BRB (Residuary) LimitedCompanies House extract company no 4146505
BRB (Residuary) Limited (BRBR) was the successor to the

British Railways Board The British Railways Board (BRB) was a State ownership, nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that operated from 1963 to 2001. Until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to d ...

. It was created in 2001 as a

private company limited by shares A private company limited by shares is a class of private limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, Hong Kong, Northern Ireland, Scotland, certain Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It has shareh ...

, with 100% of the issued share capital owned by the

Secretary of State for Transport The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...

. As part of the

Public Bodies Act 2011 The Public Bodies Act 2011c 24 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for t ...

, the company was abolished in 2013.

History

Starting in 1994, as part of the

Railways Act 1993 The Railways Act 1993 (c. 43) was introduced by John Major's Conservative government and passed on 5 November 1993. It provided for the restructuring of the British Railways Board (BRB), the public corporation that owned and operated the nation ...

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

was divided up and

privatised Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation wh ...

. By November 1997, British Rail had been divested of all its operating railway functions. However, the

(BRB) remained in existence to discharge residual functions, mainly relating to liabilities, pensions, and responsibility for non-operational railway land which had not passed to

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the railroad, track, railway signalling, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the railway station, stations of the Transport in England#Rail, British railway syste ...

upon its formation in 1994. It also had responsibility for the

British Transport Police British Transport Police (BTP; ) is a national special police force that polices the railway network of England, Wales and Scotland, which consists of over 10,000 miles of track and 3,000 stations and depots. BTP also polices the London Under ...

(BTP). In 1999, the

United Kingdom Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

decided to create 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 ...

(SRA), which would incorporate the BRB and the

Director of Passenger Rail Franchising The Director of Passenger Rail Franchising was a statutory office holder in the United Kingdom created in 1993 by the Railways Act 1993 and usually called the Franchising Director. The role lasted from 5 November 1993 until 31 January 2001. Th ...

. Both these bodies began acting together, under the trading name of the ''Shadow Strategic Rail Authority''. In 2000,

primary legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democ ...

, the

Transport Act 2000 The Transport Act 2000 (c. 38) is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for a number of measures regarding transport in Great Britain; the first major change in the structure of the privatised railway sys ...

, was enacted to place the SRA on a statutory basis. In accordance with this Act, the BRB was abolished in 2001 and its remaining functions transferred to the SRA. Those functions which directly related to the old BR were placed in the charge of a wholly owned subsidiary of the SRA, BRB (Residuary) Limited (BRBR), which was incorporated in January 2001. Responsibility for the BTP passed temporarily to the SRA itself pending the creation of the

British Transport Police Authority The British Transport Police Authority is the police authority that oversees the British Transport Police. A police authority is a governmental body in the United Kingdom that defines strategic plans for a police force and provides accountability s ...

in 2004. Upon the dissolution of the SRA under the

Railways Act 2005 The Railways Act 2005 (c. 14) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning the regulatory structure for railways in the United Kingdom. Overview The bill was introduced and published on 25 November 2004 and received royal a ...

, ownership of BRBR passed to the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

. In 2010 the government announced its intention to abolish BRBR as part of its plans to reduce the number of public bodies and it was included in the Public Bodies Act 2011. On 30 September 2013, the company's assets and responsibilities were split between the

Highways Agency National Highways (NH), formerly Highways England and before that the Highways Agency, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards u ...

London and Continental Railways London and Continental Railways (LCR) is a property development company owned by the Government of the United Kingdom for developing former railway land. The company was originally established in 1994 as a private consortium to own European P ...

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

and the

Rail Safety and Standards Board The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is a British independent company limited by guarantee. Interested parties include various rail industry organisations, including Network Rail, train operating companies (TOCs), and rolling stock compan ...

.Consultation on the proposed abolition of BRB (Residuary) Ltd
Department for Transport 15 May 2012 Following these transfers, BRBR was abolished.

Responsibilities

As a residuary body, the company was responsible for discharging a variety of functions, including obligations in respect of liabilities acquired by British Rail as a major employer over nearly half a century (such as

pensions A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "defined benefit plan", wher ...

and work related compensation claims) and as a direct result of the privatisation process. The company was responsible for the continuing disposal of non-operational railway land. Among its larger assets were Glasgow Eastfield depot, North Pole depot, the

Old Dalby Test Track The Old Dalby Test Track is a railway in the United Kingdom which is used for testing new designs of trains and railway infrastructure. It runs between Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire and Edwalton, on the course of the Midland Railway's route betw ...

, the

Railway Technical Centre The Railway Technical Centre (RTC) in London Road, Derby, England, was the technical headquarters of the British Railways Board and was built in the early 1960s. British Rail described it as the largest railway research complex in the world. Th ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, and the closed Waterloo International station. At the time of its cessation, BRBR owned 3,800 assets including 74 listed structures. Many of these were bridges, tunnels and viaducts on closed lines. It was also responsible for the maintenance of memorials to railway disasters and wars on the network as well as some shipwrecks.

Successor organisations

BRB (Residuary) Ltd (BRBR) was abolished with effect from 30 September 2013. Its continuing functions have been dispersed to various successor bodies: * Highways Agency Historical Railways Estate The Highways Agency Historical Railways Estate is now responsible for the

Historical Railways Estate The Historical Railways Estate (HRE) is formed of over 3,100 structures—predominantly bridges, viaducts, tunnels and other works—associated with former railways in the United Kingdom. The structures are owned by the Department for Transport (Df ...

(formerly known as the Burdensome Estate). This includes legacy bridges, abutments, tunnels, cuttings, viaducts and similar properties associated with closed railway lines. * London & Continental Railways Ltd London & Continental Railways Ltd (LCR) is now responsible for former BRBR properties with development potential, or which might be used for future railway projects, office buildings (The Axis, Birmingham; The Railway Technical Centre, Derby; Piccadilly Gate, Manchester). LCR is also acting as the managing agent on behalf of DfT for Waterloo International Terminal, North Pole International Depot and Temple Mills Bus Depot. * Network Rail Network Rail is now responsible for a small number of properties closely associated with the operational railway that should have transferred during railway privatisation or which should be maintained by the owner of the operational railway, various memorials commemorating those killed in railway accidents or rail employees killed during the world wars, and Old Dalby test track in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. The full list of properties transferred to Network Rail is given in a schedule attached to the statutory instrument that abolished BRBR. * Rail Safety and Standards Board The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is now the owner and holder of the intellectual property rights of the ‘RDDS managed documentation’ (consisting of drawings and maintenance documents and reports, generally relating to rolling stock built before 1996). * Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is now responsible for ill health claims from former British Rail (BR) employees.

References

External links

BRB (Residuary) Limited

BRB (Residuary) Limited Transfer Scheme
{{British Rail, state=collapsed British Rail Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Department for Transport Post-privatisation British railway companies 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom 2013 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct transport companies of the United Kingdom

History

Responsibilities

Successor organisations

See also

References

External links