Editing Rail Express Systems (section)

{{Short description|Sector of British Rail}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name             = Rail Express Systems
| logo             = Rail Express Systems logo.svg
| image            = 90016 at London Liverpool Street.JPG
| image_size       = 
| image_caption    = Rail Express Systems livery as carried by [[British Rail Class 90|90016]] at [[Liverpool Street railway station|London Liverpool Street]] in March 2004
| type             = State owned
| traded_as        = 
| genre            = <!-- Only used with media and publishing companies -->
| fate             = Integrated into [[English, Welsh & Scottish|English Welsh & Scottish]] (EWS)
| predecessor      = ''Parcels'' sector
| successor        = [[DB Cargo UK|English, Welsh & Scottish]]
| foundation       = 1982
| founder          = 
| defunct          = 1996
| location_city    = 
| location_country = 
| location         = 
| locations        = 
| area_served      = [[United Kingdom]]
| key_people       = 
| industry         = Package & mail transport
| products         = 
| services         = [[Mail]] & [[package delivery]], [[Excursion train#United Kingdom|charter trains]]
| revenue          = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income       = 
| aum              = <!-- Only used with financial services companies -->
| assets           = 
| equity           = 
| owner            = 
| num_employees    = 
| parent           = [[British Rail]]
| divisions        = 
| subsid           = }}

'''Rail Express Systems''' (RES) was a sector of [[British Rail]]. This sector was responsible for transport of mail and parcels, including the [[travelling post office]] trains, as well as taking over charter operations from [[InterCity (British Rail)|InterCity]] and haulage of the [[British Royal Train|Royal Train]].

RES had been created out of a policy of [[History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948%E2%80%931994#The 1980s: Sectorisation|Sectorisation]], its functions previously being undertaken as an integral element of British Rail in the 1980s. Initially known simply as the ''Parcels Sector'', it was decided to re-brand it as ''Rail Express Systems'' during late 1991. The entity's management team sought to improve the economics of its operations and to better satisfy its customer's needs, the principal one being the [[Royal Mail]]. Thus, various initiatives were undertaken, including the procurement of new rolling stock in the form of 16 four-car [[British Rail Class 325]], a series of [[electric multiple unit]]s built exclusively for moving mail.

During the mid-1990s, RES implemented a £150 million strategy that focused on long-distance services that worked in conjunction with a central hub based in London at its heart, known as ''Railnet''. As a consequence, many stations had their mail services permanently withdrawn as they were redirected to a series of hubs across the country; the final mail train services departed King's Cross, Euston, Liverpool Street and Paddington stations on 27 September 1996. As a result of the [[privatisation of British Rail]] during the mid-1990s, RES was put up for sale to the private sector. Following a competitive bidding process, the entity was purchased entirely by the recently created railway freight operator [[English, Welsh & Scottish|English Welsh & Scottish]] (EWS); shortly thereafter, RES was integrated into the firm and ceased to exist as an independent operation. A few years later, railway-based mail operations ended entirely in Britain due to the increasingly poor economics involved.