History
British Rail employees, Ian Macbeth and Howard Trinder, began the company in the mid-1980s as "Mac's Tours", organising international holidays on a semi-formal basis for fellow employees— British Rail staff at the time were entitled to many discounts on foreign rail travel. On leaving British Rail, Macbeth and Trinder decided to launch the company as a tour operator, keeping the name "Mac's Tours", but produced more professional brochures and organised itineraries that were not just rail-specific.
The name "Great Rail Journeys" was adopted in 1994. In 2004 Great Rail Journeys was a founder member of the Amber Travel Partnership with independent specialist tour operator, Inntravel. The group was formed with the view to bringing further like-minded owner-managed travel brands into the group. In 2005, the Amber Travel Partnership, including Great Rail Journeys, was acquired by the independent private equity firm, Primary Capital. In 2006, Great Rail Journeys launched a new subsidiary website, "railselect.com", which organises individual tours, rather than group tour products.
Read more about this topic: Great Rail Journeys
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