0:00:22 > 0:00:25For most of us, the glory days of the railways
0:00:25 > 0:00:27tend to mean one thing -
0:00:27 > 0:00:29the distant age of steam...
0:00:30 > 0:00:33..the record-breaking express trains,
0:00:33 > 0:00:35the silver service,
0:00:35 > 0:00:36the glamour,
0:00:36 > 0:00:38the romance.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41We can get misty-eyed when we think of steam.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44But those nostalgic puffs of smoke
0:00:44 > 0:00:47have clouded out some less romantic realities.
0:00:47 > 0:00:48Very, very grimy.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Looked as if they were going to break down any second. And sometimes did.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55You used to sit on the seats and you'd sink into the seats.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57As you get older, you think,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00"Well, maybe that wasn't quite so comfortable."
0:01:00 > 0:01:02If you put your head out of the window,
0:01:02 > 0:01:06you would get a piece of grit in your eye,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08which had come out of the top of the chimney of the locomotive.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11And had come whizzing down the side of the train.
0:01:11 > 0:01:12Keep your eye still.
0:01:14 > 0:01:15There it is.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Yet there was another golden age.
0:01:19 > 0:01:20One less well-known.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23When the nationalised British Railways
0:01:23 > 0:01:26replaced steam with modern engines,
0:01:26 > 0:01:27a new railway was born.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31It perked things up for passengers.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37It not only provided more comfortable, faster travel.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40But it also said something about the railways.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43It said - this is a modern way to travel.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47It made ground-breaking technological advances.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50We were doing things on a daily basis that had never been done before.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52Anywhere in the world.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55And British Rail became a world leader.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Outside of Japan, it was the most frequent and reliable
0:02:01 > 0:02:03high-speed line in the Western world.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07Shortly after nationalisation, a film unit had been established
0:02:07 > 0:02:11to capture the optimism of the nation's railway.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14With the departure of steam, its film-makers came into their own,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17promoting the new age of the train.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20They made films which were seen by a wide public
0:02:20 > 0:02:21and enjoyed by a wide public.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25And were of a high-quality and were respected and well-regarded
0:02:25 > 0:02:26in the film world.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30These films document how British Rail
0:02:30 > 0:02:32left Victorian engineering behind
0:02:32 > 0:02:36to give us our first generation of high-speed trains.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39They even show us how to drive one.
0:02:39 > 0:02:40I'm experiencing wheel slip.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42I'm correcting it.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44I'm back to normal running.
0:02:44 > 0:02:45Everything's OK.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49The modern railway had a lot to be optimistic about.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52The glory days of steam were over.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55And the golden age of British Rail had just begun.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12The mid '60s marked a turning point
0:03:12 > 0:03:14for Britain's nationalised railway.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17After years of preparation and planning,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20British Rail was launching a new service
0:03:20 > 0:03:22between London and Manchester.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26For the first time, a clean, fast train with all the mod-cons,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29would depart at the same times every hour.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34They branded this new fast service, InterCity.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39It was Birmingham for breakfast. Liverpool by 10.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42A quick run down from Manchester and now we're off again.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44There's a festival in Edinburgh.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46A conference in Crewe.
0:03:46 > 0:03:47A matinee at Stratford...
0:03:47 > 0:03:51InterCity promised high-speed trains at regular intervals.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54The first service between London and Manchester
0:03:54 > 0:03:58slashed an entire hour off journey times.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01There's an important match this afternoon, 100 miles from here.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04So take a seat on the midday train
0:04:04 > 0:04:06and be in time for the start of the game.
0:04:08 > 0:04:09Good morning.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18The hub for all these innovations
0:04:18 > 0:04:21was the modern, sleek, new Euston Station,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23which was completed in 1968.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28When I first visited the new Euston,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31I was so pleased to see a brilliant
0:04:31 > 0:04:33train describer.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38Split up very clearly with...lit panels.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Arrivals, departures. You knew exactly where to go.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45And then beyond the board were the platforms.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47Numbered, logically.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50No problem with dark corridors.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53You could go exactly to the train you wanted to go to.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59I wonder if there's a little man in there, turning it over.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02It's a big space.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04Lovely clean space.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08Bags of room to, to take pictures of people.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Actually, all the way round the perimeter,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14is a walkway looking down on Euston. And there's some fantastic...
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Particularly when there's a big crowd.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18It's very impressive.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29The InterCity service would be key to British Rail's future success.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31The newly-electrified West Coast main line
0:05:31 > 0:05:35would symbolise how railways of the future would operate.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44Out of the melting pot came a brand-new electric railway.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Using a 25,000-volt supply, straight from the National Grid.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53Where traffic was heavy, the system promised great economies.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56And it had great possibilities for technical development.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59The London to Midlands electrification scheme
0:05:59 > 0:06:02was almost a totemic project for British Rail.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06And was seen by management
0:06:06 > 0:06:10as their means of dragging...the railway into the 20th...
0:06:10 > 0:06:12or 21st century, even.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15It did result in a massive increase in passenger numbers.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Passengers in Preston, Crewe, Stafford
0:06:18 > 0:06:21doubled in an eight-month period.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24Still a little further than the pioneering stage
0:06:24 > 0:06:26in the early '50s,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28the decision to install it was as far-sighted
0:06:28 > 0:06:32as some of the great decisions of 100 years before.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36And it took it until 1974 for full plans to be realised.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40And link up Glasgow to the rest of the West Coast mainline.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Resulting in one of the best high-speed railways
0:06:43 > 0:06:44in the Western world.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51The new electrified line carried state-of-the-art trains
0:06:51 > 0:06:54propelling passengers at unprecedented speed.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57And with many of the trappings of a first-class service,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59but at an accessible price.
0:07:06 > 0:07:07It did 100mph.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11I remember flashing past the M1 at Watford Gap,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14with all the other traffic slowly moving along.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Cars really couldn't do much more than 70mph in those days.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20With this bright blue electric locomotive hauling us in front
0:07:20 > 0:07:23and getting to Manchester in not much more than two hours.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27It's not a lot less than that today, actually.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33The new, fast, streamlined InterCity services
0:07:33 > 0:07:36were a far cry from the worn-out system Britain had inherited
0:07:36 > 0:07:38after the Second World War.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58And the railways. What have we got there?
