Episode 5 - British Rail and Technology Part 3 - The 1980s & 90s

In this episode Simon and Ela take their last look at the History of British Rail and innovation. Looking at the Thatcher and Major years todays conversation covers Pacers, Sprinters, and yet more signalling. Yet again we find that BR was a hive of technology and innovation stymie by the policies thrust upon it by the UK government. Part of the research for this episode stems from an essay written by Simon in pursuit of his MA in Railway Studies from the University of York, so an acknowledgement of the support from Dr David Turner in Simon’s work for that course. Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/railstonowhere Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/railstonowhere/   Music: Cassette by Infraction https://inaudio.org/track/cassette-synthwave/ used under Creative Commons Attribution Unported 3.0 (CC BY 3.0)   Follow Simon at: www.twitter.com/reddragontweets Support the Podcast through our Patreon and get bonus episodes, behind the scenes content and more: www.patreon.com/railstonowhere Thanks to our wonderful Patreons who help make Rails to Nowhere happen and especial thanks to our £10 patreon ValkyrieLeamons. Gareth Dennis Talks Alternative APT History https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJJEeolcZaA     Bibliography Bagwell, Philip, and Peter Lyth. Transport in Britain 1750 - 2000: From Canal Lock to Gridlock. London: Hambledon & London, 2002. Barnett, Roger. ‘British Rail’s InterCity 125 and 225’. Built Environment 19 (1993): 163–83. Charmley, John. The History of Conservative Politics Since 1830. Edited by Jeremy Black. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2008. Cowley, Philip, and John Garry. ‘The British Conservatives and Europe: The Choosing of John Major’. British Journal of Political Sciences 28, no. 3 (1998): 473–99. Damazer, Mark. The Major Years. BBC 1, 1999. Davies, Sir David. ‘Automatic Train Protection for the Railway Network in Britain - A Study’. The Royal Academy of Engineering, 2000. Gareth Dennis and Kevin Tennent. ‘RailNatter | Episode 62: Pacers Were Bad and Saved Nothing (with Dr Kevin Tennent)’. Gareth Dennis You Tube, 19 May 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmQKtc5bnHg. Gourvish, Terence. British Rail, 1974-97: From Integration to Privatisation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Green, Chris, and Mike Vincent. The Network South East Story. Hersham: Oxford Publishing Co, 2014. Green, Miranda. ‘Why Did We Sell off the Railways? | FT Feature’. Financial Times Youtube Channel, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6V-HDbX9A8. Harris, Robin. The Conservatives: A History. Kindle. London: Bantam Press, 2011. Jackson, Tanya. British Rail: The Nations Railway. Stroud: The History Press, 2014. Kevin Tennent and David Turner. ‘The Transport Tavern: Trams & Pacers, with Kevin Tennent’. Dr David Turner You Tube Channel, 18 May 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvAe62mdpPE&list=PLeKnFHihTV5rj6FLgNoLcqRwQoXSs5YsI&index=13&t=2773s. Kichenside, Geoffrey, and Alan Williams. Two Centuries of Railway Signalling. 2nd ed. Addlestone: Oxford Publishing Co, 2016. Marr, Andrew. A History of Modern Britain. London: Macmillan, 2007. Parker, David. The Official History of Privatisation Vol II: Popular Capitalism, 1987-1997. London: Tayler & Francis, 2012. Parker, David. ‘The Privatised Railways: Problems Foreseen’. Public Money & Management 33, no. 5 (2013): 313–19. Pettitt, Gordon, and Nicholas Comfort. The Regional Railways Story. Addlestone: Oxford Publishing Co, 2015. Sim Harris. The Railway Dilemma: The Perpetual Problems of Ownership, Costs and Control. Addlestone: Ian Allan, 2016. Vaughan, Adrian. The Greatest Railway Blunder. Hersham: Ian Allan, 2009. Wolmar, Christian. On the Wrong Line: How Ideology and Incompetence Wrecked Britain’s Railways. London: Aurum Books, 2005.