER for seven years, with a three-year extension based on targets being met, the initials GNER were similar to LNER, the company that operated the route before being nationalised as part of British Railways in 1948. Additionally, two of the LNERs predecessor companies were the GNR, who built Kings Cross station, GNER suffered two major accidents during its operating years. In the Hatfield crash on 17 October 2000, the 12,10 London Kings Cross – Leeds train derailed just south of Hatfield station due to a crack in the rail. Four passengers were killed in the restaurant car, which struck an overhead catenary stanchion during the derailment, GNERs other accident was the Great Heck rail crash on the morning of 28 February 2001, where a Newcastle–London service hit a Land Rover that had driven off the M62 motorway. The GNER train derailed and was hit by a Freightliner train from Immingham to Ferrybridge. GNERs principal routes were from London Kings Cross to Leeds and Edinburgh Waverley, from Edinburgh Waverley, selected services continued on to Motherwell and Glasgow Central, Inverness, or Aberdeen. From Leeds, some ran to and from Bradford Forster Square, Skipton. One service per day ran to and from Hull via Selby. The service between Kings Cross and Leeds was generally hourly, with trains serving most main intermediate stations. With the completion of the Allington Chord, near Grantham, having increased track capacity, a half-hourly service between Kings Cross and Newcastle operated for most of the day, departing from London on the hour and the half-hour. The top of the hour departures continued through to Edinburgh, some of these ran on to either Glasgow Central, GNER operated ten trains per day between Kings Cross and Glasgow. There were three trains per day each way between Kings Cross and Aberdeen, the time being just over seven hours. There was also one service per day arriving at Aberdeen from Leeds and these services were operated using a diesel InterCity 125 because the Edinburgh to Aberdeen line and the section of the Cross Country Route between Leeds and York are not electrified. A daily service operated between Kings Cross and Inverness, named the Highland Chieftain, a journey taking just over 8 hours, the service was operated using a diesel InterCity 125, as the line north of Edinburgh is not electrified. GNER ran the Hull Executive from Hull Paragon to London Kings Cross, with one morning journey down to London, the service was operated by a diesel InterCity 125, as the line to Hull is not electrified
36.
Freightliner Group
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Freightliner Group is a rail freight and logistics company, formed in the United Kingdom in 1995, and now having expanded into Australia, The Netherlands and Poland. Freightliner Limited is the largest intermodal transport operator in the United Kingdom. Freightliner Group is the second largest freight operating company in the UK by revenue and it is a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming. Dudley Freightliner Terminal,10 miles from Birmingham, on the site of the old station was opened in October 1967. This proved to be one of the most profitable such terminals in the country, yet by 1981, Freightliner was planning to close Dudley and transfer its function to Birmingham in order to boost the latters fortunes. However, the Dudley terminal was given a reprieve in 1983, as part of the Privatisation of British Rail the Freightliner business unit had its assets transferred into a new company, Freightliner Limited, in preparation for sale. On 25 May 1996 Freightliner was purchased by a management buyout backed by 3i, in 1999 Freightliner set up its Heavy Haul business. In March 2004 Freightliner launched Logico, providing short-term or one-off spaces on intermodal trains, in 2007 Freightliner commenced operations in Poland. On 13 June 2008 Freightliner Group was purchased by Railinvest Holding Company Limited a subsidiary of Arcapita Bank of Bahrain, in June 2009 Freightliner commenced operations in Australia. In February 2015, Freightliner was sold by Arcapita Bank to Genesee & Wyoming, under the deal, Genesee & Wyoming purchased a 95% shareholding which will increase to 100% by 2020. On 12 November 2015, British Rail Class 47 No,47830, which is operated by Freightliner, was named Beechings Legacy to mark 50 years since the first container train ran under British Rail. These ran from ports including Felixstowe, Southampton and Tilbury to terminals such as Birmingham, Trafford Park in Manchester, Ashton Gate in Bristol, the network has been expanded with additional destinations added. Freightliner also operate an extensive distribution network with 300 road vehicles. Initially run as a division of Freightliner Limited, in 2001 operations were transferred to a new subsidiary, in April 2006 Freightliner Maintenance Limited was established as a separate entity dedicated to the repair and maintenance of traction and rolling stock. In 2006 Freightliner expanded its operations into Poland, a subsidiary company, Freightliner PL Sp. Z o. o. was established to bid for contracts hauling coal traffic, the first contract was for coal transport from Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka SA near Bogdanka to Kozienice Power Station. The service began in September 2007, most of Freightliner PLs services operate on the Gdańsk to Warsaw corridor and in southern Poland. In February 2015, Freightliner PL signed a contract to lease five Newag Gliwice 5MW electric six-axle E6DCF Dragon locomotives from ING Lease
37.