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Operated for more than 100 years without a break.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04Feeding a war machine for six weary years
0:08:04 > 0:08:07without adequate renewals and repairs
0:08:07 > 0:08:09that left them as tired as the rest of us.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13A wonderful but complicated heritage
0:08:13 > 0:08:15that could do with a bit of sorting out.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20The railways were in a desperate state.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22They had been heavily used in the war
0:08:22 > 0:08:25and required a large amount of investment.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27It was felt that only the state
0:08:27 > 0:08:30would be able to carry that out.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36In 1947, by Act of Parliament,
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Britain set up the British Transport Commission.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43Its task - to make all transport work as one.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48The Transport Act was revolutionary.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51The existing railway companies would be nationalised.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54This new venture was called British Railways.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58Like many nationalised industries,
0:08:58 > 0:09:03it established a film unit - British Transport Films.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05And one of the thoughts they had was that,
0:09:05 > 0:09:07if they've got all this work to do,
0:09:07 > 0:09:09how are we going to communicate it?
0:09:09 > 0:09:13One of the people that was a shining light in all that was Edgar Anstey.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17Now, he worked with John Grierson in the '20s and the '30s.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20So he was a very, very experienced director/producer.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24Nothing left BTF without his approval.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Broadly speaking, they were focused on three main patterns of activity.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35The first was to promote the use of the transport network initially
0:09:35 > 0:09:38and latterly just...just, um, British Rail
0:09:38 > 0:09:40to its customers, the general public.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42And hence why so many travelogues were made
0:09:42 > 0:09:45about various locations around the UK.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47My doctor once said to me,
0:09:47 > 0:09:49"There's nothing wrong with you that
0:09:49 > 0:09:51"a blow on the coast won't cure."
0:09:52 > 0:09:54And I was never quite certain whether he meant
0:09:54 > 0:09:56the great open spaces of Blackpool Sands,
0:09:56 > 0:09:59where a man can be close to nature.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Or the challenge to adventure of the great trackless wastes of Southport.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Secondly, the use of film for internal communication purposes.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12In other words, to update staff on new technology,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16changes in working practices, training issues, etc.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23You need a good sense of speed and timing to work this efficiently.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Modernisation in railways means looking at all the old jobs
0:10:29 > 0:10:32and seeing where modern engineering and science can be brought in,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34to give them a new look.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37And thirdly, to communicate both to the general public
0:10:37 > 0:10:39and to the staff, a general sense
0:10:39 > 0:10:44of the momentum of investment in and development of British Railways,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46particularly on the technological side.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51British Transport Films' initial task
0:10:51 > 0:10:55was to explain to the public how a disparate and disconnected railway
0:10:55 > 0:10:59could be integrated into a unified transport network.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02The film was simply called Transport.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04It explained that, prior to the war,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Britain's railways were operated by four major companies.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11The Southern, London and North Eastern,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Great Western and London, Midland and Scottish Railways.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20'And big and powerful, the railways have moved on into other fields.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23'Docks, steamships, hotels.'
0:11:23 > 0:11:26British Rail inherited an awful lot.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28There were hotels.
0:11:28 > 0:11:34There were ships that ran across to Ireland and across to France.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38They inherited several hundred thousand horses, for example.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40So it was a huge enterprise.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Schemes are made for people,
0:11:43 > 0:11:45not people for schemes.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48We like things that way round.
0:11:48 > 0:11:49And that way takes time.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55The film has a very sober series of points to put forward to the public.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57And it's made in a classical,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00almost a wartime documentary film style.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03But it also got a sort of softer edge to it as well.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Particularly in the use of various voice-overs,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08which were often quite quirky.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10You wouldn't think the little boards, like this,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12could upset all that, would you?
0:12:13 > 0:12:15And thereby hangs another
0:12:15 > 0:12:16part of the tale.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18And that sort of slight edge of eccentricity
0:12:18 > 0:12:22is often to be found later in British Transport films.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27The films were made to a very high technical standard.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Some even achieved a cinema release,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32although many more were likely to be seen at the village hall,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34rather than the picture house.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39Stemming right back to the 1930s, British documentary
0:12:39 > 0:12:43always made great use of what we call the nontheatrical market.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48This was where women's institutes, engineering clubs, user groups
0:12:48 > 0:12:51had their own screenings as part of regular meetings.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56And we had a fleet of vans with projectors and projectionists.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Any organisation could write to us.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01I mean, if they wanted a film shown,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04if they didn't have their own projector, we would supply one.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08When I was at school, they had access
0:13:08 > 0:13:10to the British Transport Library, I suppose.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13I mean, there was everything, from the railways, changing points.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16There was one on the motorway, on the M1, and stuff like that.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18So it was quite varied for those films.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Produced to promote the railway,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27it's not surprising these films tended to have
0:13:27 > 0:13:29a rose-tinted view of train travel.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32What they show us now is that in the 1950s,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36British Railways was still somewhat stuck in the past.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38As the rest of Europe electrified their main lines,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41we were still investing in steam locomotion.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Well, basically, the 1950s railway
0:13:45 > 0:13:48was very similar to the 1890s railway.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51The engines had got bigger, the trains had got bigger.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53They went a bit faster.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57But it was, basically, still operated in exactly the same manner.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Today, steam billows with nostalgic value.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07But for commuters then, the experience was very different.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09There always seemed to be a layer of dust on everything -
0:14:09 > 0:14:14on the seats, on the windows, that you could barely see out of.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18These, er...very noisy and very dirty steam engines,
0:14:18 > 0:14:20that seemed to be attached to the front of them.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23I think I was sort of vaguely repelled by them.
0:14:31 > 0:14:32You used to sit on the seats
0:14:32 > 0:14:34and you'd sink into the seats.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36They were very bouncy seats.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38Urm...which, as children,
0:14:38 > 0:14:40that was great for us.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42But, as you get older, you think,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44"Well, maybe that wasn't quite so comfortable."
0:14:46 > 0:14:48You know, you could hang out the window,
0:14:48 > 0:14:50which you're not allowed to do any more.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54If you put your head out of the window,
0:14:54 > 0:14:59the chances were that you would get a piece of grit in your eye,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01which had come out of the top of the chimney of the locomotive
0:15:01 > 0:15:04and had come whizzing down the side of the train.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06And those bits of grit were very difficult to get out.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11Some stations even had nurses on hand to help.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14- Four minutes now.- You were out on the platforms looking at trains?
0:15:14 > 0:15:17- Yeah, yeah.- All right, now just
0:15:17 > 0:15:18keep your eye still.
0:15:20 > 0:15:21There it is.
