Railway Companies' Association

The Railway Companies' Association was a co-ordinating body for British railway companies from 1867 until nationalisation in 1948. Its purpose was to protect the interests of the companies and their shareholders, chiefly against parliamentary interference. It was an early example of a lobby organisation.

The Association had its roots in a meeting of railway company chairmen, held at the Railway Clearing House (RCH) in March 1854, to discuss parliamentary matters of concern, but a properly constituted organisation developed only slowly. This was partly a result of the independent nature of the Victorian railway companies and the number of company chairmen and senior officers who were Lords or MPs in their own right, and partly a reflection of the gradually increasing role of government in regulating railway company actions and the need for an 'industry' response.

By 1858 a United Railway Companies' Committee (URCC) had been formed, but it foundered after three years and was only re-constituted at a meeting on 26 June 1867, held at the Westminster office of the Midland Railway Company. The revived body's first achievement was to promulgate a standard format for the accounts of railway companies, drawn up by the Chief Accountants of five of the major companies. This was accepted by the Board of Trade and included as a Schedule in the Regulation of Railways Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict., cap. 119).

The URCC was renamed 'The Railway Companies' Association' in 1869 or 1870. Its main task was to follow the progress of legislation which might affect railways, attempting to persuade MPs and Lords to vote in the 'railway interest', and giving evidence to parliamentary committees. It also promoted legislation designed to assist railway companies. This finally left the RCH free of a political role and able to concentrate on the commercial organisation of inter-company services.

Membership of the Association received a boost with the arguments over the passing of the Regulation of Railways Act 1873 (36 & 37 Vict., cap. 48). The perceived threats to profitability, through regulation of the rates which the 'monopolist' railways could charge, led to several moderately-large companies joining the major ones in the Association, finally giving it national coverage.

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