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Maritime Line
The Maritime Line is a railway line that runs in the valley of the River Fal from Truro, the county town, to Falmouth on the south coast of Cornwall, England. History The railway line, now known as The Maritime Line, was built by the Cornwall Railway as a broad gauge line of gauge from Plymouth to Falmouth. The purpose of the scheme was to link London with Falmouth, a port where packet ships sailed to destinations in Europe, Africa, and America. As the main line of the company, the line was intended to be constructed as double-track throughout. Construction commenced in 1847 but the main contractor suffered financial problems which put a temporary stop to any work. Efforts restarted in 1859 on completion of the line from Plymouth to Truro which opened on 4 May that year. The inhabitants of Falmouth soon put pressure on the company to complete the line to their town as originally intended, and a further Act of Parliament was obtained in 1861. The line was costly to build w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnon Viaduct
The Carnon viaduct carries a railway line from Truro to Falmouth – now branded the Maritime Line – over the valley of the Carnon River in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. The viaduct is situated half-a-mile (800 metres) northeast of Perranwell station which is five miles (8 km) from the line's terminus at Falmouth and three miles (5 km) from its junction with the Cornish main line at Truro. The present nine-arch masonry viaduct replaced an earlier 19th-century structure designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Cornwall Railway. The original viaduct was opened to traffic when the line was extended from Truro to Falmouth in 1863 and had a timber deck supported by timber trestles springing from eleven masonry piers. It was long and high. The present viaduct is of roughly the same dimensions as the original. It was built by A E Farr CIvil Engineers of Westbury for the Great Western Railway as an entirely new structure immediately south of its predecesso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rail Ale Trail
A rail ale trail is a marketing exercise in the United Kingdom that is designed to promote tourism to a rural area, by encouraging people to visit a series of pubs that are close to railway station, stations along a railway line. Participants are rewarded for visiting the pubs by train. In doing this they increase the number of passengers on the railway and bring money into the local economy. The scheme is often supported by the Campaign for Real Ale. The beer is usually brewed locally and many of the pubs offer food as well. Each trail is publicised by a free booklet that is distributed through stations and local outlets, and which is also available for downloading from the internet. Each time a pub is visited the booklet is stamped, provided a valid rail ticket is shown when a purchase is made. Once sufficient stamps have been collected, the booklet can be exchanged for merchandise specific to each trail, such as a T-shirt or badge. History On 1 October 1977 the first r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devon And Cornwall Rail Partnership
The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership is the largest Community Rail Partnership in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1991 to promote the use of, and improvements to, rural railways in Devon and Cornwall, and also to promote the places served in order to improve the local economy. The Partnership is based at the University of Plymouth and is backed by Devon County Council, Cornwall Council, and Plymouth City Council. Railway industry backing came initially from Wessex Trains but it withdrew in 2006 when its franchise was transferred to Great Western Railway, which had joined the Partnership the previous year. Today the Partnership is backed by Great Western Railway, CrossCountry and South Western Railway as well as the local councils. Routes There are nine branch lines promoted by the Partnership, each supported by local councils with local forums made up of representatives from the local community. * Atlantic Coast Line – Par to Newquay * Looe Valley Line &ndas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wessex Trains
Wessex Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the Wessex Trains franchise from October 2001 until March 2006, when the franchise was merged with the Great Western and Thames Valley franchises to form the Greater Western franchise. History In October 1996, Wales & West commenced operating the South West & Wales franchise in Wales and the West Country. It also operated services to Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham International, Southampton Central, Brighton and London Waterloo. In 2001 the Strategic Rail Authority decided to re-organise the Valley Lines and Wales & West franchises, both being operated by National Express. Wales & West became Wessex Trains from October 2001. Wessex Trains retained the West Country services with the Welsh services transferred to Wales & Borders although Wessex Trains operated services to Cardiff. Services Wessex Trains ran the majority of local trains in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Train Operating Company
