Big Four (British railway companies)

E88871

The Big Four were the four major private railway companies that dominated rail transport in Great Britain between the 1923 Grouping and nationalisation in 1948.

All labels observed (9)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (38)

Predicate Object
instanceOf group of railway companies
alsoKnownAs Big Four
appliesToJurisdiction Great Britain
consistsOf Great Western Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Southern Railway (UK)
country United Kingdom
endCause nationalisation of British railways
endTime 1948
followedBy British Railways
linked to: British Rail
follows pre‑Grouping British railway companies
hasPart Great Western Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Southern Railway (UK)
headquartersLocation London
linked to: London, England
historicalPeriod 20th century
inceptionCause Railways Act 1921
industry rail transport
languageOfWorkOrName English
legalForm private company
location Great Britain
mainFunction operation of mainline railways in Great Britain
numberOfComponents 4
operated freight rail services in Great Britain
passenger rail services in Great Britain
owned railway infrastructure in Great Britain
partOf history of rail transport in Great Britain
precededBy numerous small and medium‑sized British railway companies
railGauge standard gauge
regulatingAct Transport Act 1947
replacedBy state‑owned British Railways
significantEvent Railways Act 1921
nationalisation of British railways
startTime 1923
timePeriod Second World War
linked to: World War II

interwar period

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (12)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

London, Midland and Scottish Railway partOfGrouping Big Four (British railway companies)
Francis Thompson employer British railway companies
linked to: Big Four (British railway companies)
London and North Eastern Railway partOf Big Four railway companies
linked to: Big Four (British railway companies)
LMS wasOneOf Big Four British railway companies
linked to: Big Four (British railway companies)
British Transport Commission replaced Big Four railway companies
linked to: Big Four (British railway companies)
Southern Railway (UK) part of Big Four railway companies (UK)
linked to: Big Four (British railway companies)
Great Eastern Railway partOf Big Four grouping of 1923 via LNER
linked to: Big Four (British railway companies)
LNER Class A3 era Big Four era of British railways
linked to: Big Four (British railway companies)
Great Central Railway partOf Big Four grouping of 1923 (as constituent of LNER)
linked to: Big Four (British railway companies)
Big Four alsoKnownAs Big Four railway companies
linked to: Big Four (British railway companies)
Big Four alsoKnownAs Big Four railways
linked to: Big Four (British railway companies)
Railway Executive replaced Big Four railway companies
linked to: Big Four (British railway companies)