British Rail Board
| Industry | Rail transport |
|---|---|
| Fate | Privatised |
| Predecessor | British Transport Commission |
| Successor | Office of Rail Regulation |
| Founded | 1 January 1963 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Parent | Department for Transport |
The British Railways Board (BRB) was a nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that operated from 1963 to 2001. Until 1997 it was responsible for most railway services in Great Britain, trading under the brand name British Railways and, from 1965, British Rail. It did not operate railways in Northern Ireland, where railways were the responsibility of the Government of Northern Ireland.
It is a statutory corporation, which when operating consisted of a chairman and nine to fifteen other members appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport. The Board, now reduced to a minimum membership of a chairman and one other member, continues to exist to hold the French law benefits and obligations of the Channel Tunnel Rail Usage Contract.
The BRB was created on 1 January 1963 under the Transport Act 1962 by Harold Macmillan's Conservative government to inherit the railway responsibilities of the British Transport Commission, which was dissolved at the same time.
Initially, and for the majority of its history, the BRB operated under the structure inherited from the BTC Railway Executive. Operations were divided into five regions - Eastern, London Midland, Western, Southern and Scottish (later rebranded ScotRail). A North Eastern Region existed initially but was merged into the Eastern Region in 1967.
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