History
GB Railways was formed in October 1996 by entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds initially to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the privatisation of British Rail. After being awarded the Anglia franchise in 1996, GB Railways was listed on the Alternative Investment Market in January 1997.
In October 1997 as part of the Great Southern Railway Consortium with Legal & General, Macquarie Bank, RailAmerica, G13 Pty Ltd and Serco, it acquired the interstate passenger services of Australian National Railways, which were operated as Great Southern Rail. In 1998 GB Railways, as part of the Inter Capital Express consortium, was shortlisted for a high-speed rail service from Sydney to Canberra. In September 2000 GB Railways, as part of the Western Freight consortium with AMEC Engineering, lodged a bid for the Westrail freight business in Western Australia.
In the financial year to April 1999 the company made a profit of £1.2million on a turnover of £87.2 million, the following year it recorded loss of £0.7million on a turnover of £86.9million. In October 1999 the company announced the sale of its 19.7% share in Great Southern Rail to Serco resulting in a one-off profit of £1.4 million.
In September 2000 GB Railways launched Hull Trains (with an 80% shareholding), an open access InterCity rail operator running trains between Hull and London Kings Cross.
In November 2000 GB Railways acquired an interest in the Estonian passenger rail operator Edelaraudtee through Estonian subsidiary GB Railways Eesti AS, for 10million Kroon ($540,000), with investment and stock increase deals over five years as part of the agreement. GB Railways owned 20% of the shares, with the majority owners being Edelaraudtee chairman Henn Ruubel and lawyer Marcel Vichmannile. In 2002 GB Railways investment in the company was only £70,000 - it provided management to the company on a fee basis.
GB Railways launched freight train operating company GB Railfreight in March 2001.
In 2001 the company was rumoured to be in takeover talks with potential suitors. The company's services were badly affected by the speed restrictions imposed on all train operators by Railtrack after the Hatfield rail crash, and was making a net loss despite receiving an increased subsidy from the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA). In the latter half of 2002 the company returned to profitability, receiving support from the SRA for its Anglia franchise, and disruption compensation from Railtrack to its Hull Trains operation.
In the financial year to April 2001 the company recorded a loss of £2.6million on revenues of £87.4million, this improved to a loss of £1.3million on revenues of £75.8million the next year; only GB Railfreight was profitable (£0.7million after a £1million loss in the start up year), whilst the losses in the passenger operations were attributed to the post Hatfield crash disruption.
In 2002 a consortium of GNER and Freightliner attempted to acquire the company, valuing it at around £1 per share, or £8.75million; GNER sought the passenger trains operations, whilst Freightliner sought the GB Railfreight subsidiary. The offer was rejected without discussion and the companies ceased the acquisition attempt.
In July 2003 FirstGroup made a takeover offer for GB Railways, offering £2.50 per share offer, with further deferred consideration of £2.00 if the Greater Anglia Rail Franchise was won and £0.50 if either the Northern Rail or Wales & Borders franchises were won. None of the bids were successful.
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