0:15:23 > 0:15:24Cor.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28- All right, now? - All right. Thank you, sister.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31But it wasn't just the dirt and the noise
0:15:31 > 0:15:34that caused irritation to passengers.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39It was unwise to sit in the carriage next to the engine.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Because if you were going on a long trip,
0:15:42 > 0:15:48the locomotive didn't want to stop at a water tower to get water.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52So a device had been invented, known as a water trough.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59Now, if the driver had instructed the firemen to drop the scoop
0:15:59 > 0:16:01underneath the tender,
0:16:01 > 0:16:06as the train went along, the water rushed into the scoop,
0:16:06 > 0:16:08up into a dome on the tender.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12But, as soon as the tender was full,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15all the water came spurting out
0:16:15 > 0:16:17and in through the open windows of the carriages,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21if anybody had been foolish enough to leave them open.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28In 1955, engineers were commissioned to design
0:16:28 > 0:16:30a new generation of locomotives
0:16:30 > 0:16:33with engines powered by diesel and electric.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36The age of steam was coming to an end.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42One of the first of the new diesel trains
0:16:42 > 0:16:45would be for first-class passengers only.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47A luxury service designed to bring
0:16:47 > 0:16:49glamour back to the tracks.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52It was called the Blue Pullman.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57The Blue Pullmans were very striking
0:16:57 > 0:17:00because they were a totally different shape
0:17:00 > 0:17:02from anything that had gone before.
0:17:04 > 0:17:05It was so modern.
0:17:05 > 0:17:11With newly designed cutlery, glass, porcelain.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13It was very luxurious.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18The driver was told to wear a white coat
0:17:18 > 0:17:22and a white hat, rather like a Wall's ice cream man.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27The Blue Pullman was aimed at business travellers.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29Revenue from premium ticket prices
0:17:29 > 0:17:32would go to fund improvements elsewhere in the rail system.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34As far as the Blue Pullman's concerned,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36I was never rich enough to travel on it.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39It used to overtake my bus as I was coming home from school.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41And most nights I would tend to see it quite a lot,
0:17:41 > 0:17:42actually, the Blue Pullman.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46You got the impression, looking through the windows,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48that everybody was dining on tablecloths.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51All looking very comfortable. It looked extremely swish.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55People let out a whoop in the train
0:17:55 > 0:17:59when it was discovered that we were doing between 85 and 90mph.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08It was the kind of thing you expected, certainly at the time,
0:18:08 > 0:18:10of an airline.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13And that was the idea of it, was to provide an alternative
0:18:13 > 0:18:16to the growing domestic air market
0:18:16 > 0:18:19and also to people who wanted to drive.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24For most people, everyday rail travel was a world apart
0:18:24 > 0:18:26from the Blue Pullman experience.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30In 1961, a film was produced which more accurately depicted
0:18:30 > 0:18:32the state of the network.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Called Terminus, it shows a day in the life
0:18:36 > 0:18:38of London's busiest station - Waterloo.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41It was directed by John Schlesinger.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44And he would go on to become a well-known...
0:18:44 > 0:18:48feature film-maker, associated with the British new wave.
0:18:48 > 0:18:49And that sort of comes across in the film.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52- Keep your money locked away.- I will, yes.- You know what can happen.
0:18:52 > 0:18:53Bye-bye.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57THEY EXCHANGE FAREWELLS
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Terminus was a high watermark for British Transport Films.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03It won a lot of awards from...
0:19:03 > 0:19:05people who had never really particularly admired
0:19:05 > 0:19:07British Transport Films before.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Because British Transport Films, although very well-regarded,
0:19:10 > 0:19:12they were certainly never particularly fashionable.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15And Terminus feels like a much more contemporary
0:19:15 > 0:19:17statement about the 1960s.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22THEY EXCHANGE FAREWELLS
0:19:40 > 0:19:41Terminus was unique.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Not only because it captured the day-to-day running
0:19:44 > 0:19:46of a big London station
0:19:46 > 0:19:48but also the changing face of British society.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55There are various little shots of a train of immigrants arriving.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58This was when the first wave of immigration started coming in
0:19:58 > 0:20:00in the late '50s.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02And showing all these people coming in,
0:20:02 > 0:20:07all dressed up smart to look smart for this new country and, oh, dear,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09they probably got disillusioned fairly quickly.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19# Jamaica
0:20:19 > 0:20:22# Jamaica mine
0:20:22 > 0:20:28# Jamaica mine. #
0:20:29 > 0:20:33For many, rail travel was not a pleasant experience.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36With dilapidated stations and ageing trains,
0:20:36 > 0:20:38passenger numbers were down.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Car ownership was also on the increase.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45The railways were under serious threat.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Drastic change was needed
0:20:47 > 0:20:48and fast.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51The man brought in to do the job
0:20:51 > 0:20:55was former ICI director Dr Richard Beeching.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01In Reshaping British Railways,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Beeching addressed the nation with his landmark report
0:21:04 > 0:21:06into the industry.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09When Dr Beeching was going to present his report,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11we did a film version of it.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14And I was with him and the rest of the crew
0:21:14 > 0:21:16in the railways board boardroom.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20But what about all this modernisation?
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Can't we have the branch lines as well?
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Can't you attract enough traffic to them to make them pay?
0:21:27 > 0:21:30But, unfortunately, we can't.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35Because the traffic is not there and so many people have motorcars.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39The good doctor, Dr Beeching, had said to the railway men...
0:21:39 > 0:21:43He said, "Find out what you do best and concentrate on that."
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Which effectively meant...
0:21:45 > 0:21:47commuter traffic.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Long-distance express passenger services.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52And heavy full-load freight trains.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54But don't try and do everything,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56which the railway had been trying to do before.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Fundamental to Beeching's plan was the introduction of fast,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03regular routes between the major cities.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07He described these services as InterCity, and the name stuck.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11So, on the passenger side, the proposal is to go for development
0:22:11 > 0:22:15and improvement in the InterCity services.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18It is believed that they will come to be recognised
0:22:18 > 0:22:20as easily the best form of transport
0:22:20 > 0:22:23to be used between our great centres of population and business.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27So, then, they... The director said,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29"That's it, we're done, we're finished."
0:22:29 > 0:22:33And he says, "Oh, well, back to hostilities."
0:22:33 > 0:22:34And walked off.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39Ah, I think he knew what was going to happen.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45The result was a reduction in the railway network by about a third,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48the closure of over 2,000 stations
0:22:48 > 0:22:51and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54All this brought instant notoriety to Beeching.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Seen as the axe man of the rail system,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59he became a target for satirists.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04# Oh, Mr Porter, what shall I do?
