New: A History of British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL)
An Essential History of Rail Transport in Great Britain
Available Now!
If you're interested in British railway history, then add A History of British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) published by Pen and Sword to your reading list.
In 1970, the British Railways Board established a new subsidiary company, British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) to take charge of designing, manufacturing and maintaining its rolling stock. BREL drove a new era of rail technology, and this new book by Richard Marks explores the company's story from its humble beginnings until its sale in 1992 during the controversial privatisation of Britain’s railways.
The book examines BREL's work in designing iconic new trains as well as its relationship with subcontractors, private manufacturers, and British Railways Board. It delves into the challenges BREL faced to deal with the outdated stock and infrastructure it inherited, using new primary research based on recently released BREL files at the National Archives.
Challenges at British Locomotive Works
'A History of British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL)' examines the company's relationship with its workforce at its locomotive works, trade unions, the British Railway Board and the Department of Transport. It also looks at the company's turbulent relationship with its rivals in Britain's railway industry, which resulted in alliances and conflict, often simultaneously.
The author uses the complete collection of directors' meeting minutes, internal reports, and detailed correspondence files to provide a new perspective on the firm. It covers the challenges faced at BREL's British locomotive works including:
- Ashford
- Crewe
- Derby Litchurch/Derby Locomotive
- Doncaster
- Eastleigh
- Glasgow St. Rollox
- Horwich
- Shildon
- Swindon
- Temple Mills
- Wolverton
- York
- and the foundry at Worcester
The Legacy of British Rail Engineering Limited
This new book uncovers the history of a business that was so close to becoming a centre of excellence for British engineering. It explores BREL’s little-known success as an international exporter of British-designed and manufactured trains, as well as its promising but ultimately failed international partnership with Metro-Cammell.
The book also reveals BREL’s role as a defence contractor, with recently declassified files showing the extent of the organisation’s involvement in the manufacture of equipment for the British Army in the 1970s and into the 1980s.
The book's coverage of the firm's heyday as a leading-edge technology manufacturer will leave you with a new appreciation for its legacy on our modern railways.