East Anglia franchise
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The East Anglia franchise is a railway franchise for passenger trains on the Great Eastern Main Line and West Anglia Main Lines in England. Initially operated by National Express East Anglia, in February 2012 it was taken over by Abellio Greater Anglia, upon being re-tendered, it was retained by Abellio and rebranded Greater Anglia as specified by the Department for Transport. This was part of a Strategic Rail Authority strategy to reduce the number of operating companies providing services from a single London terminal. This was expected to improve efficiency and reliability, in April 2003 the Strategic Rail Authority announced Arriva, GB Railways and National Express had been shortlisted to bid for the new franchise. In December 2003 the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the franchise to National Express, with the services operated by Anglia Railways, First Great Eastern and West Anglia Great Northern transferred to One on 1 April 2004. The franchise was run until March 2011, with provision for an extension to 2014 if performance targets were met. The franchise was branded as One before being rebranded as National Express East Anglia in February 2008 as part of a company wide rebranding programme. In November 2009, the Department for Transport announced National Express was to lose the Greater Anglia franchise in March 2011 rather than be granted an extension to operate it until March 2014. When tendering restarted, it was for a franchise which would give the government time to plan changes in rail franchising policy based on Roy McNultys Rail Value for Money Study. It also covered the period of the 2012 Olympic Games, the franchise was originally to run from 5 February 2012 until July 2014. In March 2011, the Department for Transport announced Abellio, Go Ahead and Stagecoach had been shortlised for the new franchise, in October 2011, the franchise was awarded to Abellio with the services operated by National Express East Anglia transferred to Greater Anglia on 5 February 2012. In March 2013, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the franchise would be extended until 15 October 2016, in late 2013, Greater Anglia was rebranded as Abellio Greater Anglia. The process of tendering for the new franchise began on 19 February 2015 with the renamed the East Anglia franchise. In June 2015, an Abellio /Stagecoach joint venture, FirstGroup, on 9 December 2015 it was announced that Stagecoach had pulled out of the joint bid with Abellio, and that Abellio would continue the bid alone. In August 2016, it was announced that Abellio had successfully bid to operate the new franchise running from 16 October 2016 until 2025, the franchise was rebranded back to Greater Anglia on 16 October 2016 as specified in the franchise contract. In January 2017, Abellio announced that subject to gaining Department for Transport approval, it had agreed to sell a 40% stake in the business to Mitsui
38.
Northern Rail (Serco-Abellio)
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Northern Rail was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio. It was the train operator in Northern England, and operated the most stations of any train operating company in the UK. Northern Rail also operated the Northern Electrics sub-brand on electrified services in North West England using class 319 units from Thameslink, Northern Rail was replaced on 1 April 2016 by Arriva Rail Norths Northern brand. A TransPennine Express franchise would be created for the regional services. On 1 July 2004 the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the franchise to Serco-NedRailways, the franchise was awarded for six years and nine months, with a two-year extension subject to performance targets being achieved. Serco-NedRailways bid had assumed that some Class 142 Pacer trains would be released imminently when Manchester Metrolink services started between Manchester and Oldham, due to a substantial delay in extending the Metrolink, it became clear that this was not going to be the case. As a result, the signing was delayed, and the services operated by First North Western. In May 2010 the Department for Transport confirmed that Northern had met the performance targets, in May 2012 the Department for Transport granted Northern a six-month extension until 31 March 2014. In March 2013 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the franchise would be extended to February 2016. In August 2014, the Department for Transport announced Abellio, Arriva, on 9 December 2015, it was announced that Arriva trading as Northern had been awarded a new franchise to run from 1 April 2016 through to March 2025. The 10,17 service from Sheffield on Sundays continues to Carlisle creating a train service between Sheffield and Carlisle for the first time since the demise of British Rail. The service returns from Carlisle at 15,10, in May 2015 Northern Rail announced the re-introduction of a direct service between Blackburn and Manchester Victoria via Burnley following the reopening of the Todmorden Curve. The service operates hourly, seven days a week, services on the route from Thorpes Bridge Junction, Newton Heath to Rochdale East Junction via Oldham, known as the Oldham Loop Line, ceased on 3 October 2009. The line was converted for Manchester Metrolink operation and reopened as a Metrolink route in 2012. Northern Rail won Public Transport Operator of the Year 2007 at the National Transport Awards and was praised by the judges for attracting 20% more passengers since 2004. In the period 15 October 2009 to 14 November 2009, Northerns punctuality was 91. 1%, Northerns passenger charter targets were 91% for punctuality and 99% for reliability. The franchise agreement commits to a 15% reduction in delays in the first five years and to a new incentive/penalty regime and a more local focus on performance. The latest official figures released by NR rate punctuality at 91. 9% and an MAA of 90. 7% for period 7, the annual report for 2012, published in March 2013, of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen stated that Northern Rail transported 263,000 passengers daily
39.
