British Rail 1974-1997

From Integration to Privatisation

Terry Gourvish (, Director, Business History Unit, London School of Economics)

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English

Oxford University Press
29 February 2004

Economic history; Business strategy; Privatisation; Railway transport industries

Britain's privatised railways continure to provoke debate about the organisation, financing, and development of the railway system. This important book, written by Britain's leading railway historian, provides an authoritative account of the progress made by British Rail prior to privatisation, and a unique insight into its difficult role in the government's privatisation planning from 1989. Based on free access to the British Railway Board's rich archives, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of the main themes: a process of continuous organisational change; the existence of a persistent government audit; perennial investment restraints; the directive to reduce operating costs and improve productivity; a concern with financial performance, technological change, service quality, and the management of industrial relations; and the Board's ambiguous position as the Conservative government pressed home its privatisation programme. The introduction of sector management from 1982 and the 'Organising for Quality' initiative of the early 1990s, the Serpell Report on railway finances of 1983, the sale of the subsidiary businesses, the large-scale investment in the Channel Tunnel, and the obsession with safety which followed the Clapham accident of 1988, are all examined in depth. In the conclusion, the author reviews the successes and failures of the public sector, rehearses the arguments for and against integration in the railway industry, and contrasts what many have termed 'the golden age' of the mid-late 1980s, when the British Rail-government relationship was arguably at its most effective, with what has happened since 1994.

By: Terry Gourvish ( Director Business History Unit London School of Economics)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 155mm, Spine: 40mm
Weight: 1.088kg
ISBN: 9780199269099
ISBN 10: 0199269092
Pages: 736
Publication Date: 29 February 2004
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction: British Rail After Twenty-Five Years of Nationalisation Part I: Railways Under Labour, 1974-1979 2: Operating the 1974 Railways Act: Financial Results, Organisational Responses, and Relations with Government 3: Operations, Productivity, and Technological Change Part II: The Thatcher Revolution? British Rail in the 1980s 4: Sector Management and New Performance Targets 5: The Serpell Report 6: Cost Control and Investment in the Post-Serpell Railway 7: Selling the Subsidiary Businesses Part II: On the Threshold of Privatisation: Running the Railways, 1990-1994 8: Business Performance, Pricing, and Productivity 9: Investment and the Channel Tunnel 10: Safety Part IV: Responding to Privatisation, 1981-1997 11: The Privatisation Debate and 'Organising for Quality' 12: Reorganising for Privatisation, 1992-1994 13: Endgame, 1994-1997 Appendices

Terry Gourvish has been Director of the Business History Unit at the London School of Economics since 1989. Previously he was the Dean of the School of Economic and Social Studies at the University of East Anglia.

Reviews for British Rail 1974-1997: From Integration to Privatisation

`Review from previous edition If you want to understand how British Rail was shaped as an organisation and business in the 20 or so years before privatisation, this is the book to read.' Railnews, October 2002 `This is a truly monumental work. It is Gourvish's analysis of the issues that gives the book its special interest and authority' Grahame Boyes, Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society `This book is a must-read and a must-have.' Roger Ford, Modern Railways `...Terry Gourvish has given us a thought-provoking, informative account of a very important period in the history of British railways.' Enterprise and Society `...well-conceived, comprehensive and very readable.. fills the last major gap in the business historiography of Britain's nationalised railway.' Professor Colin Divall `It is hard to imagine that this account could be bettered, or its principal conclusions overturned' Economic History Review