British rail for their mostpart were inefficient and became very expensive. They could not even make profit from Red Star which in my experience was efficient, unless you needed a parcel in the far flung reaches of Scotland where the sleepers are still 2-3 hour late in arriving. Senoir BR management became complaceant and the unions ruled the roost (I am not knocking all unions) and wasted a good business with their not my job attitude. Rant over.