History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to date
History of British rail transport since 1995 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to date?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The period from 1995 covers the history of rail transport in Great Britain following the privatisation of British Rail. During this period, passenger volumes have grown rapidly,[1] safety has improved,[2][3] and subsidies per journey have fallen. However, there is debate as to whether this is due to privatisation or to better government regulation. During this period, High Speed 1, the West Coast Main Line upgrade and Crossrail were completed and more construction projects are currently under way. The period also saw the demise of privately-owned Railtrack and its replacement with government-owned Network Rail.
Overall rail subsidies have risen, as shown in the graph, although spend per journey has decreased. Rail subsidies have increased from £2.9 billion in 1992–93 to £3.8 billion in 2015–16 (in current prices), although subsidy per journey has fallen from £3.85 to £2.19.[5][6] However, this masks great regional variation: for instance, in 2014–15 funding varied from "£1.41 per passenger journey in England to £6.51 per journey in Scotland and £8.34 per journey in Wales."[6]
Due to the increase in passenger numbers and the prospect of high speed rail both within Great Britain and connecting to Europe, this period has been called the start of a new Golden Age of rail travel.[7][8] However quickly increasing passenger numbers have meant many trains (as many as 1 in 6 in some places) are very crowded at peak times.[9][10] Peak-time fares have increased by over 200% (since privatisation) to deter people from travelling at these times,[5] whereas the price of advance tickets has halved in the same period.[11] The COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive drop in passenger numbers,[12][13][14] even though freight transport held up fairly well.