0:23:04 > 0:23:07# They've taken away your station, though your uniform is new
0:23:07 > 0:23:10# I'll have to get to London the best way I can see
0:23:10 > 0:23:14# Oh, Mr Porter, what a tired chap...
0:23:14 > 0:23:16# I'll be. # APPLAUSE
0:23:18 > 0:23:21But nothing could stop the ongoing modernisation
0:23:21 > 0:23:23of the railway network.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25Despite even Beeching's opposition,
0:23:25 > 0:23:29the electrification of the West Coast Mainline continued.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36What does this electrification scheme really mean to Britain?
0:23:36 > 0:23:39Obviously, it's going to be a showpiece.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Not only, I hope, of the railways.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44But also a showpiece of what we mean
0:23:44 > 0:23:49when we talk about the modernisation of Britain.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51This is modernisation.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58A modern railway required modern stations.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00And the jewel in the crown of the modernisation programme,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03would be Euston.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06The average visitor turning up at Euston Station
0:24:06 > 0:24:10would have been presented with a pretty amazing sight.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Passing through the Doric arch,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16you'd proceed into the great hall, which was something akin to
0:24:16 > 0:24:21having the Parthenon as the booking hall for your railway station.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25The problem being it wasn't fit for purpose to facilitate
0:24:25 > 0:24:27a modern high-speed rail service.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32It was difficult to know where a train was coming into,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36or where it was leaving from because it was a series of passageways
0:24:36 > 0:24:41that were poorly lit and the signage could have been better.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50The Doric arch at Euston had a fairly dramatic fall from grace.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53It was demolished and much of the stonework, actually,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55ended up in a canal in East London.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02The poor state of Euston Station wasn't the Railway's only problem.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09The network was made up of several regions,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12each with its own colour schemes and branding.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14It was confusing for passengers
0:25:14 > 0:25:18and caused difficulties when it came to marketing British Railways.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24Various experimental liveries, some of them bizarre.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28And some which were nicknamed plum and spilt milk.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33You typically have a nine or ten-coach train.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36It would be a variety of colours.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40Some red and cream, some may be brown and cream cos, at one stage,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43the railways were allowed to go back to their pre-nationalisation colours.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47And the Western region had done that with some alacrity.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51To remain competitive,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54British Railways needed to ditch its make-do-and-mend image
0:25:54 > 0:25:58and present a modern, easy-to-understand identity.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04It hired the Design Research Unit,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06famed for their work on the Festival of Britain,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09to co-ordinate a new corporate look.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15This was really British Rail's attempt to present a unified face
0:26:15 > 0:26:16to the travelling public
0:26:16 > 0:26:19and something that would allow itself to be marketed
0:26:19 > 0:26:24much in the same way as you would soap flakes or...or fizzy drinks.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28So this was one of the largest, if not THE largest,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31corporate branding exercises that had been seen in Britain.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35They produced a manual which covered everything.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38From the style of a letterhead, to the uniforms of the staff.
0:26:40 > 0:26:41The new uniform did create a bit of a stir
0:26:41 > 0:26:45and was widely slated in the press as being too German.
0:26:45 > 0:26:50They also designed its brand logo - the double arrow.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57British Rail was in the forefront of modern design.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Its little logo that goes like this
0:27:01 > 0:27:05and, very difficult to reproduce from your head, actually.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07It's so clever.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11That was remarkably successful way of saying,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13"This is the railway, come onto it."
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Alongside the work of the Design Research Unit,
0:27:18 > 0:27:22new signage was commissioned from Margaret Calvert,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25known for Britain's now iconic road signs.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29In a sense, they were starting from scratch.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31And they really believed in -
0:27:31 > 0:27:34let this be the best for Britain.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36And in modernism.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Margaret's design for the road system
0:27:38 > 0:27:41produced the Transport Alphabet.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43The rail system would require a different approach.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49I felt that transposed designs specifically to be read at speed.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54Whereas I felt you could be using a more compact typeface...
0:27:54 > 0:27:56in a pedestrian situation.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00She came up with a more pared-down font.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06We needed it to look low-key,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10so that it stood out from the commercial signs,
0:28:10 > 0:28:12which were far more flamboyant.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15And so, we wanted that difference.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Because we felt people would then believe in it.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21So it's quite ordinary.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23And I quite like the word ordinary
0:28:23 > 0:28:26cos people think nobody designed it cos it's ordinary.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34In 1965, British Railways unveiled its new identity.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39Its signs, its uniform and its logo were all on show.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43It also shortened its name, from British Railways to British Rail.
0:28:44 > 0:28:49Three years later, in 1968, the new Euston Station was opened.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05To some extent, Euston and Birmingham New Street
0:29:05 > 0:29:09were an answer to airline terminals.
0:29:09 > 0:29:13You know, I think that's the reason why Euston had virtually no seating
0:29:13 > 0:29:16for any passengers, because they were seen as a kind of throughput.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19Just to go through in the same way that you go through
0:29:19 > 0:29:21an airline terminal.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28Euston was only one of many stations that were completely revamped.
0:29:28 > 0:29:33Some were designed to encourage the motorist back onto the railway.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37At Pudsey, on the eastern region,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41they have evolved the idea of a car park with a station attached.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44It's situated at the converging point of several main roads
0:29:44 > 0:29:46and a ring road.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49And is in fact a station for motorists.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53Others aimed to make InterCity travel more pleasurable
0:29:53 > 0:29:55and become places to dine and have a drink.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01Not many people think of stations as places to relax in.
0:30:01 > 0:30:02Now some in Britain begin to qualify
0:30:02 > 0:30:04as meeting and resting places
0:30:04 > 0:30:06like those of a few continental cities.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10The tourist restaurant Birmingham New Street,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13from its carpeted floor to its ceiling alcoves over each table,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16is modern in design and layout.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20The result is an imaginative change from a forbidding tradition.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30The tables have been arranged alongside a series of passageways
0:30:30 > 0:30:33from which the waitresses serve and along which they may be summoned
0:30:33 > 0:30:35by a coloured light system.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38A change from cricked necks and tortured faces.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45There was a burgeoning social movement of increased freedom,
0:30:45 > 0:30:47social mobility.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Society was opening up and, I suppose, British Rail
0:30:50 > 0:30:53really just tuned into that and it provided the necessary
0:30:53 > 0:30:56social mobility in terms of a high-speed electrified railway
0:30:56 > 0:31:02for kids, essentially, to travel between Manchester, Liverpool, London
0:31:02 > 0:31:05and to actually get involved in that exploring culture
0:31:05 > 0:31:07that was happening at the time.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13The new British Rail would be clean, fast and easy to use.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17The smoke and soot of steam soon becoming a quaint novelty.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23In 1968, Evening Star - the last steam locomotive
0:31:23 > 0:31:26built by British Railways - made its final journey.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29Two years later British Transport Films,
0:31:29 > 0:31:32with a little help from rail enthusiast and poet John Betjeman,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35were on hand to wave steam off.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38Why are we all so excited by steam?
