Rail transport in Great Britain in the context of "Derby, England"

Derby (/ˈdɑːrbi/ DAR-bee) is a cathedral city and unitary authority area on the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original county town. As a unitary authority, Derby is administratively independent from Derbyshire County Council. The population of Derby is 274,149 (2024).

The Romans established the town of Derventio, which was later captured by the Anglo-Saxons and then by the Vikings who made Djúra-bý one of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw. Initially a market town, Derby grew rapidly in the industrial era and was home to Lombe's Mill, an early British factory and it contains the southern part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. With the arrival of the railways in the 19th century, Derby became a centre of the British rail industry. Despite having a cathedral since 1927, Derby did not gain city status until 1977.

Brownhills is a historic market and industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall of the West Midlands county, England. The town is located south of Cannock Chase and close to the large Chasewater reservoir, it is 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Walsall, a similar distance southwest of Lichfield and 13 miles (20.9 km) miles north-northwest of Birmingham. It is part of the Aldridge-Brownhills parliamentary constituency and neighbours the villages of Pelsall and Walsall Wood. It lies within the boundaries of the historic county of Staffordshire.

The town lies close to the route of the ancient Watling Street, and although there is no record of its existence before the 17th century, Ogley Hay – a district of the town today – is recorded as a settlement in the Domesday Book. Brownhills quickly grew around the coal-mining industry, especially after the town became linked to the canal and railway networks in the mid-19th century. By the end of the century, Brownhills had grown from a hamlet of only 300 inhabitants to a town of more than 13,000, of whom the vast majority were employed in the coal industry. Mining remained the town's principal industry until the 1950s; the subsequent closure of the pits led to a severe economic decline that has continued until now. The local authority instituted a regeneration programme in 2007, which was hoped would revive the town's fortunes, but there has been little subsequent development.

British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, it became an independent statutory corporation in January 1963, when it was formally renamed the British Railways Board.

British Railways was formed on 1 January 1948 as a result of the Transport Act 1947, which nationalised the Big Four British railway companies along with some other (but not all) smaller railways. Profitability of the railways became a pressing concern during the 1950s, leading to multiple efforts to bolster performance, including some line closures. The 1955 Modernisation Plan formally directed a process of dieselisation and electrification to take place; accordingly, steam locomotives had been entirely replaced by diesel and electric traction (except for the narrow-gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway tourist line) by 1968. On 1 January 1963, the British Railways Board was created to manage the railways as a successor to the British Transport Commission.

In the railway system of Great Britain, a train operating company (TOC) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993.

There are two types of TOC: most hold franchises let by the Department for Transport (DfT) through a tendering system, to operate services on certain routes for a specified duration, while a small number of open-access operators hold licences to provide supplementary services on chosen routes. These operators can run services for the duration of the licence validity. The franchised operators have changed considerably since privatisation: previous franchises have been divided, merged, re-let to new operators, or renamed. Some privately operated franchises have been taken over by a government-owned operator of last resort, due to failing expectations, or events on the rail system as a whole, or since 2024 the government's intention to bring passenger rail services into public ownership. As of July 2025, all Welsh and Scottish TOCs, and six English TOCs are government-owned.

The railway network in Great Britain has been used to transport goods of various types and in varying volumes since the early 19th century. Network Rail, which owns and maintains the network, aims to increase the amount of goods carried by rail. In 2015–16 Britain's railways moved 17.8 billion net tonne kilometres, a 20% fall compared to 2014–15. Coal accounted for 13.1% of goods transport in Britain, down considerably from previous years. There are no goods transported by railway in Northern Ireland.

Railway electrification in Great Britain began in the late 19th century. A range of voltages has been used, employing both overhead lines and conductor rails. The two most common systems are 25 kV AC using overhead lines, and the 750 V DC third rail system used in Southeast England and on Merseyrail. As of October 2023, 6,065 kilometres (3,769 mi) (38%) of the British rail network was electrified.

According to Network Rail, as at 2003, 64% of the electrified network used the 25 kV AC overhead system, and 36% used the 660/750 V DC third-rail system.

The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, the process was largely completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industry was in part motivated by the enactment of EU Directive 91/440 in 1991, which aimed to create a more efficient railway network by creating greater competition.

British Railways (BR) had been in state ownership since 1948, under the control of the British Railways Board (BRB). Under the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher elected in 1979, various state-owned businesses were gradually sold off, including various auxiliary and supporting functions related to the railways – Sealink ferries and British Transport Hotels by 1984, Travellers Fare catering by 1988 and British Rail Engineering Limited (train manufacturing) by 1989.

Birmingham New Street, also known as New Street station, is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, West Midlands, England; it is a central hub of the British railway system. The station is a major destination for Avanti West Coast services from London Euston, Preston, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley, and West Midlands Trains services from Liverpool Lime Street and London Euston both via the West Coast Main Line. The CrossCountry network centres on New Street, as well as local and suburban services within the West Midlands; these include those on the Cross-City Line between Lichfield Trent Valley, Redditch and Bromsgrove, and the Chase Line to Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley. The three-letter station code is BHM.

The station is named after New Street, which runs parallel to it, although the station has never had a direct entrance from New Street except via the Grand Central shopping centre. Historically, the main entrance was on Stephenson Street, just off New Street. As of 2022, the station has entrances on Stephenson Street, Smallbrook Queensway, Hill Street and Navigation Street.