In response to the global pandemic involving the transmission of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) disease, a number of extraordinary measures are being put in place around the world. In the UK, the Conservative Government has taken a number of steps which, ideologically, go against their principles. Today, the latest in a line of extraordinary measures was taken when the Department for Transport stepped in to, essentially, nationalise the rail industry in the UK on an emergency basis. The developments and details of that extraordinary measure form this post. Rail services, along with other modes of travel like aeroplanes and coaches , were quick to suffer the natural consequences of the worsening of the Covid-19 pandemic. A number of rail operators had already started to reduce their services before the British Prime Minister requested that non-essential travel be avoided, and this was accentuated by a further reduction in services in places like London (where up to 40 underground st...

In today’s guest post, Jake Richardson discusses the potential future of the British rail network, both in advance of the changes that Brexit may bring, and also based upon the historical trends within the industry. The British railway system has indeed been through some massive restructuring exercises throughout its history. Post-World War One and the Victorian era of Britain’s steam railway revolution, all private companies were rationalised into the ‘Big Four’ predominant companies under The Railways Act 1921, which included Great Western Railway (GWR), London, Midland and Scottish Railways (LMS), London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and Southern Railway (SR). However, post-World War Two, the railways were once again run into the ground, meaning post-war nationalisation was inevitable and the British Railways, latterly known as British Rail, came into action through the enactment of The Transport Act 1947. For nearly fifty years the nationalised railway system, which was o...