Anglia Railways 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. History The InterCity Anglia franchise was awarded by the Director of P ...

Hull Trains Hull Trains is an open-access railway operator in England owned by the multinational transport company FirstGroup. It operates long-distance passenger services between Hull / Beverley and London King's Cross. It has a track-access agreement ...

GB Railfreight GB Railfreight (GBRf) is a rail freight company in the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is owned by the global investment company Infracapital. GB Railfreight was established in April 1999 as the rail freight operating subsidiary of the train o ...

Edelaraudtee Edelaraudtee (''Southwestern railway'') is an Estonian railway operator founded in 1997. AS Edelaraudtee operates freight services on lines from Tallinn to Rapla, Pärnu & Viljandi owned by Edelaraudtee Infrastruktuuri AS. Until 2014, the com ...

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. Hull_Trains_170

GB Railways was formed in October 1996 by entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds initially to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the

privatisation of British Rail 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 been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industr ...

. After being awarded the Anglia franchise in 1996, GB Railways was listed on the

Alternative Investment Market AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in operation since 1980. It allows ...

in January 1997. In October 1997 as part of the ''Great Southern Railway Consortium'' with

Legal & General Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services and asset management company headquartered in London, England. Its products and services include investment management, lifetime mortg ...

,

Macquarie Bank Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia's ...

,

RailAmerica 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 t ...

, G13 Pty Ltd and

Serco Serco Group plc is a British company with headquarters based in Hook, Hampshire, England. Serco primarily derives income as a contractor for the provision of government services, most prominently in the sectors of health, transport, justice, i ...

, it acquired the interstate passenger services of

Australian National Railways The Australian National Railways Commission was an agency of the Government of Australia that was a railway operator between 1975 and 1998. It traded as Australian National Railways (ANR) in its early years, before being rebranded as Australian ...

, which were operated as Great Southern Rail. In 1998 GB Railways, as part of the ''Inter Capital Express'' consortium, was shortlisted for a

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

service from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. In September 2000 GB Railways, as part of the ''Western Freight'' consortium with AMEC Engineering, lodged a bid for the

Westrail Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

freight business in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. In October 1999 the company announced the sale of its 19.7% share in Great Southern Rail to Serco. In September 2000 GB Railways launched

Hull Trains Hull Trains is an open-access railway operator in England owned by the multinational transport company FirstGroup. It operates long-distance passenger services between Hull / Beverley and London King's Cross. It has a track-access agreement ...

(with an 80% shareholding), an open access InterCity rail operator running trains between Hull and London King's Cross. In November 2000 GB Railways acquired an interest in the

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n passenger rail operator

Edelaraudtee Edelaraudtee (''Southwestern railway'') is an Estonian railway operator founded in 1997. AS Edelaraudtee operates freight services on lines from Tallinn to Rapla, Pärnu & Viljandi owned by Edelaraudtee Infrastruktuuri AS. Until 2014, the com ...

through Estonian subsidiary ''GB Railways Eesti AS'', for 10million Kroon ($540,000), with investment and stock increase deals over five years as part of the agreement. GB Railways owned 20% of the shares, with the majority owners being Edelaraudtee chairman Henn Ruubel and lawyer Marcel Vichmannile. In 2002 GB Railways investment in the company was only £70,000 – it provided management to the company on a fee basis. GB Railways launched freight train operating company

GB Railfreight GB Railfreight (GBRf) is a rail freight company in the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is owned by the global investment company Infracapital. GB Railfreight was established in April 1999 as the rail freight operating subsidiary of the train o ...

in March 2001. In 2001 the company was rumoured to be in takeover talks with potential suitors. The company's services were badly affected by the speed restrictions imposed on all train operators by

Railtrack 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 ...

after the

Hatfield rail crash The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. It was caused by a metal fatigue-induced derailment, killing four people and injuring more than 70. The accident exposed major stewardship shortcomi ...

, and was making a net loss despite receiving an increased subsidy from the

Strategic Rail Authority The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for Rail transport in the United Kingdom, the railway industry. Its motto was 'Brita ...

. In 2002 a consortium of

GNER Great North Eastern Railway, often referred to as GNER, was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, owned by Sea Containers, that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, No ...

and Freightliner attempted to acquire the company, valuing it at around £1 per share, or £8.75 million; GNER sought the passenger trains operations, whilst Freightliner sought the

GB Railfreight GB Railfreight (GBRf) is a rail freight company in the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is owned by the global investment company Infracapital. GB Railfreight was established in April 1999 as the rail freight operating subsidiary of the train o ...

subsidiary. The offer was rejected without discussion and the companies ceased the acquisition attempt. In July 2003

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Greater Anglia franchise was won and £0.50 if either the

Northern Rail Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated th ...

or

Wales & Borders franchise , image_filename = , image_size = , caption = , nameforarea = service area , regions = Wales, North West England, the West Midlands, and Gloucestershire. , operator = Transport for Wales Rail , dates = 14 ...

s were won, however none of these franchise bids were successful.

Legacy

Hull Trains Hull Trains is an open-access railway operator in England owned by the multinational transport company FirstGroup. It operates long-distance passenger services between Hull / Beverley and London King's Cross. It has a track-access agreement ...

continued as a subsidiary of

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.GB Railfreight GB Railfreight (GBRf) is a rail freight company in the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is owned by the global investment company Infracapital. GB Railfreight was established in April 1999 as the rail freight operating subsidiary of the train o ...

to

Eurotunnel Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between England and France, operates the Eurotunnel Shuttle train service, and earns revenue on ...

in June 2010.

References

{{UK TOCs, defunct, state=collapsed Companies formerly listed on the Alternative Investment Market Defunct train operating companies Railway companies established in 1996 Railway companies disestablished in 2003 1996 establishments in England 2003 disestablishments in England 2003 mergers and acquisitions British companies disestablished in 2003 British companies established in 1996 FirstGroup railway companies