Getlink
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Groupe Eurotunnel SE manages and operates the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France including the vehicle shuttle services, and earns revenue on other trains through the tunnel. It is listed on both the Euronext London and Euronext Paris markets, and was listed on the London Stock Exchange until 19 July 2012, the company is based in Paris. Signalling and electric supply at 25 kV AC are also under Eurotunnel control. Train operation consists of shuttle trains conveying cars and coaches and other trains conveying heavy goods vehicles between the two terminals, other trains using Eurotunnel infrastructure are operated by the respective owners. The company was formed on 13 August 1986 with the objective of financing, building and operating a tunnel between Great Britain and France, the company awarded a contract for the construction of the tunnel to TransManche Link. The tunnel cost around £9. 5bn to build, about double TMLs original estimate of £4. 7bn. The tunnel was financed partly from investment by shareholders and partly from £8bn of debt, and was opened on 6 May 1994 by HM Queen Elizabeth II. In its first year of operation the company lost £925m because of disappointing revenue from passengers and freight, in April 2004, a dissident shareholder group led by Nicolas Miguet succeeded in taking control of the board. However, in February 2005, Jean-Louis Raymond, the Chief Executive appointed after the coup, resigned and Jacques Gounon took complete control becoming Chairman. In July 2006, shareholders voted on a deal which would have half the debt, by then reduced to £6. 2bn. However this plan failed, and on 2 August 2006, the company was placed into bankruptcy protection by a French court for six months. Following the restructuring, Eurotunnel was able to announce a small net profit in 2007, of €1 million, half year earnings for 2008 rose to €26 million.04 per euro value. The return to financial health allowed the company to announce on 28 October 2009, the anticipated voluntary redemption of some of its convertible debt. By anticipating to November 2009 the reimbursement of debt due in July 2010, it aimed to issue up to 119.4 million new ordinary shares, in December 2009, the company and SNCF acquired Veolia Cargo, splitting the business between them. Socorail has not been announced as being rebranded, in January 2010 the Port of Dunkirk awarded the company a seven year concession, to operate its 200 km railway system. In June 2010, the company acquired British railfreight company FirstGBRf for £31 million, on 11 June 2012, a bid by the company for three Channel ferries belonging to the former operator SeaFrance for lease to another operator was accepted. On 11 June 2012, Eurotunnel acquired the assets of SeaFrance ferries Berlioz, Rodin and they were chartered to start the MyFerryLink ferry company on 20 August 2012, owned by Eurotunnel. In the year 2015, statistics estimate that over 10.5 million passengers travelled on the Eurotunnel with 2,556,585 cars,58,387 coaches and 1,483,741 goods vehicles making use of Eurotunnels services
40.