0:31:38 > 0:31:42A boy's young passion An old man's dream
0:31:42 > 0:31:45Steam, steam, beautiful steam
0:31:45 > 0:31:48We won't be so sorry To part with the lorry
0:31:48 > 0:31:51As now when we're parting with steam
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Quick, out with the old vest pocket Kodak
0:31:59 > 0:32:01On with your long focus lens.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08Despite the nostalgia, many passengers were glad
0:32:08 > 0:32:09to see the back of steam.
0:32:11 > 0:32:13There had to be a last steam engine
0:32:13 > 0:32:15and Evening Star was the last steam engine.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18Now we could all move on and look forward
0:32:18 > 0:32:20to what was coming in the future.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26It was very much moving from the old system to modernity.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28And modernity in those days was everything.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30A lot less nostalgia.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40The end of steam was dramatically captured in British Transport Films'
0:32:40 > 0:32:41Plumb-Loco...
0:32:44 > 0:32:47..which shows locomotives being cut up, melted down
0:32:47 > 0:32:49and remade into wires.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58Luckily, Evening Star escaped this fate
0:32:58 > 0:33:01and now resides in the National Railway Museum at York.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13British Rail had moved on.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15Although it continued to lose money,
0:33:15 > 0:33:18its passenger numbers were increasing.
0:33:18 > 0:33:23And with even faster trains on its network, the future looked bright.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31From the late '60s through into the '70s,
0:33:31 > 0:33:34British Rail can certainly claim to have created
0:33:34 > 0:33:36some of the best railways in Europe.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40When the West Coast Main Line was fully electrified to Glasgow,
0:33:40 > 0:33:45outside of Japan it was the most frequent and reliable high-speed line
0:33:45 > 0:33:47in the Western world.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51In reality, if the railways were going to compete
0:33:51 > 0:33:55with road and air travel, not only did they need to be much faster,
0:33:55 > 0:33:58they also needed to be at the forefront of technology.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05For British Rail, the 1970s would be a decade characterised
0:34:05 > 0:34:08by the development of two hi tech trains.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12One would make British Rail more popular than ever.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15The other would promise to revolutionise
0:34:15 > 0:34:17the entire future of rail travel.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22We started to hear about a train
0:34:22 > 0:34:25that would tilt.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27And this would enable it to go
0:34:27 > 0:34:30on the West Coast Main Line
0:34:30 > 0:34:32at far higher speeds.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39As British Rail was competing against cars and planes,
0:34:39 > 0:34:43it looked to those industries for inspiration and new ideas -
0:34:43 > 0:34:47much to the surprise of dyed-in-the-wool railwaymen.
0:34:47 > 0:34:52The APT or Advanced Passenger Train would be built by engineers
0:34:52 > 0:34:55recruited from aviation and the motor industry.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59I am an aeronautical engineer.
0:34:59 > 0:35:06Well, I worked on Blue Steel, which was the deterrent...
0:35:06 > 0:35:08for the Vulcan.
0:35:08 > 0:35:09Like a cruise missile.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13I was highly qualified
0:35:13 > 0:35:16because I knew nothing at all about the subject.
0:35:17 > 0:35:23British Transport Films captured in detail the development of the APT -
0:35:23 > 0:35:29a train that could run at 155mph on existing track.
0:35:29 > 0:35:34A train that could take curves up to 50% faster than present-day trains,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38a requirement that called for new studies of wheel on rail behaviour.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41A train that would always give passengers a comfortable ride,
0:35:41 > 0:35:45especially when running through curves at high speed.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49All design requirements for an Advanced Passenger Train.
0:35:49 > 0:35:54So could one go faster on existing track?
0:35:54 > 0:35:59And the answer was if you tilted the coach,
0:35:59 > 0:36:03then you could get the passenger to feel
0:36:03 > 0:36:07as if he was more or less on a straight track.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12Just like a motorcyclist banking around the curve, really.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17APT pulled British Rail's rail technology
0:36:17 > 0:36:23out of the 1960s and pushed it into the 1980s in one fell swoop.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25- VOICEOVER:- Analysis, mathematics, electronics...
0:36:25 > 0:36:28In order to build the APT, British Rail set up
0:36:28 > 0:36:31a new experimental facility in Derby.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34Soon, a new Advanced Projects laboratory
0:36:34 > 0:36:36was taking shape at Derby.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39Here, there would be some of the most powerful test rigs
0:36:39 > 0:36:40and accurate measuring instruments
0:36:40 > 0:36:43available to any railway in the world.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46Derby, famed for its technical advances,
0:36:46 > 0:36:48became the centre of rail research.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55Derby Tech was a series of buildings with...
0:36:55 > 0:36:58just oscilloscopes and computers
0:36:58 > 0:37:01and they were all doing something new.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05We were doing things on a daily basis
0:37:05 > 0:37:08that had never been done before anywhere in the world.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12Some of the work, just in my own particular field,
0:37:12 > 0:37:14incredibly boring to a non-technical person,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18was discovering how dirt works in hydraulic oil.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21I mean, people think, "Is that really important?"
0:37:21 > 0:37:22Actually, yes, it is.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28Although the Advanced Passenger Train
0:37:28 > 0:37:30captured the nation's imagination,
0:37:30 > 0:37:34its development was taking longer than expected.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38Having initially been overlooked, BR engineering now brought their own
0:37:38 > 0:37:43high-speed offer to the table called the HST or High Speed Train.
0:37:44 > 0:37:50The HST was conceived as a low risk
0:37:50 > 0:37:53alternative to APT,
0:37:53 > 0:37:56employing conventional technology
0:37:56 > 0:37:59but with a maximum speed of 125mph.
0:38:02 > 0:38:03The HST was developed by
0:38:03 > 0:38:06the Chief Mechanical & Electrical Engineers Department.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09They called themselves the real railway whereas we,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12in the Advanced Projects Division, were seen as those upstarts
0:38:12 > 0:38:15from the motor industry and the aviation industry.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19To say there was not a lot of love lost between us
0:38:19 > 0:38:20was a very true statement.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23If they wanted some information from us, we were pretty loath to give it
0:38:23 > 0:38:25and vice versa.
