Transrail was a trainload rail freight operator based in
St Blazey,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, UK with a large operating area including Scotland, Wales and the west of England. It was formed in 1994 from part of
British Rail's
Trainload Freight
Trainload Freight was the sector of British Rail responsible for trainload freight services. The division was subdivided into four sub-sectors; coal, petroleum, metals and construction.
It was formed in 1988 from the trainload operations of Br ...
division, as part of 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 indust ...
.
Mainline Freight
Mainline Freight was a trainload rail freight operator based in Islington, London, England with operations extending to Yorkshire in the north and Somerset in the west. It was formed from part of British Rail's Trainload Freight division as pa ...
,
Loadhaul
Loadhaul Ltd. was a railfreight operator based in the north-east of the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1994, as part of the privatisation of British Rail, and acquired in 1996 by a consortium headed by Wisconsin Central, then merged into a ne ...
and Transrail were purchased by a consortium led by
Wisconsin Central in 1996 and amalgamated into a new company,
English Welsh & Scottish.
History
Transrail was created in 1994 along with
Mainline Freight
Mainline Freight was a trainload rail freight operator based in Islington, London, England with operations extending to Yorkshire in the north and Somerset in the west. It was formed from part of British Rail's Trainload Freight division as pa ...
and
Loadhaul
Loadhaul Ltd. was a railfreight operator based in the north-east of the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1994, as part of the privatisation of British Rail, and acquired in 1996 by a consortium headed by Wisconsin Central, then merged into a ne ...
as part of the broadly regional split of British Rail's
Trainload Freight
Trainload Freight was the sector of British Rail responsible for trainload freight services. The division was subdivided into four sub-sectors; coal, petroleum, metals and construction.
It was formed in 1988 from the trainload operations of Br ...
operations. Transrail had the largest operating area of the three companies, operating in Scotland, Wales and the entire west of England (South West, West Midlands, and North West). The three companies were created with the aim of promoting competition between the businesses.
[
] It was initially and briefly named "Trainload Freight West Limited" before being re-branded in July 1994.
Transrail had the largest inherited operating area of the three post-
Trainload Freight
Trainload Freight was the sector of British Rail responsible for trainload freight services. The division was subdivided into four sub-sectors; coal, petroleum, metals and construction.
It was formed in 1988 from the trainload operations of Br ...
companies, but the least amount of traffic. The company initiated a long-distance wagonload train service branded 'Enterprise', later operated by EWS as the 'EWS Enterprise' service.
All three former
Trainload Freight
Trainload Freight was the sector of British Rail responsible for trainload freight services. The division was subdivided into four sub-sectors; coal, petroleum, metals and construction.
It was formed in 1988 from the trainload operations of Br ...
companies were acquired in February 1996 by North-South Railways, a company formed by a consortium led by US railroad company
Wisconsin Central, for a combined total of £225.15 million (approximately US$349 million). The three companies and
Rail Express Systems
Rail Express Systems (RES) was a sector of British Rail. This sector was responsible for transport of mail and parcels, including the travelling post office trains, as well as taking over charter operations from InterCity and haulage of the Roy ...
were merged to form
English Welsh & Scottish (EWS).
Fleet
Locomotives operated included classes
08,
31,
37,
47,
56 and
60.
Livery
The company's livery was based on the previous
Trainload Freight
Trainload Freight was the sector of British Rail responsible for trainload freight services. The division was subdivided into four sub-sectors; coal, petroleum, metals and construction.
It was formed in 1988 from the trainload operations of Br ...
two-tone grey livery, with the addition of a blue and red "T" logo and Transrail branding.
There were also a few Class 37's and Class 56's that carried the blue and red "T" logo with Transrail branding on the Civil Engineers Yellow and Grey "Dutch" livery.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
DB Cargo UK
Rail freight companies in the United Kingdom
Privatisation of British Rail
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