From BR to Victa: A Brave New Beginning

#VictaAt30

As we celebrate Victa's 30th anniversary, this first post in our Victa at 30 series looks back to where it all began—charting the journey from Neil Sime’s early vision to the founding of Victa in 1995.

In 1994, the rail freight landscape was changing fast. British Rail was winding down, and privatisation was opening new doors. For Neil Sime, it was the moment to take a leap.

RMS Locotec shunting at Blue Circle Widnes

After 14 years in operational and business management roles at BR, Neil took redundancy in 1994. With a vision for what rail freight could become, he partnered with the late John Hummell to form Rail Management Services—an early venture that laid the groundwork for what would evolve into RMS Locotec.

Their ambition? To become an “open-access” mainline operator. While the timing wasn’t quite right, the experience built a deep understanding of the freight business and sparked the idea that would become Victa Railfreight.

Found at the National Railway Museum at Shildon 30 years later...

In our next post, we’ll explore how a successful steel delivery at Sittingbourne sparked the creation of Victa Railfreight—and set the wheels in motion for a new kind of railfreight business.