0:38:28 > 0:38:331972 saw the launch of the experimental APT
0:38:33 > 0:38:36and the prototype HST trains.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40This represented a high watermark for British Rail.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43The HST quickly broke the record for the fastest diesel train
0:38:43 > 0:38:45in the world.
0:38:45 > 0:38:46In the earlier days,
0:38:46 > 0:38:49the train had actually run to 143mph.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54The High Speed Train and Advanced Passenger Train
0:38:54 > 0:38:57were part of an age of great British engineering.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01Britain was at the cutting edge and it was building the future.
0:39:01 > 0:39:06The poster boy of this dynamism was a super sonic jet - Concorde.
0:39:07 > 0:39:13The Advanced Passenger Train for many people was the Concorde
0:39:13 > 0:39:15of the railways.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18If you were into motorcars, you aspired to a Jaguar E-Type.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21If you were into aircraft, you aspired to Concorde.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23If you were into railways, it was the Advanced Passenger Train.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28On one occasion, one of the production Concordes
0:39:28 > 0:39:31was doing its flight trials from RAF Fairford,
0:39:31 > 0:39:33which wasn't very far away.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35And early one morning, one of the prototype took off,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38turned round and flew over the top of us.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40I wish I'd taken a photograph of that
0:39:40 > 0:39:43because it was so symptomatic of what British technology
0:39:43 > 0:39:44was doing at the time.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52Not everyone was happy with the two prototype trains.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Soon after they were launched, both projects hit the buffers.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05Built like an aeroplane and able to cruise at over 150mph,
0:40:05 > 0:40:09the super train was shown off for the first time some five months ago.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12Since then, it hasn't moved from the sidings at Derby.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15ASLEF men have refused to drive it because their union says
0:40:15 > 0:40:18British Rail won't agree to a higher pay for drivers.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25We had put the driver seat in the middle of the cab.
0:40:27 > 0:40:32ASLEF objected to this because they were insisting
0:40:32 > 0:40:35on two drivers in every train.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38So they blacked the train.
0:40:40 > 0:40:45The HST also had a single driver seat and it too was boycotted.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52It was more than just seats that were causing problems.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55During the mid '70s, spiralling inflation led to a period
0:40:55 > 0:40:59of nationwide industrial unrest that affected many industries.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02The railways were no exception
0:41:02 > 0:41:04and services suffered.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08The drivers' union was trying to get better terms for its men
0:41:08 > 0:41:13and they saw the High Speed Train, the Advanced Passenger Train
0:41:13 > 0:41:16as suitable weapons to use in their argument.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20So, no, "We're not going to take them in Passenger Service."
0:41:21 > 0:41:24British Rail's reputation was badly damaged.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29Public confidence in the railways was reaching an all-time low.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34- This is bad though, innit? - 'Tis bad. I'll do their job any day.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36How long are you going to wait for your train?
0:41:36 > 0:41:37Oh, as soon as we can get one.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42It wasn't just strikes that were denting British Rail's image.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Modernisation of the system wasn't as widespread
0:41:46 > 0:41:48as the management had once hoped.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55Depending on where you lived in Britain dictated how you viewed
0:41:55 > 0:41:56the nation's railways.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00If you were in the big cities, you tended to be able to take advantage
0:42:00 > 0:42:02of a new, high-speed railway.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05However, if you were living in one of the farther-flung parts
0:42:05 > 0:42:09of the country, where investment hadn't really caught up,
0:42:09 > 0:42:10you could be forgiven for thinking
0:42:10 > 0:42:12the railways were still selling you short.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18People didn't know what was wanted from the railway,
0:42:18 > 0:42:20what they wanted from the railway.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23Successive governments didn't seem to know what they wanted.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25BR did not have a good reputation.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30The expression lame duck was frequently used for that
0:42:30 > 0:42:32and a lot of nationalised industries...
0:42:35 > 0:42:40In 1976, British Rail appointed a new chairman - Peter Parker.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44He was considered popular with railwaymen and the unions.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47He also had a head for public relations.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49You know, industrial democracy's got a lot to do
0:42:49 > 0:42:51with the standards in the lavatory
0:42:51 > 0:42:53as well as appearances in the boardroom.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55- What do you think about them? - Worth every penny.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57THEY LAUGH
0:42:58 > 0:43:02Parker needed to improve BR's tarnished image.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06He turned to another Peter, advertising guru Peter Marsh,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09for ideas for some BR PR.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15Marsh gave Parker a British Rail style welcome.
0:43:15 > 0:43:17They were put into a waiting room, told to wait.
0:43:17 > 0:43:21The room was dirty, ashtrays hadn't been emptied.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24And in the end, Peter Marsh came in and told them, well,
0:43:24 > 0:43:27that he was very sorry about this and the state of the waiting room...
0:43:27 > 0:43:30"But I just wanted to remind you of the conditions
0:43:30 > 0:43:33"that many of your passengers have to travel in every day."
0:43:34 > 0:43:37The waiting rooms were one thing but on the long list
0:43:37 > 0:43:41of passenger complaints, the most infamous was British Rail catering.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45Can you get onto them and say that those must go in
0:43:45 > 0:43:48even if it's at the expense of three, four and five.
0:43:48 > 0:43:53Parker asked restaurateur Prue Leith to join the BR board to sort it out.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57We talked about curly sandwiches,
0:43:57 > 0:43:59British Rail sandwiches were never curly
0:43:59 > 0:44:01because they were not left out in the open -
0:44:01 > 0:44:04they were soggy, they were wrapped up in plastic wrap.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07Plastic wrap was still quite new.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11The first thing I really wanted to do, because I'm basically a cook,
0:44:11 > 0:44:13is I wanted to make a decent sandwich.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15And I remember everybody saying,
0:44:15 > 0:44:19"But we sell more sandwiches than anybody else in the country"
0:44:19 > 0:44:22and I said, "Well, I'm not surprised. That's all you sell,
0:44:22 > 0:44:24"you only sell one sandwich.
0:44:24 > 0:44:29"It's Mother's Pride bread, Kraft cheese slices and Anchor butter."
0:44:29 > 0:44:31And they said, "Well, those are the most popular bread,
0:44:31 > 0:44:34"the most popular cheese and the most popular butter,
0:44:34 > 0:44:35"of course it's the best."
