Railways Act 1993 - Overview

Overview

The legislation enabled the Secretary of State for Transport John MacGregor to transfer separated parts of the railway to the private sector. He franchised passenger rail services to private companies including Virgin, Connex (now known as Veolia Transport) and the coach companies Stagecoach and National Express, and floated the national railway track and signalling company Railtrack on the London Stock Exchange in 1996. He sold British Rail's track maintenance and renewal operations to private companies, with contracts to provide infrastructure services to Railtrack. He sold the three rolling stock leasing companies or ROSCOs, owners of the passenger rolling stock, to management buyout teams.