1923 Grouping
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| Long title | An Act to provide for the reorganisation and further regulation of Railways and the discharge of liabilities arising in connection with the possession of Railways, and otherwise to amend the Law relating to Railways, and to extend the duration of the Rates Advisory Committee. |
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| Citation | 1921 c.55 |
| Introduced by | Eric Geddes |
| Territorial extent | Great Britain |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 19 August 1921 |
| Commencement | 1 January 1923 |
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Status: Amended
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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which the country had derived from a Government-controlled railway during and after the Great War of 1914-1918. The provisions of the Act took effect from the start of 1923.
The British railway system had been built up by more than 100 railway companies, large and small, and often, particularly locally, in competition with each other. The parallel railways of the East Midlands and the rivalry between the South Eastern Railway and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway at Hastings were two examples of such local competition.
During World War I the railways were under State control, which continued until 1921. Complete nationalisation had been considered, and the 1921 Act is sometimes considered as a precursor to that, but the concept was rejected; nationalisation was subsequently carried out after World War II, under the Transport Act 1947.
The form of the Act was developed by former North Eastern Railway executive, the Minister of Transport, Eric Campbell Geddes. Geddes favoured privately owned regional monopolies through amalgamations, and suggested increased worker participation from pre-war levels. Geddes viewed the pre-war competition as wasteful, but was opposed to nationalisation on the grounds that it led to poor management, as well as a mutually corrupting influence between railway and political interests. In his 9 March 1920 Cabinet paper "Future Transport Policy", he proposed five English groups (Southern, Western, North Western, Eastern and North Eastern), a London passenger group, and separate single groupings for Scotland and Ireland.
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