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British Railways Board InterCity
British Railways Board
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British Railways Board InterCity
former BR business
was replaced by
British Railways Board TOUs >
start date
1982
end date
1997
owned by
British Railways Board
legal title
description
InterCity was one of three British Rail passenger business sectors. The name Inter-City had first been used in 1950 to name a train between London Paddington and Wolverhampton Low Level.
When the newly-electrified West Coast Main Line was opened between London and north west England in 1966, the name was removed from the train and used instead as a brand for long-distance services.
It was also shown on the new high speed diesel trains introduced in the 1970s as Intercity 125, which was a reference to their maximum speed in miles per hour.
In the early 1980s commercial control was transferred from the Regions to the new sectors, and one of these was InterCity, although the Regions continued to exist as train operators and managers of the infrastructure until the end of the decade.
New corporate identities were designed for all the businesses, including freight and parcels. The InterCity design included a swallow symbol and used the typefaces Frutiger, Futura and Novarese, although some changes were made to the Novarese characters.
At the end of the 1980s the Regions were abolished, with their remaining responsibilities being transferred to the businesses. All routes were allocated to one of the businesses, but some trains ran on the lines of another sector for part of their journeys.
As privatisation approached, the British Railways Board was instructed to set up ‘train operating units’ which would then be offered to the private sector as franchises.
Six TOUs (CrossCountry, Gatwick Express, InterCity East Coast, InterCity Great Western, InterCity Midland Mainline and InterCity West Coast) were created from the InterCity business and some of these retained the brand, which had been registered as a trademark.
In spite of suggestions that it would continue after privatisation, in the event the title InterCity was rarely used by the new franchises in their branding, and it soon disappeared.
service area
British Railways Board long-distance routes in England, Scotland and Wales
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