Speedlink Volume 1- Introduction, Covered Goods Vans and Open Wagons

Speedlink was launched in 1977 as an attempt to arrest the decline in British Rail’s wagonload freight business. One of the things that distinguished Speedlink was that all the wagons used were air braked. At its peak in the mid-1980s, it carried over 8 million tonnes annually. However, despite this, Speedlink was never profitable, and the service was abandoned in 1991. This is the first of short series of four books, each one complete in itself, which will provide a comprehensive survey of the whole Speedlink wagon fleet. This first volume begins by setting the scene from which Speedlink emerged. It explores the background to BR’s lossmaking wagonload business from the 1960s onwards and examines the circumstances which led to the creation of Speedlink as the solution to these problems. The book moves on to look at existing air braked stock owned by British Rail prior to the launch of Speedlink including that built in the 1960s for use on train ferries and vehicles converted to air braking.