AN INTRODUCTION TO BRITISH RAILWAYS

摘要

British Railways came into being on the stroke of midnight as 1947 gave way to the new year, representing for some citizens a hopeful new future of 'ownership by the people' and, for others, the end of a proud era of private enterprise.rnThe sheer size of the new organisation can be gauged by the fact that just one of its four constituents, the IMS, had been the biggest joint-stock company of its kind in the world. The statistics of the new BR were mind-boggling -well over half a million staff, almost 20,000 route miles, more than 20,000 locomotives, 8,000 stations, 40,000 passenger vehicles and one and a quarter million wagons. The track mileage would have stretched around the world twice ... and that wouldn't even have included all the sidings!