ScotRail was a

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

in Scotland owned by

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

that operated the ScotRail franchise from March 1997 until October 2004. Prior to March 1997 ScotRail (British Rail) ran the trains and after October 2004

First ScotRail First ScotRail was a train operating company in Scotland owned by FirstGroup which operated the ScotRail franchise from October 2004 until March 2015. Prior to October 2004, trains were run by ScotRail (National Express). First ScotRail was s ...

ran them.

Services

ScotRail operated all passenger train services in Scotland, with the exception of the

Arriva Trains Northern Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company in England owned by Arriva that operated the Regional Railways North East franchise from March 1997 until December 2004. Arriva resumed operating Northern train services again on 1 April 2016 ...

, GNER,

Virgin CrossCountry Virgin CrossCountry was a train operating company in the United Kingdom operating the InterCity CrossCountry passenger franchise from January 1997 until November 2007. Virgin CrossCountry operated some of the longest direct rail services in th ...

and

Virgin Trains West Coast Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 ...

services from England. ScotRail operated services into England with services to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

and Newcastle, and the

Caledonian Sleeper ''Caledonian Sleeper'' is the collective name for overnight sleeper train services between London and Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is one of only two currently operating sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom, the other ...

services between Scotland and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Rolling stock

ScotRail inherited a fleet of Class 101, Class 117 Class 150, Class 156, Class 158, Class 303, Class 305, Class 314,

Class 318 The British Rail Class 318 is an electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger train, which operates in west central Scotland. The units were introduced on 29 September 1986 as part of the electrification of the Ayrshire Coast Line between and / Ar ...

and Class 320s from

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

as well as Mark 2 carriages and Mark 3 sleepers for use on the

s and on some other passenger services. ScotRail contracted English Welsh & Scottish to haul the

services to London Euston. Class 90s were used south of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and Glasgow Central with Class 37s used on the portion to Fort William and Class 47s to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

and

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histo ...

. From June 2001, Class 67s began to take over. A dedicated pool was created due to the need to fit cast steel brakes. ScotRail ordered 55 three-carriage Class 170 ''Turbostars'' to replace locomotive hauled stock and 40 three-carriage Class 334 ''Junipers'' to replace Class 303s. In 2000, two Class 150s were transferred to

. Class 158s were also transferred, four going to Arriva Trains Northern and two to Wessex Trains. The Class 101, Class 303 and Class 305s were all withdrawn. In December 2001, five Class 322s were sublet from West Anglia Great Northern, they were returned in March 2004. To replace them ex Virgin West Coast Mark 3s were leased, being hauled by EWS Class 90s on North Berwick Line services.

Depots

ScotRail's fleet was maintained at Haymarket, Glasgow Shields Road and

depots.

Demise

In July 2003, the Scottish Executive and the

Strategic Rail Authority The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry. Its motto was 'Britain's railway, properly delivered'. It ...

announced

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.First ScotRail First ScotRail was a train operating company in Scotland owned by FirstGroup which operated the ScotRail franchise from October 2004 until March 2015. Prior to October 2004, trains were run by ScotRail (National Express). First ScotRail was s ...

on 17 October 2004.

References

External links

* {{NEXG Defunct train operating companies National Express companies Railway companies established in 1997 Railway companies disestablished in 2004 Railway companies of Scotland Rail transport in Scotland 1997 establishments in Scotland 2004 disestablishments in Scotland British companies established in 1997 British companies disestablished in 2004