British Rail in the 1980s and 1990s: Electric Locomotives, Coaches, DEMU and EMUs

The 1980s and 1990s were exciting times for British Rail. For many years British Rail had been structured into regions and the livery for rolling stock consisted of blue and grey or just plain blue.

Now, however, the railways of Britain were entering a new chapter of sectorisation, restructuring and divisions. We were introduced to exciting new bold liveries like Network SouthEast’s red, white, grey and blue, and InterCity’s two-tone grey, red and white – complete with stylish Silver Swallow logo. The freight companies also introduced new liveries; mostly a two-tone grey with logo to denote which sub-sector owned it and RES (Rail Express Systems) later introduced a striking red livery with blue and grey flashes.

New rolling stock, locomotives, coaches, DMUs and EMUs all entered service across the country, finished in the new liveries of the recently formed sectors. Other rolling stock moved on across the network and over time received new liveries for their new work. In this book, the second of two, Kenny Barclay shares some of his collection of photographs of electric locomotives, coaching stock, DEMUs and EMUs taken at various locations across the country during the 1980s and 1990s. Being an employee of British Rail at this time, Kenny Barclay had regular access to a number of depots and railway works where many of his photographs were taken.

This book, a companion to British Rail in the 1980s and 1990s: Diesel Locomotives and DMUs, exhibits a selection of some of his finest photographs from this period.