A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating Passenger Trains, passenger trains on the Rail transport in Great Britain, railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the Privatisation of British Rail, privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993. There are two types of TOC: most hold Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain, franchises let by the Department for Transport through a tendering system, to operate services on certain routes for a specified duration, while a small number of open-access operators hold licences to provide supplementary services on chosen routes. 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, or renamed. Some operators have been taken over by a government-owned operator of last resort, due either to failing exp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wales & West
Wales & West was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the South Wales & West franchise from 1996 until 2001. The franchise was operated by Prism Rail from October 1996 until July 2000, when the firm was taken over by National Express. The company ceased to operate trains in October 2001, following a reorganisation of rail franchises. Operations Originally privatised under the name ''South Wales and West Railway'', the company operated a network of local and middle-distance services in South Wales and the south west of England. These ranged from rural services in Cornwall and Pembrokeshire to urban commuter services in the Bristol area. Longer-distance services operated under the Alphaline brand provided regular links to North Wales and the north west of England, as well as to the South Coast and London Waterloo. Wales & West received considerable government subsidy. The first full financial year (1997/98) was supported by a payment of £70.9 mill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies, and was privatised in stages between 1994 and 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, it became an independent statutory corporation in January 1963, when it was formally renamed the British Railways Board. The period of nationalisation saw sweeping changes in the railway. A process of dieselisation and electrification took place, and by 1968 steam locomotives had been entirely replaced by diesel and electric traction, except for the Vale of Rheidol Railway (a narrow-gauge tourist line). Passengers replaced freight as the main source of business, and one-third of the network was closed by the Beeching cuts of the 1960s in an effort to reduce rail subsidies. On privatis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nationalisation
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets or to assets owned by lower levels of government (such as municipalities) being transferred to the state. Nationalization contrasts with privatization and with demutualization. When previously nationalized assets are privatized and subsequently returned to public ownership at a later stage, they are said to have undergone renationalization. Industries often subject to nationalization include the commanding heights of the economy – telecommunications, electric power, fossil fuels, railways, airlines, iron ore, media, postal services, banks, and water – though, in many jurisdictions, many such entities have no history of private ownership. Nationalization may occur with or without financial compensation to the former owners. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard Gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with approximately 55% of the lines in the world using it. All high-speed rail lines use standard gauge except those in Russia, Finland, and Uzbekistan. The distance between the inside edges of the rails is defined to be 1435 mm except in the United States and on some heritage British lines, where it is defined in U.S. customary/Imperial units as exactly "four feet eight and one half inches" which is equivalent to 1435.1mm. History As railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge (the distance, or width, between the inner sides of the rails) to be used. Different railways used different gauges, and where rails of different gauge met – ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838 with the initial route completed between London and Bristol in 1841. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who chose a broad gauge of —later slightly widened to —but, from 1854, a series of amalgamations saw it also operate standard-gauge trains; the last broad-gauge services were operated in 1892. The GWR was the only company to keep its identity through the Railways Act 1921, which amalgamated it with the remaining independent railways within its territory, and it was finally merged at the end of 1947 when it was nationalised and became the Western Region of British Railways. The GWR was called by some "God's Wonderful Railway" and by others the "Great Way Round" but it was famed as the "Holiday ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penzance Railway Station
Penzance railway station serves the town of Penzance in west Cornwall, England. It is the terminus of the Cornish Main Line from Plymouth, from via , and is the southernmost railway station in Great Britain. The first station opened in 1852 and through travel to and from London commenced from 1859 with the opening of the Royal Albert Bridge. The station was rebuilt by the Great Western Railway in 1876 and the current layout was the result of a further rebuilding in the 1930s. In 2020 the station is owned by Network Rail and managed by Great Western Railway who also operate the train services, together with CrossCountry. History Broad gauge era The station was opened by the West Cornwall Railway on 11 March 1852 as the terminus of its line from Redruth. The station itself consisted of a single platform face, and along with the rest of the West Cornwall Railway was laid as standard gauge. This changed in 1866 when the West Cornwall Railway was relaid to mixed gauge allowing So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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