0:44:35 > 0:44:39And I said, "Look, let's try and make other sandwiches
0:44:39 > 0:44:41"and see if the public like them."
0:44:41 > 0:44:45It took time but with better quality ingredients
0:44:45 > 0:44:48and imaginative fillings, Prue Leith gave British Rail
0:44:48 > 0:44:52sandwiches that would no longer be synonymous with poor service.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56But I always resented the sandwich story because people always,
0:44:56 > 0:44:59the press particularly, always talked of me as the woman
0:44:59 > 0:45:02who changed British Rail sandwiches and I thought,
0:45:02 > 0:45:04"Dammit all, I'm on the board of this company,
0:45:04 > 0:45:09"it's an enormous company, I do more than fix the sandwiches."
0:45:09 > 0:45:11But that was just hubris, I should be glad
0:45:11 > 0:45:13that they remembered the sandwiches.
0:45:14 > 0:45:19By 1975, industrial relations at BR were on a better footing.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23Work had continued on the development of the two new trains.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26Whilst the Advanced Passenger Train was still undergoing
0:45:26 > 0:45:30rigorous testing, it was full steam ahead for the High Speed Train.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49Working with the unions, the HST power car had been redesigned
0:45:49 > 0:45:53by Kenneth Grange to accommodate two drivers.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56It was rebranded the InterCity 125
0:45:56 > 0:45:58and the train became an advertiser's dream.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03It had a really strong brand image.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07So the nose cone, which I think is one of the great industrial icons,
0:46:07 > 0:46:10if you like, of the 1970s, the InterCity 125 nose cone.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14British Transport Films produced a film that followed the journey
0:46:14 > 0:46:19of the InterCity 125 from its prototype to Passenger Service.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21With a specially composed musical score,
0:46:21 > 0:46:24it was called Overture One-Two-Five.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39The film-making is really underscoring and expressing
0:46:39 > 0:46:42the type of corporate self image that British Rail
0:46:42 > 0:46:44was maybe wanting to project.
0:46:44 > 0:46:48It isn't this huge, lumbering empire, necessarily.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50It's cutting edge, it's efficient, it's fast
0:46:50 > 0:46:54but it's also really pleasant, it's really good at what it does.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00On the inaugural passenger journey, from Paddington to Bristol,
0:47:00 > 0:47:04it arrived three minutes early and was an instant hit.
0:47:06 > 0:47:11And they started to be introduced between Edinburgh and King's Cross,
0:47:11 > 0:47:13Paddington and Bristol and the West Country.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18And the people, the passengers took to them immediately.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24British Rail's new express is wooing passengers
0:47:24 > 0:47:27with high-speed technology outside and in.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30Automatic doors became immediately popular today.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32- TANNOY:- 'Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.'
0:47:32 > 0:47:36There's air conditioning, double glazing and even second class
0:47:36 > 0:47:37gets wall-to-wall carpets.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39And in the bar they serve draught beer,
0:47:39 > 0:47:42the only train in Britain that does.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46Rail officials are hoping this train will win the passengers.
0:47:46 > 0:47:51My first trip on the 125 was when we went from King's Cross to York
0:47:51 > 0:47:53and being the journalists that we were we'd all piled
0:47:53 > 0:47:55into the buffet car because in those days
0:47:55 > 0:47:59they served Whitbread Tankard in draught.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02So we'd all got pints of Whitbread Tankard on the bar
0:48:02 > 0:48:08and they put the brakes on to do an emergency stop at 125mph to a stop
0:48:08 > 0:48:10and it did and not a drop of beer was spilled.
0:48:16 > 0:48:22Well, the first time I got onto the InterCity 125, the HST,
0:48:22 > 0:48:23was at Peterborough.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31Being only about seven, these big beasts,
0:48:31 > 0:48:34completely different to anything else that had been before
0:48:34 > 0:48:36arrived in to the station and, obviously,
0:48:36 > 0:48:41with the classic nose on the front it was, "Oh, this is new."
0:48:46 > 0:48:48It was like going first class for us
0:48:48 > 0:48:55because you'd gone with the banging doors and the bouncy seats
0:48:55 > 0:48:58and you had proper seats.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02It felt a lot more comfortable.
0:49:02 > 0:49:07And I do remember sitting there because all of you had an armrest,
0:49:07 > 0:49:08which was unusual.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12And you could sit in this big, comfy chair with a table.
0:49:12 > 0:49:18And it was luxurious, cool, absolutely wonderful.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22And I suppose in this brand-new era of high-speed rail travel,
0:49:22 > 0:49:24it just had to come.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26The high-speed loo.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31The family story that we never let my cousin forget
0:49:31 > 0:49:35is...because he was younger than us and he'd come back running
0:49:35 > 0:49:37down the train shouting out to my mum,
0:49:37 > 0:49:41"Auntie Marian, I've done a poo at 125mph."
0:49:41 > 0:49:46And it was like, "Yeah, you didn't really want to shout that out."
0:49:58 > 0:50:02BR had given Britain record-breaking high-speed trains at a price
0:50:02 > 0:50:04that most could afford.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07Passenger numbers rose dramatically.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12On top of this, a study in 1981 by Leeds University
0:50:12 > 0:50:16found that not only was it the cheapest but, after Sweden,
0:50:16 > 0:50:20British Rail was the second most efficient railway in Europe.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26BR was getting it right, it seemed.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29The 1980s really did look like being the age of the train.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34And the Advanced Passenger Train was yet to come.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41What I was aware of at the time - perhaps there was an impatience
0:50:41 > 0:50:46with the slow development of the APT and InterCity 125
0:50:46 > 0:50:50or the High Speed Train was really only ever meant as a stopgap.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56Having undergone several more years in development,
0:50:56 > 0:51:001981 saw the APT make its first trip.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05And with the success of the InterCity 125,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08British Rail's public image had never been better.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12The Central Station in Glasgow this morning before seven.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15250 passengers, mainly railway enthusiasts,
0:51:15 > 0:51:20journalists board a short and experimental prototype APT,
0:51:20 > 0:51:24British Rail's cut-price answer to France's new high-speed train.
0:51:26 > 0:51:30Of course, 6.30 in December, it was pitch-black.
0:51:30 > 0:51:36Because they were using the tilt system all the way out of the station
0:51:36 > 0:51:38and for the next 20 or 30 miles to the south,
0:51:38 > 0:51:40it was as if somebody had straightened the track out.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43You couldn't tell when you were going round a curve at all.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45And I was so impressed.
