‘A very poor bag of physical assets’: the railway compensation issue 1921–47

Abstract

The paper considers a variety of historical opinion about the amount of compensation paid to railway shareholders at the time of nationalization in 1947. It examines their argument that the terms amounted to virtual confiscation. The development of Labour Party and trade union thinking about the proper basis of compensation is outlined up to 1946, and attention is focused on the government's decision to purchase at Stock Market prices. World War II transformed railway finances, but it is argued that a longer-term assessment of the economic performance of the industry points to the conclusion that its prospects and its value were over-estimated in 1947.