In 1883 the Victorian Railways Commissioners Act, 47 Vic., No.767, brought the staff of the Department of Railways, founded in 1856, under the jurisdiction of the Railway Commissioners, which became known as Victorian Railways. This act gave Victorian Railways the authority to construct, manage and maintain the railways of the state. In 1889 Newport replaced Williamstown as the location of the Victorian Railways workshop, and being the largest in Australia. The Victorian Railways Head Office was located in Spencer Street from 1893, and housed the branch’s design and administrative functions. In 1919, the electrification of the Melbourne suburban system commenced and was completed in 1930. In 1922 the Border Railway Act extended some of Victorian Railways lines into New South Wales. In 1961 a standard gauge line connecting to the New South Wales system was constructed to allow travel between Melbourne and Sydney for the first time. In 1973 the Railways Amendment Act passed the management to a Victorian Railways Board from the Victorian Railways Commissioners. In 1974 Victorian Railways became VicRail.

The London and South Western Railway Company (LSWR) opened their first line in stages in from London to Southampton in 1838 under the name London and Southampton Railway Company. A year later the company name was changed to the LSWR. By the early 1900s, the line had been extended and ran from London to Plymouth via Yeovil, Exeter and Southampton. Some of the branch lines of the LSWR, further into Southern counties, were in direct competition with the Great Western Railway Company and others were worked in partnership with other railway companies such as the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. Nine Elms in London was the main depot of the LSWR, until Waterloo Station was opened by the company in 1848. Nine Elms became the goods depot for the London and South Western Railway Company and Waterloo became one of the biggest passenger stations in the country. The main LSWR engineering works was transferred from Nine Elms to Eastleigh by 1909. Sir Herbert Walker was General Manager of the London and South Western Railway Company from 1912, when he instituted the third-rail electrification programme, and was appointed General Manager of the Southern Railway Company in 1923, until his retirement in 1937. There were a number of notable engineers attached to the LSWR including John Viret Gooch, brother of Sir Daniel Gooch who was Locomotive Superintendent from 1841 to 1850. Dugald Drummond was the Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1895 to 1912; he facilitated moving the Works from Nine Elms to Eastleigh and their subsequent expansion and modernisation. Alfred Szlumper, appointed Chief Engineer in 1914 was key to the expansion and redesign of Waterloo Station, completed by 1922 The LSWR began electrification of its suburban lines from Waterloo in 1913. The first section was opened in 1915, and almost all the other planned routes were opened before the First World War curtailed the project. The London and South Western Railway Company was very prominent in handling all types of traffic during the First World War, due to it’s position serving London and the ports on the South Coast. The LSWR also had an ocean-going port at Southampton, which was a growing rival to Liverpool and Glasgow for transatlantic travel. The purchase of Southampton docks by the LSWR in 1892, alongside their expansion and modernisation, was organised by Sir Charles Scotter, the General Manager from 1885 to 1898. Scotter then became Chairmen of the Company from 1904 to 1910. The LSWR also ran steamer services from Southampton to the Channel Islands and France. In 1923, the LSWR was grouped into the Southern Railway Company by the Railways Act of 1921.

The Great Northern Railway Co (GNR) was authorised in 1846 to build a line from London to Doncaster via Hitchin, Peterborough and Grantham with a loop line from Peterborough to Bawtry via Lincoln and branches to Sheffield and Wakefield. The first section between Louth and Grimsby opened in 1848. The proper main line was opened in stages; by 1849 services were running from Peterborough to Doncaster via Lincoln and in 1850 services from London (Maiden Lane) to Peterborough started. In 1852 Kings Cross station and the main line between Peterborough, Grantham and Retford were completed. Coupled with its running powers over parts of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway and the York and North Midland Railway north of Doncaster, the GNR offered services between London and York. A combination of running powers, acquisitions and promotion of new railways, eventually gave the GNR access to Bradford Cambridge, Halifax, Leicester and Nottingham. The GNR also invested in joint railways including the Great Northern & Great Eastern Joint (Huntingdon-March–Doncaster), the Cheshire Lines Committee and in 1889 the Midland & Great Northern Railway giving access to North Norfolk, Norwich and the east coast. The GNR main line was part of the through route to Scotland and it established the East Coast Joint Stock, a common pool of vehicles, with the North Eastern Railway and the North British Railway. The Flying Scotsman was the most famous train service on that route. The GNR operated intensive passenger express services as well as suburban services to Hatfield, Dunstable and St Albans, and in North London and West Yorkshire, and local passenger services in Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. Its principal freight business was the transport of coal from Yorkshire, and later from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, to London, and the conveyance of coal to and bricks from the brickfields in the Peterborough area. The GNR’s principal works were at Doncaster where it built locomotives and carriages. Its famous locomotives include the Stirling Singles, Ivatt’s Atlantics and Gresley’s 1922 Pacific.

Coal and iron company established in Bradford in 1791. The business amalgamated with Robert Heath & Sons in c1919, and became known as Robert Heath and Low Moor by 1923. By 1966, the company was part of Midland and Low Moor Iron and Steel Co, a subsidiary of Thomas W. Ward.

South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854. In March 1978, the non-urban railways were incorporated into Australian National, and the Adelaide urban lines were transferred to the State Transport Authority.

The Cape Government Railways (CGR) was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony, South Africa, from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways (SAR) in 1910.

The Metropolitan Railway Co was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933. The line connected the main railway stations of Paddington, Euston and King’s Cross with the City of London. Sections of the line had to be constructed beneath the ground and used the ‘cut and cover’ method of constructing tunnels as well as digging tunnels in later sections of the line. The railway line opened in 1863 and consisted of wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. It was the world’s first underground railway to carry passengers. The original line was extended, reaching Hammersmith in 1864, Richmond in 1877. The building of the line northwards to Harrow encouraged the development of the new suburb in 1880. Electricity was introduced in 1905 and by 1907 multiple electrically powered units operated across the line. Outlying districts did have to wait to be electrified. The company developed land for housing along the length of the line, resulting in increased passenger numbers. In 1933, the company amalgamated with the Underground Electric Railways Company of London and the city’s tram and bus operators to form the London Passenger Transport Board.