 There has been no single national rail operator in the UK since British Rail was privatised in the 1990s.High-speed services are provided by CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Eurostar, Grand Central, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, London North Eastern Railway, Southeastern, Avanti West Coast, Abellio ScotRail, and TransPennine Express.During the age of steam locomotion, the British railway industry strove to develop reliable technology for powering high-speed rail services between major cities.