Title: Railway nationalization - Wikipedia
Headings: Railway nationalization
Railway nationalization
Contents
Russia
Argentina
Canada
France
Germany
India
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Spain
United Kingdom
Privatisation
Northern Ireland
United States
See also
References

Content: They were heavily damaged by enemy attacks and were run down aiding the war effort, as well as still suffering financially from the Great Depression even with it mostly ending before the war. After the war, the Transport Act 1947 provided for nationalizing the four major railways. On January 1, 1948, the railways were nationalized and British Railways was created, under the overall management of the British Transport Commission, later the British Railways Board . Privatisation
Main article: Impact of the privatisation of British Rail
British Rail was privatised between 1994 and 1997, involving the transfer to a series of private-sector operators of responsibility for the provision of services under contract. In all, more than 100 companies took over from British Rail. In 2001 the track operator Railtrack went bankrupt; it was reconstituted and renamed as Network Rail, a private company with no legal owner but effectively government-controlled via its constitution and financing. The United Kingdom government continues to invest in the railways, financing, for example, the acquisition of some InterCity rolling stock. The positive impact of privatization is disputed, with passengers numbers more than doubling (see graph) and increasing customer satisfaction balanced with worries about the level of rail subsidies and criticism of the fact that much of the system is now contracted out to subsidiaries owned by the state owned railways of France, Germany and the Netherlands.