Who owns the railways

[TheEdge]

In the most literal sense who actually owns the railways?

Obviously TOCs own some stations, operate others, NR maintains the infrastructure, sometimes car parks seem to be owned by the TOCs or by local councils. But who actually owns, as in actually has the deeds to, (if such things exist) the actual ground the rails and station sit on?

I'm guessing its either HM Government, Network Rail, local councils or a mix thereof. But what is it actually?

 

[gordonthemoron]

The government via Network Rail owns the lot, except for Prestwick Airport apparently

 

[gordonthemoron]

and probably Heathrow Express after it leaves the GWML

 

[deltic08]

In the most literal sense who actually owns the railways?

Obviously TOCs own some stations, operate others, NR maintains the infrastructure, sometimes car parks seem to be owned by the TOCs or by local councils. But who actually owns, as in actually has the deeds to, (if such things exist) the actual ground the rails and station sit on?

I'm guessing its either HM Government, Network Rail, local councils or a mix thereof. But what is it actually?

You and I own it as taxpayers, all of it except leased rolling stock.

 

[Ken H]

Is network rails debt secured on any assets? or is it unsecured debt because the government guarantees it?

 

[pdeaves]

The government via Network Rail owns the lot, except for Prestwick Airport apparently

There's a surprising number of 'non-NR' stations. In this list, M40 Trains and the various Laing companies may be the same legal entity; I haven't checked.

A few 'National Rail' stations are owned by London Underground.
The new build Crossrail stations are not Network Rail property.
Aylesbury Vale Parkway - John Laing.
Part of Birmingham Moor Street - Bullring Alliance.
Barking Riverside (when it is built) will not be Network Rail property.
Bromsgrove - West Midlands Combined Authority.
Coleshill Parkway - John Laing Rail Infrastructure.
Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International and St Pancras International - HS1.
Fishguard & Goodwick - Pembrokeshire County Council.
Fishguard Harbour - Stena Sealink.
The Heathrow stations are owned by the airport.
Horwich Parkway - GMPTE.
Part of Princes Risborough - Laing Rail.
Southend Airport - London Southend Airport Company
Warwick Parkway - M40 Trains

 

[Ken H]

There's a surprising number of 'non-NR' stations. In this list, M40 Trains and the various Laing companies may be the same legal entity; I haven't checked.

A few 'National Rail' stations are owned by London Underground.
The new build Crossrail stations are not Network Rail property.
Aylesbury Vale Parkway - John Laing.
Part of Birmingham Moor Street - Bullring Alliance.
Barking Riverside (when it is built) will not be Network Rail property.
Bromsgrove - West Midlands Combined Authority.
Coleshill Parkway - John Laing Rail Infrastructure.
Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International and St Pancras International - HS1.
Fishguard & Goodwick - Pembrokeshire County Council.
Fishguard Harbour - Stena Sealink.
The Heathrow stations are owned by the airport.
Horwich Parkway - GMPTE.
Part of Princes Risborough - Laing Rail.
Southend Airport - London Southend Airport Company
Warwick Parkway - M40 Trains

the platforms and building - maybe
but the tracks?
Are the buildings leasehold, with the freehold owned by NR?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I think formally Network Rail owns most of the railway infrastructure, and operates it under licence to ORR.
DfT ultimately owns or at least funds Network Rail, and in effect controls it.
Some railway infrastructure has other owners, eg: TfL, Heathrow Airport, Eurotunnel, Eurostar, port authorities, PTEs, private sidings/terminals etc.
HS1 is owned directly by the government (but operated and maintained under contract by NR) and its traffic rights are held privately on lease.
Something similar is planned for HS2 when it is operational.
TOCs lease their stations from NR as part of franchise agreements, but NR runs major stations directly.
There are some complex situations like Crossrail core and the ELL where (I think) TfL owns the infrastructure but NR provides the signalling.
At the margins, not all of this infrastructure is in public ownership.