Bloomberg LP
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Bloomberg L. P. is a privately held financial software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Bloomberg L. P. was founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981 with the help of Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Zegar, in 1981, Salomon Brothers was acquired, and Michael Bloomberg, a general partner, was given a $10 million partnership settlement. Bloomberg, having designed in-house computerized financial systems for Salomon, used his $10 million severance check to start Innovative Market Systems, Bloomberg developed and built his own computerized system to provide real-time market data, financial calculations and other financial analytics to Wall Street firms. In 1983, Merrill Lynch invested $30 million in IMS to help finance the development of the Bloomberg terminal computer system and by 1984, in 1986, the company was renamed Bloomberg L. P. and 5,000 terminals had been installed in subscribers offices. Within a few years, ancillary products including Bloomberg Tradebook, the Bloomberg Messaging Service, Bloomberg launched its news services division in 1990. Bloomberg. com was first established on September 29,1993 as a portal with information on markets, currency conversion, news and events. In late 1996, Bloomberg bought back one-third of Merrill Lynchs 30 percent stake in the company for $200 million, Bloomberg L. P. has remained a private company since its founding, the majority of which is owned by Michael Bloomberg. To run for the position of Mayor of New York against Democrat Mark Green in 2001, Bloomberg gave up his position of CEO, in 2008, Fenwick became the CEO of Bloomberg Ventures, a new venture capital division. Daniel Doctoroff, former deputy mayor in the Bloomberg administration, now serves as president, in September 2014, Bloomberg sold its Bloomberg Sports analysis division to the data analysis firm STATS LLC for a fee rumored to be between $15 million and $20 million. On July 9,2014, Bloomberg L. P. acquired RTS Realtime Systems, in 1992, Bloomberg L. P. purchased New York Radio station WNEW for $13.5 million. The station was converted into a format, known as Bloomberg Radio. Bloomberg L. P. bought weekly business magazine, BusinessWeek, following the acquisition, BusinessWeek was renamed Bloomberg Businessweek. In 2010, Bloomberg L. P acquired Eagle Eye Publishing and this acquisition became part of Bloomberg Government which was launched in early 2011. In 2009, Bloomberg L. P. purchased New Energy Finance, New Energy Finance was created by Michael Liebreich in 2004 to provide news, data and analysis on carbon and clean energy markets. Bloomberg L. P. acquired the company to become a resource for information to support low-carbon energy solutions. Liebreich continued to lead the company, serving as the executive officer until 2014. Bloomberg L. P. purchased Arlington, Virginia-based Bureau of National Affairs in August 2011 for $990 million to bolster its existing Bloomberg Government, BNA publishes specialized online and print news and information for professionals in business and government. On 16 December 2015 it was announced that Barclays had agreed to sell its business, Barclays Risk Analytics and Index Solutions Ltd, to Bloomberg L. P. for £520 million
41.
Railway Gazette International
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Railway Gazette International is a monthly business journal covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Railway Gazette International traces its history to May 1835 as The Railway Magazine, the Railway Gazette title dates from July 1905, created to cover railway commercial and financial affairs. In April 1914 it merged with The Railway Times, which incorporated Herapaths Railway Journal, around this time it also absorbed The Railway News. It then reflected all aspects of railway activity, particularly in the British Empire, in January 1964, it merged with sister publication Diesel Railway Traction and its frequency reduced from weekly to fortnightly. In October 1970, it was renamed Railway Gazette International and reduced in frequency to monthly, Railway Gazette International is part of the Railway Gazette Group, itself part of DVV Media Group. It was part of Reed Business Information until 1 April 2007
42.
Pearson PLC
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Pearson PLC is a British multinational publishing and education company headquartered in London. It was founded as a business in the 1840s. It shut down its activities in the 1920s and switched to publishing. It is the largest education company and the largest book publisher in the world, Pearson has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index. It has a listing on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American Depository Receipts. The company was founded by Samuel Pearson in 1844 as a building and engineering concern operating in Yorkshire under the name S. Pearson & Son. In 1880, control passed to his grandson Weetman Dickinson Pearson, an engineer, in November 1915, the firm began construction of HM Factory, Gretna, the largest cordite factory in the UK during World War I. The construction business was shut down in the 1920s, among its final projects was completion of the Sennar Dam, in Sudan, in 1925. In 1919, the firm acquired a 45% stake in the London branch of merchant bankers Lazard Brothers, Pearson continued to hold a 50% stake until 1999. In 1921, Pearson purchased a number of daily and weekly newspapers in the United Kingdom. In 1957, it bought the Financial Times and acquired a 50% stake in The Economist and it purchased the publisher Longman in 1968. The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1969 and it went on to buy paperback publisher Penguin in 1970, and in 1972, childrens imprint Ladybird Books. In 1986, Pearson invested in the British Satellite Broadcasting consortium, which, during the 1990s, Pearson acquired a number of TV production and broadcasting assets and sold most of its non-media assets, under the leadership of future U. S. Westminster Press was sold to Newsquest in 1996, Pearson acquired the education division of HarperCollins in 1996 from News Corporation and acquired book publishers Scott Foresman & Co. in 1996. In 1998 Pearson acquired Prentice Hall Textbooks/Simon & Schuster Trade Books from Viacom and merged it with its own education unit, Addison-Wesley Longman to form Pearson Education. In 2002, Pearson sold its 22% stake in RTL Group for 1.5 billion Euros, and then purchased Rough Guides, the travel publisher, and brought it under Penguin. Pearson acquired Edexcel, a provider of qualifications in the UK, in 2003, Pearson purchased a series of other testing and assessment businesses, including Knowledge Technologies in 2004, AGS in 2005, and National Evaluation Systems and Promissor in 2006. Pearson then completed the acquisition of Harcourt Assessment, merging the businesses into Pearson Assessment & Information
