Big Four (British railway companies) Facts for Kids

The "Big Four" was a special name for the four biggest railway companies in the United Kingdom. They existed from 1923 to 1947. A magazine called The Railway Magazine first used the name in February 1923. They called them "The Big Four of the New Railway Era."

The four companies were:

Great Western Railway (GWR)
London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS)
London and North Eastern Railway (LNER)
Southern Railway (SR)

These companies were created because of a law called the Railways Act 1921. This process was known as "The Grouping" of the railways. It officially started on January 1, 1923.

Later, on January 1, 1948, these companies were taken over by the government. They became one big government-owned railway system called British Railways. This happened because of the Transport Act 1947.

What Made Them Special?
Working Together
What Happened Next?
See also

What Made Them Special?

The three larger railway companies mainly carried goods, especially coal. They also carried passengers on long trips. The Southern Railway, however, mostly carried people. Even though it was smaller, it carried more than a quarter of all UK passengers.

This was because the Southern Railway served busy areas around London. Many people used its trains to travel to and from work. To handle all these passengers, the Southern Railway worked hard to use electric trains.

The GWR was the only company that kept its original name and style. It made all the smaller companies it took over follow its ways. But the other three companies found it hard to change.

The Southern Railway kept its different parts separate, just like before. The LMS struggled to bring together different ways of building trains. They finally fixed this in 1932 when they hired Sir William Stanier from the GWR. The LNER never made a profit. This was partly because it had inherited a lot of debt from another railway that built a big line to London.

Working Together

Even though these four companies were supposed to be competing, they often worked together. They cooperated on big projects that helped the entire railway system.

During World War II, the railway companies worked as one. A special group called the Railway Executive Committee ran them all. The government rented the railways from January 1, 1941. They agreed to pay a fixed amount of money each year.

A group was also set up to plan how to rebuild the railways after the war. It included people from the Big Four and the London Passenger Transport Board.

Shared Train Lines

Each of the Big Four companies also ran some train lines together. This happened when parts of older railways, which used to be shared, ended up in different new companies. Most of these shared lines were near the borders between the companies.

Many shared lines were reduced after the grouping, but some important ones remained. These included the Cheshire Lines Committee and the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&D). The S&D connected Bath and Bournemouth. The LMS was in charge of its trains, and the Southern Railway managed the tracks.

Road Transport

The Big Four also took over and grew networks of bus services. These buses helped people get to and from the train stations. After 1928, they started buying large parts of local bus companies.

However, the railway companies' power to run bus services was not clear. They asked for special laws in 1928 to make it clear. In return, they had to agree not to completely own bus companies. This led them to partner with big bus groups. The railways gave up owning most of the bus companies they had already bought. But they still bought smaller parts of many other bus and coach companies. In the end, they invested in 33 different bus companies.

In some areas, only one railway company had lines. In these places, the agreements were just between two companies. But where two railway lines crossed over, both railway companies would have a smaller share in the bus company. For example, Devon General was owned by both the GWR and the Southern Railway.

In October 1933, the railways together bought two big delivery companies: Pickfords and Carter Paterson.

Other Activities

The Big Four also worked together on air travel. The GWR, LMS, and Southern Railway bought a company and formed Railway Air Services Ltd. They also fully owned Channel Island Airways, which included Jersey Airways and Guernsey Airways.

The Big Four also bought the company Thomas Cook & Son. This company was known for travel services.

What Happened Next?

The areas served by the Big Four became the basis for the different regions of British Railways.

The GWR area became the Western Region.
The English and Welsh parts of the LMS became the London Midland Region.
The northern part of the LNER became the North Eastern Region.
The southern part of the LNER became the Eastern Region.
The SR area became the Southern Region.
The LMS and LNER lines in Scotland joined to become the Scottish Region.
The LMS-owned Northern Counties Committee in Northern Ireland went to a new company there. Northern Ireland's railways have been separate from Great Britain's ever since.

These regions had more power in the 1950s. But they stopped being separate in the 1980s. They were finally removed before the railways were sold back to private companies in 1992.

Big Four (British railway companies) facts for kids

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