As part of the review of railway organisation, the government is looking at different ways of funding Network Rail.
The infrastructure companies (eg the signalling majors) may well have part-ownership of route upgrades going forward.
So "ownership" may get more complicated rather than less.

New stations tend to be funded locally (often with a government grant), so are not wholly in NR ownership.
Recent examples are Kenilworth and Worcestershire Parkway,
The devolved authorities have also sometimes taken over railway development (eg the Scottish Government for the Borders line, and the Welsh Government for the Ebbw Vale line).
The Cardiff Valleys lines are due to transfer from NR to WG prior to their upgrade and electrification.
The East-West Railway is also likely to be separated from Network Rail and may have a different ownership in the future,

 

[SilentGrade]

Officially the company that 'owns' the assets is Network Rail infrastructure limited (NRIL) under license from the ORR. NRIL is in turn owned by a holding company owned by Network Rail Limited.

 

[Ken H]

There must be a shed somewhere with the title deeds for all the bits of railway lands. bet very little is on the land registry. Wonder how much has a secure title?

 

[route:oxford]

The government via Network Rail owns the lot, except for Prestwick Airport apparently

The Scottish Goverment own Prestwick Airport.

 

[Elecman]

There must be a shed somewhere with the title deeds for all the bits of railway lands. bet very little is on the land registry. Wonder how much has a secure title?

The National Records Centre near York

 

[mailbyrail]

Fishguard Harbour station was never owned by the GWR or British Rail, either. It was part of a joint company set up in 1906 by the GWR and the GSWR which owned the line from Rosslare to Waterford in Ireland as well. After nationalisation in 1948 in the UK it remained a joint company with CIE. Fishguard Harbour station and the ferry service were operated by the joint company until Seacontainers took over which of course then became Stena Line.

 

[pdeaves]

the platforms and building - maybe
but the tracks?
Are the buildings leasehold, with the freehold owned by NR?

In these examples, Network Rail has no interest in the structures (from the perspective that we are discussing). The tracks are NR's (though I think Stena owns the track at Fishguard)

 

[DarloRich]

There must be a shed somewhere with the title deeds for all the bits of railway lands. bet very little is on the land registry. Wonder how much has a secure title?

The National Records Centre near York

Or the Land Registry ( and you would be suprised how much is registered)

You and I own it as taxpayers, all of it except leased rolling stock.

In a general sense yes but not legally. You as taxpayer have no legal standing in this arena. Legally it is owned by network rail infrastructure limited

 

[LLivery]

There's a surprising number of 'non-NR' stations. In this list, M40 Trains and the various Laing companies may be the same legal entity; I haven't checked.

A few 'National Rail' stations are owned by London Underground.
The new build Crossrail stations are not Network Rail property.
Aylesbury Vale Parkway - John Laing.
Part of Birmingham Moor Street - Bullring Alliance.
Barking Riverside (when it is built) will not be Network Rail property.
Bromsgrove - West Midlands Combined Authority.
Coleshill Parkway - John Laing Rail Infrastructure.
Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International and St Pancras International - HS1.
Fishguard & Goodwick - Pembrokeshire County Council.
Fishguard Harbour - Stena Sealink.
The Heathrow stations are owned by the airport.
Horwich Parkway - GMPTE.
Part of Princes Risborough - Laing Rail.
Southend Airport - London Southend Airport Company
Warwick Parkway - M40 Trains

East London Line - Surrey Quays to Dalston Junction is TfL owned isn't it?

 

[Ken H]

Or the Land Registry ( and you would be suprised how much is registered)



In a general sense yes but not legally. You as taxpayer have no legal standing in this arena. Legally it is owned by network rail infrastructure limited

land only goes on land registry when it changes ownership
did the railway go thru land registry when it was transferred from BR?

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

I believe Gatwick Airport is owned by the airport.

 

[TheEdge]

So with a few notable exception the actual land is owned by NR via its little subsidiary Makes more sense than I expected!