0:51:45 > 0:51:47The guys had done a really good job
0:51:47 > 0:51:50and it was just like travelling in a straight line.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52And by daylight it's well past Carlisle and Penrith
0:51:52 > 0:51:56over Shap Summit and down the Lune Valley.
0:51:56 > 0:51:57The fast and smooth acceleration,
0:51:57 > 0:52:01the revolutionary suspension, the lightweight construction,
0:52:01 > 0:52:04the aerodynamic shape give little sensation of speed.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12However, we got a bit further south when the sun started to come up
0:52:12 > 0:52:14and we could see the horizon going up and down
0:52:14 > 0:52:18as the train was tilting, going into corners and, at that point,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21a lot of the people started to get quote, tilt sick, unquote.
0:52:22 > 0:52:27It was significant that the great majority of the passengers
0:52:27 > 0:52:31who were suffering from tilt sickness were the media representatives
0:52:31 > 0:52:33who the previous night had been in a bar in the hotel
0:52:33 > 0:52:36being entertained by British Rail.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38So you can draw your own conclusions from that.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43But the train did very, very well, that first southbound run
0:52:43 > 0:52:44down to Euston was fault free.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49Because it runs on conventional track, it hasn't needed
0:52:49 > 0:52:55the £850 million spent by the French on their high-speed train track.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59Even so, the APT has taken 13 years to get from the drawing board
0:52:59 > 0:53:01to Euston Station.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04And largely because only £37 million has been spent on it.
0:53:06 > 0:53:10The train earned the reputation for tilt-induced nausea
0:53:10 > 0:53:13but that was the least of British Rail's worries.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Two days after its initial journey, the train broke down.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20The first sitting for breakfast should have been served
0:53:20 > 0:53:25at 125mph with the train's tilting system smoothing out the curves
0:53:25 > 0:53:27in the tracks south of Motherwell.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30In the event, not a drop of tea or fruit juice was spilled
0:53:30 > 0:53:34because for 40 minutes, the train didn't move.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38And two days after that, it failed to reach its destination once more.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42And we slid out of Glasgow on time at seven o'clock
0:53:42 > 0:53:45but after only eight minutes, the lights flickered and dimmed
0:53:45 > 0:53:48and APT coasted to a shameful halt.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54It was put into service too quickly.
0:53:54 > 0:53:59If it had been allowed to be developed by the engineers
0:53:59 > 0:54:06over a reasonable timescale, it would have been more reliable.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11It wasn't just the Advanced Passenger Train that was in trouble.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15In 1982, British Transport Films was disbanded.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19There was no longer an appetite for this type of corporate film.
0:54:20 > 0:54:24These films, they're selling modernity
0:54:24 > 0:54:28and they're telling a big story about investment and technology change
0:54:28 > 0:54:32and a progressive move forward and yet the irony is that, you know,
0:54:32 > 0:54:36they, themselves become a kind of obsolete part of the railway system
0:54:36 > 0:54:39which then gets discarded in the early 1980s.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45One of its final films, Round Trip To Glasgow,
0:54:45 > 0:54:49was designed to hit back at the Advance Passenger Train's bad press.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54It's smooth, it's quiet and an altogether delightful experience.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57Everything that the developers and designers have told me
0:54:57 > 0:54:59the train should do, it does appear to do
0:54:59 > 0:55:02and does it exceptionally well.
0:55:02 > 0:55:07I'll be in Euston a little over four hours after leaving Glasgow Central
0:55:07 > 0:55:11and that's got to make this a train very much worth taking.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13TRAIN HORN HOOTS
0:55:15 > 0:55:19Whilst Peter Purves did his best to sell the new train,
0:55:19 > 0:55:22the bad press meant passengers were less enthusiastic.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27Only three trains were manufactured
0:55:27 > 0:55:31and in 1984 the entire project was scrapped.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38It was rather sad to see the pictures in the papers of the trains
0:55:38 > 0:55:43being scrapped and there certainly was a feeling of -
0:55:43 > 0:55:46why did I waste my time doing all that?
0:55:49 > 0:55:53Having said that, in later years, other trains
0:55:53 > 0:55:57throughout the world to this day are still using APT tilt systems.
0:55:59 > 0:56:04So much of the equipment was totally new and my view would be that
0:56:04 > 0:56:07there were too many new ideas in one train.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11The Advanced Passenger Train never had a chance
0:56:11 > 0:56:14because it never had got the support it really deserved,
0:56:14 > 0:56:17particularly from the civil servants and the politicians.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20Maybe because none of them had any real long-term belief
0:56:20 > 0:56:22in the future of the railways.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28Unlike the InterCity 125, the Advanced Passenger Train
0:56:28 > 0:56:30failed to grab the public imagination.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35By the 1990s, the political climate had also changed.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41There was a public conception of nationalised industries
0:56:41 > 0:56:46and other public bodies that these were inefficient organisations,
0:56:46 > 0:56:49that's how the public seemed to see them.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52Possibly that's because politicians wanted the public to see them
0:56:52 > 0:56:54in that way.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00In 1994, after 47 years of public ownership,
0:57:00 > 0:57:03British Rail was privatised.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06In many ways, the clock was being turned back.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09The network would, once again, be filled by a variety
0:57:09 > 0:57:12of individual rail companies, each with their own distinct
0:57:12 > 0:57:14branding and liveries.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17But this time, the new companies would inherit an efficient
0:57:17 > 0:57:20modern railway.
0:57:20 > 0:57:25BR was by far the most efficient railway in Europe.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29Its services weren't necessarily the best
0:57:29 > 0:57:34but it cost the British taxpayer far, far less than the equivalent
0:57:34 > 0:57:39in other European countries and BR has had no recognition of that.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44I think in the last ten years of British Railways,
0:57:44 > 0:57:47they'd got everything right.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50And it was ripe for privatisation
0:57:50 > 0:57:52and I think they should be given the credit for that.
0:57:55 > 0:57:57What did British Rail do?
0:57:57 > 0:58:00I think British Rail, probably, its biggest success
0:58:00 > 0:58:04was in preventing any more of the railway network being closed
0:58:04 > 0:58:06than many people wanted to achieve.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11Its greatest legacy can still be seen every day
0:58:11 > 0:58:16travelling at speeds of 125mph.
0:58:16 > 0:58:21If someone had told me in 1975 that this train that you're working on
0:58:21 > 0:58:25will still be in front-line service in 40 years' time,
0:58:25 > 0:58:28I'd have said, "Pull the other one."
0:58:28 > 0:58:29But it is.