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Rail transport in Great Britain
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The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest in the world, the worlds first locomotive-hauled public railway opened in 1825. Most of the track is managed by Network Rail, which in 2016 had a network of 15,799 kilometres of standard-gauge lines. These lines range from single to quadruple track or more, in addition, some cities have separate rail-based mass transit systems. There are also several private railways, which are primarily short tourist lines, the British railway network is connected with that of continental Europe by an undersea rail link, the Channel Tunnel, opened in 1994. The United Kingdom is a member of the International Union of Railways, the UIC Country Code for United Kingdom is 70. The UK has the 17th largest railway network in the world, in 2016, there were 1.718 billion journeys on the National Rail network, making the British network the fifth most used in the world. Unlike a number of countries, rail travel in the United Kingdom has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years. This has coincided with the privatisation of British Rail, but the effect of this is disputed, the growth is partly attributed to a shift away from private motoring due to growing road congestion and increasing petrol prices, but also to the overall increase in travel due to affluence. However passenger journeys have grown much more quickly than in countries such as France. The early railways were a patchwork of local lines operated by private railway companies. Over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, these amalgamated or were bought by competitors until only a handful of companies remained. The entire network was brought under government control during the First World War, however, the government resisted calls for the nationalisation of the network. The Big Four were joint-stock public companies and they continued to run the system until 31 December 1947. The growth in road transport during the 1920s and 1930s greatly reduced revenue for the rail companies, Rail companies accused the government of favouring road haulage through the subsidised construction of roads. The railways entered a decline owing to a lack of investment and changes in transport policy. During the Second World War the companies joined together, effectively forming one company. A maintenance backlog developed during the war and the sector only had two years to deal with this after the war ended. After 1945, for practical and ideological reasons, the government decided to bring the rail service into the public sector
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Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain
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A limited number of urban services are privately run, but are awarded by the local authority. The system only covers the railways of Great Britain, the railways in Northern Ireland are owned and operated by the state-owned company NI Railways. The franchising system was created by the Railways Act 1993 as part of the privatisation of British Rail by the Government of John Major, prior to this, the railway system had been owned and operated by the government-owned corporation British Rail, which has since been wound up. Prime Minister John Major envisaged splitting up the railways and returning ownership to an equivalent of the Big Four railway companies that had existed before the creation of British Rail, the legislation allowed BR to bid for franchises, if the DPRF agreed, but in practice he never did. Winning bidders were decided on a pure cost basis – those who offered to pay the highest premium, or lowest subsidy, once signed, franchise agreements could only be terminated under certain conditions, namely not meeting the PSR, although fines were available as an intermediate step. The first franchise agreements to be signed were for the South West and Great Western franchises, the first passenger train service operated by a privatised franchise was the South West Trains 05. As the program progressed, all franchises had been awarded and commenced by 1 April 1997, OPRAF was initially criticised for taking too long, but answered that most of the delays were outside of their control, and were indeed caused by the government itself. Ultimately, although there were 25 franchises, the eventual buyers came from only 13 different companies, many were bus companies, with the hoped for interest from airlines and shipping groups failing to be converted into solid bids. In addition, despite several bids, due to difficulties in raising finance, National Express Group was the winner of most franchises, with five. Prism Rail came next, with four, connex, Virgin and MTL all captured two each, with the franchises they won being closely related. Stagecoach also won two, although the second was the tiny Island Line, which would eventually be merged with their main win, South West. Great Western Holdings also won two, on sides of the country - Great Western and North Western, First Group. Their March 1998 buyout of the other GWH partners increased their total to three, in the end, most of the franchises were awarded for lengths from 7 to 7 and a half years. Only seven franchises were longer - two for 10 years, and five for 15 years, only one was shorter, the 5 year award for Island Line. Since this would take time as it involved legislation, in the time it established the SRA in shadow form. Part of their brief was to ensure the railways operated as a coherent network and their goals were closely aligned with the governments wider objectives, set out in July 2000 as the ten-year plan, Transport 2010. It aimed to have these proposals agreed by Autumn 2001, and these long term plans were disrupted in 2001/2 by the impact of the Hatfield rail crash, which led to the nationalisation of Railtrack, creating Network Rail. On 1 February 2001 the position of Franchising Director was abolished by the Transport Act 2000, instead it elected for a short 2-year extension, hoping the situation would be clearer by then