 

[DarloRich]

land only goes on land registry when it changes ownership
did the railway go thru land registry when it was transferred from BR?

that is the only time land gets registered. There is a concept of voluntary registration for example.

 

[Ken H]

that is the only time land gets registered. There is a concept of voluntary registration for example.

most railway land must have become railway land well before grouping.
Then it must have been transferred to the big 4
there must have been some conveyancing done when London Transport was united in the 1930's
then it was all nationalised.

But what happened when the railway hotels were sold? The North concourse at Leeds and the offices above where Wetherspoons is now are an integral part of the structure that is the Queens Hotel. Who owns all that land?

Bits have been sold. Like the old Leeds Central Station and approaches.

So tracking this through would be a nightmare

Lots of rich lawyers?

 

[DarloRich]

most railway land must have become railway land well before grouping.
Then it must have been transferred to the big 4
there must have been some conveyancing done when London Transport was united in the 1930's
then it was all nationalised.

But what happened when the railway hotels were sold? The North concourse at Leeds and the offices above where Wetherspoons is now are an integral part of the structure that is the Queens Hotel. Who owns all that land?

Bits have been sold. Like the old Leeds Central Station and approaches.

So tracking this through would be a nightmare

Lots of rich lawyers?

There is nothing there difficult. It is standard conveyancing work.

And without knowing it you have just set out the case for voluntary registration

 

[Ken H]

There is nothing there difficult. It is standard conveyancing work.

And without knowing it you have just set out the case for voluntary registration

yeah. My lawyer just loved the flying freehold when I sold my last house.

 

[DarloRich]

yeah. My lawyer just loved the flying freehold when I sold my last house.

Car park archway by any chance?

 

[WatcherZero]

The NR bonds are 100% government backed, they even guarantee against currency fluctuations.

 

[Ken H]

Car park archway by any chance?

no. it was a terrace with an entry at ground level to allow access to the back. the neighbour owned the freehold of the land for the passage, but my bathroom overhung the passage half way. as did the wardrobe in the front bedroom built into an alcove.

current house fronts onto a track. as far as we know, no-one owns it. its not village green, highways dont know. so we had to get insurance in case someone came along and said we cant access our front door. £16 indemnity for ever.

Old properties that were built as a whole and split up later are a conveyancing nightmare.

 

[Flying Snail]

Fishguard Harbour station was never owned by the GWR or British Rail, either. It was part of a joint company set up in 1906 by the GWR and the GSWR which owned the line from Rosslare to Waterford in Ireland as well. After nationalisation in 1948 in the UK it remained a joint company with CIE. Fishguard Harbour station and the ferry service were operated by the joint company until Seacontainers took over which of course then became Stena Line.

That company still exists and still owns all of the assets.

Technically the Irish Government through CIE is part owner (with Stena Line) of Fishguard port and station.

In actuality there is a long standing agreement/contract between the two parties to separately "own" and operate the assets/liabilities on each side of the Irish sea so Stena have full control of Fishguard and it appears on their accounts only.

 

[ijmad]

I believe Waterloo International (or rather the parts of Waterloo that used to be the International side) and North Pole Depot are owned by London and Continental Railways (a nationalised company, but not Network Rail itself).

LCR used to own HS1/CTRL but this is now owned under a lease concession for the next 30 years by Borealis Infrastructure and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

The Channel tunnel including infrastructure on the UK side is 55% owned by SNCF.

 

[oddiesjack]

I seem to remember that British Rail Property Board (Residuary Body) owns assorted large railway stations with high land/property values.
This was definitely not made clear in the Rail track share prospectus , but was revealed when Railtrack went "bust", thus significantly reducing the perceived share value.

 

[pdeaves]

I seem to remember that British Rail Property Board (Residuary Body) owns assorted large railway stations with high land/property values.

Would this actually be owning the development rights rather than actual bricks and mortar?