The UK railways were nationalised in 1948, and came under the control of the British Transport Commission. Initially little changed, but traffic grew and the network became profitable.
During the 1950's the old steam locomotives were replaced by newer diesel and electric locos costing many millions of pounds. This change failed to make the rail network profitable and losses began mounting.
The failure to make the railways more profitable though investment led successive governments to cut spending drastically on the network and seek economies though cutbacks.
Dr Beeching was given the task of re-organising the railways, which resulted in the 'Beeching Axe', which closed many branch lines. The closure of these lines removed a lot of traffic from the main lines, in addition to a great deal of freight having to be transported by road haulage.
Passenger levels increased in the 1960's and 70's, partially due to the introdction of the High Speed Train (Intercity 125). During the 1980's there was massive government spending cuts on the railways, and coupled with an increase in fares, the rail sector became more cost effective.
Between 1994 and 1997 the railways were privatised once more. Ownership of the track and infrastructure passed to a private company (Railtrack) and rail operations were passed to franchisees.
Initially 25 franchises were setup for passenger services and six for freight; although five of the freight franchises were sold to the same company.
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