Railway Clearing House

The Railway Clearing House began work on 2 January 1842, and at first nine companies used the scheme. The main task of the RCH was to balance the revenues due to each company for carrying through traffic from other lines, but over time it became responsible for establishing common standards and managing other administration for the industry.

During the 1840s more companies joined the RCH. One of these was the Lancashire & Preston Junction Railway in July 1844, which wrote to the RCH to say that its business in connection with the London & Birmingham Railway was now being passed through the clearing system.

Outbreak of war, 1914

In 1850 the status of the RCH was legally recognised with the passing of the Railway Clearing Act. Several more Acts further defining the responsibilities and powers of the RCH would follow later in the century.

Grouping in 1923 simplified the task of the RCH because the number of individual companies had been greatly reduced, but its work continued until 1948, when the railways were nationalised.

The RCH continued to exist for some time, and it was not until 1954 that the rights, powers and liabilities of the RCH were passed to the British Transport Commission.

In January 1955 all the Acts of Parliament relating to the RCH were repealed. Although the Victorian RCH had ceased to exist, the name was then used for a department which prepared such things as system maps and handbooks of stations. This department continued work until 31 March 1963, when it was finally dissolved.

When the passenger railways were privatised in the 1990s, there was a need to balance the books between the different operators once again. A successor to the RCH, known as Rail Settlement Plan, was set up by the Association of Train Operating Companies. ATOC and RSP still exist, but they are now part of the Rail Delivery Group.

These arrangements seem likely to change again as part of the renationalisation of the main passenger operators from 2024.

Sources
Regulations of the Railway Clearing House, 1 January 1926. Private, and not for publication. [London, 1926]
The Railway Clearing House in the British economy 1842-1922, by Philip Bagwell. London, 1968

Acts of Parliament, etc.
Railway Clearing Act, 1850. 13 & 14 Vic., cap. xxxiii
Railway Clearing System Superannuation Fund Association Act, 1873 36 & 37 Vic., cap. lxxxviii
Railway Clearing House Extension Act, 1874. 37 & 38 Vict. cap. xvi
Railway Clearing Committee Incorporation Act, 1897. 60 & 61 Vic., cap. cxvi
Railway Clearing System Superannuation Fund Incorporation Act, 1897. 60 & 61 Vic., cap. cxx
Railways Act, 1921 s.14. 11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 55
Railway Clearing House Scheme Order, 1954. SI 1954 No.139

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